Can’t. Stop. Watching.

August 10th, 2008 • Life, Strange, Technology

How to stop your audience from feeling used

August 9th, 2008 • Journalism, Media

The virtuous circle from Digitaldickinson on Vimeo.

I spent two days last month discussing the future of journalism at the University of Central Lancashire with a group with representatives of all corners of the UK media scene. Fascinating two days, not least for the wealth of disagreement (no bad thing).

It’ll come as zero surprise to know that the way in which journalists deal with an audience that can instantly react (and even begin steering the news agenda) swallowed much of the 48 hours.

One of their esteemed tutors, Andy Dickinson, has just posted The Virtuous Circle depicting his version of how it should work.

Rock Abuse, Part 1,703

August 9th, 2008 • Life, Music

Transpires that a UK Top 40 hit was the launch of a gum ad campaign. Says the Beeb:

But in studying the words of all the hits, I failed to spot the significance of the chorus to Brown’s number. “Double your pleasure/double your fun”, he sings - a line I should have twigged was from the Doublemint gum jingle used since 1960.

Now Wrigley’s have come clean. In a press release they reveal how the song is an extended version of a new jingle for their product.

“The summer release of Brown’s smash hit, Forever, which featured the unmistakable Doublemint gum jingle lyrics, kicked-off the creative partnership between Brown and Doublemint gum”, the company announced.

“Wrigley consulted with Translation Advertising (NY) to conceptualize and identify the artists behind the jingle remakes.”

‘Conceptualize and indentify’? Reassuring to someone is still holding the flame of face-melting rock rebellion aloft.

Vista: the fightback starts here

August 7th, 2008 • Technology

We all hate Vista. It’s bloated, buggy, garish and expensive.

Microsoft knows this. In fact, the public stoning of Vista means that Microsoft probably feels it; the bruises are still hurtin’.

And, for once, the planet’s most powerful software vendor has voted against self-denial in favour of… a strange form of self-justification.

I clicked on an ad today for the Mojave Experiment. Fourty seconds of loading screen later, and I’m watching a focus group (in a video frame set against a background that’s scarily similar to the Apple TV ‘wall of screens’ posters. A coincidence, I’m sure).

Middle-aged Americans of varying accent are talking to an unseen researcher, who’s asking for their view of Vista. They hate it. It’s buggy, bloated… well, you know the script by now.

Read more »

The next generation of web browsers

August 5th, 2008 • Internet, Search

Aurora (Part 1) from Adaptive Path on Vimeo.

Too many experiments with computer interfaces are just plain irritating.

Take Compiz for Linux, for example; no, please, do. A thousand and one oh-my-golly-wow UI tricks, including the wacky ability to ‘roll’ between four or more screens. Impressive for 180 seconds, but ultimately pointless (sorry if you’re reading this, Team Compiz, but I’ve installed and uninstalled the thing too many times).

Then today, I came across a depiction of the next generation of web browsers that didn’t sniff of geekery for its own sake.

The Aurora concept video predicts a time when browsing is no longer such a solo venture, and when the internet is truly integrated into an OS (you may think that’s the case today - watch Aurora, and think again).

Written and directed by Jesse James Garrett at Adaptive Path, the video is part of the Mozilla Labs concept browser series, the aim of which is to encourage more web folk to think harder about the next big breakthrough in accessing the web.

OK, so the dialogue in Aurora is a little cheesy (sorry, Danielle and Byron), but the notion of a truly collaborative browser works. It’s something you can instantly imagine using, to the point where you’ll switch back to your Firefox or IE7 today and be p*ssed that it isn’t there.

Garfield strays into existential angst

August 5th, 2008 • Life

Garfield: cheesy American cartoon strip. Garfield minus Garfield: surreal observations on the American mind. Cool ideally, brilliantly effective.

A history of YouTube

August 4th, 2008 • Internet, Video

Started watching this, and couldn’t stop. Wonderful.

Telegraph redesigns, a tab at a time

August 3rd, 2008 • Design, Internet, Journalism

Once upon a time, I made magazines. When we wanted to change that magazine, we would gather three, four or five of our shiniest brains, stick them in a room for a period with a half-decent brief, and out would pop a fresh magazine - better organised, more contemporary, and all-new.

This morning, I opened Firefox to be greeted by an all-new Telegraph.co.uk. ‘Cept it isn’t. Oh, the home page is new alright: a much better organised affair, with none of the ‘You, boy at the back - can you describe the logic behind this page?’ that haunted the DT of old. Very nice, if short on novelty.

But then you start clicking, and realise that this is what my chums in the digital media world would describe as a ‘phased delivery’. Read more »