Maybe it’s just me…

but I have had more hits on my blog when I don’t add a new post.

In the past two weeks, I have had over 10,000 hits and I have not so much as looked at my dashboard to see what was happening to my blog.   My post, “A Few of My Favorite Things…” is the post that has gone viral.  Since I posted this on September 29th it has had over 17,000 hits, far surpassing my record of number of hits for a posting.   I am not sure what this means but I have never posted anything to get hits anyway, so I guess I will ruin the viral run on my blog and start posting again soon.

For those of you who read my blog regularly should know by now that I have been out of commission for a while due to a few operations that I  needed to have.

I had to have my first ear surgery on Sept. 25th (after having an ear infection for two years) and it was discovered to be much worse than first expected.  The infection had infiltrated the Mastoid bone section behind the ear.  I needed to have more extensive surgery to remove all infected areas around the mastoid area and clear the infection in the middle ear.  That surgery (my second) was last Thursday (Nov 12) and the doctor told me that if he had waited another week there would have been nothing left to do.  It would have been fatal.  The infection had spread to the point that it had infiltrated the paper-thin layer that surrounds the brain.   The surgeon said he removed all the infected bone he could and it was one of the worst he had ever operated on.  They removed the bones from behind my ear down to the base of my neck and the bone above the ears had to be drilled and scrapped down to remove the infection. I know that I was in surgery for 5 hours and in recovery for almost another 5 before they moved me to ICU…I cannot describe to you the pain I was going through.

I have had some issues as a result of the surgery.  My right hand, actually my little finger and the ring finger on my right hand all the way down to my elbow is still without feeling.  I can move them and have not lost strength in them, they just feel like they are asleep the whole time.  The tips of the other three fingers are numb as well.  I also have discovered that I have lost feeling on the left side of my tongue and I still cannot feel my left ear at all.

The surgeons will not know if they got it all of the infection for three months.  If not…they have to go in and do surgery again.  This time on some very critical parts of the brain and will probably not have the best of results.   So…I am not out of the woods just yet.

I am trusting God and I will accept whatever He lays in my path.  Regardless of where that may lead me.  Thanks for the prayers and I will keep you updated on any progress or set backs. I have missed writing and I am very happy to have what I have left in my right hand.  At this point, I can still type but I cannot hold a pen just yet.

In closing, I have learned a few things over the past few weeks I have been away.   I have  learned that I need to take more time to stay in touch with those I care so much about.  It just seems like I get so busy and have the best of intentions but never seem to get around to do the things I should do…like staying in touch and being the friend I need to be to others.   For that I am sorry.

I am thankful for those of you that play along and tolerate my blog.  I look forward to writing and posting a lot over the next few years and I hope you stay along for the journey. Your friendship is appreciated and I thank you for all the kind words of encouragement.  It means more  to me than you will ever know.

Best Regards,

David

Just read an interesting article, from the NY Times online, which names the top ten “Internet Moments” of the decade! As could be expected, Wikipedia and the iPhone made the list alongside Facebook and Craigslist. But the three I found most interesting were the mention of President Obama’s 2008 campaign, the use of Twitter during the Iranian election protests this past year and what they call the “online video revolution” of 2006. These three really stood out to me as being the most important “moments” because they were events which happened because of the groundwork laid down by social networking websites and informational websites like Facebook and Wikipedia. It cannot be questioned that YouTube has greatly influenced much of our popular culture in the last five years, it’s colorful internet stars often parodied in other online videos and major television programs. Obama’s campaign utilized just about every site the internet had to offer during his presidential campaign. By using Twitter as a political forum, people were able to organize political protests and share experiences and information with people across the world, giving us in the U.S. an incredible insight into their 2009 election rather than getting our information through more conventional and perhaps less authentic news sources.

Our children will undoubtedly be taught a course on history of the internet or perhaps the evolution of information technology.  And the top ten moments of the next decade may include LBS friendly gadgets, online voting or perhaps even a total reinvention of the internet itself!

I am totally in awe of this new cookbook, Cookin’ with Coolio, which, according to the Village Voice, REALLY DOES EXIST.  From the Voice:

Chapters are titled “It’s Hard Out Here for a Shrimp,” “Appetizers for that Ass,” and “Salad-Eatin’ Bitches.” Salt is not measured in teaspoons, but doled out in “dime bags.” Chicken isn’t carved into breasts, but “breastesses.” The pantry is the “pimptry.”

WOW.  I had no idea that Coolio (of “Gangster’s Paradise” fame) had been cooking in online webisodes on My Damn Channel.  Leveraging social media to get a book deal!  Sound familiar?  So entrepreneurial.  God, I love this country.

Coolio interview here.

Una contagiosa logica virale. Così mi piace definire il fenomeno “meme“. Tormentoni social che dilagano (in modo naturale ed autonomo) online, che partono e proseguono a partire da una foto, un testo, un video. Da un’intuizione di un qualche soggetto. La naturale piazza per la propagazione del virus? Inutilo sottolinearlo: i social network.

Di esempi ce ne sarebbero moltissimi, tutti molto originali (questa è ovviamente una delle caratteristiche principali che permette la diffusione). Degli esempi?

Qualcuno inizia a pubblicare una sua foto su Flickr con una testa nel frigorifero taggandola con il numero in codice 241543903, ed il tam-tam online propaga il virus (provate a digitare su Google quel codice, vedrete quanti soggetti hanno imitato il personaggio). La voce “passa” da Flickr a Facebook, transitando per Twitter e la blogosfera.

Un esempio tutti italiano e recentissimo: un noto VIP, su un noto Social network (Friendfeed), pubblica una sua foto con un banale messaggio su di un cartello. Qualcuno inizia a prendere di mira il cartello facendone alcune divertenti ed ironiche versioni, diversi utenti del social network lo imitano: questo è il risultato. Centinaia di versioni di quella fotografie, tutto iniziato e terminato in pochissime ore.

Ci sarebbero molti altri esempi: ma se avete voglia di divertirvi, andate qui. Oppure guardate la classifica stilata dal rinomato blog americano Mashable.

Ma è davvero un fenomeno incontrollabile? Siamo certi si tratti di iniziative che nascono sempre in maniera naturale? Quanto conta il soggetto che lancia, in molti casi anche inconsciamente, il meme?

Sono domande alle quali è ovviamente difficile dare una risposta, in quanto, il fenomeno sembrerebbe non possedere logiche di propagazione precise. E’ l’idea che, come al solito, fa la differenza.

Ma le aziende (o meglio, Web Agency) possono studiare la natura degli internet meme per perfezionare ed ideare campagne di viral marketing di successo? Oppure, anche in questo caso, le iniziative virali naturali degli individui non possono esser nemmeno lontanamente paragonate a quelle aziendali che “forzatamente” lanciano il viral?

Quello che cambia sono gli obiettivi, è evidente: ecco perchè le due tipologie di virus, seppur hanno delle somiglianze inqeuivocabili, differiscono. Eccome se differiscono. Ecco perchè le aziende/agenzie non possono esimersi da studiare il fenomeno.

Mettiamola così: il meme è la più classica delle influenze stagionali, una campagna di viral marketing, invece, inietta un siero che prova a far venire l’influenza agli utenti.

Tranquilli, si guarisce presto.

Det er ikke ofte vi får servert spill av bibelske proposjoner, men hvitsnippene i bransjen forsøker så godt de kan å ljuge oss opp i kvisetrynet. 83,5 prosent av stortitler som spys ut på markedet i dag følges jo opp med ordet “Epic” på et eller annet vis.

Enten er denne frasen magisk for gamere som synes at en utflukt til postkassa er på høyde med å krysse Canada gående på henda og med bind for øya, eller så har PR-folka gått inn i en blindgate og satt seg ned med en hobo for å grille halvråtne rottekadavre marinert i tresprit.

Det gamle testamentet er uansett episk. Oppspinn av ypperste merke. Nå har det kommet meg for øre at enkelte faktisk tar det som står skrevet i denne sigarettpapirbeholderen av en bok for god fisk, og de gikk nok av skaftet da Mass: We Pray ble annonsert av Prayer Works Interactive.

Nå viste det seg at det hele var en VIRAL markedsføringskampanje for God of War-ripoffen Dante’s Inferno (nok et “episk” spill). Faen, kunne dere ikke heller annonsert Fuck: We Worship Satan? Brøst og vold trumfer familiehygge hver bidige gang, uten tvil.

Tullespillet “kommer” i hvert fall med bevegelsesfølsomme kontroller formet som kors, og små krakker man kan knele på.

Hadde EA vært smarte hadde de smekka sammen dette spillet pronto, det amerikanske markedet hadde garantert gått av hengselene - bortsett de millionene som hadde følt seg vonbrotne og støtt, selvsagt.  Ah, ha litt tro på dere SELV, badeballer!

Tittelen Jesus Hero klinger bra, gå for den EA. Da slipper cowboyhattfanatikerne å bruke kalorier på å svippe innom sine rottereir av noen kirker på søndagene også.

Burger og bønnestund høres helt kurant ut for meg.

Sjekk tulletraileren her:

For øvrig mener jeg JRPG bør ødelegges

- Kaptein Pikkhard

Really loving this  recent campaign by  Forsman & Bodenfors in  Sweden, launched in October 2009!  Their creative challenge was to engage people during the opening of a new store in Malmo!

What inspires me about this campaign is not that they used Facebook, and not that they gave away prizes ( we all know consumers love freebies ) but the creative method in which they engaged the facebook audience! It certainly created a ripple effect that they wanted to achieve.

Welcome to a new breed of digital campaigns!

En mkt bra viralfilm som dessutom bär ett bra budskap.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9O1rtKqXPV0

Posted by Audiegrl

Resistant strain discovered in Cardiff hospital, prompting concern among health officials

guardian.co.uk/Owen Bowcott—Doctors in Wales have discovered a Tamiflu-resistant strain of swine flu that has been spreading from patient to patient in a Cardiff hospital.

The emergence of an easily transmissible, resistant strain is a worrying development for health officials and appears to be the first documented case in Europe.

Five patients at University Hospital Wales, in Cardiff, were infected and isolated for treatment. All had severe underlying conditions that left them with weakened immune systems. At least three had acquired the infection in hospital.

There have been a handful of reported cases from around the world of Tamiflu-resistant strains of the H1N1 virus. Only one previous case, at a US summer camp, however, involved person-to-person transmission.

The Cardiff patients have been treated with an alternative anti-viral drug. Two have recovered and been discharged and three others remain in hospital, one in intensive care.

Dr Roland Salmon, the director of the communicable disease surveillance center in Wales, said: “The emergence of [H1N1] viruses that are resistant to Tamiflu is not unexpected in patients with serious underlying conditions and suppressed immune systems, who still test positive for the virus despite treatment.“

“In this case, the resistant strain of swine flu does not appear to be any more severe than the swine flu virus that has been circulating since April.“

“For the vast majority of people, Tamiflu has proved effective in reducing the severity of illness. Vaccination remains the most effective tool we have in preventing swine flu so I urge people identified as being at risk to look out for their invitation to be vaccinated by their GP surgery.“

Any spread of a Tamiflu-resistant strain of the virus into the community would constitute a serious public health concern. The government recently reminded those who caught swine flu to take Tamiflu as a first line of medical defense.

More @

Why did I become the Swedish hero? Check the full film:
http://www.tackfilm.se/?id=1258955512933RA63

Whether it is the i-pod dance parties or flash mobs in subways – a procrastinator must have come up with this way of mobilizing large groups of people to waste the time of even larger groups of people… and have fun doing it!

Flash Mob in Subway

Flash Mob… works for the i-wish-i-thought-of-that procrastinator for:

x Passing time while talking on the phone

x Watching trash tv

x On the train, bus, car… public transport

x Good detox … after work, while writing a paper…

x Good to lull to bed

x Stop and Restart

I Just Think She’s Great.

Evidence From SNL A Few Years Back :

That is all.

It has been an interesting week in Ireland, when the passion of football and the reality of flooding provided a distraction from the economic crisis and upcoming budget. It has been an interesting week also in watching these news stories unfold in new ways.

The elite class of journalists and media hacks are being supplanted in their role as purveyors of news. They are being replaced by often anonymous  individuals, empowered with new technologies that allow them to become influencers of common opinion in a very short space of time. The public are transitioning from passively consuming news to participating in shaping and reporting it.

In reality we continue to do both – consume and participate. Yes, we do still watch TV, listen to the radio and read newspapers. But instead of expressing our views in our small physical circles we are expanding our spheres of influence immeasurably.

A dejected Irish team salute their fans. Photo from Flickr courtesy of smemon87 (CC)

On Wednesday night a travesty occurred as Ireland felt cheated out of a potential victory over France with Thierry Henry’s obvious handball. Outrage was felt immediately in homes, bars and clubs all over the country, but simultaneously it was spreading like wildfire online.

A recent phenomenon has seen many who are watching or attending events, record and report their views on Twitter. By using a shared reference (hash tag), anyone can see everyone else who is tweeting thus creating a self-forming community of participants. The shared tag on Twitter on Wednesday night was #frairl and the community consisted of both Irish and French. The outrage was palatable on Twitter and the #frairl tag was soon accompanied by #cheat. Thierry Henry’s own Twitter profile, became a focal point for outrage. This account has since been shut down by Twitter as a result of “strange activity”.

Within minutes new Facebook fan pages were established seeking to galvanise fans behind a common cause. One such page, the “Thierry Henry should Apologise to Ireland” page had 600 fans within a few minutes, and after just three days has nearly 25,000 fans. In the aftermath of the match, Facebook has become a platform for sharing information, news and expressions of disgust and outrage.

Very quickly, the footage of the Henry incident was uploaded onto YouTube. Within the first three days the top 5 home-made videos have been watched almost more than 2.2 million times.

Bloggers blogged, bulletin boards buzzed, new websites were established, petitions were signed, Wikipedia was updated and even a computer game was developed.

Traditional media outlets reported on the match and the aftermath, but I’m very tempted to say so what! The user-generated content and activity has been streaming through much more quickly and has been far more engaging. Sure the production quality is often inferior and the accuracy isn’t always spot on, but then our expectations of this new world or user-generated news and buzz are different.

The traditional elite class of journalists don’t like this. A passing comment from a national radio commentator the next morning reporting on the hive of activity on social media the previous evening ended his report with a telling “have they nothing better to do?” Of course they are right to feel threatened. Their world is changing and if they don’t change with it they will be left behind.

It is encouraging to see initiatives such as the soon to launch journalist.ie which is a new website aggregating posts from Irish journalists who are blogging. It sets out to “select and share quality content written by journalists and area specialists”.

I’ll leave the last word to Mark Little, a Montrose golden-boy, who is to take twelve months leave of absence from his day job to set up a global online news service that will seek to bring together quality news reporting with social media. Mark is a recent convert to social media and attributes his awakening to the speed at which he saw breaking news on protests in Iran stream on Twitter. In a recent interview with Media Contact, Mark explains that “news is no longer a product you can sell; it is a process in which people expect to take part.” Too true.

Share this:

Increasingly curious about social media, clients and agencies alike are looking for tried and trusted ways to use social media and social networking as part of their marketing mix. Here are examples of brands that got it right!

Levis Australia created a successful Twitter campaign using a real-world game! Not many brands have as yet managed to successfully use Twitter to create a stir in the collective sonsumer psyche.

Another one that created a stir is thr IKEA Facebook Showroom… watch on…

For an example of a local Singaporean brand, see StarHub’s TweetATreasure campaign which moved from Facebook to Twitter — they got a lot of flak in the beginning for getting people to spam followers, but a quick improved comeback resulted in great coverage!

What do you think of these?

Vous vous rappelez certainement de la Fun Theory (3 vidéos lancé par la marque dt une devenue très célèbre démontrant qu’emprunter les escaliers à la place d’un escalator est possible si on y ajoute un peu d’humour).

Volkswagen nous propose une nouvelle campagne virale et de façon très originale. En effet, l’originalité de cette campagne vient du support de communication utilisé, pour le moins inhabituel: un billet de banque! Des billets de 20€, 50€ et 100€ sont tamponnés et indiquent ainsi combien de Kms il est possible de faire avec ce montant grâce à la nouvelle Golf Blue Motion!

Idée très originale d’aller vers les gens en proposant un message sur un support des plus virales qu’il existe. Cependant, un gros bémol reste qu’il est impossible de cibler parfaitement sa cible; la destination d’un billet de banque étant évidemment imprévisible!

Très beau coup néanmoins!

Link do post: http://caradecajina.wordpress.com/2009/11/21/41/

O recado foi dado, faça o que ela mandou. A menos que você queira sofrer as consequências.

Via Cara de Cajina.

Alguém aí já deu uma olhada nesse viral que tá rodando pela internet desde o dia 16/11? Pois é, ninguém sabe do que se trata…

Enfim…só sei que é um dos vídeos virais mais interessantes já produzidos por aí! Descrito simplesmente como “Quite possibly the funkiest supergroup of all time. Peace Out.”, temos Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela e Madre Teresa se esbanjando num groove tenso de tão fodástico em nome da paz. Doido né?

Pesquisas no deus Google não revelam absolutamente nada sobre a ‘banda’, e o vídeo foi postado por uma conta recentemente criada no You Tube. Os dados do usuário da conta indicam ser de um australiano de 41 anos. A qualidade tanto do vídeo quanto do áudio são profissionais, assim como a maquiagem do trio. Sem contar que não dá para não notar a luvinha prateada do Michael Jackson fazendo o ‘peace sign’ de relance perto do final do vídeo. Seria essa mais uma pista? Mas pista de que? Qual é a história por trás dessa campanha viral?

Comentários no You Tube e  Twitter têm dado destaque aos tags ‘nobel’ e ‘peace’ e a pergunta “Where’s Obama?” também tem surgido com frequência. Mas, ao que tudo indica, ninguém tem uma prova concreta sobre quem está por trás da ação. Então meu caro, assista e divirta-se, enquanto a gente continua tentando desvendar o mistério!

Casualment, al mateix moment que a España arribava als cinemes “REC” grabada en primera persona; a Estats Units s’estrenava “Monstruoso”. Com”REC”, aquesta també estava grabada en primera persona. Per suposat, estem parlant dels EEUU i això vol dir que no es limitarien a rodar en un petit escenari com un bloc de pisos, sinó que ho haurien de fer a gran escala com, per exemple, tota la ciutat de Nova York. També volia dir que en comptes de morts que caminen, l’amenaça havia de ser un monstre molt més gran, digne de les pel·lícules i sèries de culte del japó. I crec que aquí és on perd una mica l’encant.

A “REC” hi han molts moments de tensió, ja que l’enfrontament cos a cos és constant i l’amenaça és més real i violenta. A “Monstruoso”, el monstre és tan gran que és impossible una baralla entre els protagonistes i ell; l’únic que poden fer és córrer i córrer. Això sí, amb un ventall d’efectes especials impressionants..

Només pel fet d’estar grabat en primera persona ja m’agrada. És un recurs molt bo i crec que està molt ben aprofitat. La forma en que estan barrejades les escenes d’acció i tensió amb les més dramàtiques està molt ben aconseguida. Durant la pel·lícula t’enportes dos o tres sorpreses (dic sorpreses i no “sustos”) innesperades que li donen certa gràcia i fa que no la oblidis fàcilment.

Però si per alguna cosa ha destacat aquesta pel·lícula és per la seva publicitat. Per vendre-la, van utilitzar el que últimament s’anomenen “virals”. Són videos cassolans, cartells publicitaris,… que no semblen estar relacionats amb la pel·lícula però que van creant expectació. Per exemple, per a la pel·lícula de “District 9″, es van penjar cartells pels carrers separant zones per a humans i zones per alienígenes. Tots aquests detalls susciten grans debats i expectacions en nombrosos forums d’internet i aquesta és la millor forma de vendre qualsevol producte: que se’n parli.

Per la gran promoció que es va fer en el seu moment, pel recurs de la primera persona, pels actors desconeguts i bons, i per l’espectacularitat del monstre, per la gran destrucció de la ciutat i pel seu final,  “Monstruoso” és una cinta molt recomanable. Correu a veure-la ara mateix!!

Voglio fare un esperimento.
ed ho bisogno di TUTTI VOI!!

vorrei creare il video del brano “Che Figata” che qualcuno di voi ha sentito, ma lo voglio fare in maniera strana: vorrei che a cantarlo foste VOI.

per fare questo ho creato dei semplici step da seguire per la buona riuscita del video, in modo da poter dire “CHE FIGATA!”

scaricate il brano da quì

Scaricate il testo della canzone da quì
Attraverso facebook, youtube, cellulare, webcam e chi più ne ha, più ne metta, registrate la vostra migliore performance dell’intero brano, o anche solo qualche parte
caricatela su un hosting tipo mediafire, youtube, megavideo (in caso di filmato fatto da cellulare o webcam), oppure condividetela tramite facebook sul mio profilo (nel caso abbiate registrato il video via facebook o youtube)
inviate una mail a 29team@gmail.com indicando il link del video che avete girato
chiamate i vostri amici e fatelo fare anche a loro

prometto che l’esperimento sarà fortificante e divertente allo stesso tempo.

Spero vivamente in una partecipazione massiccia.

CONDIVIDETEEEEEEEE
B

J’adore,c’est vraiment excellent….Its beautiful, Paris is still the coolest city to live in, once there you truly appreciate “life”, you have this sense of being part of a real human world as opposed to other individualistic big cities( NYC, London…)