"Hello_World"

Here at last...

Tiger

Hell yeah...!

UPDATE: Hold that thought, Safari won't load anymore, and as it has reset itself as my default browser (fascist fucks), and as the only place to set that preference is in Safari itself, which, as mentioned wont load - I'm up shit creak. Also windows media player doesn't work (admittedly not the biggest bug), and neither does iPhoto. Worst of all is how slow my machine is running, so bad I may need to back-install Panther.

UPDATE 2: Took my machine in to get sorted, my Safari still doesn't work, but now all my user prefs have been deleted, my inbox is empty, and all my software needs to be re-registered. Tiger, yaaay.

PDG on PPT

So 5 weeks, 4 microphones, and a mild case of tourettes syndrome later, my favourite podcasters are back with show 5.

During the show, while discussing PowerPoint, David Wilson explained that the path of least resistance was not to use it, "it's so not rewarding for us."

You're doing it wrong mate.

Sure it's not as pretty as flash, and doesn't give your designers the same hard-on, but it's a far better presentation tool when used as a sequencer. It was mentioned that the worst thing that could happen to a presentation is that it could be edited by the sales team. I think the opposite is true, a presentation is about the audience, if the presentation cant be customised for the audience, then it's all about the presenter's message - which is fundamentally wrong.

Also, the visuals should be a presentation support tool, not the presentation itself, so a flash based voice-driven animation defeats the purpose, we use it, but only as part of the complete toolbox.

One quote from the podcast that really got me riled was this:

...and that isn't where PDG is at the end of the day, it is at a consultancy level, but on a day-to-day basis we're into much richer experiences, much more dynamic media, things that are just more fun and interesting to put together...

There's the problem right there, it should have nothing to do with how much fun something is to put together, it should have everything to do with how effective the tool is when it takes its place behind the speaker, there are times for flash and video, and there are times for PowerPoint - there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

"If the only tool in your toolbox is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail."

This is the reason Missing Link refuses to enter anything we create into any industry awards, I never, ever want my guys to have an ulterior motive when they're working on a project, it's all about delivering on the objective.

Reconsider...!

Googling, Hollywood style

I just watched "The Manchurian Candidate", an excellent film (remember, it's better not to compare).

During the movie, Denzel Washington's character, Bennet Marco, googled the name "Noyle" I had my powerbook beside me and decided to try the same.

What I found is an extremely well put together site for Manchurian Global, complete with standard corporate stock photography, financials, profiles etc. There's also a video clip related to the film. Oh and not a single (visible) link to the movie's site.

Very nice...!

Real world memes

I heard about Wildkards via Robbie, and was immediately intrigued:

The concept is pretty cool, basically kids sign-up to a (bzz style) campaign, in return they get 15 branded business cards that they can distribute to their friends, who can of course sign up too. When these run out they can subscribe to a new campaign, and of course the whole process is free. I love the idea, my only concern would be spam, however it seems that these guys have a pretty reasonable privacy policy and in fairness, you are whoring your inbox for the cards in the first place.

More power to them...!

In case you missed it...

Fuck, never a dull moment...!

Update: Sorry, I meant to post this on Jo'blog, but it's rather amusing anyway, if you have 5-minutes, follow the links and see how the whole thing unfolded.

When your pick-up lines have failed you for the last time...

German inventor Michael Harriman has created the world's most sophisticated sex doll.

Features include "hearts" that beat faster during sex, as well as wiggling hips at a touch of a button. They go for a mere £4000, or about R47 000. Optional extras will cost however, like extra large breasts. Of course.

Harriman says he'll only be happy when what he has "is better than the real thing".

The finer things in life: #16

WiFi in the toilet.

All hail bog-logging...!

Parky breathes a sigh of relief

Maybe my expectations were just too high, after all, this was a podcast with two bloggers on my "always read" list. However I just couldn't handle more than 22-minutes of the Tony & Johnnie show. Sorry lads, I hope you take this in the spirit in which it's given, but this didn't work.

My guess is that perhaps Tony shouldn't have chosen one of his best mates as his first guest, the conversation came across as somewhat contrived and at the times the rapport did seem natural, I felt like I was sitting in a coffee shop eavesdropping on two friends chatting.

The biggest thing for me was that I wasn't sure why I was supposed to be listening. The objective of the podcast wasn't clear and seemed somewhat random, maybe I just stopped listening too early. Sadly the Parky style interview, while nice in theory, simply doesn't warrant an hour of my time, even between two of my favorite bloggers. Which brings me to another point, podcasting and blogging while similar in delivery are extremely different mediums, a star at one could easily be a dud at the other.

I'll be looking out for the next one though, hopefully this was simply a poor dress-rehearsal...!

One word that'll help increase your blog's traffic

Controversy...!

The future of tech sales is now!

Thanks to Simon from Idea Farm for sending me this gem: "Get perpendicular"

Fuck me, there's little singing bits in my hard drive, who would've thought?

It's moments like this that make me glad I'm a presentation guy, and not a marketer...!