Here Be Monsters|blog

Twitter mania continues

Personally I've been able to resist the temptation, but I'm loving this new beta none the less, so I can only image the excitement those of you who twitter must feel at the arrival of twittervision.

Just had this sent to me by a mate (thank you JB) and thought it amazing. Can't tell you anymore about it, (who, why when etc) but if any of you can do share

Otherwise enjoy

THAT VIDEO

Everybody has been talking about this video, so what's the point me sticking it up here too?  Well, I've also come across an interview with Michael Wesch, the video's maker, which you can read here.

The Art of Plagiarism

Advertising creatives have an odd rule when it comes to plagiarism. I think it says a lot about the ingrained arrogance of the  industry that you can copy any film, art or photographic style, comedian's routine, in fact anyone or anything, as long as you don't copy an ad.

I have heard it said countless of times, 'Great ad, pity it's been done', usually followed by the agency name and year of creation, as the all-knowing CD goes over to his D&AD annuals and finds it for you. Proof, as if proof were needed of his greatness when it comes to the history of ads.

The t-shirt industry obviously don't share this obsession.

Howies original

Mr Cloud's T-shirt Emporium rip-off

Seeing this made me angry. I now don't like Mr Cloud. Why? Because they're lazy and stupid and spend all their time surfing other t-shirt sites looking for the easy way to a good idea.

But the thing is I actually don't know who was first, I based my assumption on the fact Howies is an old friend (known for it's integrity), while Mr Cloud is a new acquaintance, regardless of whether I'm right or wrong. In fact I'd probably take this position even if I found this t-shirt design on some kid's MySpace page.

Okay, what I know of Howies and what I can gleam from Mr Cloud's website would suggest I'm probably right, but I don't know for sure, maybe Howies just improved on the design.

In a world where we are all now meant to be creating content and posting and uploading and plagiarising and inspiring one another, this is going to create a whole new level of problems for brands and their agencies.

NEW BETA

Here's a lovely little beta site that might help anyone who made the standard new year's resolution to,  get fitter. Called GPSies, you can create, view and download tracks which have been recorded by a GPS device. Whether you're searching for running courses,  mountain bike tracks, with GPSies you can see what Tracks others have recorded.

the next big thing

There's a fantastic post over at C Enrique Ortiz Mobility Blog all about one of 2007 hot trends, the intersection of mobility and social software: mobile social software, virtual communities, messaging and user-generated content. Well worth checking out.

Wii with built-in viral appeal 2

Following on from my earlier post on Wii and it's build-in viralability, I have been pointed in the direction of this flickr set, by Russell. As, the man says, create something great and the marketing will be done for you.

Fun apps

Came across two new apps this weekend, BubblePly that allows you to add speech bubbles to any video footage. And piki pimp which allows you to pimp your photos with beards and glasses.

I know, childish, but no less fun for it.

Finally, after all the talk comes action

Apparently, Vodafone and Yahoo are developing a mobile ad initiative here in the United Kingdom that'll enable advertisers to direct their message at people depending on gender, demographic group, location and user behaviour.

According to the WSJ.

If successful, the effort could help shape the nascent mobile-advertising industry.

The two companies will jointly develop the look and feel of the ads that will likely include a variety of formats--from banner ads to short video clips. Vodafone also will use Yahoo's sizable sales force to sell to advertisers.

For customers that opt in to the service, Vodafone will collect details, such as age and gender, at sign-up. Then, over time, it will build a profile of customers' interests based on their activities over their phone. For instance, Vodafone could track their favorite types of music or which sports they like to watch.

You can find out more here but you need to subscribe, which, I know is a bummer.