Damn Funny.

Thanks BillAKABill for reminding us about this great TV Spot from 1983. It's as funny today as ever. Goes to show you how great work can be timeless.

Emergency Alert Texts: FCC Approved

Mobile owners will soon receive emergency alert text messages under the following circumstances:

1. A disaster that could jeopardize the health and safety of Americans, such as a terrorist attack; these would trigger a national alert from the president of the United States
2. Imminent or ongoing threats such as hurricanes, tornadoes or earthquakes
3. Child abductions or Amber alerts.

If you have T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint Nextel, or AT&T you'll be able to participate. This feature is particularly useful for frequent travelers who don't always have a laptop or television handy, or a radio turned on. What's even more beneficial: this feature will cater to those with disabilities; carriers will be required to use vibration or other distinct sounds to ensure everyone receives alerts.

Thoughts?

Mac Lovers and Creatives Unite!

From weekend edition on NPR, a Duke University researcher reports in that just being exposed to the Apple logo can make you more creative.

A new study shows that just being exposed to the Apple logo can make you more creative. Duke researcher Gavan Fitzsimons talks with NPR's Susan Stamberg about his study on logos and the brain.

Listen up to this archived report from npr.org.

Too bad they're suing New York City for use of this green initiative logo. :(

New Facebook Chat: A Blessing or Annoyance?

There's AIM, MSN, iChat, Adium, Google Chat, and now...Facebook Chat? (Oh, I guess I should include MySpace chat, too.) The world's largest social networking site will stop at nothing! Conveniently, no buddy list is needed since users already have friends' lists from which to pick and choose who they'll converse with. Another difference: the mini-feeds will display in the chat windows so users can see who's been up to what and where and when!

A grad student seems to think, ""[Facebook Chat] looks like it's going to be an interesting and useful feature...My bet is that this will surpass [Google's] GChat as No. 2 behind AIM, because it's so universally used and logged into."

While that may be true, it can also pose as an annoyance. Yet another window to keep open! According to a computer programmer, "Not only do I need to keep each of the IM programs open now, but I also need to keep a copy of Gmail open in my browser, and now a copy of Facebook open in my browser...It's not like I need five different e-mail programs open to e-mail five different people."

Personally, I'm a fan of the clean, Google approach to chatting. I think I'll stick to it. My beloved Facebook has become such a smorgasbord of "impressive" eye candy over the past several months. Thus, yet another feature doesn't seem so appealing anymore.

How do you celebrate the 30th anniversary of Space Invaders?

Yahoo! Japan and Tatio (the original game developers of Space Invaders) celebrated it in a big way with a full yahoo homepage takeover in japan on April 1st. I'll let the creative speak for itself.

http://event.yahoo.co.jp/invaders/beginning/

If you can't laugh at yourself...

So, for years, the relationship between Account and Creative Services in the Agency world has been an interesting one. Despite those claiming to have the most highly evolved and mature relationship, I will argue that there will always be a healthy dose of antagonism between these two disciplines. And that is a good thing as it pushes us to challenge, question and be better in our respective positions.

That said, everyone should check out this video on YouTube (if you haven’t already – I’m usually the last to see these!). Enjoy, and remember that the only way to stay sane on the rollercoaster is to be able to laugh at yourself!

Wal-Mart Cracks the Code on Social Media Integration

By Jeff Zabin

"Based on a survey conducted last month of more than 250 companies for the benchmark report Social Media Monitoring and Analysis, the Aberdeen Group found that organizations are coming to view company-hosted blogs, discussion forums, and other Web 2.0 platforms as a critical prerequisite for their online content strategy.

In fact, according to the research findings, 62% of best-in-class companies already host such platforms (compared to 42% of laggards), with an additional 22% planning to do so in the next 12 months.

Yet, despite the proliferation of company-hosted blogs and discussion forums, most companies have yet to treat social media as an additional touch point, and one that can be integrated into their overall customer-facing activities. Retailers, in particular, have a golden opportunity to leverage consumer-generated content from their discussion forums to create cross-promotional campaigns and to even drive in-store sales."

Read on....

Has everyone forgotten that so much of early web activity was built on forums, message boards and 1 to 1 interaction? That was the most exciting thing for myself and many friends was the ability to connect with someone else virtually through the web. Why should that seem so foreign to so many brands already?

I like the quote from Wal-Mart exec discussing the greater goal of online/offline related activity, as opposed to the lesson learned about 7-10 years ago, that web cannot solely replace brick n' mortar businesses. Discuss!

12 Future Apps For Your iPhone

Here is an awesome article at ReadWriteWeb on future iPhone applications and how they will change the way we do many things. Applications that give us better savings, time sensitive based on location.

Software that would make payment by credit cards obsolete and no more receipts either, thanks to your Bluetooth connection. Have your friends eaten at the restaurant your sitting in? Check out their review of it before you commit.

12 future iPhone applications.