Creative Strategy

What? No Vegemite???

2006-10-24T22:54:00.000+10:00

Apparently, the US has banned the importation and sale of Vegemite. Too silly for words.

The American Taliban

2006-10-24T22:23:00.000+10:00

With the world controlled by George Bush and cohorts, it seems that religious extremism is no longer limited to the rocky mountains of sunny Afghanistan. Equally ignorant and uninformed, the American bible belt is wielding the axe of irrational, unscientific thinking in every aspect of our lives.

Thankfully, the real brains are on our side. Richard Dawkins is one scientist who aims to set the record straight in a hurry.

This is a wake-up call to all who cherish free speech and the modern principle of church separated from state. Quite frankly, religious zealots who are prepared to ignore scientific facts in preference to untethered religious constructs scare the fucking daylights out of me. If these bible bashers get any more power, we'll be back to burning books and witch hunts in no time.

Amen.

IraqForSale

2006-09-27T03:35:00.000+10:00

Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers is the story of what happens to everyday Americans when corporations go to war. Film by Robert Greenwald.

14B in 3D

2006-09-23T04:32:00.000+10:00

I love 3D glasses. They're so dinky 50's and no less fascinating today. Joel Fletcher has a fab gallery of girls, cartoons, movie magic and nature...all in glorious lo-fi 3D. So grab those fold-up glasses you saved from the last MAD magazine 3D special and check it out. Or do this Google Image Search. Cool huh? Maybe it'll inspire you to create some eye-popping digital anaglyphs of your own. And no, you don't need a stereo camera to do it...Easy peasy.

Not Funny Butt

2006-09-23T04:14:00.000+10:00

I smoke. These whimsical.cute.funny.butt.good.point Japanese smoking etiquette graphics didn't make me quit, but they did make me change my habit.

The Number's Up

2006-09-14T11:52:00.000+10:00

It's official. More Americans have now died in Iraq than during 9/11. And that's not taking into account the 20,000 wounded Americans, or the 40,000+ dead Iraquis and countless injured. Well done George. Your daddy must be real proud of you. Also quite a sad indictment of a country that votes for these blood-thirsty rednecks.

Chinglish

2006-09-11T01:04:00.000+10:00

Take a look at the 600 odd pics in this Flickr set and see if you can go the distance without wetting your pants.

Dodgy Network Solution

2006-09-10T01:12:00.000+10:00

A couple of weeks ago, I wanted to buy a new domain name. So I did a search at Network Solutions, and they came back with an answer:

"The domain you requested has been parked. Through this Network Solutions Certified Offer Service, you may contact the owner and bid for the domain name. Please allow up to 10 days for the seller to reply. The cost of making an offer is US $19."

No problem. Seemed worth a bid. Paid the $19 and made an offer... waited 10 days...then an email turns up from Network Solutions:

"Offer expired. We're sorry, the Seller did not respond to your Certified Offer within the 10-day period."

And that's it...no comeback...no mention of striking the domain from their 'For Sale' listing...nothing...just "The seller didn't respond." But we'll have your 19 bucks for 'No Result' and thanks for coming.

So for all I know, the domain name will stay on their list, the next person comes along in good faith and pays $19 to make an offer on it, the seller doesn't respond again - and there goes another $19 into the Network Solutions coffers.

This is seriously wrong! When you pay for making an offer, you expect to get a reply from the seller. If the seller doesn't reply, you expect the broker to take action to remedy the situation. If the seller can't be contacted, you expect the broker to withdraw the domain name from sale so that this can't happen again.

I wonder how many other people have had the same experience? And I wonder how many people have thrown $19 at Network Solutions to bid on that same 'No Reply' domain name?

Benjamin Franklin Anyone?

2006-09-05T19:23:00.000+10:00

"Those who would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither."

Famous words by a famous American...Bit of a stark contrast to vote fixing, homeland gestapo techniques, blacklists, payola, illegal wiretaps, out-of-legal-jurisdiction concentration camps and generally war mongering across the planet...isn't it, George? ...End Of Suburbia is an award-winning documentary that spells out the real reasons for recent desert storms full of bulldust.

Not So Holy Land

2006-09-05T18:48:00.000+10:00

While we're all having a fine time, Israel is systematically destroying Lebanon. These images of graffiti stenciled, shot up walls put a little ray of sunshine into a very sad subject. Spare a moment of thought for the dead, wounded and homeless children affected by this ugly greed. It started out as 'wanting to flush out Hezbollah fighters' and has since developed into a rolling campaign to knock the entire country on its ear.

Can someone explain to me why you need to knock out every major road, bridge, communications centre, power station and airport across the entire country to 'flush out pockets of terrorists'? No, that's right...it doesn't add up.

My personal prediction? Invasion of Syria by Israel in 2007, followed by US attack on Iran in 2008, from Iraq and Afghanistan. Wanna take up the bet?

MySpace = Rupert's Space

2006-08-30T16:20:00.000+10:00

Anybody who spends time on MySpace, the world's second most popular web destination, soon realises that it's more a necessary evil than a godsent. The layout and mechanics are antique and ugly, and designed not for user convenience, but to generate as many page clicks as humanly possible, with the aim of generating corresponding revenues. That myth has now been well and truly sprung.

Equally disturbing is that MySpace is now truly 'owned' by Rupert the Rumpelstiltskin, who will no doubt do his level best to build yet another empire based on limited editorial leeway and even less integrity. Already, MySpace forums that complained have been blocked and derogatory user profiles suppressed. More here. And if you're not careful, they'll just come along and delete your account with no warning. Welcome to the wonderful world of global new media censorship.

Exploding Terrorist Myths

2006-08-19T03:53:00.000+10:00

You would have to be a complete imbecile to believe the current level of anti-terrorist propaganda...the latest 'shampoo bottle' hype in London is a perfect example of totally over-reacting to the point of complete absurdity. (Via BoingBoing)

Realise this: Less people have died on airplanes from terrorist activity in the last 10 years than die due to medical malpractice in western hospitals every year! So cut the crap.

And with hundreds of thousands of new security guards, and umpteen billion dollars spent on security systems, and trillions on armies, just how many REAL terrorists, with REAL bombs, have been apprehended? Not suspects, held indefinitely outside the law due to vague circumstantial evidence or racial and political witch hunts, but real, prima facie cases of terrorists with weapons and bombs in hand, before they blow themselves up...how many?

Absolutely FUCK ALL.

All that has really happened is that our civil liberties are being restricted more and more each day by a bunch of scheming, self-serving politicians, bureaucrats and commercial scavengers who have realised that there's a lot more to be gained by keeping the public focused on some unseen evil than to vote for peace. Everybody's so busy scurrying from terrorists that the real stories hardly make the news. Which suits those that run the show damn fine indeed.

It's a recipe that's worked for centuries...economy slowing down? Have a war! Can't have a real war? Have a witch hunt! The concept of 'the enemy at the gate' is the most basic form of crowd control known to man. It boosts the economy, creates new industries, sells more newspapers and stops people debating silly issues like the state of our planet, civil liberties, humanity, creativity or building better hospitals and schools. Perfect.

And THAT folks, is how terrorists achieve their real objective.

It Speaks For Itself

2006-08-13T15:01:00.000+10:00

An Inconvenient Truth indeed.

Tagworld Is A Small World

2006-08-08T15:13:00.000+10:00

I just checked out the Tagworld.com online community, which has over 2 million users. It's a lot like MySpace. To my dismay, I found that the basic account settings Tagworld supplies include settings that automatically block all users from South America, Africa and Asia from contacting me!
While this is user changeable, it clearly demonstrates that the basic Tagworld attitude it to allow easy communication between North Americans and Europeans, but to keep the 'foreigners' ie 'non-Europeans' out of the picture unless a user specifically changes those settings, which Mr and Mrs White in Idaho Potato land are highly unlikely to do, hence missing the opportunity to experience conversation with the rest of the planet and thus staying as misinformed and ignorant as ever. No wonder they still vote for Bush.
So much for 'worldwide' audience, when the user settings are adjusted to stop the horizon at the Mexican border. Shame on you Tagworld.

Ten Canoes

2006-08-07T19:53:00.000+10:00

David Gulpilil is one cool guy and stars in this tale of Ten Canoes, by Rolf de Heer. Anybody who's seen Bad Boy Bubby will know that this man is serious about making a good film. Between them, David and Rolf have created a great movie, and it's the first feature film totally in Australian aboriginal language (English subtitles). Nice work. On at the Dendy.

Your Right To Shoot

2006-08-01T22:08:00.000+10:00

I love photography. Everybody has a camphone. But hey, we're all spies and terrorists now, according to Southbank center management in Melbourne. Total ban of photography inside. No happy pics of your kids dropping an ice cream in your lap. No sir! What a bunch of idiots.

I've had a security guard hassle me on a footpath while trying to take a pic one day...on public property, can you believe that...I swear the next one that does it, I'll deck him. This really pisses me off. And so does this. End of rant.

Roasting The President

2006-07-30T15:23:00.000+10:00

You have to see this video of Stephen Colbert giving 'Il Presidente' a roasting at the White House Press Dinner. Finally, someone is prepared to say it like it is :)

Keeping a sore score

2006-07-30T03:27:00.000+10:00

Graphics are often the clearest way to confront an issue. The current Israeli neighbour bashing effort is a perfect example...although thankfully not quite as confronting as the continuing slaughter in Iraq.

Seriously Bad Taste

2006-07-07T21:54:00.000+10:00

Just spotted this via BoingBoing, and it's got to win the prize for bad taste advertising award of the year. Shame on you Sony.

Maximum Impact Web

2006-06-05T03:06:00.000+10:00

Keen clubbers will understand that Carl Craig is a total legend. Period. One of the most influential DJs and producers of our time. I knew that already.

Then I found out about a new site he's put up...and I'm here to tell you folks, this is the most impact I have ever had when opening a web page. YOU WILL REMEMBER THIS.

The man is a genius. Now why don't people have advertising sites this strong?

Free Sample Heaven

2006-05-29T10:55:00.000+10:00

I can't believe this find. A mega page at the Analogik Electronic Music Organisation, full of pro quality techno loops and samples, including several complete MPC 60 drum kits in .wav format. I'm still digging my way through this treasure, but there are about 1200 drum samples here, plus lots of techno loops, some multi-sampled synths and Reason refills...about 100meg all up, all ready to use and copyright free! Thanks guys, your karma is huge :)

Also some great links to electronic artists, including Sydney's favourite techno girl DJ Bexta and one of the best ambient music sites on the planet, Kahvo Collective, where you can spend a week or two downloading electronica albums for FREE. At last count there were over 130 featured artists. At about 80meg per album, that should keep you going for a while. I like this one a lot.

Trend Watching

2006-05-26T00:40:00.000+10:00

Take a trip to TrendWatching, where nifty blog-style pages give a well-illustrated overview of our changing society. Articles like 'Generation C - that's C as in Content', and 'Minipreneurs - life the eBay way', provide an excellent summary of a new DIY generation.

Further proof positive of the power of DIY via the web? Consider the fortunes of these British music entrepeneurs, both heading for million pound contracts and instant stardom.

Premium Parking

2006-05-25T23:06:00.000+10:00

Check out the new car parking arrangements at VW. Mindblowing.

Tipping Point

2006-05-25T21:46:00.000+10:00

Tipping Point. That moment when an endemic reaches critical mass and the graph shoots straight up. It's a concept that applies to all walks of life. Malcolm Gladwell, who also writes for the New Yorker, has written a book about it. Maybe it's a term we could apply more thoroughly in our understanding of consumer behaviour. It helps to explain the decision making process, the build up, the peer pressure, the moment a new brand or idea really takes hold of people. Tipping Point...I like it.

Must See This Film

2006-05-23T14:22:00.000+10:00

An Inconvenient Truth is the world's most overdue film. Based on Al Gore's book, this film tackles the subjects Johnny Howard and George Bush would rather ignore, being practically the only two world leaders who wouldn't sign the Kyoto Agreement. They're gagging our top scientists, selling us down the river to carbon based energy lobbyists and denying the facts. Time to grab the bullshit artists by the horns.

Printed Ephemera

2006-05-19T12:53:00.000+10:00

My hat off to Agence Eureka. This blog always digs up the most amazing retro images, fantastic old French advertising, dinky sci-fi, naff movie stars, the lot. A real treasure trove.

Hofner 450 Archtop

2006-05-19T12:12:00.000+10:00

Five years ago, I bought an old archtop acoustic jazz guitar at the markets. I fell in love with the timber, those sweeping curves and that slim, electric style neck. It didn't have a name on it or a label inside. Last night I found it on this Vintage Hofner Guitar site, and Steve Russell confirmed it for me. It was made in Germany in the late 50's, just like me...no wonder we get on so well :)

Rigid Digit Ravlich

2006-05-18T22:54:00.000+10:00

This is just so pathetic: An Australian state plans to ban students from wearing denim because it is linked with having a good time. "It is associated with weekend wear, with recreational time. It's just unacceptable at schools and we are trying to lift the standards," a spokesman for Western Australia state Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich said. The ban on denim in Western Australia's secondary schools will be imposed from 2007. Good on you, Comrade Ravlich, soon, it'll be just like the state schools back in Kiev!

Digital Fortress is Live

2006-05-18T13:09:00.000+10:00

If you've read Dan Brown's Digital Fortress, an all-seeing NSA spying on every citizen's communication was a great read. Sadly it's not science fiction, but an ugly reality. AT&T got busted for setting up illegal secret taps to internet backbones that can and do intercept and read anything you send, under instructions of the NSA. Now Bush is calling the whole thing a state secret so that it continues uninterrupted. Welcome to the future.

Fingerpickin' Good

2006-05-17T13:15:00.000+10:00

If you're into fingerpicking blues guitar, there may be no finer place than guitar guru Stefan Grossman's series of BBC programs available as MP3s. Charley Patton, Son House, Skip James, Tommy Johnson, Robert Johnson, Bukka White, Mississippi John Hurt, Muddy Waters, Lonnie Johnson, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Blind Willie Johnson, Lightning Hopkins, Barbecue Bob, Blind Willie McTell, Blind Blake, Big Bill Broonzy and Blind Boy Fuller...4.5 hours of blues history to download for FREE...Glory Be!!!

Bob Brozman is another amazing picker with great articles on picking, recording, slide guitar and open tuning. I'd kill for one of his 1930's National Reso-Phonic Guitars.

Pretty hard to talk fingerpicking slide guitar without mentioning John Butler, who plays mostly open chord tunings on a 12-string with the highest string removed so he can bend notes better. Here's an amazing 13 minute streamed video of JB performing live. Awesome.

CopyWrong...Again.

2006-05-16T16:53:00.000+10:00

Just when you thought we were smarter than the Yanks, the DVB gives us copyright act amendments that are so idiotic, draconian and un-enforceable it's just plain embarrassing. See the SMH blurb here.

I saw an interview with Bryce Courtenay the other day, and one interesting thing he said was: "I'm worried about Australia and its politicians today. When I lived in South Africa in the 60's, it was a police state. Now I'm hearing politicians and police commissioners talk the same kind of 'control' talk over here - and no-one's blinking an eye. It's a bit frightening."

Bryce is a conservative. rich. bastard. He's also a bit smarter than most, so for Australia's best-selling author to speak out against the trend on national TV is not just surprising, it's indeed cause for concern. We're slipping into big brother territory. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Soviet Sympathizers

2006-05-14T12:17:00.000+10:00

Ah, those trippy hippy Russians...what a find! The Museum of Soviet Synthesizers is chock-a-block with nifty sonic gadgets, as well as sample sounds and links. If you're a knob twiddler like me, you'll seriously get off on this stuff.

Then there's the Theremin site (mostly in Russian), which includes the rather hilarious Laser monitoring and musical applications of eavesdropping systems English page. Closer to home, these guys build analogue synths to order at Papareil Synth Labs, Analogue Control Systems and the massive MOTM Modular Synthesizer.

For something equally groovy, download and remix all the original parts for Brian Eno's My life in the bush of ghosts. That'd be an excellent project for Ableton Live.

Welcome to Hell

2006-05-12T12:06:00.000+10:00

Good branding is everything. Consider pizza joints. They're all alike - Joe's, Arthur's, Giovanni's - boring as batshit. Enter a clever pizza guy with marketing nouse and you finish up with Hell Pizzas in New Zealand. Select location, ie: Christchurch haha, and you get a greeting WELCOME TO HELL, followed by a fine selection of pizzas including Creator, Brimstone, Cursed, Limbo, Mayhem, Nemesis, Purgatory, Underworld...what a hoot! And when you're done eating pizza, the box folds into a little coffin labelled 'For your remains'... These guys deserve to do well. Call 0800 666 111.

Dual Singularities

2006-05-12T11:22:00.000+10:00

If you care to think about where we came from and where we're going, you will need to familiarise yourself with the term Singularity. Except...there are two kinds:

1. There's the Astronomical Singularity as defining the moment it all started, the Big Bang (science, as opposed to various religious cosmological myths).

2. The Technological Singularity - the moment machines can out-think humans.

Both are important, but only the second one will impact your future. According to Moore's Law, computer processing capabilities double every two years. Ray Kurzweil has written the book that spells out the implications of a future when humans begin playing second fiddle. At the moment, that looks like it will be in about 2030. Serious food for thought.

End Of Intermission

2006-05-12T08:31:00.000+10:00

Ooops...no news since December...I've been reading too many books again! The most recent was PREY by Michael Crichton. He's the guy who wrote Jurassic Park, Lost World and Andromeda Strain. This one's a winner, too. A swarm of nanobots gone awol. Excellent sci-tech thriller.

Then there were the two obligatory Dan Brown chunks - first Digital Fortress which takes you into the workings of the NSA and beyond, and Angels & Demons, a fascinating tale that takes you deep into the Vatican. It never ceases to amaze me how many quirky details this guy weaves into a story - fact and fiction. How many researchers does he employ? Awesome.

Then there was William Gibson's 1999 book All Tomorrow's Parties. Gibson is most famous for Neuromancer which probably invented the CyberPunk theme. "Laney reaches up and removes the bulky, old-fashioned eyephones. Yamazaki cannot see what outputs to them, but the shifting light from the display reveals Laney's hollowed eyes. "It's all going to change, Yamazaki. We're coming up on the mother of all nodal points. I can see it, now. It's all going to change."

They're the kind of books you want William Burroughs to read out loud while you sit in a dingy hotel room with blinking neon lights flashing outside and the TV set quietly hissing white noise to obscure the ambulance sirens 38 floors below.

While you're here, read this funny little sci-fi story right now in 3 minutes flat, or go get Jim Kelly's BURN, a teriffic sci-fi novella as a FREE download.

Music Industry Cons Judges

2005-12-18T12:33:00.002+11:00

A while ago, peer-to-peer filesharing site Kazaa was found guilty of the ludicrous charge of 'encouraging copyright infringement', which is the equivalent of saying that Sony is guilty of encouraging copyright infringement by selling VHS recorders. See EFF: MGM vs Grokster.

Kazaa's response was to block all Australian users, but MIPI, the Australian music industry nazis who won the last round despite all logic, have now launched a new charge that "Kazaa didn't comply with court orders by simply shutting down Australian user access instead of filtering keywords as instructed". Like, what better filter can there be than turning the darn thing off?

Help Electronic Frontiers Australia fight this bloody minded persecution.

Virgin Lactic?

2005-12-15T17:42:00.000+11:00

Richard Branson has an eye for publicity and technology. He's just signed a 20-year deal for a New Mexico spaceport to handle sub-orbital flights for The Spaceship Company, in conjunction with Bert Rutan, who last year managed to get one of his Scaled Composites planes to the edge of the atmosphere. So far so good. But the new logo for Virgin Galactic, based on Richard Branson's own iris and designed by Phillipe Starck, is a real clanger. First up, it's ugly. Secondly, it's a wank. Lastly, it reads like 'Lactic' instead of 'Galactic'. Not so Gala... Maybe Mr Starck should go back to designing tea pots.

Stream Your Jukebox

2005-12-15T01:41:00.000+11:00

Want to be able to access your home/office computer from anywhere on the net? Of course you do...but your ISP dynamically reallocates IP addresses, so you never know how to reach it...you need a 'static IP address' just like a commercial website.

Go to Dynamic DNS and set up a free static IP address. You can pick a name like myname.dyndns.org and link it to your current 'dynamic' IP address. Use this program to keep the DynDNS server updated and your myname address will always find your machine...nice.

Once you have a static IP address, your machine can be set up as a web server - so you can do cool stuff - like streaming your mp3 collection over the net so you can listen to it at work. SlimServer will stream your iTunes library over the net...and it's free, too!

Or how about hosting your webcam pics to check on the house during the holidays? Easy: Get a security monitor program (Mac / PC 1, 2) and read this Engadget article.

Want to get really funky? Run RealVNC on your home computer and your work computer. Now you can sit at work and actually see and navigate your home computer just as if you were there...also works over Ethernet...bloody awesome and free as well.

Want to check your current IP address right now? Click here.

The Price Of Monopoly

2005-12-13T22:25:00.000+11:00

I bought a kilo of apples the other day and that worked out to nearly a dollar an apple! WTF? We keep hearing about the apple industry going broke and yet, Australians are paying extortionist prices for produce. A recent parliamentary urgent motion asked to investigate why growers get as little as 32 cent a kilo, yet the retail price is over $4. That's a one-thousand-two-hundred percent markup, folks!

Our Coles/Woollies supermarket monopoly buys 70% of all fruit and simply dictates the price they'll pay. Clearly these people are in collusion and pushed the price to the limit. The local stores follow suit. Result: 'An apple a day' has gone off the menu. Sadly, instead of fighting these rip-off merchants publicly and leveraging the goodwill of every Aussie mum against them, apple producers are busting a gut to please the monopoly.

And to top it off, they run the most pathetic advertising I have seen for a long time. This TV ad is total crap. The radio (1, 2) is equally dreadful. Why is it that when people advertise fruit and vegetables, all concepts of well-defined brand image and strong creative execution go out the window? What's the difference between selling lollies and selling fruit? The advertising.

Shoot The Breeze

2005-12-12T22:27:00.000+11:00

RealPlayer to MP3

2005-12-10T17:15:00.000+11:00

Listening to RealPlayer audio streams is a pain, because you can't save or search the track. But if RealPlayer is the only choice, at least use the ad and spyware free BBC version, which they had especially made for their listeners. Then head over to Swen's blog to learn how to convert RealPlayer streams to MP3 files.

But here's another way: Grab a free LAME program to create MP3 files, (try Lamebrain for Mac OSX) and find a program that captures all current system sound into a file, like the excellent WireTap does in Mac OSX. (Try here for Windows audio.) Now record the RealPlayer stream into a file as it's streaming, then convert into MP3 with the LAME tool. Done.

KGB Tactics

2005-12-10T16:42:00.000+11:00

"OK we're gonna lock you up and throw away the key, and you can't dispute your case because we can't tell you what the charges are ...that's a state secret." WTF???

Four years down the road, Jane Mayer, staff writer for The New Yorker and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, give an update (13meg mp3) on the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Via WNYC.

Girly Phone Special

2005-12-10T04:40:00.000+11:00

Ladies, do you know how to transfer files to your mobile? Do you realise the potential? Become master of your own phone. Enjoy downloading your own FREE ringtones, wallpapers, logos, Java games and...wait for it...even a vibrator!

"A free vibrator...yes, but how?" I hear you drool. By obtaining a clever little Java application that turns on your phone's vibrating alert...for as long as it takes. Now girls, do not pay $5.99 for this item! Download the tiny Open Source program for free by clicking here. Try it now.

That was painless, wasn't it. Now you have a rather exciting little file called 'OpenD.jar' that you need to transfer to your phone. Here's how to do that via Bluetooth in Windows, or via InfraRed. On a new Mac, just set your Bluetooth phone to 'Discoverable', then open Bluetooth File Exchange, Browse for the device, and transfer the file to the Java directory on your phone. Done.

So simple, and it certainly saves embarassing moments at the airport.

Pixel Perfect

2005-12-10T01:00:00.000+11:00

There's something forever charming about pixel art. This on-screen Lego look dates back to the original 8-bit machines - and it's so cool, it's become a genre of its own. Based on isometric projection, this rather painstaking technique was key to the success of Sim City and many other games.

Leading the designer's pack are the masters of the pixel at Eboy with their amazingly intricate city scene posters. You can build a pixel town right now, or use this pixel art tool to experiment. Maybe head on over to IsoCity and see at what other people have built, or download a few Pixel Fonts.

Amazing Murals

2005-12-10T00:15:00.000+11:00

Suffering from blank walls and ugly architecture? Call Eric Grohe to provide a whole new outlook. Awesome work.

Digital Media Fest

2005-12-06T10:55:00.000+11:00

Oops, nearly forgot. Register here for the Digital Media Festival, from Dec 6-8 at the Sydney Exhibition Centre.

The Regurgitator

2005-12-05T01:16:00.000+11:00

Ben Frost's art shows no mercy. Also available on beer coasters!

Banned Ads

2005-12-01T16:27:00.000+11:00

Often, the most direct and hard hitting advertising ever created bites the dust before its time. Usually, it's the client that chickens out before the ad is even made, preferring 'something a little less confronting' to instant cut-through visibility. Some sneak through and get banned after going public. Here is where you find them.

Stroke For Stroke

2005-12-01T15:59:00.000+11:00

I would kill to be able to paint like this guy. Or this one. Can't do much better than that...classic and simple.

Turning Japanese

2005-11-30T01:05:00.000+11:00

After WWII, toys became the international 'foot in the door' for a new Japanese industry. From there, consumer electronics became the key to prosperity. Today, Japanese carmakers like Honda and Toyota lead the world in consumer robotics - the next big thing.

Meanwhile, Otaku have created a vast platform for a future-tech inspired rush of creativity that is influencing the rest of the world. We're falling in love with the exaggerated eye proportions of Anime and Manga, today making significant inroads into the video market.

Model Gundam mecha and action figures are huge. The hottest items in toy shops are based on robotics. Last year's biggest seller was Robosapien. This year's version 2 looks even better. And on April 2007, Dreamcast will release Transformers as a feature movie. Welcome to the 21st century.

Pacification

2005-11-28T13:42:00.000+11:00

SculptureByTheSea

2005-11-27T19:41:00.000+11:00

If you haven't been able to make it to the annual Sculpture By The Sea exhibition at Bondi Beach, do yourself a favour and go! It's a great walk from Bronte to Bondi along the cliff tops. There are some great shots of this year's entrants here. I love this one.
By the way: Don't forget Resfest Sydney Dec 1-6 and check out the Sydney Festival for lots of fun outings during January.

Tasteless Menus

2005-11-27T18:43:00.000+11:00

People respond to good design. Former Sony chairman Norio Ohga said, “At Sony, we assume that all products of our competitors have basically the same technology, price, performance, and features. Design is the only thing that differentiates one product from another in the marketplace.”

The other day, a Sydney top chef asked me to quote on the design of new menus and assorted paraphernalia for his swanky new restaurant. When I told him the price, he recoiled in horror. "But it's nearly just typesetting" he cried. "Well, I don't do typesetting", I replied. "I do design that happens to include typography and gives you a unique, stylish way to present your expensive culinary delights to a design-conscious clientele". He went off bargain shopping at the local printers, and no doubt his customers will soon be wondering if the food will be as tasteless as the menus.

Good design makes it easy to digest information, connects with your audience, differentiates and ultimately sells more product. If you achieve this, the design work is cheap at any price. You only get one chance to impress the customer. "And now...(drum roll)....we don't look like crap no more" doesn't actually work.

Happy Mannequin

2005-11-25T13:10:00.000+11:00

Propa Ganda

2005-11-25T12:40:00.000+11:00

Well it's stunk to high heaven from day one, but the reality of the scale of deceptions by the Bush administration in pushing for a war in Iraq is finally coming into ugly perspective. It really makes you wonder, doesn't it? Media manipulation par excellence.

Airline Insecurity

2005-11-24T15:21:00.000+11:00

Aussie Senator Vanstone shot her mouth off about airline security: "A lot of what we do is to make people feel better as opposed to actually achieve an outcome...Has it ever occurred to you that you just smash your wine glass and jump at someone, grab the top of their head and put it in their carotid artery and ask anything?" Senator Vanstone said. "And believe me, you will have their attention. I think of this every time I see more money for the security agencies."

Absolutely right, Amanda. About time someone stood up and said it straight that most of the security procedures people have to endure these days are a complete load of baloney. Everybody thinks so. Nobody says so....Just a pity you did such a hack job as Ministress for Immigration, otherwise I'd suddenly think you're a bit of alright. Not.

Transformer Car

2005-11-24T00:36:00.000+11:00

Every time this TVC comes on, my 20-month old son jumps up and starts dancing. The car that transforms into a funky robot is a classic...just one thing...I saw it on the tube three times, absolutely loved it, but had no recall afterwards that it was an ad for a Citroen. Typical case of 'great idea overtakes product propositon and brand recall'. The other problem is that the transformer looks really really cool...but when the car snaps together again, it looks really really boring. Pity...the spot rocks.

World Music Local

2005-11-23T23:57:00.000+11:00

My old mate Tommee was born in Sumbawa, Indonesia. Now he's a Bondi Beach local and a globe trotting musician. His eclectic range of instruments, soulful voice and happy music are winning friends all over. Last year, I saw him supporting the John Butler Trio, and Tommee nailed it. After doing Europe and Canada, he's back on the block and will be releasing his new CD at the Woodford Folk Festival in late December. That gig is getting massive, with 2000 performers over 6 days. Good luck, Tommee!

Low Brow Tastes Better

2005-11-23T23:41:00.000+11:00

Not sure about you, but every time I go to a gallery and see yet another piece of splishy splashy wishy washy nothing art with a wanky 2000 word essay to justify it, I just want to puke. Especially at the prices. So I guess that makes me a low brow art fan...which is just fine with me and Shaunna Peterson (above) and Jeff Soto, Gary Taxali, Maria Rendon and the fabulous Clayton Brothers. All good stuff.

Hot and Horny

2005-11-23T02:50:00.000+11:00

The el suprimo of 'large breasted nude devil-horned babes with chequered flags' is undoubtedly Coop. All the hard work on car stickers, tattoos, posters and t-shirts is paying off, because these days, he can spend more time building hot rods, painting and blogging about hot rods and painting. Coop's major gallery pieces now sell for tens of thousands...low brow art at its very finest. But this other guy is moving up fast in the trashy sticker business.

Hacking for Kids

2005-11-22T11:51:00.000+11:00

There's a neat entry at O'Reilly about how people got into computing...most developed their first programming skills on a 48k home computer. These days, everything is pre-packaged and locked up.

We need high tech stuff that's really fun to pull apart and re-build and modify and re-program and want to learn on...Playing Mario Bros doesn't teach you anything. Rewiting Mario Bros does. With ready-made parts and a toe into programming, maybe that's Lego's greatest opportunity.

The projects designed in conjunction with First look excellent...just a pity Australia isn't on the list yet. Talk to their distributors. They're also involved with the RoboCup competition.

Download the free Lego Digital Designer for Mac or PC, other Lego Mac stuff, a hardcore Lego Engineering program, and a massive book on Lego projects.

PS. But this man loved Lego bricks too much for his own good.

Visual Complexity

2005-11-22T01:39:00.000+11:00

Turning complex levels of information into a simple, understandable visuals is an art form in itself. Some of these examples look like something out of Star Trek...incredibly complex and beautiful. It's a brilliant way to search for relationships between subjects, for example the LivePlasma site enables you to search music by shperes of influence: Enter an artist, > Coldplay, and up comes a bunch of bubbles with Radiohead, Grandaddy, White Stripes, Oasis, etc. Click on one of those and the bubbles shift to a new viewpoint. Very clever. But sometimes, that much computing power can look a touch frightening. If you control the data, you rule the planet. Awesome.

World's Best DVDs

2005-11-21T15:27:00.000+11:00

If you're into film and music videos, look no further than the Director's Label series by Palm Pictures. Spike Jonze, Chris Cunningham, Michel Gondry, Hype Williams, Anton Corbijn, Jonathan Glazer, Mark Romanek, Stephane Sednaoui, as well as ResFest compilations.

Look of Today

2005-11-21T13:55:00.000+11:00

Some people have it. Some don't. Lionel Samain has plenty. He couldn't take an old skool portrait if he tried. That's good. Found him on Ludmilla Intravaia's Live from the White House blog, which is where I also found this fab link to an Apple IIe music video of a Grandaddy track, coded by Stewart.

Doon...doon...doon...Snap!

2005-11-21T02:20:00.000+11:00

Had to laugh about this one...good to see Bob Carlos Clarke has come across the same problem.

Musique Electronique

2005-11-21T01:15:00.000+11:00

Hushush in Montreal have some interesting experimental electronic music, as well as an interesting approach to their back catalogue. They've started a collection of deleted, sold out and unreleased tracks at Internet Archive so that you may download them for free at your leisure. Smart move. As my post illustrates, this gives them more kudos than bitching over old copyright and having the tracks gather dust in the cupboard. Pity Sony and Apple don't understand that, insisting on hacking into and breaking your system instead, not to mention invading your privacy and exposing your machine to external mischief...all in the name of greed.

Illustration Junkie

2005-11-20T19:49:00.000+11:00

Love good illustration work...there's a very nice range at NewDivision in London, representing some of the UK's finest...also just stumbled across the witty work of Tara McPherson, the amazing Sergio Baradat and the super stylish, totally awesome Monsieur Z (who is smart enough to offer a free screensaver). For a general browse of worldwide young graphic talent, it's pretty hard to beat DeviantArt. Or search over 1000 illustrators at The iSpot. A little more local, Illustrators Australia showcases some of the best people I've ever worked with.

Emulators

2005-11-19T16:34:00.000+11:00

ZX Spectrum (see last post) emulation on Playstation2 - Play a 1985 home computer on a PS2. How cool is that! Click the pic to download the disk wrapper above, download the 4meg file to burn a PS2 CD. Thanks DreamSpec! Other PS2 emulators are listed here.

Other neat emulations: C64 on Pocket PC, C64 on Palm OS 5.0 (free), Gameboy on Palm, Apple IIe on Palm, ZX Spectrum on Symbian Phone (30-day trial), ZX Spectrum on Pocket PC (free), ZX Spectrum on Palm OS 5.0 (free trial), ZX Spectrum on Palm OS 3.5 (free zip), ZX 81 on a Palm OS 3.5 (free), Gameboy Advance on Palm OS 5.0 (free demo), Atari 2600 on Palm - (free), Atari ST on PS2 or Palm, HP48 Scientific Calculator on Palm OS 5.0 (free).
Emulation is the greatest form of flattery.

Thank You Sir Clive

2005-11-19T02:41:00.000+11:00

My first computer was a Sinclair ZX81. It was mail order only, sold a million units in 2 years, and came with a full 1k of RAM. The keyboard was a plastic membrane, it plugged into my TV, it overheated like crazy and I loved it!

I learned to program in Basic, and soon I wanted a real computer...a Sinclair ZX Spectrum with a massive 48k of memory. Enough to play games, write some programs and even do wordprocessing. Clive Sinclair was the marketing genius who made it all possible. He launched an industry.

Before long, I had a thermal printer, a book on Z80 machine code, an expansion pack, memory cartridges, a joystick, a microdrive, a video capture interface, a speech synth, a MIDI interface and even a computer controlled robot arm. Man, I was rockin'!

If you want to relive your early computer experiences, download an emulator that runs one of these old donks on your brand spanking new Mac or PC. ZX Spectrum, Vic20, Commodore 64, Atari, Amstrad, Sega, Australia's MicroBee, BBC Micro, MSX. Blip...Blip...It's a kack to go back!

Mr Lunch

2005-11-19T02:16:00.000+11:00

After all that glumness in recent posts, we need something refreshing - so bring on J. Otto Seibold, one very funny illustrator who, funnily enough, works in Illustrator. There's a pretty weird website that goes from a really ugly front end to some amazingly groovy pages (Hint: free games and Mac screensavers). I love his Mr Lunch books. They're not just for kids.

Law, but not International

2005-11-19T01:25:00.000+11:00

While it is clearly vital that external and internal threats to our well-being can be met with appropriate measures, we have to wonder about the purity of thought behind our shiny new anti-terrorist legislation. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is the standard all civilised countries strive to fulfill...yet for some inexplicable reason, this is neither included, nor are details made public.

During the senate inquiry, Senator Kerry Nettle asked: "If there's no damage done to the legislation by inserting the ICCPR in there, would you accept that there's a benefit in doing that, because it is clear for everyone that it complies with the ICCPR?"...and like the rest of Australia, she didn't get a straight answer either.

Rummy Go Home

2005-11-18T03:56:00.000+11:00

Donald Rumsfeld, the man who invented the Weapons of Mass Destruction scam and led the world to war, is doing Adelaide. Needless to say, the locals are not happy about it. "G'day Rummy, how's the white phosphor bombin' goin'?...And the oil shares doin' ok?...Good onya mate!"

Location is Everything

2005-11-18T02:36:00.001+11:00

Find Australian placenames, latitude/longitude and maps, greater circle distance between locations, as well as local street maps at Maporama, or via the White Pages.

I'm at Latitude -33.89 / Longitude 151.26. And here's the sky above my head right now. And the time my Sun will rise and my Moon will shine...and let's not forget the brightest satellites that will pass over my head today!

Neat huh? Try your own sky search here.

ReWired

2005-11-18T02:23:00.000+11:00

Scary switchboard...I know someone with fried synapses like that.

Motoring's Finest

2005-11-16T12:50:00.000+11:00

German engineering and design was always ahead of its time, and surely, this is proof. It won't be long before we're all back in a funky little Messerschmitt, Heinkel, or BMW Isetta...it will be the latest craze and this time round, will run on batteries or hydrogen fuel cells. I want a bubble car!

Ugly Missions Inc

2005-11-16T11:18:00.000+11:00

Thermobaric weapons quote "almost invariable lead to civilian deaths. The Soviet Union was heavily criticized for using thermobaric weapons in Afghanistan because they were held to constitute "disproportionate force". According to Human Rights Watch, thermobaric weapons "kill and injure in a particularly brutal manner over a wide area and make it virtually impossible for civilians to take shelter from their destructive effect."...and that, folks, is the very same weapon the US now prefer to use in Iraq on a daily basis.

Top DJs 2005

2005-11-15T01:31:00.000+11:00

DJ magazine ran a survey, and 130,000 people responded to produce the list of Top 100 DJs for 2005. One to ten are: Paul Van Dyk, Tiesto, Armen van Buuren, Sasha, Ferry Corsten, John Digweed, Hernan Cattaneo, Deep Dish, ATB and Carl Cox. Amazing, because I've got most of them on chart topping CD's from well over ten years ago! Now where did I put that 808...

100% Child Proof

2005-11-15T01:04:00.000+11:00

Little kids are wonderful, but no matter how sweet and cute, they'll do everything they can to drive you nuts. I've seen our 20-month old develop a holler that makes your milk go sour...and yes, I DO appreciate what you go through being at home with him 24/7... I've just found someone with the knack to express all those crazy, maddening, lovable family moments day by day, blow by blow, on this very funny blog. You are not alone.

Psycho Thrillers

2005-11-14T10:42:00.000+11:00

Wolf Creek is being lauded as one of Australia's finest. But I'm not convinced. Based on a supposedly true story of three tourists gone missing in the outback, the film soon dabbles in the supernatural "Uh, my watch has stopped"..."Yes, mine, too" that simply stays unexplained. What does that have to do with 'true story'? The car breaks down, and the three are 'rescued', only to find themselves drugged and bound.

That's when the horror begins. We dive into twenty minutes of 'dark night vs dizzy flashlight' Blair Witch Project, followed by a bit of Hannibal Lecter with an Aussie twist. But unlike Silence of the Lambs, or even Saw, this movie ignores that a good psycho thriller needs a nasty, slow, brain twisting intimacy to make the 'psycho' part really work. John Jarret plays Mick, the mad bushman, quite convincingly, but this movie needs him in close-up, fucking with your head. The insane twitch of the eye. The crunch of knife on bone. A simple wide shot of 'stick knife into spine' is a wasted opportunity. It could have been really, really horrible, instead of so-so. And like this review, it needs a decent ending.

One more thing. If you're a struggling Aussie movie and you want people to go to your website, you don't make the front end of your site with the very latest Macromedia 8, forcing people to go download a new plug-in just to see your promo.

Up, up and away

2005-11-14T03:07:00.000+11:00

Not Politically Correct

2005-11-14T02:00:00.000+11:00

Quite frankly, I can't stand watching the footy and swilling beer at the pub isn't exactly my kind of fun...but BlokesWorld is the Aussie TV show that may turn me into an ocker after all. It has defied gravity and programming ettiquette for four years and gone from strength to strength; after being initially knocked back by every station in the land.

Raison d'etre? It's so goddam real. Totally unashamed to 'let a bloke be a bloke'. They ride fat bikes, race slot cars, rate their favourite pole dancers, do burnouts in the ute and take the piss out of the lot. Ben Wah you rock!

In a way, BlokesWorld is typical, because it's the kind of success that could never be dreamed up by a bunch of wankers who spend their lives trying to turn every television experience into an art form. That's a lesson many ad agencies don't seem to get their heads around either - it's called "Understand your target audience". Often, good taste has nothing to do with it.

The After Math

2005-11-13T22:45:00.000+11:00

Here's a neat collection of posters that help raise funds for Hurricane Katrina (1,302 dead). Now we really should have had the same effort for the victims of the Boxing Day Tsunami (270,000 dead), and the earthquake in Kashmir (79,000 dead).

But then, most people don't know where Kashmir is, let alone Banda Aceh, Indonesia...and there ain't no oil there...so I guess it just don't matter to those awfully nice folks in Utah City. After all, they're still struggling with what to do with all those pesky New Orleans people that were evicted from their homes while they were forced to stay out of town.

While we're doing disaster maths, consider Operation Iraq Liberation, which was started over the World Trade Center attack (2,986 dead), which (mis)led to the war (80-100,000 Iraq soldiers, over 30,000 civilians, over 2,000 allied troops dead), at a cost of over USD $200,000,000,000 so far.

Crikey, that's well on the way to Gallipoli statistics, which killed 180,000 allied troops, including 10,000 ANZACS and 220,000 Turks. Wonder when Mel Gibson will do a movie about this latest botch job?

Modern Art

2005-11-11T14:19:00.000+11:00

"Whattissit?" "Post Modern, mate." "Yes well, I can see the post."

Sony Caveat Emptor

2005-11-11T02:33:00.000+11:00

Bought any Sony DRM protected CD's lately? Sucked in. If you've played them on your PC, they've secretly installed dodgy software without your permission...when you try to remove it, it breaks your system...and another dodgy scheme sends info back to Sony about your activities, without your consent! The legalese that comes with the CD's is an absolute fucking joke. Bad buy. Zero points. Don't do it!

But wait, there's more...now they're developing a new games protection system that will only let a game play on the playstation that first registered it...that means if your kid wants to take a game to a friend's place, it won't play on the other machine. And you won't be able to trade it in or sell it when you're tired of it. How pathetically greedy are these people? Have they no consumer research? The highest recommendation for a game purchase is when your kid's mate comes over and says "Check this out"...and the next day, you can bet your bottom dollar, your kid will want one, too.

This is just as tight arsed as Apple limiting your song purchases from iTunes Stores so that they will only play back on Apple gear...my advice is to get your music elsewhere. PS How to really enjoy your iPod.

Open Source Office

2005-11-10T05:48:00.000+11:00

Need a new wordprocessor, spreadsheet and presentation software that's industry compatible, but resent the fact that Bill Gates makes more money than most developing nations? Download OpenOffice. It does everything Bill's does, except it's absolutely free.
And get Firefox...the free browser that runs rings around Explorer.
Now if somebody could just come up with an open source replacement for George Bush, we'd have it sorted!

Making Waves

2005-11-10T04:47:00.000+11:00

Somebody's made a Software Radio. It's revolutionising the broadcasting market, because it's all digital, highly flexible - and allows thousands of networks to use the same frequency band without interference.
Which is bad news for broadcasting authorities who've flogged off spectrum allocations for big bucks, and for the carriers who spent up big to monopolise the market. Suddenly, everybody asks: With no spectrum limitations, why can't I set up my own radio or TV station? Why indeed?

King Kong Hit

2005-11-10T00:37:00.000+11:00

Yes, King Kong is coming. Peter Jackson's follow-up to 'Lord of the Rings' is being released Dec 14. The promo site is interesting, because along with the usual blurb, they have a video Production Diary, that takes you through a week-by-week post production progress report, starting some 33 weeks prior to release. If you're into film production, this is like a mini course you don't want to miss.

Masters of War

2005-11-10T00:01:00.000+11:00

Last night I watched the Martin Scorcese documentary on Bob Dylan - 'No Direction Home'. It blew me away. Made me want to pick up the guitar, write a protest song, make a difference. Dylan was the rapper of his day. Sadly, these lyrics are at least as true today as they were over 40 years ago:

You've thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain't worth the blood
That runs in your veins

It's worth a quick detour to read the rest of Dylan's Masters of War.
Here's a better thing to do with bombs.

Formation Flying

2005-11-09T23:50:00.000+11:00

A favourite....like a flash animation sequence, only real.

Font Fondness

2005-11-09T23:38:00.000+11:00

Luc Devroye of the School of Computer Science, McGill University, Montreal, has what I can only describe as the most brilliantly disseminated, comprehensive and informative web site on the entire planet regarding fonts, font creators and typography. If it's not there, it probably doesn't exist.

Going Digital

2005-11-03T22:36:00.000+11:00

I've been helping a photographer friend make the transition from shooting film to going digital. It's a rocky road for an analogue guy, used to relying on his knowledge of film and the assistance of pro labs. Once you shoot digital, the entire production chain comes in house, and with it, the requirement to become an instant Mac guru, colour grader, retoucher and printer. People say "Oh, shooting digital should be so much cheaper", but they're missing the point. Pro quality takes time and effort via any method.
Hey Canon, I want one of those and a couple of these, too!

Open Library Project

2005-11-03T22:13:00.000+11:00

At a time when commercial pressure is creating ever more draconian copyright laws, it's good to see the good guys get one up. The Open Library project aims to bring a million out of print books online in their original page by page format. Hopefully, one day it will be amazing...at the moment, it looks like it's been designed by an 80 year-old librarian.

Desktop Sydney Harbour

2005-11-03T21:51:00.000+11:00

Here's a shot I did a while ago to try a time exposure. Sydney Harbour by night is 1024x768. Click the pic, then save to your machine.

Lost Baggage

2005-11-03T21:33:00.000+11:00

Louis Vuitton recently opened a new building in Paris. The initial stunt was a giant suitcase out front, hiding nasty scaffolding. Nice idea.
Now they've opened the store with a campaign of bare breasted ladies sitting in shop windows. I'm definitely no prude, but this is 1) not original, 2) poorly done and 3) reeks of desperately try hard and tacky. Looks like the girls from Ghana aren't really enjoying it, either.

Net Savvy Teens

2005-11-03T21:25:00.000+11:00

There's a lot of marketing talk about targeting and delivering the teen audience. Sadly, most miss by a mile. This report screams opportunity for creative, internet-savvy marketers: "Fully half of all teens and 57% of teens who use the internet could be considered Content Creators. They have created a blog or webpage, posted original artwork, photography, stories or videos online or remixed online content into their own new creations." Just have to figure out how to put'em to work.

Go Hose Less

2005-10-28T00:27:00.000+10:00

Here's my community awareness campaign concept for the Australian summer. Please pass it on!

Oil Profits Up

2005-10-28T00:22:00.000+10:00

Shell has just announced its third-quarter profit grew 67 percent, revenue rose 8 percent to $76.44 billion. "We are capturing the benefits of high oil and gas prices and refining margins," CFO Peter Voser said...Do these people ever get embarrassed?

Containers are Go!

2005-10-19T01:04:00.000+10:00

Let's just call it - "My photographic tribute to Jeffrey Smart". Should be worth an absolute shipload, don't you think?

Wordology

2005-10-18T23:47:00.000+10:00

Writer's block? Need a fast lyric? Getting paid big bucks but can't spell to save your life? Don't Panic...Look it up in a straight dictionary or an alternative dictionary. Top up with some hip and geeky urban slang. Sprinkle it with the odd oxymoron and toss in a couple of idioms. Maybe add some fabulous insults. Then simply make it rhyme or do a rap. Instant theme song...Too easy.

Don't just sit there

2005-10-18T23:08:00.000+10:00

Do something...Go make an ASCII Image. Stick some letters on an internet fridge door. Grab a funny cigarette and stare at some optical illusions. Build an amazingly intricate paper model. Roll your own stopframe animation or just sit back and marvel at the absolutely boredom of others during the making this painstakingly executed and rather excellent Fast Film.