Perhaps the first use of the phrase “on shrooms” in a Microsoft promotional video April 28, 2008
Posted by Wade Rockett in Work.Tags: Microsoft, entourage, jeremypiven, webershandwick, officeliveworkspace, shrooms
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UPDATE: The video is no longer on YouTube, and I’m compulsive enough that I can’t stand to leave broken embedded videos in blog posts. But basically it was the creators of Entourage talking about Microsoft Office Live Workspace, and how they would use it to plot a future episode of the show.
Microsoft Xune April 25, 2008
Posted by Wade Rockett in Miscellany.add a comment
A.J. Kandy wonders, what if the Xbox team had designed the Zune? Here’s his vision of the Xune device enjoyed by the inhabitants of a parallel Earth.
Using Twitter to engage customers: Zappos, Southwest, GM April 21, 2008
Posted by Wade Rockett in Marketing, PR.Tags: Armano, GM, Southwest Airlines, Twitter, Zappos
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David Armano, VP of Experience Design with Critical Mass, recently posted a blog entry about how Zappos and Southwest Airlines are using Twitter to interact with consumers. Great stuff:
- In addition to linking to company blog posts and promotions, SouthwestAir (787 followers) sends nice messages to customers who mention Southwest on Twitter, and responds to their suggestions.
- The Twitter account for Zappos (1,974 followers) is used by the CEO, and features daily lightning-quick contests. (Posted on Saturday at 6 PM: “Twitter @zappos with your favorite non-shoe brand that we sell on Zappos before 610 pacific, I will pick a winner to get all 3.”)
- Currently 79 other Zappos employees are posting on Twitter. Zappos displays all of the public Twitter talk about the company on its Web site.
After reading Armano’s post I discovered that GMBlogs also has a Twitter account (288 followers). Like Zappos and Southwest, they’re using it to engage people in conversation: Nearly all of their updates are either open questions for everyone, or public responses to individuals. Even when posting a link to a press release they ask, “What do you think?”
I’m guessing that these companies are using RSS feeds from TweetScan, a Twitter keyword search site, to spot whenever someone mentions them on Twitter and react. For example, here’s a TweetScan search for “Turbo Chicken”.
Your strengths and weaknesses, as voted by your friends April 18, 2008
Posted by Wade Rockett in Intarweb, Life, Miscellany.Tags: Facebook, black eyes, feathers in my cap
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I’ve received an e-mail from from Facebook’s “Compare People” app, containing the critical data I need to optimize my interpersonal relationships.
Your friends have voted on your strengths and weaknesses:
STRENGTHS:
happiest
best father (potential)
nicest
WEAKNESSES:
best listener
most talkative
So apparently I do not listen as well as others, nor do I talk enough.
Nerdiest Photo Ever April 16, 2008
Posted by Wade Rockett in Geek, Intarweb.Tags: 1980s, dungeonsanddragons, flickr, gaming, nerdiestphotoever, photo, youlooknicetoday
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Me at my grandmother’s house, 1981. Note the AD&D manual, t-shirt from band camp, and wacky hat. My geek flag was flying.
Nerdiest Photo Ever on Flickr, a challenge posted by the You Look Nice Today group.
Photos from Watchmen sets reassuring April 5, 2008
Posted by Wade Rockett in Comics.add a comment
Ouroboros (that wurm!) commented in my recent post about the Watchmen movie, saying that the set stills from the production blog look very true to the comic. I didn’t realize that such photos existed, and sought them out on the Watchmen movie blog. He’s right! They do look pretty awesome - very much like Dave Gibbons’ art come to life. I am encouraged.
There are also pictures of several of the main characters. All good stuff. Even though the story was over and done and the characters packed away when the series ended more than twenty years ago, the heroes retain their iconic power for me. I got a chill when I saw the picture of Rorschach.
A Call to Service to All Seattle Area Guitarists April 5, 2008
Posted by Wade Rockett in Music.add a comment
This notice was in the latest e-newsletter from the Experience Music Project/Science Fiction Museum:
New York composer Glenn Branca seeks 80 guitarists and 20 bass players to volunteer for his upcoming monumental performance of “Symphony No.13 (Hallucination City),” on May 16, 2008, for the Seattle Art Museum’s Party in the Park, a fundraising event celebrating the museum’s 75th anniversary.
Musicians must be able to read standard staff notation and follow a part measure by measure. Additionally, all musicians must be able to attend rehearsals from 11:00 am to 9:00 pm on May 14 and 15, and a sound check on the afternoon of May 16. For more information about volunteering as a musician contact glenn@glennbranca.com
OMG ROLLING STONES EMUSIC April 4, 2008
Posted by Wade Rockett in Music.2 comments
This just landed in my inbox. More e-mail like this, please, world.
And I just resubscribed to the service, too. Nice timing. But man, where to start?
