Saturday, 19 May 2007

Royksopp - Remind Me/Lipps Inc - Funky Town

I'm a news addict and a political junkie. For years now I haven't really watched television, although to be accurate, I've generally had BBC World on the television in the background while surfing the net or pottering around. Once in a while, I'd turn around and watch a program that caught my attention like Hard Talk or the excellent Dateline London. Generally I like television in the same way other people enjoy pet hamsters; in the background and occasionally wheeled out for distraction. This is mainly because of the rising quality of internet TV like the excellent Smashing Telly and you'd be hard pressed to find any of Chomsky's speeches/interviews and debates on Google Video that I haven't watched.

The point of all this is to share a little of my media consumption because over the years my taste for news (and a little American Chopper & MTV) has dominated the type of advertising I'm exposed to either at home or in hotel rooms around Asia and Europe. It's generally big dull global campaigns. Advertising that tries so hard to please everyone that it stands for nothing. Advertising that is largely homogeneous and forgettable. Advertising that could easily swap the logos for Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank and I'd never notice despite repeated viewing. So today I was reminded of a commercial that I'll never forget and will always feel good about, because somewhere along the line the agency managed to persuade the client not to advertise as if they were a big energy company. Here is the video by Royksopp that sparked off the memories.



And the commercial for what is essentially a nuclear energy company.


Nice clean vector graphics and a tune from 1980 that is close to my heart. Check the lyrics out too for depth.

Shared Browser Surfing


People like me often have internet messenger conversations where we're frequently sharing links with our friends from around the world in real time. If you're a social surfer too then get yourself on the beta testing list for Me.dium It's a social web experience that allows people to share a browser. There are a hundred different uses for a tool like this and reminds me of a post that Faris mentioned he intends to write about 'guided web browsing'. I guess I should remind him now as that is where I heard it first. Or shall I just steal it? :)

Keep an eye open for this one. It's a big idea on a very wide stage.

Swishing - Even sexier than swinging


The Guardian points us to the latest source of fashion inspiration It brings together ethical shopping, bargain hunting and social networking - and is the liveliest fashion trend embracing the 'I'm more than just a consumer' backlash that is rapidly emerging. It's called Swishing by those in the know.