No Income? Apply for a Golden Grant!

General Mills has created a campaign with a pretty cool premise, Golden Grant. It targets those who have fallen victim to the plummeting economy.

A spin-off of both Twitter and FML, the Golden Grant microsite asks users to share their “ridiculous job search story” in 140 characters or less. The most “convincing” economical sob stories become short films. The winners get a generous supply of Golden Grahams to allay their fears of starvation…

As with any user-submitted-content-based campaign, I fear that people will exercise their drama skills and simply falsify or exaggerate their personal experiences. Also, I wonder how original the idea really is. Either way, I believe it’s a risk worth taking. Something tells me a lot of laughter (and maybe sympathy) is on the way.

Breaking the desktop paradigm

For so long we've all worked within some pretty traditional constructs of what we call our desktops - whether on a Mac, PC, Linux or Commodore 64. We've all worked with the basic file structures and architectures that compose our virtual working/living world on our computers and how we interface with them.

With advancing web technologies and continually evolving interface design we've certainly seem some breakthroughs but they have mostly been at the site or application level, not on our day-to-day computer desktops. Neither OS X or Windows Vista have evolved things that much. That is until now (or soon hopefully).

Check out Bumptop. Designed by Anand Agarawala. BumpTop represents a paradigm shift in how we can think about our virtual desktops and allow them to become more intuitive and more important productive. Not to mention it's about as cool as you could imagine! While this is in beta now, follow it's development and sign up for a beta as the developer gets closer. I for one am hopeful to get a sneak peek!

The Mojave Experiment...

As most of you are probably aware, Windows Vista has taken a different approach to their campaign...It goes by the code name "Mojave." It targets "regular" (clueless?) people who have never laid eyes on Vista, then lets them "decide for themselves." At first, I was skeptical about the brand's need to disguise itself, but I've since warmed up to it. Branding needs a little alter ego action now and then.

Take a look at the site, if only to check out the video execution.

Should YouTubers Heed this Advice?

Found today on the YouTube.com homepage. Take it as you will--for entertainment purposes or solid guidance on how to successfully maintain your posted videos.

He does make a COUPLE valid points, but I won't spoil it...Have a watch.

Take it From the Googleys

An example of the power of simple, straightforward approaches to really good design. The ten design principles that make Google googley:

1. Focus on people—their lives, their work, their dreams.

2. Every millisecond counts.

3. Simplicity is powerful.

4. Engage beginners and attract experts.

5. Dare to innovate.

6. Design for the world.

7. Plan for today's and tomorrow's business.

8. Delight the eye without distracting the mind.

9. Be worthy of people's trust.

10. Add a human touch.

And, in case there was any doubt, take a philosophy lesson from the team.