cassettefrommyex
“They were into you, so they made you a tape. Today you don’t have a cassette player, but you still can’t toss that mix.” cassettefrommyex.com shares the stories and the soundtracks of your earliest loves.
Darwinstruments
‘Darwinstruments allows the user to create multi-tone sound toys using genetic algorithms. Each sound toy is a neural network with nodal virtual instruments. To activate the nodes and hear the instruments, the user simply has to mouse over the graphical clusters. Each of the Darwinstruments will behave differently, and as such will play a different composition when activated. Selecting two instruments (they become red when selected) and hitting the hybridize button will engage the process of breeding a new population.’
This and loads of other ace stuff at blprnt
Friv
Napster Vs iTunes
Napster has opened the ‘world’s biggest’ MP3 download store with upwards of 6 million songs, in an attempt to challenge the mighty iTunes.
The online store is offering MP3 files compatible with almost all digital media devices and mobile phones (inluding iPod and iPhone). Prior to this launch Napster was selling streaming subscription packages locked to proprietary technology, but has switched back as most punters want to be able to transfer songs they like to their choice of player (no shit!).
What’s interesting is that Napster are flogging fans more songs without copy protection or DRM. The majority of the songs on iTunes are locked with Fairplay DRM, which prevents the songs from being played on most players that aren’t an iPod.
Labels had previously been reluctant to allow the sale of songs without protection, in a vain attempt to avoid piracy. But in an industry that’s in free-fall, it seems more record exec’s are going to have to take the risk.
GTA 4 Ever
To date I haven’t bothered writing about GTA 4; there’s little point. It’s brilliant and everyone knows it’s brilliant. However, last night I got in a chopper. In my 30 years of gaming there are few moments that have truly stood out as groundbreaking; this was undoubtedly one of them.
Briliant.
Wonderland
The promo for the song ‘Alice’ by Pogo, 90% composed of sounds recorded from the Disney odyssey ‘Alice In Wonderland’.
Full song here…
Twitterfox
I have been pissing about with some Twitter client type apps, and I’ve finally found one I like. It’s a Firefox Add On and it sits in the bottom right hand corner of your browser. It’s simple, doesn’t intrude (unless, of course, you want it to) and it means you don’t have to open yet another app.
Allen Carrtridge
The Easyway to Stop Smoking on DS.
Etch-A-Sketch Porn
Well, it’s Friday.
10 New Andriod Applications
Google have been running something called the Android Developer Challenge, which is designed to spark innovation on the platform by awarding cash to developers who create the bestest apps. It’s totally open source and there’s even a blog and everything.
Anyways, they have judged the entries and here are the winners.
If you wanna see, here’s a video of the current UI.
Moto Backpack
The Yamaha Deus Ex is an ‘exo-skeleton’ with seven artificial vertebra as well as a pneumatically attached helmet (how the f*@k do you pneumatically attach a helmet..?). If you were wondering about the machine, the motor is in-wheel, powered by ultra-capacitors and doped nano-phoshpate batterie similar to those already used in hybrids.!?
What that means is that this ‘exo-skeleton’ backpack item is capable of 0–60mph in three seconds and has a top speed of 75mph.
Fick?
Yeah?
Tetley Make TV Sell Tea
Yesterday I bought a pack of ‘Tetley Extra Strong’ tea.
‘Exciting!’ I hear you cry. Not really, but it’s one of those rare occasions when I can link the purchase directly to a TVC advertisement spot that I witnessed the previous night. So clear was the link that I actually thought about the whole process as I parked the item in my trolley.
There I was in isle 11 thinking, this is odd because the execution of the ad wasn’t that good (it’s some contrived narrative about an extra ‘strong’ grandma; you’ve probably seen it). But, it worked, I logged it and I bought the product. A fine victory for Tetley Tea, but I had to ask myself why..?
If the narrative was rubbish, why did my brain insist on telling me I needed the tea? I guess it’s because I like strong tea and I was told that a new form of it now existed. I then happened upon the item in Sainsbury’s while all of this was ‘front of mind’.
So, did the narrative matter? Probably not, it was probably just a bulletin type experience: NEW STRONG TEA IN SHOPS NOW.
Whatever, it just worked.
This isn’t the first time I’ve tried to work this shit out, and you know what, it’s not the last. It scares me a bit. I keep banging on about how it’s all changing, about engagement and that the brand is the experience. And then I go buy some tea off the back of a 15’ (rubbish) TVC I saw on channel 5.
I know it’s only tea and it’s not really a ‘big’ purchase, but still, it’s hard to ignore the evidence.
Contextual + Social
It’s no surprise that contextual social technology is beginning to make it’s way to our pockets. Mobile applications that connect us with our friends and with a place will soon be as essential to a phone as a GPS or Camera. I’ve been working on several projects that involve some such tech and I am hugely exited by the opportunities that it presents.
Whrrl & Brightkite are two such (early) examples of this trend.
Whrrl claims to enable the discovery of places, movies, and events based on what your friends are doing. A kinda ‘intelligent personalised recommendation tool’. So rather than just find a pub, you’ll find a pub you’ll probably like because your friends like it.
Brightkite is a slightly different animal; in as much as it doesn’t seem (and I could be wrong), to be so focused on the intelligent recommendation bit, more a simple facebook vs maps type affair. You can discover who visits your favorite places, see where your friends are and what they’re up to, befriend, chat with people around you and track mates etc. All in real time.
I don’t know quite how good either of these services will be, I guess that depends on who acquires them. The point is that this technology is already upon us - and that’s well exciting.
mobiEXPLORE
mobiEXPLORE is a free multimedia travel guide that provides easy access to ‘rich content’ for tourists. Featuring (text and audio) daily news, events, weather forecast etc. for most major destinations…
