humour

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After the merely luke-warm reception of Microsoft’s previous offer of free phones to Bloggers, the Redmont company has now adapted their marketing strategy for their upcoming mobile phone project. Tranferring Vista’s “Quantity before clarity” campaign, they will offer the same phone in many different versions. Additonally to the zPhone, Microsoft has plans for an expected 6 other flavours. For one of the models, the oPhone (with built-in oTone (offering downloadable music) for the teen-ager market, and oZone (automatic adjustment for clima quotes) for the business traveller), had just an instructional video leaked:

(Video via Sparkplug9)

One of the things I really like about Google - besides, of course them having a very good search engine - is that they have a sense of humor. Take for example Google maps, and punch in driving directions from New York to Oslo. Then have a look at line # 24.

Btw, it used to be that the first 2 entries you got when googling for “failure” were George W. Bush, followed by Michael Moore. It turns out that this was not Google humor. And Google has changed it since.

Edit sep. 2008: Seems that Google is becoming more and more serious. For historical reference: the result used to be that you were being told to swim from New York to Norway. Now it simply states that it cannot calculate a route. Sigh…

Just came across this short documentary about the brain behind the current U.S. President’s speeches:

…and it’s a Friday, too. Anyways, here are today’s Gems from the Web:

• My favourite quotes - “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” - Albert Einstein
• Wacky laptop tricks - While you are waiting for your MacBook, here are some things that you can do with your laptop.
• Apple Macintosh G3 tossed over a 45-foot cliff - Total destruction, unsurprizingly. But why would anyone want to do this?
• TechRepublic Photo Gallery - Chaoscope fractals showcase the beauty of chaos
• Securing OS X 10.4: Tips from Apple and the NSA - Apple and the National Security Administration (NSA) have published a security guide for Mac OS 10.4 with key highlights on network administration, securing Safari and the importance of physical security.
• Microsoft naysayer bandwagon gets crowded - Goldman Sachs removed Microsoft from its “conviction list,” the equivalent of a super-duper buy list.
• Lawmakers pushing iPods flew on Apple’s dime - Two state lawmakers backing a controversial plan to buy iPods for every schoolchild in Michigan were among a group of politicians who made a trip to California that was paid for at least in part by Apple, the maker of iPods.
• Welcome to Prisma - Imagine, an international company, and their sitemap is not clickable! Hmm…
• Creative Planet’s Digital Production BuZZ - News - Red camera supports the /i Technology, developed by Cooke Optics. /i Technology enables film and digital cameras to automatically record key lens and camera data for every film frame shot and provide it to post-production teams digitally.

Gems from the Web:

• Witty Comics - Make a Comic - Make your own comic strip. Online. And free.
• 100 Million iPods and still going strong - Since the first iPod was introduced = 50,327 iPods sold per day since launch
• My Photo Booth Photo Blog » Why does the art die? - I decided to gather my thoughts in one and come up with the problem. And the problem is: the crucial moment in history of photography we are living these days: its end.
• It?s good to be back - I thought that Yvonne had stopped blogging for good, but out of the blue, a great writer is back again.
• Top 100 font downloads - Great selection of fonts, most of them free for personal use.
• The Fastest way to find High-Quality Freebies on the Web - Finding High Quality free files on the internet is every designers daily dilemma. Sometimes you don?t have the time to make your own swooshes, or seamless paisley background image. This is why we search, and from my experience, the search can be brutal.
• Film Exclusiv Agregator - RSS feed for film related content
• WordPress NiceAdmin Plugin Version 1.0.0 Released - It doesn?t change the usability or functionality of WordPress whatsoever, it just makes it a little easier to look at! Hope you like it!
• Can I get my money back, Wikipedia? - Now Wikipedia is adding nofollow to all external links. That basically knocks out a very key referrer to my blog, so no doubt I will lose search engine placement due to the decision.
• Ten Things You Shouldn?t Buy New - Some things are best purchased new ? lingerie pops to mind ? but lots of other stuff depreciates quickly while still having plenty of useable life left. Here are ten items where the cost vs. use equation strongly tilts toward buying used.
• The TV Is Dead. Long Live the TV - On the 80th anniversary of the first long-distance TV broadcast, the industry that evolved out of it is under siege. Old rules — defining who, where and what to watch — are collapsing, making room for new ideas and talent on air and online.
• Tactile 3D maps could help blind people navigate - A team of researchers at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece have created a system that can convert video into tactile, three dimensional maps designed to help blind people navigate.
• iPod saves soldier’s life - Wouldn’t have worked with a Zune, apparently
• Apple TV hacked for RSS and emulation, plus bounty for USB drive support - Engadget - The Apple TV has received two new abilities in its second week of availability thanks to a couple of new hacks: one, a fully functional and integrated RSS reader, and two, video game emulation for NES, SNES, N64, and Sega Genesis game consoles.

Recently, at a meeting of the camera section of the BECTU, one DP told me the following story:

He was shooting a film with an Italian director in Australia. One day this director came up and asked him “Shoot-a se lens cap-e” (to be read with an Italian accent.)
Our DP thought this to be slightly odd, but then realized that Italian directors might just be that: Odd. So he put the cap onto the lens and rolled 5 feet. He then thought “That can’t be what he’s looking for”. So he got the grip to put a little stand a few inches away from the camera, put the lens cap on top of it and asked the gaffer to put up a light. Once he had rolled another couple of feet, the director walked on set and asked “What-e are you doing-e? I sought-e you were shooting-e se lens cap-e” to which the DP replied “I just did shot the lens cap.”
After he had settled down, the director explained: “The landscap-e, not the lens cap!”

Martin Weiss