Apple's 3G iPhone Ad has been BANNED in the UK!

(photo from the BBC)
Apparently because it exaggerated the speed of the new 3G iPhones, claiming the new 3G model was "really fast" and showed it loading internet pages in under a second, which as anyone who owns one knows, never happens.

People were misled into buying it based on its performance in the ad. It makes me happy because I hate false advertising, and really they get away with murder sometimes. Recently, for example, I bought a screen-capturing software. On the website they showed a "demo" of the software, where everything was moving smoothly at about 30 frames per second, but the software I bought only worked at 10fps. The people who make the software said they wouldn't give me my money back, saying "we never said we used OUR software to make the demo"

Does that make sense to you?

The future of email?

This is what I would like to see from my email in the future.

--an "inbox" that aggregates chats, voice-mail from my phone and video-mail (see previous post about TokBox)
--it should even incorporate SMS sent from your phone
--a system that manages contacts and has some of the features of a social network (status updates for example)
--and does so in an elegant, easy-to-manage, non-boring way

Now get on it, people!!

TokBox - Fresh! Video "Voicemail" and Video Calls

Such a good idea. Why doesn't Skype have this?? You can send an email with a link to a video message you record, and you can see an "inbox" of your video messages. The recruiter used it to send me a message, and I found it much more personal and appealing than getting a copied and pasted email!

It's been a long time since I've seen such a useful new tool on the web!

Definitely a company to follow (and perhaps to work for, for those of you looking for a job...)

Check out the website >

Nice Site for Art Openings and Events

ArtSlant.com
Already listing tons of events, they have subsites for NY, LA, Paris, SF, Chicago, and the mysterious "Elsewhere"

Check it out >

Fidg't: Your Social Network Address Book

Looks promising: http://www.fidgt.com/

Data Art Made of...SHEEP!!

Artist Aaron Koblin's collection of 10,000 sheep, all drawn by random strangers through Amazon's labor distribution mechanism, The Mechanical Turk, where each person was paid 2 cents for their contribution.

The result is an amusing (and quite beautiful!) work of art. See more on his site.

Freelancers: check out Wor.kaholi.com iPhone Web App

I've been using this time tracking iPhone web app like crazy and really love it.

A simple, intuitive, tool to make tracking client, project and workflow time convenient and simple. Perfect for all types of freelance and paid by time applications. Even works great to quickly monitor your current workday totals (then view a report to check timecard accuracy)!

Manage multiple projects for many clients all through one simple interface.

Time can be displayed as simple reports showing total project commitment or in an expanded chronological format showing each work period’s contribution.
Details

link only works on iPhone:
URL:
WorKaholiCom Time Tracker

To start using it, go to Web Apps in your iPhone bookmarks. You can add the icon to your home screen too.

Thanks to whoever made this. There's just one little thing I would love to be able to see "just today" -- instead of the last 30 days -- for each client.

Artists and Designers: Starve no more!

Enter contests and win money. Photoshop, photography, design...or start your own contest. Win prizes, get exposure...this is a really nice approach to the online art marketplace...


the site is a bit hard to navigate though. The idea is still cool.

http://www.worth1000.com/

What Color is YOUR Precinct?

Cool election-related tool.

Zoom in on the map and find your neighbors and which party they've contributed to! Yikes.

It's called "FundRace 2008". Here's what they say:

Want to know if a celebrity is playing both sides of the fence? Whether that new guy you're seeing is actually a Republican or just dresses like one? If your boss maxed out at that fundraiser or got comped? Whether your neighbor's political involvement stops at that hideous lawn sign?

FundRace makes it easy to search by name or address to see which presidential candidates your friends, family, co-workers, and neighbors are contributing to. Or you can see if your favorite celebrity is putting their money where their mouth is.

FundRace gives you the technology to do what politicians and journalists have been doing for years: find out where the money's coming from, see who it's going to, and solve the mystery of why that crazy ex-roommate of yours is now the Ambassador to Turks and Caicos.

http://fundrace.huffingtonpost.com/neighbors.php

This was originally created at Eyebeam, and is based on contributions to the 2004 or 2008 elections filed with the FEC.

Valentine's Day Challenge that Bridges the Physical and Digital

Another cool feature from Nike + -- If you run a 5k this Valentine's Day, February 14th, and upload your run to Nike+, you will get to see how you matched up against other people in the challenge.

You will have 24 hours to record your 5k -- I will be competing, you should join the challenge too.





Also...

I just love these scrapable widgets!

They're such a good viral idea.



You need Nike + to participate.

Secret Codes on Websites...Immersive Games

Trent Reznor is doing some cool promotional games...check out this Wired article:
http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/magazine/16-01/ff_args

Photo: Robert Maxwell

Map Your Photos!

Check it out. This is an amazing tool for runners to be able to record and display the experience of a race (or maybe just a normal run, why not?) I wish that I had been able to do something like this for the marathon I ran in 2006 (maybe taking all those photos would have distracted me from the pain too!)

This video shows a running route with photos on it, in Prospect Park, Brooklyn (the race was the Turkey Trot back in Nov 2007). Ralph Yozzo created it -- he's an avid runner as well as technology fan-- he's been working on something that uses GPS to track your location and upload a photo from your camera-phone automatically-- but then you can also upload better photos manually (camera-phone photos are not always the best, and not everyone has GPS)

I hope this tool becomes available to us all soon!

Check out the video:

Cute Message Board Format

Message boards tend to be so boring...this one is not! One of the features is the "pulse" where new posts appear dynamically. Also, big avatars and speech bubbles make it really playful. It's a forum for Gaia Online, a super-popular MMOG. It looks like they're using heavily modified PHPBB

http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/extended-discussion/the-cause-of-popularity/t.32362425/

don't read the conversation, just look at the format!

here's the main forum, http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/index.php

Strange Trend: sites that aggregate sites from sites that aggregate sites?

...and for no apparent reason except to create content to slap google ads on? Not that i'm not flattered that my site was featured on a site called "Most Inspired" but I sort of have to wonder how they came to that conclusion since my site is not very inspired at all (in all modesty, it isn't!)

check it out anyway >

I also rather enjoyed the google ads that showed up on this page with my site. hee hee.

Another Big Budget Web Ad: Got Milk?

Very bizarre campaign-- Brittleactica: A Planet in Need-- a miracle white elixir saves all....beautiful Matthew Barney-esque graphics(or is it Star Wars? sometimes my cultural references blend together)

check it out >

thanks to Joo Yeon Yoo from Ruder Finn for all the cool links today!

More Big Budget Web Ads: Coke (I mean, WOW)

This is really beautiful 3D animation, the soundtrack is incredible, and the story is very LOTResque. They call it the Happiness Factory >

Big budget web ads are here: Absolut Vodka

Be forewarned: it's a musical!

check it out >

What's that popping sound? The Web bubble 2.0?

The stock market plunging these last few days has created palpable jitters here in Silicon Valley -- people seem quick to blame a potential bubble bursting on the increasing proliferation these last few years of "crappy websites" -- you know the ones I mean, the social networks for grandmas, the ones where you are not sure how they got funded because there is no viable source of profit from them. Many of these depend on online ads to survive, and they'll be the first to suffer from a general recession. As these junk sites get eliminated, will we be glad for the overall improvement this will mean to the average quality of ideas floating around, or will they drag the industry down as a whole?

Another question in my mind is really why do people invest in startups they know will never survive? Because they think Google and Yahoo! are dumb enough to buy them eventually? It seems like these giants have already slowed down on their startup shopping sprees. Can it be that they were helping to inflate the current bubble by creating false hope? If the latest stock market slump makes investors (and acquisitions) more cautious, there's no doubt that the startups that don't survive will send skilled unemployed labor and many a Bay Area condo onto the market, and this wave will spread from its tech epicenter to the rest of the country as it did the first time.

The threat of recession along with a regime change in the states promises to make 2008 an *interesting* year for the States at the very least.

How to make a Christmas wreath!

I did it this year for the first time on my own, it was...how shall I say...CHALLENGING. And the results were "interesting" -- wish I had consulted WikiHow first:

http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a--Christmas-Wreath

Joining the resolution: Nike Plus scrapable Flash widget

I heart Flash widgets. Now you can post a widget with your 2008 running goals on your blog or website like so:



Of course you must be a Nike+ user to use it. If you haven't seen Nike+, you should check it out (nikeplus.com)--it's my favorite thing Nike has ever done, product-wise, and a project whose precursor, NikeRunning.com, I worked on at R/GA.

Only problems with this widget is the "xx day remaining" which should be DAYS, and the fact that this is a monthly goal which is part of a new year's resolution doesn't appear anywhere on the widget.

(my goal: to run the NY marathon in under 5 hours!!)

Here's a screenshot of the site:

VIVA LA RESOLUTION!

Free email and Instant Messaging on Flights

Sound too good to be true? Well JetBlue is launching email and IM access on their JFK to SF flight this Tuesday, December 11th.

It's about time!

Of course, it will be super-limited at first. They're partnering with Yahoo! so of course it is limited to Yahoo! Mail and Messenger, and in terms of mobile devices, only Wi-Fi enabled BlackBerries will have access to their BB mail and messenger.

However, as someone who just came back from a business trip, I can see enormous value in this idea--and it can't hurt to be able to stay in touch when you're traveling, as staying abreast of last-minute schedule changes and meeting up with people on arrival can be quite a challenge!

Internet TV: Vuze.com

I don't have a TV so when I feel like watching something I turn to the internet. There are a few sites that have popped up lately and I'll try to review them all.

Vuze.com is probably one of the most promising ones I've seen. They have millions of users, some good content, and the quality is the best I've seen online.

in a nutshell:

-downloadable, bit-torrent P2P app
-HD content
-open platform
-global (lots of BBC content for example)
-downside is that there is not yet a great variety of content in every genre, not many long format movies, not many current TV shows
-however, they have already had11 million unique client downloads in its first nine months, more than 500,000 new viewers joining per week and more than 100 content partners to date-- so we can assume this problem will go away

It's a great place to check out -- especially if you don't have a TV and rely on the internet for entertainment like I do!

check it out >

Picnik - online photo editor

This could be the future of many apps - access them from anywhere with a login. It would be great if you could also have access to your media everywhere...this is the advantage of storing your photos on online services like Flickr. Anyway, I like this app for editing-- it looks great, they took the time to design it well and make it fun!

- Kind of like a simple, browser-based Photoshop for your online photos
- Crop, resize, and rotate in real-time
- Tons of special effects, from artsy to fun
- No download required, nothing to install
- Free! (Upgrade to Premium for only $24.95 a year)

check it out >

Hilariously clever Flash E-Commerce site -- a must-see

Everything goes haywire, the products start interacting with each other.

Check it out >

http://producten.hema.nl/

How to WikiHow: Make a Sock Monkey and other useful How-Tos

WikiHow will teach you how to make or do anything you want. It's user-edited like any other wiki. Unless you already know how to do everything, you may want to...check it out >

(if you know how to do something, pretty much anything, you should share it with the world so others can learn too!)

(especially if you have any good recipes...)

Shoutbox-- a way to put chat on your site

Someone pointed out this pretty cute little comment box/tool...your message goes up right away. leave me a message!!






check out the details at myshoutbox.com

"Hook up" with TiVo

I love personal ads-- back in the day, my roommate and I used to read them in the Village Voice and put the funny ones on our fridge. Anyway, this PR campaign is pretty clever--they're inviting people to get creative and write their own personal ad, kind of like a "desperately seeking TiVo"--and it really works because they're tying in a TV show ("The Bachelor"), personal ads, and TiVo into this kind of playful game. (TiVo's whole look is kind of playful too)

I recently did some user research for another DVR maker and everyone we talked to spoke about their TiVo as if they really loved it...and they seem to be capitalizing on that emotional relationship people have with their TiVos with this here campaign.

The idea is that you write a tongue-in-cheek personal ad and you could win a TiVo. "All day I dream of coming home from work at night to relax and unwind in front of the TV. But I'm tired of spending my nights with a no-good DVR..."

There are 2 rounds of submissions to the competition:

1. write a personal ad
2. if you get picked, send a video personal

it's pretty funny to read what other people have submitted so far.

http://www.hookupwithtivo.com/

The final round is judged by the dude from the Bachelor, Chris Harrison. Not that I know who that is. I don't have a TV!

Nucleus Online Art Gallery and Store

Really great stuff here! I've rarely seen a gallery where I like almost all the artwork.

Lots of cute, weird, cool paintings and drawings and sculpture, and some stuff for sale...enjoy!

check out the nucleus website >

Interactive 3D Flash site for Halo 3

Amazing promotional site for Halo 3 / Believe. Navigate using your mouse or arrow keys, and explore a 3D word where you can click hotspots to learn more, download wallpapers, and rotate characters 360 degrees.

check it out >

You can also take screenshots of where you are at any time and save them.

Design Meltdown: a great resource for designers!

My site was featured a while ago on DesignMeltdown.com and I just wanted to say that it has turned out to be a site that I go to often for inspiration because it has a ton of resources and ideas for web design. If I feel like I'm getting stuck making the same kinds of layouts over and over again, or I'm looking for interface design solutions to things I haven't tackled before, it's always a great place to go.

here's the link to where my portfolio site is featured. the article talks about using a grid in web design.

Cute printables: 3D friends you just cut, and fold, and tape together

Readymech (readymech.com) has some cute little monsters you can print out and snip and tape or glue together to make a toy you can put on your desk to keep you company. Instant friends!

They're made by different artists but the site seems to be by Fwis, who has a very cool portfolio as well (fwis.com) which includes categories such as "we didn't get paid" and "client didn't get it"

Import calendars in iCal with icalshare.com

There are lots of cool calendars you can subscribe to, like US Public Holidays if you're in a practical mood or Ashtanga Yoga Moon Days if you're feeling flaky. My favorite so far is the Fortune Cookie calendar! They also have sports events like the World Cup.

I like the idea of subscribing to event lists...Flavorpill would be great, or the Nonsense list. The good thing is it all syncs with your mobile device, so you can take those directions with you.

check out the site


see the top calendars

Wacom Challenge: Make a Video, Win a Wacom Tablet

This could be fun. Sclipo, the service you have to sign up for to enter, is also interesting. Based in Barcelona, they're a website for sharing "how to" videos.

About the contest:

The Wacom Challenge
Create and share a skills-based video that demonstrates your ability to achieve impressive results with a Wacom tablet.

The top award is a Wacom Cintiq21 Interactive Pen Display, sponsored by Wacom.

Visual Apartment Search Maps

here's a new one: hotpads.com

A lot like Housingmaps, which uses Craigslist as a source and Google Maps as an interface to show you photos of apartments right on the map, HotPads just got started and is still working out some interface/design issues but they have a good solid Flash interface with some cool features like links to specific neighborhoods and neighborhood info (pulled in from Wikipedia), which, if you are moving to a new city, is very important. For example, I learned that notable residents of the neighborhood I would like to move to include OJ Simpson, who grew up there, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Must be a fun neighborhood!

here is a direct link to the San Francisco rentals map if you want to check it out. The NY City one's good too.

Black is the new Green: does screen color affect energy usage?

Interesting conversation happening on Mentalfloss.com (and elsewhere)about whether a white screen uses more or less energy than a black one. They say that if Google was black, it would save $75K / year in energy bills.


Although apparently it doesn't save electricity, but actually uses more, on LCDs (and CRT usage is going down...)

Still I really liked the idea of a website being "green". For an installation I'm working on, which had to feature a laptop but was for a green-conscious organization, I had to try to find a way to make it more "green": green hosting providers? green laptops? (no such thing! even the greenest is not very green right now... though Toshiba makes one that it sells at Walmart (the Satellite) that gets great ratings.

green is just not a word you can use for the web, yet.

I'd love to hear peoples' ideas of how to make the web more green...

By the way, i checked out one of the links someone posted to Mentalfloss: hilarious:
http://www.ninja.com/

it's a Google Co-op project (Google Co-op is a platform that enables you to customize the web search experience for users of both Google and your own website.)