internet cool?!

I’ve never really been much of an “Olympics buff” and I suppose if I were to pick a game I’m most into it would probably be the Winter Games. So I was just as surprised as you are when I really got into the Beijing games this year. The much awaited Beijing Olympics 2008 have started, and funny enough, I had a trip to Mexico planned  right in the heart of the games. I was a bit worried about how I was going to stay on top of the Beijing Olympics action.  

Well, between http://tvgratis.tv  and a slew of awesome stuff by Google, I’ve genuinely aggregated enough Summer games content to keep my fix. Here is a collection of Google’s updated maps, gadgets, videos, sites, searches, 3D images and some Google powered Chinese sites that are purely dedicated to serve Olympics.

Google has designed a seris of web pages for the Summer Games. Among them, the home page for China has a bit more pizazz than our US home page, but both offer a stream of updated Olympics news, links to associated articles and video. The updated interactive US page offers a collection of Olympics related Google apps in the form of gadgets, maps, news, one box search and videos.
_{I’ve embedded one of the apps below.  Click the tab to expand the map.}

Google has updated its maps for Beijing Olympics. If you cant make it to Beijing than track it through Google maps by exploring 3D stadiums, tracking medal counts and watching live sport results. They have also recently released a new Mobile search tool that allows its users to enjoy sports results at the top of every search results. On typing sports name or medals in your search query by heading to Google.com from your mobile, it will return all the details with respect to Olympics. In true Olympic fashion, the tool is multi-lingual (36 languages in over 60 countries) and covers almost all the different events.

Rock on.  I’m off to the beach to score an Olympic-sized Mojito. 

damn right. :P

Someone was telling me about this at dinner the other night so I went and hunted it down. It’s a great example of dynamic content affecting video. You see it a lot in interactive stuff…not very often in video. Kudos to Paltalk for a cool execution.

Shame the player sucks tho - no scrubber. It is kinda also a shame this thing couldn’t run on one of the more popular video distribution sites. And while I’m at it…shame they didn’t give the user access to more of the data so we could make more changes to the video.

Aaaand I’m out.

A client asked me recently, “Why do people want to engage with my brand?” We had a long conversation about brands and how great ones now seem to play out like “games” rather than “movies.” We went on an on about the importance of journey mapping for the consumer - creating a brand “bread crumb trail” that just keeps on paying off The Promise and engaging people further. We talked about Value Exchange and the truths of only trying to engage people if you have some form of intrinsic value to offer them for having given you their precious attention. We covered all the bases.

But with a look of almost dejected innocence he said again, “I agree with you Tom, but why are they (people) even there in the first place.” “What do they want from us?” “Don’t they have something else to do with their time?”

good question.

I went on for a bit about psychographics of the digital native (you know, people) wanting to be connected to each other and the things they are passionate about - and sure - most of this is true. But what’s even more true is I’m not sure I REALLY had an answer better than: People just do…

Thinking back, it was a bullshit, terrible response. I could just see the scoff welling up inside him. After all, aren’t we just a bunch of dorks playing in our basements? Are we? Clearly WE know that’s not the case - but really - what is it that makes us buy from FreshDirect, comment on Yelp, download all our movies, use Facebook on our iPhone (full disclosure: I own an n95, not an iPhone) and rely on Google and Wikipedia for truth? Are we programmed this way? Are the countless hours of Super Mario Brothers, Pong or You Don’t Know Jack and Metriod engraved in our psyche? Are we just hopeless sheep looking for a journey? Maybe. The smart marketers at Apple, JetBlue, Starbucks seem to think so.

But there’s another answer. One that has to do with SURPLUS. You know, SURPLUS. Idle time. The time you USED to spend watching Falcon Crest, Dallas, Saved by the Bell or Small Wonder. The time you used to spend watching Gilligan Fuck up the same rescue attempt week over week on the same island with the same cast, over, and over, and over again. It’s not your fault. You didn’t have a choice. Now you do. Now entertainment feels more like building a hobby, learning, interacting, communicating, connecting and reconnecting, playing and yes, even watching. Just all by our own rules. Our playing knows no boundaries - brands included.

These days there’s even more SURPLUS. You see - more technology creates more opportunity and curiosity. I think this is why we fill our time with all of these engaging forms for entertainment. We are occupying the SURPLUS.

This new time - “my time” - what are you doing with it for yourself? Marketers, what are you doing to fill it for your consumer? Product developers, how about you?

If you’re like most brands, not much.

P8tch We’ve all heard of qrcodes by now - basically - TinyURLs for mobile. Well, these you can wear! Each two-by-four-inch, velcro-backed twill p8tch has a Mysterious Commando Design on the top, and a QRCode on the bottom. The QRCode on the p8tch contains a URL. If you scan the code with your iPhone, Mobile Safari will take you directly to that URL. Or, if it’s a Google Maps link, directly to the Google Maps app. Or, if it’s a YouTube link, it’ll show a movie. Cool, right?

Neat!

image credit: brandon king. click photo for his flickr Since my last posting on Muxtape, a lot has happened in the Social Music arena. It has risen to the top of a heap of interesting single-serving websites (ones with a super simple purpose and an equally effortless user experience design) and its elegant simplicity has made Muxtape the buzzy-leader in the online mixtape market. 

Different mixtape services serve different purposes. The interface is basically one big button and all kinds of mashups have been built on top of Muxtape. See: Muxtape With Coverflow [Mac], MuxtapeStumbler, MuxSeek Search Engine and MuxScrobbler - a script to synch your Muxtape listening with your Last.fm user profile. 

Yep. The resurgence of music is upon is an I’d argue its bound to be more meaningful than it’s previous revolutions.

enter Favtape

The newest entrant into this field is much easier to use for publishing collections. Favtape creates a Muxtape-like interface for listening to the full-length version of your Pandora or Last.fm favorited songs. A feature which Muxtape users have been screaming for since launch.

It’s simple (remember the single-serving website movement), and it’s super cool. There are tie ins to Lyric Wiki, a ringtone search, the ability to listen to more songs that are similar or by the artist and other features. It’s powered by the Seeqpod API, which you’ve probably heard of if you’re one of the 82 zillion iPhone fans out there.

Favtape just launched this week.  Can’t wait to see where it goes from here - but Favtape isn’t the only newbie making a play in the resurgence of music.

meet Mixwit

Ok. I REALLY dig Mixwit. (And I’m really pissed I didn’t think of it.)  Check this out:

MixWit is a Flash mixtape creator with a very nice interface and gives you the YouTube-esque ability to embed your player on web pages. See my mix below. The service can have songs added by URL or through Seeqpod or Skreemr MP3 search currently.  Hope more are to come!

Click the play button below or RSS readers click here to see it in action.

It’s a great example of how flash can be used for authoring and social apps and still be SEO friendly.  This tool is going to put Mixtapes EVERYWHERE.

The cassette tape border around images users upload is really visually appealing. It’s fun to use and to get (listen to) and to publish.  Even more so than the other services we’ve seen out there.  It’s more fun to use as a publisher than either of the services mentioned above.

another note

It remains unclear as to whether any of these services are actually legal.  Streaming solutions are definitely “more” legal than outright downloading (and if Mixwit like solutions keep allowing for song purchase they’ll spread some much needed good-will). But there is a thin red line still being balanced. Legal decisions may be made about services like this in the coming years that will affect streaming solutions.  Funny enough, the original mixtapes were arguably illegal as well, though.  But that didn’t stop you for makeing them for the honeys, did it?  

Rawk on and happy mixing!

Had an amazing “reverse the flow” moment this AM while listening to k-rock. Opie and Anthony had the “Myth Buster” guys over to promote Discovery Network’s upcoming “Shark Week”.

Opie and Anthony where getting into it and really had done their homework. They spent time asking all kinds of questions. The lot of them got around to the subject of capturing Sharks on film:

Oh man have you seen this video? (He then describes a video where a woman gets her leg eaten and was caught on film).

“no, maybe next year…”

Oh well this one, you must have this on the show? (Host then calls up YouTube and shows this clip of shark bait surfing.) Which is totally awesome:

“hmm. nope. missed that too.”

No really. You must know about about this one! (shows another)

“no. that would have been awesome.”

It was a total shit show. Finally one of them says, “Damn, YouTube has better stuff than you do!”

“hey man. we haven’t seen them. can you stop?”

Awesome.

Speaking of awesome, if you really want to see some interesting shark week video, try UPL8.TV/shark+attack It’s always shark week there. And you’ll get better clips. Tee hee.

Popular new social networking services like Twitter, where users write extremely short messages about whatever’s on their minds, present a challenge: How can you intelligently get across a complex thought in just 140 characters without needing to use ugly abbreviations (e.g. “w/o needing 2 use ugly abbrev’s”)?

If only there were a service that helps with the struggle of rewriting a 146-letter message to fit in a 140 character limit. Well now there is: Thsrs, the thesaurus that only gives you synonyms shorter than the word you’re looking up. Just enter one of the longer words in your message, and Thsrs will suggest shorter words to use instead.

Try the tool out and bookmark www.thsrs.com so it’s always handy when you need it. There is also Thsrs available as a plug-in for your browser!

Hokay soh go read the comments here and here.

Seems this thing isn’t getting much of a welcoming party. Personally, I expected a more business-like approach from Google with some sort of tie in to their other existing structures such as Google Earth, etc. If you could connect with corresponding shops at their corresponding addresses then you might have something closer to real interaction (Not to mention an new idea). Could be interesting I guess.

While I too am not a fan, all this Lively hub-bub inspired me to tell you my one and only virtual world story.

Back when I was at Agency.com there was this push within the strategy group to “learn all we can about social media.” Well, the only way I know how to learn is to “do” so I went home and signed up for second life.

I wasn’t there but five seconds (orientation island) before I noticed this peculiar avatar there all dressed all in black (read: Matrix) running around torching, shoving and generally messing with people. Neat! I hung out for a bit, just watching this guy - so far pretty well fascinated into the first 5 minutes of my SecondLife virginity).

Moments later this guy runs off and starts filling my screen (and everyone else’s) with smoke (and this horrible explosion sound). This goes on for about 10 minutes. I can see on my panel that people are fleeing. One by one.   But not me.   Nope.   I stayed.

Approximately 5 or so minutes later the smoke clears and everyone is gone. Except “TheScorcher_12” or some shit and yours truly. He’s standing there staring at me. So I stare back and say what any other self respecting SecondLifer would: “Whoa. Awesome.” :)

He says, “I like you. Want guns?”

Um, fuck yeah I want guns! So I say “Yes” and the next thing I know he’s filling my drawer full of ammo, bombs, guns, landmines, knives, grenades…I mean seriously. Everything I need to start a war. (Which apparently he already had done.)

One by one I accepted the weaponry offered to me thinking…Jesus what did I get myself into?

“Ok, hop in. Lets blow shit up”

Oh, that’s what. And off we went in his spaceship.   Yes, his flying saucer.   We floated slowly around the 2ndwebs while “TheScorcher” danced. In his spaceship.   In front of me.   Floating.  In his spaceship.   Dancing.   Are you getting this?   We went to a few Casinos and chased some people out. “Blew up” a few screens and called it a night.

I spent the next day laughing and talking about my experience - and I must admit - there was a curiosity that drove me to go back. Or was it the last 24hrs of incessant emails from “Scorcher”? Anyway, I get home, get comfy and I log back in.

Bam! There he is just like magic. “Are we blowing more shit up tonight, Scorcher?” I asked. “Nah.” he said. “Follow me.” I followed him to what looked like a clearing and a lake that had little pyramids all around it. “Grab one,” he said. So I did and what happened next I will never forget.

This PayPal dialogue box pops up and asks if I’d like to purchase it. (When I first signed up for Second Life I entered in my PayPal info - so it was active on my account). I bought the pyramid - 7 bucks or something. It then splits into little pyramids and Scorch says, “now drop those - everywhere.” This guy hasn’t really steered me wrong so far, right?   So, you know, I listened.   “Why am I doing this?” I asked. “You’ll see,” he said. I followed him around for a bit, got tired and logged off. I never went back.

What happened? Did you catch it? It was a visual/virtual pyramids scheme. I was one in a chain of many. People who came after I had left, found my pyramids, picked then up (and payed for them) thus sprinkling a little cash to everyone in the chain before them. Till this day, I am still making money in my PayPal account from this scheme he got me into - sometimes as much as a couple of dollars a day. I’m not going to retire on it - but damn. Crazy right?

Dear Brands,

The digital world has created expectations that you’re not living up to.

It is human nature to expect access. (Just ask your mom how many times you pulled on the cabinet door under the kitchen sink when you were a rugrat). See? We want it. All of it, (dammit). It’s true, always been true and it’s never going away.

And now _sheesh_ we want more.

More information, services, ideas, more of each other and more value from you, the brand we grace with our attention. We also want to manage our relationships with your company, and to have_among other things_ instantaneous transactional capabilities. These expectations are increasing, not going away. To matters worse…

We also want less.

Less emails, less hold times, less crap snail mail and really - less interaction with you. That is of course, unless we want more interaction with you. Then, you know, give us that too.

What is interesting to us however, is how big the divide is between companies/brands that understand us and those of you that still seem to cower or struggle in the digital dark. Even more oddly, some of YOU have been fighting this movement. You’re hiding. You’re desperately holding on to an analog world. You’re running the risk of alienating and becoming irrelevant to the very person that some day you’ll have to sell burgers, health care, computers, baby clothes, and a new car to.

What you seem to be missing is the fact that this digital movement is putting more power at not just the consumer’s but ALL OF OUR collective fingertips. Even BRANDS LIKE YOU in this “Always-On” age are empowered. So why so fearful, Mr. Brand?

If you’d find it difficult to live with out Google, Netflix, Twitter, you see our point. If you get the point, how are you going to change your behavior?

Love,

People