internet
The Streisand Effect
I learned something new today. The Streisand Effect is what happens when you try and shut something down online and as a result everyone finds out about it and loads more people see it than would have if you’d kept your mouth shut. It’s…
Things to do to escape your computer (or TV)
…hire a bike or roller skates or a boat. Please help by adding to this in the comments. Following on from this weekend’s activities. I’ve been thinking about what a great bunch of things Jason set me to do. All could be done with little…
Earning Eternal Respect In 48 Hours The Twitter Way
I had a fun weekend this weekend. Thanks to a number of things. 1. Weekends are good anyway. 2. The weather was pretty nice. 3. I did normal stuff with Sophie like have nice lunches. Laze around. Drink a bit of wine. Get some chores done…
Scott Wayne Indiana – Nice Web Art
Scott Wayne Indiana sent me a nice email and a couple of links to his sites. The first one is his photo a day project – http://coinop.tumblr.com/. I really like them. That’s one of them above. He also sent a link to 39 Forks which is a…
Do Not Erase The Internet
Spotted this on the whiteboard at the end of the office a few days ago. I’ve not shown the full details as it would be giving away some top secret next level code. Or something like that.…
Shoreditch Free Wi-Fi Campagn – FON
Spotted this sticker this morning near work. On closer inspection shoreditchwifi.com is an initiative by Fon to deliver shared Wi-Fi to Shoreditch. They say: This is a project to create a Free WiFi area for Shoreditch, so that local…
Political Update Profile Message
Spotted this on the Hype Machine today. I’m not even sure what it means. But it shows just how far political campaigning has become integrated into the fabric of the web. What’s next? Political allegiance verification messages before you…
Credit Crunch Minimix
To try and lift everyone’s spirits I’ve put together a little (30min) mix of uplifting feel-good tracks to see if I can raise the mood of the internet. It’s a mix of styles from soul / mashups / hiphop / drum and bass / other so there’s…
Credit Crunch Pricing – Free Internet and Coffee!
The economies of the world may be crumbling, but on Brick Lane you can now get Free Coffee and Internet. We’ll be OK.…
10 Things I Love About Blip.fm
I said I was going to write a megapost on Blip.fm. Here it is. Here’s what Blip say you get out of it on their homepage: And so far it’s really working for me. If you like the sound of it join up here: http://blip.fm/invite/iaintait It’s…
Creative Similarities?
On the David Elsewhere stuff Tim just commented: I liked spike’s version from a year or two ago. With a link to this video: It’s a different thing doing a different job. But I can see how one would perhaps make you think of the other. For…
Google Maps Gets Better and Better
Maybe I’ve just been using the internet with my eyes half shut. And I’ve no idea how long it’s been there for. But the overlaying of photos and Wikipedia entries to the standard Google Maps offering is really nice.…
Is It Just Me…
Or has the language of dots next to something taken on a meaning that perhaps it didn’t have before… When I spotted this in the window of a hotel I thought to myself: “How odd that they’re promoting the fact that their facilities are only…
Email From A Hero
I just got an email out of the blue from Don Norman. He’s a dude. He wrote a great book called the Design of Everyday Things, a book that I love dearly. Apparently he’s been using the above photo that I took years ago at the Aladdin Hotel…
The Orange Balloon Race – Playballoonacy.com
Here’s the start of another major thing that we’ve been working on for Orange for a while now… Registration is now open for the first Balloon Race Across the Internet. Visit: playballoonacy.com Basically we’re going to set off loads of…
Teabuddy Scandal Alert
Ouch. I really want to nip this one in the bud before it gets out of hand… George Parker (who’s work and brutal honesty I admire a great deal) has written a rather fruity post about something that I wasn’t going to comment on. Basically I…
Don’t Count Me (dot com)
Actually when it says pre-Alpha, I think it’s more like pre-vapourware, but this is an open call to all the inventors and brilliant people out there. Will someone please invent a web-hit-deleter. A few times recently (in fact twice today…
My Talk at Under The Influence
Here’s the talk I did at Iris’ excellent Under the Influence day. It’s basically about digital experiences and magic and how the two are interconnected. Hope it’s OK – from my perspective I think it wanders a bit at the end (I sort of ran…
10 Things I Learned from Mental Detox Week
If you’ve just arrived here from AdBusters you might also be interested in what I got up to this weekend – I did still use the Internet a little bit – but it’s primarily a bunch of offline stuff that I did started by an online thing… Might…
Crayon Madness
This is the kind of thing you miss when you’re away from the Internet: Color + Design Blog / All 120 Crayon Names, Color Codes and Fun Facts by COLOURlovers All 120 Crayola crayon colours in Hex and RGB along with their original names and…
I’m Chatting at Under The Influence
Iris are putting on an interesting event next week in London. It’s totally free so go and sign up if you like the look of it. It’s called Under the Influence and it’s 20 talks spread around 5 pubs in Borough Market. Each one has a…
Google Visualisation Gadgets – Cool
I discovered the world of visualisation gadgets through this excellent blog: http://digitalurban.blogspot.com/ They’re things that can basically turn a table full of boring data into interactive gadgets that you can publish and share as…
Techno Viking in Oil – Painting Internet Memes
This guy paints scenes from Internet memes. He used to paint scenes from video games. But he’s moved on. You can buy them at Etsy. Unfortunately Techno Viking has sold out, or else it would be mine right now. Thanks Jonathan for the
4×4 Meme: More About Me
I got tagged by blackbeltjones with the 4×4 meme. So I rolled over and became a part of it. Plus it gives me a chance for some totally self-absorbed and pointless blogging. It looks like this meme has mutated a bit over time, but I’m going…
What is a Charticle?
I was reading a piece in the New York Times about goings-on at Gawker when I came across this quote from Choire Sicha (the outgoing managing editor as far as I can tell): “I don’t want to write a top 10 list in my life, ever. I don’t want…
Monkeys and Drums and Stuff
Scamp has written a really good piece about ideas and their appropriation by advertising. It specifically talks about the Cadbury’s Gorilla and the fact that it was originally pitched to someone else, and there was once a drumming Gorilla…
Hot or Not Still Hot
I forgot Hot or Not. Well I didn’t forget it as such. Who could forget the hottest site of the early noughties. But at the same time I’d assumed it was pretty much stagnating in Internet history. But according to Techcrunch: HotOrNot…
Facebook and ‘The Man’
This article from the Guardian seemed to be the most visible thing on the Internet round these parts yesterday: With friends like these… by Tom Hodgkinson Facebook has 59 million users – and 2 million new ones join each week. But you won’t…
How To Do Digital Planning
I’ve been trying to post something like this for a few months now. But it kept morphing into a badly researched history of planning mixed with a poor how-to guide. And of course I kept veering off into bloody flag-waving about how digital…
Why Marketeers Are Too Excited About Facebook
I almost can’t bring myself to write about Facebook. Everywhere I go I overhear people talking about Facebook. From people in the street on their phones talking to people about how they’re going to Facebook them to arrange a night out, to…
Ceefax Dashboard Widget
This is so cool. It’s a dashboard widget of live Ceefax! I’m going to keep it installed as a way of counting my blessings. Every time I get annoyed at the Internet being slow I’ll try to find the same thing out on Ceefax. It’s been around…
The Internet (now in handy book form!)
David McCandless has been doing bits and pieces for Poke as long as Poke’s been around. In fact he’s written lots of the funnier words on the funnier projects that we’ve done. So it’s nice that someone gave him a book deal. And if he can…
The Crimternet
Image pilfered from here. A Dutch teenager has been arrested for allegedly stealing virtual furniture from “rooms” in Habbo Hotel, a 3D social networking website. The BBC cover the story here. It’s slightly more sinister than you might…
This Internet Will Never Catch On
Following on from the Eva Pascoe and Tony Wilson post the other day. So many great moments, I really like the bit about emoticons… “Turn your head to the left… A little frowny face…”. Classic.
Zoo Advertising
What is it about Zoo advertising. This is the 3rd Zoo ad I’ve posted on here. This time it’s the San Francisco Zoo. I guess this is really just a press ad turned into a short movie, but given the costs of putting something on the Internet…
Sometimes I Just Want to Cry
Or alternatively just shout really loud bad words in public. This morning I’m not going to cry. I’m going to shout. CAMPAIGN MAGAZINE PARTS THE SEA OF ONES AND ZEROS AND LEADS THE ADLANDERS INTO THE NEW LAND OF OPPORTUNITY. WHERE THERE’S…
Live Internet Streaming Man
Pretty soon we’ll all be like this. Photo from KK+ on Flickr. UPDATE: If you want to do live streaming from your phone keep your eyes peeled for Flixwagon. Eran popped by with news of a soon-to-launch startup, see comments for more.…
Tony Wilson and Eva Pascoe on the Internet
Awesome footage. Eva Pascoe (founder of Cyberia and member of the digerati) tells Tony Wilson all about the internet. [Update: Thanks to Steve for the link to the newer better version of the video – nice one mate]
Twitter / cookbook
And for anyone who doubted the usefulness of Twitter, the Internet brings you… Twitter / cookbook – 140 character recipes. via: kottke.org
JML on the Internet
I don’t know why I love JML, I just do. It’s something about their no-nonsense straightforward approach. As well as the fact that all their products are miracles of modern innovation! Next time I’m confronted with a bunch of people fawning…
Blogger Relations – Learning By Doing
I just got a nice mail from the people I mentioned (or rather didn’t mention) below. It went a bit like this: With head hung suitably ashamed, a very valid response to my earlier request – you’re right, blogger relations is certainly an…
Will It Blend vs Invincible Chuck Norris
Two meme mashups in just one day. Internet you are really spoiling us… Thanks Knotty!
Internet People – The Meta Viral
Job done. Absolutely superb.
Internet Now Working
Yeah, that’s what they say… I don’t think it’s strictly true though. I always liked with Tim Berners-Lee’s quote about the Internet always being “a little bit broken”. (Read more at The Cluetrain Manifesto – it’s in the bit about the…
I Love Unlikely Internet Heroes
I always feel a bit lame blogging stuff that’s been on BoingBoing, but I couldn’t resist Ronald Jenkees. Read their post for more details.
Weinberger vs Keen @ Supernova
Really interesting 50 minute presentation and discussion by David Weinberger (Cluetrain Manifesto, Small Pieces Loosely Joined, Everything is Miscellaneous) and Andrew Keen (Cult of the Amateur). I’m not going to try and sum up the…
Recruitment Musings
This is a tough, slightly reflective post to write. It’s very much a brain dump, the start of some thoughts rather than anything resolved. I’m hoping that some of the smart people out there on the internet will add to it and help these…
Faris and Me on TV
Well not really TV, but it is sort of like TV on the Internet… This time I’ve actually managed to watch myself, so I’m making progress. I didn’t like it, but I did manage to stomach it. It’s from the Ideas Forum thing that Faris and I…
Dramatic Chipmunk (or Prairie Dog)
Lauded as ‘the best 5 second clip on the Internet’ – and you know what, they might be right: Then come the literally hundreds of ‘remixes’… Silent Movie: Kill Bill: Star Wars: It’s a gift that just keeps on giving… If you want to see the…
The Slowternet
I’ve been using a ‘high-speed’ Internet connection in a Romanian hotel. Thing is, it’s not really high-speed at all. I hadn’t realised just how much I take broadband (at decent speed) for granted. I’ve been trying to think of a good way to…
Ideas Forum in Bucharest
I’ve been in Romania for the last few days. Which has been really interesting. I’ve been getting to hang out with Russell and Faris, which is always a nice thing. We’ve been talking at a thing called the ‘ideas forum’…
Spot the Bull
This is one of my favourite projects of recent times. It ticks all of the boxes that get me excited about the work Poke do. It’s a simple idea, that hasn’t been done before (as far as I can tell). We were basically tasked by Orange to come…
LOLwhut?
It’s silly season. I don’t know where to start with this. I don’t think I can describe it. Basically there’s a new trend for putting ‘baddly spelld capshunz’ over odd photos. If they’re photos of cats (or katz) they’re called LOLcats, if…
10 Reasons Why Digital is Better Than Advertising – Number 10
Of course there are brilliant people in advertising who ‘get it’ too. And blatantly you don’t have to be a web-obsessed geek to come up with interesting interactive ideas. But naturally it becomes easier to consider this world if you spend…
The Daddy of All Secret Clubs…
Following the post about secret clubs, posters like this have just started going up for Secret Sundaze (one of the original new wave of oudoor / warehouse parties). It doesn’t get much more secret than that. If you’re smart you might be…
Online Drama – Prom Queen
I didn’t really know where to start with this one. Prom Queen is a new 80 episode Internet-only drama. Here’s the facts: Each episode is just over 2 minutes long and features pre and post-roll ads – a couple of seconds pre and about 10…
Widgets, Dials, Switches and More
Yesterday I was looking for some pictures of ‘counters’ to use in a presentation, Nik sent me this blog: No Ideas But In Things It’s a blog of photos about real-world interface elements. Incredibly single-minded and focused. But for me…
10 Reasons Why Digital is Better Than Advertising – Number 2
OK, you have to know some stuff to put things on the Internet, but not that much. Just look at the people in 80% of YouTube videos, do they look like they know how to do complicated computer stuff? Or use a VCR? Or open a tin? In spite of…
I’ve never seen this before…
I was searching for “Sothern Trains” and I got this error from Google. Quite a surprise. Google is one of those services you expect never to give you an error. And when something odd happens it doesn’t feel like a brand letting you down…
Venice Project Becomes Joost
The project formerly known as The Venice Project has now turned into Joost. It’s the latest venture from the guys behind Skype and in a nutshell it hopes to do to television what Skype did to telephones. As they put it: ‘taking the best of…
The Dumbness of Crowds
I’ve not linked to Creating Passionate Users for a while. As it’s probably the smartest blog in the entire universe I like to link to something now and again. This post on the misappropriation of ‘the wisdom of crowds’ is a classic…
More Internet Scribblings in the Real World
What a shame. From a pub toilet near Spittalfields. Which also had the great line writ large on the wall “England isn’t competitive”. Which I thought was rather profound.
Poke: Seeking Creative Director
Poke are hiring. We’re looking for a new creative director. It’s a nice place to work, or at least I think so. We’re looking for someone quite particular. If you’re interested, or think you know someone who might be, please take a look at…
Participation Inequality
Participation Inequality: Lurkers vs. Contributors in Internet Communities. Jakob Nielsen’s piece on the split between lurkers, synthesisers and creators. He puts it at a 90-9-1 rule. But has some other interesting examples, like blogging…
Holidays, Blitzen and Blogsitting
It’s been a few days. But I am on holiday. For some reason whenever I go away people say “you’re always on holiday”, but I promise I’m not. Regardless here’s where I am: Algund-Lagundo – it’s a lovely place, but slightly odd; it’s in…
Join the Darknet
The Swedish Pirate Party has launched a service that lets anyone send files or information over the Internet without fear of being monitored or logged. Technically they say, this is called a “darknet”. I could spend a lot of time…
Dell Blog
I’m a bit behind on this one but Dell have started a corporate blog. It’s getting very mixed coverage: Good(ish): Scobleizer – Tech Geek Blogger » Four little links say volumes at Dell site Pretty bad: Micro Persuasion: Dell Starts…
Holiday
Oh yes, I’m on holiday. Sorry forgot to say. I’m in Thailand and I vowed I wouldn’t go near a computer for 2 weeks, but there was just one little tiny thing that I needed to use the internet for… That’s my resolution blown then. Back soon x
Ugly Design Works
This is an interesting debate. I think I might not share it with some of my colleagues for fear of inciting a mini-riot Ugly Design Works… Most Web Designers Miss the Point. I do think there’s some truth in it though (eBay anyone?). It…
Zombie Infection Simulation
Sometimes I see things online and it makes me think. “I love the Internet”, and I love the crazy, crazy, eccentric freaks that inhabit it. The Zombie Infection Simulation is one of those things. I’ve got no idea why this exists, apart from…
Sorrell vs. Murdoch
Interesting Reuters article from a couple of weeks ago. Martin Sorrell talks about how media companies are running scared of the new new media. But perhaps most interesting is his criticism of News Corp’s recent acquisitions.…