Drewbot

They're Making a Videogame Sequel to Antichrist

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 13:06:36 -0800

They're Making a Videogame Sequel to Antichrist:

According to the Danish newspaper Politiken, a video game called “Eden,” which is based on the film, is in the works. It will start where the film ends. “It will be a self-therapeutic journey into your own darkest fears, and will break the boundaries of what you can and can’t do in video games,” says video game director Morten Iversen.

frontpages: ‘I could hear the bullets going past me’ Inquiry...

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 12:06:30 -0800

frontpages:

‘I could hear the bullets going past me’

Inquiry begins into motive of shootings suspect Hasan

Suspect in Fort Hood rampage had deeply held religious and political beliefs

Nation’s jobless rate tops 10 percent

At Walter Reed, a palpable strain on mental-health system

Wow. Take a look at this entire front page.

Time Machine Wireless Backup without Time Capsule

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 11:55:21 -0800

Time Machine Wireless Backup without Time Capsule:

A really handy guide. Had it up and running on my network drive in minutes.

Sports Team’s Massive Financial Advantage Finally Pays Off

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:12:53 -0800

Sports Team’s Massive Financial Advantage Finally Pays Off

"I had a conversation with a very smart guy at Foocamp about two months ago. He made a statement that..."

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:23:00 -0800

“

I had a conversation with a very smart guy at Foocamp about two months ago. He made a statement that I’m starting to almost 100% agree with…”If those who are currently making decisions will either be dead or retired in 10 years and won’t truly feel the effects of their decisions, they shouldn’t be allowed to make those decision.”

The internet is the greatest generation gap since rock-n-roll. They’ll just never understand.

”

- jay parkinson + md + mph = doctor in brooklyn

Ok, I get why tumblr likes this: it’s a pro internet comment that undermines the people older than those tumblring who actually make decisions. But I ask you this:

What internet-centric person has been at a company longer than 10 years? Five years?

Exactly.

(via alwayscapitalize)

RIP Claude Lévi-Strauss. From his introduction to Myth and...

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:36:00 -0800

RIP Claude Lévi-Strauss.

From his introduction to Myth and Meaning:

I never had, and still do not have, the perception of feeling my personal identity. I appear to myself as the place where something is going on, but there is no ‘I’, no ‘me.’ Each of us is a kind of crossroads where things happen. The crossroads is purely passive; something happens elsewhere. There is no choice, it is just a matter of chance.

I don’t pretend at all that, because I think that way, I am entitled to conclude that mankind thinks that way too. But I believe that, for each scholar and each writer, the particular way he or she thinks and writes opens a new outlook on mankind. And the fact that I personally have this idiosyncrasy perhaps entitles me to point to something which is valid, while the way in which my colleagues think opens different outlooks, all of which are equally valid.

I’ve always been intrigued by that passage as it’s written by the man who invented structuralism. Written ahead of his ordered thoughts, it acknowledges the situated knowledge movement that would come into anthropology (especially at Santa Cruz) while allowing room for him to make sweeping statements. After all, he saw the world as himself. Lévi-Strauss was certainly pragmatic.

Apple switches from their Windows CE mobile terminals to a...

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:19:55 -0800

Apple switches from their Windows CE mobile terminals to a souped up iPod Touch, complete with a bar code scanner, card reader, and battery pack.

I’m still surprised more retail establishments haven’t adopted the mobile terminal idea. It’s dangerously easy to buy something from anywhere in the store at Apple. (Via Gizmodo)

The Problem with Planners

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:53:55 -0800

The Problem with Planners:

I always pour over Agency Spy posts regarding planners. Not for the articles, but for the inevitable comments. Posters are always angry, frustrated, and fed-up with the planners at their shops. A sampling:

I’ve never met a planner that brought any true insights to the table. Mostly they regurgitate research. Or even better, tell you what you already knew, eating up time that could be spent thinking.

And:

It usually takes a planner or a group of planners three months to write a brief. They have minimal input as the client over rules them on every point, because they have little knowledge of branding.

Then they stick it in front of a real creative and read it word for word like they are presenting.

And:

Planners were once called research. Planners were once called media. Planners were once called insight. Planner were once called engagement. Planners were once called innovative. Planners were once again called planners.

I call them overpaid.

In my experience as a planner the above comments are all valid.

Planners often get lost in the thought-process and ignore the processes that exist outside them. They step on toes by assuming that they monopolize the “smarts” in the agency, ignoring the strategic abilities of creatives and the contextual knowledge of account people.

The best planners I’ve worked with understand that the role of planners is to make everyone else at the agency better. Everything they do should inspire creatives, arm account people with insights and knowledge, and help media planners be more relevant and efficient. That’s it.

Alain Sylvain’s suggestion in this post that a planner’s job is to, “bring smarts into the mix,” seems designed to anger everyone who’s worked with him.

In fact, most of the conferences and summits planners hold (the original subject of the linked Agency Spy post) don’t help their reputation with creatives. PSFK’s SPUR illustrates this perfectly: the summit is composed entirely of planners! For a job where you you almost solely work with other positions, navel gazing with a group of your own is pointless and compounds the perception problem.

I bought a tape last night for $3, from the band that opened for...

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:12:10 -0800

I bought a tape last night for $3, from the band that opened for Big Business. Fittingly, they sounded like 1993, despite their drummer’s skills. Nothing special.

But I figured this was probably the last time I would ever have the opportunity to buy a tape outside of a gas station in the middle of nowhere.

blakeley: tallwhitney: What’s Gawker.TV? - The Business...

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:49:43 -0800

blakeley:

tallwhitney:

What’s Gawker.TV? - The Business Insider

Photo by the amazing Diana Levine.

Congratulations Blakeley, looking forward to it.

Question:

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:09:13 -0800

Is it a positive or negative economic indicator when the Chili’s in your hometown closes?

In Indiana, a group of 75 credit unions banded together to buy a...

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:45:00 -0800

In Indiana, a group of 75 credit unions banded together to buy a radio spot emphasizing “policies that serve people on your street, not Wall Street.” Worthington National Bank in Fort Worth suddenly gained $10 million in new deposits after running billboards urging consumers to “Just Say No to Bailout Banks.” And Hancock Bank in Gulfport, Miss., posted signs outside its braches over the summer saying “Bailouts? No thanks.”

(via NYTimes.com)

alwayscapitalize: cameronr: 50 Most Tweeted Brands You know...

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:03:00 -0800

alwayscapitalize:

cameronr:

50 Most Tweeted Brands

You know how I can tell this “study” isn’t entirely accurate because the brand Gucci cannot possibly be mentioned as much as the rapper Gucci Mane.

TechCrunch? Well that just devalued the whole list.

But in all seriousness… if I were a client and I saw this list, I would see the presence of TechCrunch as a sign that the active user base of Twitter is still the Valley in-crowd. Sure, there’s much more to it than that, but this would definitely weight on my investment decisions.

petervidani: Astronaut is a new public theme I made. ...

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:43:52 -0800

petervidani:

Astronaut is a new public theme I made. Everything is customizable.

Hey Peter, how about whipping up a magazine-style theme to be viewed at full-screen on TV’s? Or a tablet perhaps?

Harvard Students to Learn About Black Folk By Watching The Wire

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:39:51 -0800

Harvard Students to Learn About Black Folk By Watching The Wire:

To quote the instructor:

I do not hesitate to say that (The Wire) has done more to enhance our understanding of the challenges of urban life and the problems of urban inequality, more than any other media event or scholarly publication.

Wow. I’m not even going to begin to argue with this… (Via AnimalNY)

After launching about a month ago, the Atlantic Wire has been...

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:32:17 -0800

After launching about a month ago, the Atlantic Wire has been killing it. And it’s been getting sharper. They took a step back, looked at the landscape and understood the gap in service that was occurring in news media. The format shown above speaks fluent internet: it doesn’t just gather links, but sorts them contextually under topics. Simple.

Simply put, content is everywhere but it’s disparate and doesn’t lead to smarter readers. Readers simply don’t have the capability to grasp the big picture: zoom in on articles, zoom out for context, and understand what’s essentially happening. Elizabeth Kolbert has a fantastic piece in last week’s New Yorker that sums up this effect quite nicely.

The Atlantic looked at equation and created a product that streamlined the glut of information and paved the way for actual comprehension. If I had less time to devote to my RSS reader, the Atlantic Wire would be my stop of the day. I’d kill for this on a certain Apple Tablet, an interactive and sorted window to the world of content.

No detail ignored. (Via TheDieline)

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:17:56 -0800

No detail ignored. (Via TheDieline)

katherinespiers: dailyhuff:inothernews: In a bit of...

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:47:07 -0800

katherinespiers:

dailyhuff:inothernews:

In a bit of scumbaggery, cereal maker Kellogg’s makes the outrageous claim that their cereals, including Cocoa Krispies - Cocoa fucking Krispies, yes - “helps support your child’s immunity.” It’s true! They’re putting that shit ON THEIR CEREAL BOXES!

Critics say that Kellogg’s is trying to capitalize on current concerns over H1N1; society says “no fucking shit!”

(Article via USA Today)

Wow. Bad form, Kellogg’s.

Dear Critical Mass, I generally like you. I really do. Buy could you hold off when the...

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:32:05 -0700

Dear Critical Mass,

I generally like you. I really do.

Buy could you hold off when the city’s already crippled by the closure of the Bay Bridge? You know, the most used commuting bridge in the country?

Thanks jerks.

Drew

"He was so vain. He had not one, but two painted portraits of himself as a centaur. You know, the..."

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:19:13 -0700

“He was so vain. He had not one, but two painted portraits of himself as a centaur. You know, the half man, half horse figure? It was ridiculous.”

- An ex-girlfriend of Alex Rodriguez (Via Daily Intel)