I know what you’re saying to yourself right now: “You know what the world needs? Another rambling, nonsensical podcast from two dudes I don’t know.”

Well…you’re welcome.

Click here to download the .mp3.

This is our first episode, recorded in Memphis, TN over the 2009 Thanksgiving holiday. The genesis of this genius, relevant and thoughtful blog/podcast goes something like this: my cousin Michael suggested we host a podcast. Topics would include anything and everything. Looking for a way to pass the time between heaping plates of Thanksgiving leftovers, I said sure.

And with that, “S’up Cuz?” was born.

At least they're not Hannah Montana posters.

A few thoughts on our maiden podcasting voyage:

1. We need a fact checker/producer.

2. Vague pop culture references seem to work for us.

3. I need to plug my live karaoke band more.

The discussion topics range from the manliness of office decor (specifically Michael’s Lucero poster collection seen to the right) to poser Rush fans, graduation gifts, first jobs and Burt Reynolds, with stories of Slash and Ryan Adams sprinkled in there for good measure.

As soon as you can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes, we’ll let you know. Until then, you can subscribe to this blog as a way to waste your day away with updates, new episodes and buffoonish asides. Also, in this episode we referenced that you could probably email us at supcuz@gmail.com. You can’t. That email was already taken, presumably by some other cousin-based blog/podcast. But you can email us at supcuzpodcast@gmail.com.

We’ll post another glorious episode later this week.

Time really are changing.  When I first started sewing, all I wanted to do was to make a few simple window treatments for our house. I never thought I would be sewing covers for a changing table but here I am.  I decided to make two covers.  One is made using left over fabric from the crib bumper and the other utilized the fabric from the Moses basket. Both covers can be easily zipped off so that we always have one available while the other is being laundered.  I found the pad for the changing table at Ikea and the changing table itself is actually an antique dresser that we fell in love with at a consignment shop on the Northside.  Once little Burtie outgrows diaper changes, we can continue to use the dresser in her bedroom for years to come.

I know, I know – more pillows.  How many pillows does one room need?  I simply could not resist this fabric when I spotted it at Ikea.  It is actually the only fabric designed for children that I used in the nursery.  Seriously, who doesn’t love a duck holding a bouquet of roses?

Yet another project for Burtie’s future nursery has been completed.  I created these simple shades using the floral fabric from the bumper and backed them with a solid linen-colored fabric.  I used the remaining fabric from the rocking chair cushion to accent the top and to make long ties.  The shades can be easily rolled up in the morning to allow the sunshine to pour in during the day.  At night, the shades can be let down to prevent the neighbors from spying on two very weary parents in their pajamas performing late night feedings and diaper changes.

 Jed and I like to think of ourselves as somewhat refined individuals.  We are both “foodies” and enjoy tasting and learning about wine.  We both try to stay up to date on current events and to be socially aware.   But despite all of our efforts, we truly are both kids at heart.  This fact has become especially apparent lately.  Put us in a toy store and we both turn into complete mush as we walk around swooning over the cuddly toys and candy we use to devour as kids.  Who have we become?  

We have found it exceedingly difficult not to buy every kitschy adorable stuffed animal in sight.  We are trying to pinch pennies in a responsible effort to save for the important stuff like diapers, day care and a bunch of other practical baby gear.  In our attempt to maintain some level of will power and leave a few items at the store, I decided to create our own “monster” stuffed animal.  If we can make a kid, we can make a monster.  I made our mini frankenstein out of a left over piece of gray wool given to me by Jed’s mom, and I used a technique that I recently learned called felting.  We decided to give our monster all of our craziest traits including the mysterious bumps on Jed’s knuckles and the little scar on the back of my head that I acquired at age five.  We have affectionately named the monster, Otis, and now Otis patiently waits for the day that he is loved on by Burtie.  How will she be able to resist him?

I have been so busy doing projects that I have been slacking on writing about them.  My other excuse is that our house has also been officially designated a disaster zone.   We are currently in the process of moving my husband’s office upstairs, preparing the nursery, and having a dishwasher installed.  When I came home from work yesterday, Jed immediately informed me that there was a fork in the linen closet, the coffee pot was in the nursery and an empty dog food can was in the bathroom.  Help!?!?!  Jed and I are both total neat freaks so all this transition is driving us completely insane, but we know it will all be worth it once little Miss Burtie arrives.

In the meantime, my latest nursery project utilizes some of my September yard sale finds.  Remember the Moses basket that I scored for $15?  When I originally posted it I did not even know it had a name so I referred to it as the “basket/bassinet.”    The basket came with the foam “mattress” already cut to size so all that was left for me to purchase was the batting to make a bumper to surround the interior of the basket.   I recovered the mattress and bumper with a large piece of pink and white striped fabric that I also purchased at a yard sale for a mere $5.   In order to complete the basket, I attached satin ribbon to the bumper in order to secure it to the handles and keep it from shifting in place.  Now Burtie has a cozy place to take a nap even if she is amongst chaos.

I have completed the second of the many projects for the nursery – the very important baby bumper for the crib.  When I first embarked on this project, I figured it would be easy because it is just like making a long, skinny pillow.  After further investigation, I soon realized that a better analogy would be that making a crib bumper is actually like sewing a sleeping bag for an anaconda.  In order to wrap all the way around the inside of the crib, the bumper has to be over thirteen feet long.  Cutting and sewing this amount of fabric and cording becomes quite tedious.  Because I am such a perfectionist (a.k.a. obsessive/compulsive), I found myself neurotically retaking my measurements about a thousand-and-one times in order to ensure that I had not made any miscalculations.  Not to mention that fabric stretches, so my measurements came out slightly different each time.

Luckily I was able to start with a pre-made bumper that I inherited with the crib to use as a template.  I also used this pre-existing bumper to stuff inside my newly created one in order to save money on batting.  I chose a romantic floral fabric for the outside of the bumper (purchased for about $5 a yard at The Interior Outlet) and a coordinating stripe (purchased for about $8 a yard at Ikea) for the inside.  I corded the entire bumper with the pink fabric that I previously used on the rocking chair cushion.  I also used this same pink fabric to make the twenty-four ties used to secure the bumper to the railing of the crib.  After watching me agonize over the exact measurements, my husband took pity on me and decided that the best solution would be to temporarily set up the crib in our living room.  I was able to fit the bumper to the crib before completing the sewing and felt relieved to learn that I did indeed know how to use a yardstick.  After this obstacle was overcome, the sewing was a breeze and it seemed more like a simple pillow after all. 

The moral of the story is that it pays to be pregnant because your husband will do just about anything to avoid an emotional breakdown.  Our home is now one step closer to being ready for Burtie . . . or an anaconda.

They say it takes a village to raise a child but I must say that it also takes a village to help a girl and her husband survive pregnancy.  Jed and I have been truly blessed to be surrounded by a loving network of family and friends.  Not only have we received countless well wishes but so many folks have come to our rescue.  Both my sister, Kelly, and my sister-in-law, Erin, have lent me tons of clothes to help me get through this awkward period of not being able to fit in my own wardrobe but still swimming in maternity clothes.  My other sister, Kathleen, has had to endure daily e-mails about everything from what types of bottles do we need to do we really need a wipe warmer?  Of course our parents are ecstatic and have already started passing on family heirlooms, and our friend, Casey, has dropped off tons of baby gear and clothes.  Jed and I even accosted a new mom at Stony Point the other day to find out what type of stroller and car seat combination she was using.

Jed and I must give a special shout out to our next door neighbors and fairy godparents, Ralph and Ginny.  As soon as we announced that we were pregnant, the gifts began crossing the fence.  First it was a huge bag of shrimp, scallops, steaks and chicken because the baby needs protein.  Then it was an adorable pair of bunny stuffed animals.  We have also received all kinds of sweet treats and home-made soup.  Trust me neither baby nor pregnant mother are starving.  The day that Ginny determined that I was “showing,” she arrived on my doorstep with all new and very cute maternity clothes.   They even insisted that we take their wooden rocking chair to use in the nursery.

It is a very sweet wooden rocking chair and I was given free reign to make as many alterations as I desired.  I gave it a fresh coat of white paint to match the crib and decided to sew a four-inch thick box cushion for the seat and fill the back of the chair with pillows for extra comfort and support.  I used fabrics previously purchased at yard sales and remnant tables and had enough additional fabric to make a cushion for another small chair that we will also use in the nursery.  (Believe it or not, Ralph and Ginny gave us that charming antique wooden chair for Christmas last year.) Once Burtie arrives, I plan to paint her monogram on the top of the inside back of the rocking chair.  We have decided to keep her name a surprise until she is born but the name Ralphina is definitely in the running.

On October 22, as usual, ESPN will broadcast a College Football game.  However, this game will not be like the hundreds the network has shown before on its signature, Thursday night showcase.
More than just a football game will be on the line in Chapel Hill,  when the Seminoles of Florida State come to town to face the University of North Carolina Tar Heels.

Two football program’s futures hang in the very balance and will swing, dramatically, and possibly, irrevocably, with a win or loss.

Each team must win this game…

While, this can be said of many games being played on any given weekend in College Football, this is more than rhetoric for this particular match-up.  This isn’t a matter of one side trying to push through to rarefied air against an opponent willing to do anything to stop them (see: BYU vs. TCU).  This isn’t one side trying to cement their status as this decade’s dynasty against another trying to salvage anything redeemable from the past ten years (see: Florida vs. Miss St).  This is a rising star trying to stay on course against one of the most proud, elite, fading Patriarchal powers hoping for one last glimmer of glory.

Each team must win this game…

The 1990s were as kind to Florida State as any decade has been to any university (with the exception of the ’70s to Oklahoma), as the Seminoles claimed parts of five national championships with two of those being outright.  However, as the proliferation of new offenses and television contracts, the depth of talent and dominance has faded just as the black from the hair of their iconic coach, Bobby Bowden.  Now, after an unprecedented run of top 5 finishes, the Seminoles are flirting with “above average”, something distasteful to their fan base accustomed to bowl games with more prestige than the Emerald Nuts Bowl.  Florida State finds itself just like Kanye West in We Were Once a Fairytale, stumbling around the unranked bowels of the FBS trying to make sense of it all.

This season’s installment of Seminoles is off to a 2-4 start (with the lone bright spot being a win over BYU), one of the worst in Bowden’s legendary, 30+ year run at the school.  Furthering this unfortunate situation, the usual murmur of disapproval, the norm since the glory days of the ’90s, has been ratcheted up to a buzzsaw of dissatisfaction, as notable Board Members have joined the annual call for Bowden to step down.  “The Game has passed him by!” they say,”He’s too old” they jeer, “He never got over being forced to fire his son” they infer…  Big time recruits hear it and since things aren’t right in Tallahassee, dodging the Seminoles for other schools of late, especially their two rivals (Miami and Florida).  Even more unsettling, there are rumors of a schism in the locker room.  Players are torn between the lead of the Living Legend, Bowden, and the Head Coach-in-waiting, Jumbo Fisher.  Nothing would quell the silence like taking out an up-and-comer on a national stage.  Nothing would announce that Bowden isn’t ready to be “retired” like a rousing victory over a capable opponent.  Nothing would get the blue chips attentions like a much needed, big game W.

Florida State must win this game…

North Carolina announced to the world that it was on its way back to the Mack Brown Era dominance of the 1990s with their shocking destruction of Rutgers last year on a Nationally Televised game (also on ESPN).  Their big play offense and tenacious defense were the calling card of their Coach, Butch Davis, who had used a similar formula to restore the University of Miami to prominence at the close of the 1990s and early 2000s.  However, save for another televised win over Notre Dame, the Tar Heels season swooned in the latter half of last season (see: UNC-NC State, UNC-UMD, and UNC-UVA).

Recruiting took a hit, as a result, and a few key, in-state prospects chose to skip the call of their home state and play elsewhere (Florida and South Carolina being two beneficiaries of these decisions).  This stumble in recruiting (the first two seasons under Butch Davis had brought top 10 recruiting classes to Chapel Hill, compared with a #23 class this past season) mixed with a few key injuries has left the program’s progress in doubt.  The doubt has been justified by early backtracks this year (a narrow escape over UCONN, a competitive loss to Georgia Tech, and a shocking loss to previously winless UVA) has the bandwagon ready to be derailed.  Once again, the Tar Heel faithful are counting down the days until Roy Williams’ defending National Champion basketball squad takes the court.  Carolina will always be a basketball school, but continued success will give Butch Davis’ squads a place on the same stage as the hoopsters.

Despite the early struggles, the Tar Heels, coming off a bye and a solid victory (granted, it came against FCS member, Georgia Southern), are seeing momentum, and once injured starters, return.  The best way to salvage the lofty goals for this season (compete for an ACC title, go to a major bowl), along with the half dozen (or so) blue chip recruits in the state that are, coincidentally enough, considering both schools, would be a huge statement win in this game. 

North Carolina must win this game…

Just as the long-term future of both programs are tenuous, so, too, are their short-term prospects.  While UNC has a better record than FSU (4-2), those two losses have both come in league play.  In the Atlantic Coast Conference, two losses are damaging to a team’s chances to win their division, but three losses would all but eliminate a team from competing for the league crown (especially in a division with nationally ranked Virginia Tech (3-1 in league play), Georgia Tech (4-1, and owners of a tiebreaker with UNC), and Miami (2-1) looming).  Even if the Tar Heels were to win this game, their shot at a title is pretty long (In all accounts, they’re probably one year away), but they would still have one. 

FSU, with a loss, would have five on the year.  With away games at Clemson and Wake Forest (two schools they’ve struggled with over the past two years… Struggle would be putting it kindly.  Obama’s Health Care initiative is struggling.  Florida State has been dreadful against each team.  They haven’t beaten Wake Forest since 2005 and have only two victories over the Tigers in the last six seasons) and a season ending trip to the Swamp (rival and #2 ranked University of Florida), a bowl bid would seem very unlikely.  The Seminoles haven’t missed the post-season since 1982… No one on their current roster (I or last year’s roster) was alive when this happened.  Such a catastrophic event would almost certainly bring an end to the Bowden Regime.

Both teams must win this game…

As the 8:00 pm kick-off time draws near, I know where I will find myself on Thursday night.  ESPN will be on in my home, my eyes anxiously waiting to bear witness to either a continuing coronation of the resurgent Tar Heels or the last flicker of the smoldering ashes of the Seminoles once luminous dynasty.

Bankruptcy filings are up this year in northeast Nebraska, including the Omaha area, but the increase has been far higher in the rest of the state.

Although job losses and the slumping economy contribute to the bankrupty increase, economists and lawyers aren’t sure why there’s a difference within the state, which is split between U.S. Bankruptcy Courts in Omaha and Lincoln….(read more)

Bankruptcy filings are up this year in northeast Nebraska, including the Omaha area, but the increase has been far higher in the rest of the state.

Although job losses and the slumping economy contribute to the bankrupty increase, economists and lawyers aren’t sure why there’s a difference within the state, which is split between U.S. Bankruptcy Courts in Omaha and Lincoln….(read more)

Bring on the nursery projects!  Jed and I found out this week that our little Burt is actually a Burtie a.k.a. Birdie.  That’s right – we are going to have a girl!  Needless to say, Jed and I are thrilled.  Even though she is not supposed to arrive for another four months, I will be hard at work to ensure that her nursery is ready.  In the meantime, I will be posting many sewing projects featuring the color pink.   I will try not to be too obnoxious, but have you seen how cute those outfits are for little girls?

Return of the Living Dead

“But that’s okay, Darlin’, because I love you, and that’s why you have to let me EAT YOUR BRAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIINS!”

Oh deary, deary me. Where to begin with this minor classic?.Dan O’Bannon has had a strange career, there can really be no denying it. He went from co-creating arguably the greatest horror movie of all time to writing drivel and directing schlock. Interestingly, Tobe Hooper was originally slated to direct Return of the Living Dead, but IMDB reliably informs me that he managed to get himself fired before filming started. So this is a sort of precursor for the insanity of Lifeforce, even if it isn’t as amusing as that film. I don’t know how much of this is true, given that I sourced it from IMDB, but it’s a cool story nonetheless.

This film had a damned difficult gestation. It started out life as a pseudo-sequel/rip off of George Romero’s classic Night of the Living Dead. The script fell into O’Bannon’s sweaty mitts, who in a fit of integrity that seems to be most unlike him, decided that he needed to rewrite several parts of it drastically to inject humour and take it away from Romero’s grim original. Or so the legend goes. Much of this is sheer comedy, but I doubt that it was intentional- a prime example being that two of the main characters are called Burt and Ernie.You would think this had to be deliberate, but O’Bannon was allegedly unaware of Sesame St. when he made it. As if. Anyhow, some idiot was willing to stump up $4m for it, which I bet they regretted when O’Bannon turned in an unreleasable film, thus forcing the studio to recut it behind his back. The end result of this fiasco is a solidly gory, undoubtedly fun, occasionally downright hilarious, and certainly pioneering zombie classic of the 80’s.

Return of the Living Dead is ostensibly a formulaic zombie film. Two simple minded fools discover a secret canister of military shit in a warehouse. They accidentally crack it open, inhaling a couple of lungfuls and reanimating a corpse. In a panic, they call the boss (Burt) who turns up to help them deal with the mess. He contacts his mortician pal across the road (Ernie) who agrees to let them use the furnace to destroy the polluted material. This is, clearly, a great plan and was working a treat until rain clouds form and dump the pollutant on the cemetery causing the dead to revive. Not to mention the side effect of utterly ruining a group of punks’ (who happened to be partying in the cemetary) evening. Shenanigans ensue, before the President authorises the army to destroy the town with a nuclear missile. Humdrum stuff really, and nothing that hasn’t been done in other films.

It has a first rate B-movie cast- including Clu Gulager, Don Calfa and underrated scream queen Linnea Quigley, and all of them perform with some relish. Special notice to Quigley though, for giving her all in a largely underwritten role. Her character seems to exist for the sole purpose of shedding her clothes and cavorting naked in the rain. I give special props to her professionalism, (as with Mathilda May in Lifeforce) because this must have been downright fucking freezing. They all put in good schlocky performances,even if it is fairly obvious that none of them are ever likely to receive an Oscar. However, far most importantly, they all seem to be having fun with the material. Almost as much fun as O’Bannon himself was having in the director’s chair.

As good as the cast is, the film is not perfect (as if you needed me to tell you that). The make up on the zombies is frequently below par, even amateurish,there are several huge leaps in logic (why has Burt been holding on to toxic waste for fucking years?), and plot holes galore, continuity errors all over the place and a few sections that are not particularly well shot. The zombies in particular come off badly from this- there is more than one occasion where the makeup stops short and you can see the actor’s actual skin tone underneath.The punks themselves are not the most sympathetic lot, even for cannon fodder, and as such I found it pretty hard to care about them when they start getting killed off. In all fairness to the punks, they get some excellent dialogue such as Trash’s sex or death exchange, even if some of it does lean towards cliché. Maybe I’m biased because I live in the goth/ punk/ unwashed/ pierced twat capital of the universe but after a bit they did get on my nerves.

However, as shoddy as it is (and anyone that thinks it isn’t shoddy needs a slap), it more than makes up for it by being fucking awesome.

Return of the Living Dead is, I believe, the first film with zombies that can run, use tools, think, talk and collaborate and it’s from this pseudo-intelligence that the majority of the comic scenes arise. I defy anyone not to bust a gut laughing when the zombies, having slaughtered all the paramedics, use the radio to order some new victims: a kind of take-away brain service. This is excellent, and I was in absolute hysterics when I saw it. It isn’t the only moment of high comedy in the film, they really were not afraid to go for the funny bone.

The talking zombies are a great idea, especially when they manage to capture one-which leads to a brilliant interrogation. The zombie eventually reveals that the only thing that can satiate it, and stop the pain is (you’ll never guess) eating human brains. Superb.

The strange thing about Return of the Living Dead is that I don’t think it’s as good a horror film as it is a comedy. There is gore aplenty, but it just isn’t frightening, and that’s despite it having one of the most fantastic zombies that this schlock junkie has ever seen- the absolutely incredible Tarman:

Fuck CGI. Who needs it? The Tarman is an amazing zombie, and to be honest, all the scary scenes in the film revolve around him. Not gross, because there’s plenty in this film that is downright fucking minging, but actually scary.

Return of the Living Dead is also cleverly meta-referential before postmodernism was even a sordid fantasy knocking around Kevin Williamson’s empty cranium. I’m pretty certain this is the first zombie effort where the characters attempt to kill a zombie by nailing its head to the floor only to wail “but it works in the movie” in abject defeat. Sure, as a device, postmodernism has been subject to severe overkill, but this was made in the 80’s.

Overall, would I recommend it? Yes, but not as a horror film. I suppose if you are 12 and haven’t a fucking clue then it will scare the pants off you, or else make you throw up. However, I rate it extremely highly just for the comedy and the totally unexpected moment of pathos where the infected worker puts himself in the cremation machine.

Incidentally, and amusingly, Return of the Living Dead completely outgrossed Romero’s Day of The Dead in the box office. This is funny by definition. Not that box office is any indication of quality at all, don’t get me wrong, but that a clear homage did better than the latest volume of it’s inspiration. Either that or it is proof that Romero was losing it by then.

De mai mult de jumatate de secol revista playboy a oferit coperti cu personaje precum Marilyn Monroe, Cindy Crawford, si multe altele. Insa pentru prima data “prima pagina” a revistei Playboy este atribuita unui personaj de desene animate.
James Jellinek, editorul revistei, nu vrea sa dezvaluie cat de mult din Marge va arata noul numar al revistei ce va aparea in noiembrie 2009.
Ca si principala motivatie a acestui gest este nevoia de a atrage tinerii cititori care sunt in proportie foarte mica. Cei mai multi cititori Playboy au o varsta de peste 35 de ani.
Asadar se pare ca the Simpson au colaborat si au ajuns la o intelegere pentru ca Marge sa “semneze” un contract de publicitate.

Sursa: yahoo.com

This is a post I made over at the Burt blog – it’s an update on Copybox and a quick rant about my feeling on creating ad tech vs. lightweight web apps, so I figured it might be relevant here aswell.

Last year we presented Copybox at Techcrunch50. But so far, the number of people we’ve let on is very limited. Partly because Jacob Nielsen tells us to, but mostly because we’re the target audience ourselves and still know plenty of stuff that need fixing. Also, since the economy went south we’ve had to focus most of our limited resources on Rich and other platform part of our products that generates enough money for us to stay in business.

(quick rant on the hardships of building an ad tech business is coming up – ok to skip if you just want the state of Copybox haha)

Burt’s platform sofware is often mission critical to the campaigns we run, and need to be able to scale from hundereds to tens of thousands of requests per second, with zero performance loss in minutes. For real. Add that SLAs that require four nine uptimes are not uncommon, and you realize that we deal with different challenges than the average web startup. Ad tech requires massive scale from the first user, and bailing out using the fail whale just isn’t an option. The people talking about how building a web business these days is “easy”, “cheap” and “fast” certainly haven’t tried to build what we’re doing

One big challenge is that creating great advertising technology incorporates the most demanding parts from both B2C and B2B at once, meaning that we need to make products people actually want to use (like in B2C), but feedback cycles are often long and reliability is crucial (like in B2B). Not to mention that working capital can be a real bitch… little depending on your business model I guess (simple licensing deals for instance are not included), but in most cases getting the really attractive gross margins requires a big dip in working cap on your behalf. Not even Amazon or Akamai can save you here. It just costs plenty of money to build the ad exchanges, trading systems and demand side platforms that everyone (incl. Google, Microsoft, Yahoo) are having wet dreams about controlling

In case anyone is keeping score, these are the main reasons why you see lots of ad tech startups raise tens of millions of dollars, still with nothing to show for it. But it’s also the reason we’ve seen a handful of multi billion dollar deal purchases in our market the last two year’s alone, so I guess that’s ok from an investor POV

But let’s get back to Copybox! Constrained resources or not, as it turns out, revolutionizing creative writing is a lot harder than we thought. Which is probably one of the reasons that the word processor has been untouched for 20 years. But we are making progress. Burt is probably in iteration 10 or so after Techcrunch50, one big change being that we’re now on the desktop.

Don’t worry “I’m a PC” fanboys, we’ve got it for you guys too. Also, we’ve started to rework the design with (not so little) help from Andreas and Jaan to push a less dark and gothic feel to something you might actually like to spend 8 hours a day looking at.

We’ve also realized that for the first full release of Copybox, creating dynamic content is not enough to deliver the kind of organic idea growing (trippy…) kind of experience that we’re aiming for. So we’re adding features that will be part of every writing tool – (good) outlining, remixed “undo/redo” functionality and a (working) set of language tools for grammar, spelling etc. And no in-document formatting, just structure. There are tons of super awesome design tools. Use them.

But first, we’ll release a version of desktop Copybox with dynamic content. ETA 6 weeks. You probably won’t (but it’s not impossible) put a dent in the creative universe with that version of Copybox, but at least you’ll have tangible proof that someone is actually working on making your creative writing tool smarter, better, faster and stronger.

Booyah.

Je crois qu’on a tous quelque chose en nous du Grand Burt Howard pour paraphraser Michel Berger.

“Enough with the algorithms! It’s time to give data some artistic treatment.” That’s the battle cry for Meme Machine, an interesting platform for creating reactive ads by the Swedish company Burt, who develop software for the advertising industry. According to Burt,

Reactive advertising is a technology for dynamic customization how display ads look and behave in real-time based on what we know about each viewer and the surrounding factors for each exposure. So instead of one campaign having three different ads, we can run three million different ads, where each is unique for the person watching it.

The Meme Machine mashes up data from different sources to create a dynamic ad for each individual viewer in real time. It seems advertising is becoming heavily data driven as well (my italics):

reactive ads are about so much more than just improving relevance, it’s about using data and variables to enhance ads in a creative way… copywriters use data creatively to bring home a point, just like art directors use graphics and as an asset to drive attention and impact. [...]

Reactive ads is about leveraging the pool of data that we’re already collecting using behavioral cookies, demographic information, user location etc. Alot [sic] of the data we collect is never put to good use.

Burt says that they collect very little data themselves. Instead,they partner up with sites, business intelligence companies, goverment agencies and so on. Customers can also plug in data sources of their own. Burt offers a “reaction library” that offers data about each viewer’s gender, age group, ISP, propensity to click through ads, the weather where the viewer is located, employer, completed education, favorite music, and much more. Frankly, it sounds a bit scary, but fortunately the information is anonymized, or so they say.

The English Channel: Dover to Cap Gris Nez. 21 nautical miles. 16 hours and 16 minutes. 5 swimmers, 1hr rotational stints in 17-degree water.

This was a challenge like no other that I’ve undertaken. We set out shortly before 4am in the pitch black from Dover Marina, our first swimmer Burt swimming to the shore to start the official timing. The first three of us had to affix glow sticks to our shorts and caps and swim in the cold, cold water with zero visibility to the boat and only a side light for directional guidance. I did – however – have the fortune of seeing the sun rise whilst turning my stroke over 2.5 miles out into the sea; this is a memory I will never forget.

It took 30 mins to stop shivering, and – after grabbing 2hrs shut eye in the cabin – I could finally feel my feet again. The Gallivant had a small kitchen so I devoured a pot noodle and other high carb foods, before preparing mentally for stint two by shooting some footage of Burt and Ewan.

By 11am the 20-degree sun was high, and the swimming was far better. We all felt strong, comms with the boat was easier – although still hit and miss as you couldn’t hear anything, relying instead on pre-determined time boards held up by team mates. The pressure was on to keep swimming hard as currents and timings are vital; one missed tide and we could add hours on, or even risk failure.

Karen and Luke put in further sterling efforts and by 2pm we were looking good. Channel swimming is very different from other endurance events: knowing you’re on your own in cold conditions, out of comms with the team, and questioning everything constantly – the mind plays tricks and mental fortitude is paramount. Progress is key but – in stark contrast to marathons or triathlons – the time length is not finite and, indeed, completion is far from certain. The third swim was hard: physically and mentally draining, the sunlight almost gone, the temperature cooling, the boat a dark shadow and visibility back to virtually zero.

6pm and Cap Gris Nez was tantilisingly close, like Everest’s summit from the Hillary Step. But, one simple factor would determine our success or failure: could we push far enough with the current before turning in to the peninsula? If we couldn’t, then when it changed course the current would take us sailing past and into channel swimming oblivion. But if we could, the shore was in our grasp. Luke finished his third stint strongly, and Burt stepped up for his fourth – an epic final hour for our tired but impressive lead swimmer. His mind visited some dark places – to use his words – but he swam hard and got us to touching distance, before Ewan celebrated his birthday with 16 minutes and a struggle up the rocks to land.

After cheering a soloist who’d been behind us through the day – whose identity I’m trying to establish – we commenced the journey back to Dover. I could write many more words on this experience. In retrospect, I could have been a lot better prepared and I shall learn from this; but to swim in such challenging conditions gives me a tremendous confidence for the comparatively simple Ironman swimming to come. Moreover, we are proud to join an elite and very unique club and it’s something to cherish for years to come.

Incidentally, below is our exact route as charted by our crew; this is the first ‘V’ finish in 40 years.

When traveling and experiencing new cultures it is easy to become overwhelmed at first.  With all the new smells, sounds, and scenery bombarding your senses, the first few days in a new country can make even the most seasoned traveler reach for the pillow.

I remember the first few days in Malaysia, one of my first photography trips after leaving South Korea.   The first time I stepped out of the hotel with my camera was exciting, but ultimately exhausting.  Everything was new to me and I wanted to take

A woman prepares a wick for some homemade lime butter candles, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. ©Skyler Burt.

a picture of it all.  I was like a slaphappy, crazed photographer acting like the streets of Kuala Lumpur were the press pool at a high profile case.  My photographic “don’t think, just shoot” approach for those first few days was not a good start to experience a new culture and it did not result in the greatest photos either.  Instead, I recommend sitting back, taking a breath, and focusing in on “the small.” Shooting “the small” means to dive into your surroundings and come away with colorful detailed snaps depicting the less than obvious aspects of a country’s culture.

Every country has their own way of pulling in those valuable tourist dollars and usually they are great places to make photographs.  Although tourist attractiosn are impressive, it might be better to leave them out of your photos.  Go ahead and get that photo out of your system, but then move your lens to “the small.”  Tourist attractions are usually full of detailed slices of the country’s culture.  Zoom in on the people, the patterns, the trinkets, or whatever inhabits your destination’s monuments to make a more personalized photograph.

Next time you photograph your favorite hot spot try photographing “the small.” Simply think of a few categories so as not to get distracted.  I usually try to focus on three categories.  Sometimes a place doesn’t have all three and I don’t necessarily try to make pictures in any order, but I like to keep these ideas in my pocket so I can pull them out whenever I lose my focus.  Detailed below are the categories I use most often when I want to find “the small.”  What categories you choose is up to your personal style or taste and the situation at hand, but it helps to keep “the small” in mind while you’re snapping your next great photo.

Category 1: Color

Detailed photos with the theme of "color," Kuala Lumpur. ©Skyler Burt

Color can be your best friend when shooting “the small.”  For the most part colors are everywhere, just lying around going unnoticed, but if you are keen to them, you will see them on every corner.  Try picking a color to shoot for the day.  It is amazing how certain colors repeatedly show up when you are looking for them. Look for it on walls, flowers, statues, people’s clothes, and everything you see throughout the day.  Each time you see it take a picture of it.  Try to find its opposite color and work with both of them together.  When it presents itself, color will do wonders for those travel photos.

Category 2: People

Detailed photos with the theme of "people," Kuala Lumpur. ©Skyler Burt

People are great reflections of their culture and pictures of people can really give a sense of a country’s identity.  When you take pictures of people, focus on what makes the person special to really make those travel photos come to life.  If you are looking for “the small” when people are your subject, try zeroing in on simple characteristics. If a person has interesting eyes, hands, a mustache, or even jewelry, these features can make quite a nice picture.   Another method is to concentrate on their actions. If the person is playing a musical instrument, look at their hands.  If they are dancing, try capturing the motion of their feet.  There are many possibilities when it comes to taking a detailed picture of a person and sometimes just pieces of them are enough to tell a story.

Category 3: Found Art

Detailed photos under the theme, "found art," Kuala Lumpur. ©Skyler Burt

The Found Art you see always changes depending on your location.  Found Art can be anything from brooms to doorknobs, neatly bound rolls of incense inside a well lit Chinese temple, a brightly colored mailbox hanging off an old wall, traditional teapots for sale or baskets stacked up and tucked away in an alley.  The number of things you will see during your adventure is endless.  Usually these little seemingly insignificant objects will make great travel photos.  More often, these little things can really symbolize the character of a particular culture and show everyone just how interesting the trip was.

When trying to make good travel photos, look for “the small,”it is important to capture slices of life which are symbolic to the particular culture.  When exploring with your camera try to look for different colors, unique characteristics of the people, found art lying around or whatever is strange or new to you.  Search high and low for these cultural cues so that your photos reflect what makes the destination so interesting.  Every country has uniqueness like no other and if you are able to capture it, people will love the photos from your travel adventures.

Detailed photos under the theme, "mail box," Malaysia. ©Skyler Burt.

Apa yang diperhatikan konsumen ketika mengincar suatu barang ? Mayoritas hanya memelototi label harga dan mengabaikan komposisi bahan. Fakta itu membuat Dara O’Rourke, pakar lingkungan dari Universitas California gencar mengampanyekan belanja cerdas.

Kerapkali calon pembeli tidak peduli apakah berbahaya bagi lingkungan ataupun kesehatan diri sendiri. Dia lantas tergerak membuat GoodGuide, situs panduan yang berisi mengenai analisa dan pringkat terhadap suatu produk.

“ Kami (hanya) ingin membantu orang menemukan produk (bagus) yang juga memiliki nilai yang baik. Pada dasarnya kita tidak tahu apapun mengenai produk yang kita beli. Kita (seperti) hidup di era kegelapan saat sedang berbelanja, “ tutur Dara O’Rourke, penggagas dan pencipta GoodGuide seperti dikutip The Christian Science Monitor.

Hanya dalam waktu kurang dari seminggu Dara O’Rourke beserta tim-nya menganalisa lebih dari 75.000 produk yang beredar di pasaran AS. Sebagai hasilnya mereka memberikan peringkat 0 – 10 berdasarkan dampak lingkungan, kesehatan, dan sosial yang ditimbulkan dari masing-masing produk. Produk yang menempati peringkat 6 – 8 terbilang bagus. Sedangkan yang berada di posisi 3 – 5 merupakan produk yang dinilai tidak begitu baik. Setidaknya 600 kriteria digunakan untuk mengevaluasi seluruh produk yang ada.

Kriteria yang dipakai diantaranya adalah potensi terhadap dampak lingkungan. Dalam hal ini tim GoodGuide melihat pada kemampuan daur ulang produk tersebut. Mulai dari proses pembuatan hingga pembusukan di tanah.

Juga faktor sosial dari perusahaan yang memproduksi barang itu. Seperti jumlah bayaran pekerja, transparansi kebijakan dan tanggung jawab sosial yang bisa berupa kontribusi amal dari pendapatan mereka.

Nah, dari beberapa produk yang diteliti ada salah satu yang mendapatkan nilai sempurna dan berada di peringkattertinggi. Sebut saja produk Lip Balm madu bermerk Burt. Burt mendapatkan nilai 10 untuk kesehatan. Tetapi hanya mendapat  nilai 7,6 dalam hal dampak lingkungan yang bisa ditimbulkan. Sedangkan rata-rata keseluruhannya Burt mendapat nilai 8,6.

“ Dengan panduan GoodGuide publik akan membuat pilihan yang lebih baik tentang apa yang akan mereka beli. Konsumen juga bisa memutuskan sendiri produk mana yang lebih bernilai (baik untuk kesehatan dan lingkungan).”

Terobosan sang profesor itu mendapat sambutan hangat. “ Perangkat dari GoodGuide menciptakan kesadaran pada konsumen, “ ungkap Drummond Lawson, ahli strategi lingkungan berdasarkan produk buatan industri rumah tangga San Francisco.

Ke depan, O’Rourke juga memimpikan panduan ciptaannya bisa diakses melalui iPhone. Tentunya setelah dilengkapi dengan perangkat lunak khusus. Dia berharap bisa suatu saat ada perangkat lunak yang memungkinkan iPhone bisa mengenali barang yang tergolong bagus ketika mereka masuk ke dalam toko. Misalkan bisa memberitahu produk pasta dan sampo apa yang bagus untuk dibeli.

Ide awal kemunculan GoodGuide itu berawal dari pertanyaan dalam diri O’Rourke untuk mengetahui komposisi yang ada dalam produk yang dipakai keluarganya sehari-hari. Maka, pemeriksaan pertama pun dulakukannya terhadap pelindung matahari dan sampo yang sering dia beli untuk putrinya. Hasilnya, dia terkejut dengan apa yang ditemukannya.

Kedua produk itu mengandung bahan yng bisa menimbulkan alergi terhadap kulit dan karsinogen, zat yang bisa memicu kanker. Baru setelah itu dia bersama-sama dengan mahasiswanya di Berkeley memulai penelitian produk yang lebih banyak lagi.

O’Rourke selama ini lebih banyak menghabiskan waktunya dalam berkarir untuk menganalisa dampak lingkungn dan sosial dari rantai penyaluran produk global.

Sumber  :

Gara-gara Kaget Sabun Favorit sang Anak Rawan Picu Kanker – Jawa Pos, 03.09.2009
Foto : The Christian Science Monitor

(This post is ripped from Burt’s blog. Make sure to check out the video from my presentation)

Update: The video from our presentation is up. Check it out here.

So last year we had a blast presenting at Techcrunch50, and earlier this year we had a great time talking about Burt at Plugg. And now it’s time to make an appearance on the mother of all launching conferences, DEMO. And since the last Swedish company presenting a product there was Skype, this naturally feels kind of cool

So on wed. 23 sep at 12:25, we’ll present Rich, a campaign analytics tool focused on creative agencies. The idea is to give agencies everything they need – and nothing they don’t – on one simple report page, that answers critical questions such as “was the ad visible?”, “how long was it visible?” and “did people notice it?

Using campaign metrics to improve your campaigns thru trial-and-error is not a new concept. In fact it’s been around for over ten years. But despite this, most creatives – the art directors, copywriters etc. making the ads and that would have the most to gain from using these tools – have yet to take advantage of one the most prominent features online media has to offer.

But it’s really no wonder considering that the reporting tools were never built with these guys in mind. The tools were created to satisfy the buyers and sellers of advertising, not the creators of it.

So we thought “what if we created a tool specifically tailored for the creative agency, with metrics that makes sense for them?”. As it turns out, that made all the difference.

Basically, Rich is Google Analytics for banners and widgets. It’s third party that runs on top of ad servers such as Atlas and Eyewonder. It can be used for premium inventory or on ad networks and ad exchanges. And the installation is dead simple, it just takes a second or two to track ads with Rich.

The last few weeks have been crazy busy to get Rich in decent shape for Rich. There’s no way that we could have done it without the help from our friends at eLabs – Ruby boutique agency extraordinaire – and CP+B – our favorite agency that has not only provided invaluable feedback on how to design Rich, but also did a huge contribution to the final design. Thanks guys!

But enough talking, there is enough of that going on in marketing analytics as it is. Using metrics to improve your work is a contact sport. So get over to richmetrics.com and get your invite and start getting the insights you never thought possible, in a report you can actually understand.

Illustrator, educator, active in the indie craft and craftivism movements, big part of Handmade Nation.

Kate has been documenting her daily consumption since 2002. Check out her blog What Did You Buy Today.

DEMO09 has successfully wrapped up (the demos that is) in San Diego. Today there was another blitz of companies, demos, and alpha pitches today. Data, analytics, and research are pretty close to my heart (next to media, mobile, and anything CE related of course!) so I was looking forward to today’s pitches. Here’s an overview of my favorite demos and alpha pitches.

80Legs announced an innovative approach to web crawling as a service. I’ve personally been involved with some great web crawling experts both at my last job as well as with an organization in my Expert Net (eClerx). 80legs is a service platform that crawls, fetches, and indexes web content on up to 2 billion web pages per day, via a distributed architecture that stitches together 50,000 computers from around. The end result is an easy to consume report. It’s also very affordable, priced at $2 per million pages crawled and $0.03 per CPU-hr used.

80Legs is targeted at few customer segments, or “use cases.” First, media companies looking to follow their brands as well as their competitors’ on the web, allowing them to upload and run their own analysis apps, enabling fingerprinting, sampling, and other media algorithms. Examples would be a content studio looking for pirated copy or an ad network monitoring where its ads run. This includes images and video in addition to text-based data. Second, market researchers looking to collect opinions, discussions, and attitudes around issues, products, and topics. The company also offers it APIs to custom program your own crawling experience. 80Legs is something I could have used two years ago on a large-scale real-time content monitoring project we did around mobile data plans.

Burt AB, based in Sweden announced Rich. Pitched as the world’s first campaign analytics tool focused on creative agencies, it allows agencies to ascertain the visibility of ads, length of visibility, click-thrus, and actual engagements (which is becoming more important these days). The reporting format was supposedly built for the buyers and sellers of advertising, not the content creators themselves, so it’s more a tool for the reps measuring success than the creatives themselves. Described as “Google Analytics for banners and widgets,” Rich runs on top of ad servers and focused on premium inventory or on ad networks and exchanges. I’m wondering if it would compete with or compliment DataXu, a company I wrote about previously.

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ePulze billed itself as a next-generation sentiment search and discovery company, allowing people to discover and visualize current perception and sentiment around topics (translation- brands) that matter to them. It can extract comments, opinions, and social chatter from a variety of sources including social networking sites, vendor forums, blogs and news websites. It can be used for brand monitoring and auditing, making tweaks to your campaigns based on real in-field observations. It’s also attractive if you’re analyzing the power of bloggers and social mavens via buzz analysis and word-of-mouth measurement.

RumbaFish hit the demo stage promising to answer the questions- “How do I get people’s attention on line?” and “How do I engage them?” RumbaFish provides custom wizards for your Web site, and feeds back analytics detailing the top 20 influencers for a brand, and shows where referral streams are being generated. Its pricing model is two-tier, based on tracking either clickthrus or purchases. RumbaFish is yet another company letting agencies leverage social activity, create online campaigns, and update them dynamically.

So if you’re a media agency, creative, or you track the media world in any capacity, you’ll want to check out these new companies that debuted at DEMO09 today!

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. ©2009 Skyler Burt

As a travel photographer you must perfect your “travel portraits.”  This is something that I’ve been trying to do for a while, but I admit I just haven’t got to the sublime art of making people comfortable around me.  Or maybe it’s making myself comfortable around people, or both, I’m not sure.  Whatever it is, I know I must get over it and produce some stellar portraits or I ought to hang up my camera now.  Or at least shut myself inside a well lit room with a stove and focus on food photography, which for me would be the same.  Although, I wouldn’t pass up a good meal, especially after taking a nice picture of it.

For the last few days Heather and I have been trying to take pictures, and I’m going to stress the word “trying.”  I told Heather that “I’m going to make portraits of people no matter what, I don’t care if I have to ask a hundred people and ninety-nine of them say no, as long as I get one!”  After her eyes stopped rolling we cracked open our trusty guide book and after careful analysis we set out to find the Thean Hou Temple.  A temple, which the guide book describes as a three storey

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. ©2009 Skyler Burt

beautiful Buddhist temple, one of the largest in Kuala Lumpur.  As travel photographers, fireworks shot from our eyes in a cartoon fashion and we immediately went to look for it on the map.  Maps by the way can never be trusted in guide books, unless they’ve been printed yesterday, especially of countries growing as fast as Malaysia.  It seems that in the six years since our guide book was printed Malaysia has not only changed all the street names but the directions of them as well.  The three maps that we have been using to try and navigate around the city all had a convenient little arrow pointing off the map with the words Thean Hou Temple.  Not too surprising.  Well, we weren’t going to let some small, useless arrow stop us.  At the bottom of the stairs in the lobby Heather remembers a stack of maps of the city that were different than ours.  I quickly ran down to grab one, but again the dreadful arrow was pointing straight off the map into the void that was our lack of direction.  “No worries” we say to each other,”we’ll just hop on the train and….”  So that was our plan.

It was not that bad of a plan, it had certainly worked well for us in the past, and the trains here are very convenient.  Among the plethora of trains that take you around the city we hopped on the MRT, or Monorail Transit.  This is my favorite form of transportation around the city, mainly because you get really nice views and the train has no operator.  That’s right, it’s completely automated with no driver,

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. ©2009 Skyler Burt

fantastic!  Now, I don’t know if this is a regular thing, but it’s a first for me.  No one else on the train seemed to be too surprised and I didn’t want to look foolish and start wildly gawking at this newfangled marvel of modern technology, shouting that no one is controlling the train, so I kept my cool.  Once we exited the station in the area, which we suspected that little arrow on the map pointed, we were greeted by a short young man asking us “where ya from?”  This is a regular occurrence for us if we stand in one place for more than thirty seconds.  Usually the person asking, wants to sell us something or give us a overcharged taxi ride and out of sheer abundance of hearing this simple yet effective conversation starter, our most likely response is a shrug like we don’t speak English.  This man didn’t look to be peddling anything, so we answered as we always do, “Los Angeles, and you?”  This man, who’s name I can’t remember, seemed to be nice and informed us, in a whispering voice, that most tourists don’t usually venture into the area that we were in and that if we like taking pictures, we should go to, (insert name of district I can’t remember).  We asked him if he knew of Thean Hou Temple, but he didn’t.  So we walked for a while and he said he had nothing to do so he would guide us to the district of which he spoke of earlier.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. ©2009 Skyler Burt

Right now in Malaysia, the people and government are really taking precautions over H1N1.  Everyone gets handed a little white mask just about everywhere you go.  Most people wear them, and our newly found man, the random protector of lost tourists, was following suit.  It lead to a pretty funny walk.  Every time we asked him a question, he would give us these really long responses, all I’m sure were quite informative, but nevertheless muffled by the mask like a Malaysian Darth Vader.  At the end of each response he would pull down the mask and let out a great laugh and smile.  We would nod and smile, blurting out a “Oh” and “Ah,” then our guide would pull up the mask and go on talking.

Soon we arrived at the district that he told us about, and we said our goodbyes.  He turned around and headed in the direction from which we had just come and was gone.  We never found the temple that day, but we saw it from the train heading back to our hotel.  After lots of walking in the wrong direction we found the temple the following day.  Like the guide book said Thean Hou is three stories and beautiful, but much newer than we had expected, and without the charm of some of it’s more ancient brothers.