May 31, 2007

Real conversations at my house...

Yesterday, I told Glenn "mmmm..., interesting, it seems that there is a new product from Microsoft that changes the way we interact with computers"....

Of course he asked what was that about but I simply answered "something called Surface" and that was it as I was already reading some other news --so it ended there.

Today, first thing in the morning, I checked my email. Glenn was already at work, so I got this email from him:

"Hmmmm…. I think we might be getting a new coffee table for the living room…" and after that there was a link to an article about Surface.

My simple answer was: "that is the one I was telling you about yesterday, but my question is, what happens when you spill coffee over it? Can it recognize coffee too and drink it?

Glenn's answer was very simple too:

"It runs on Vista sweetie…… not Sandy....."

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May 30, 2007

Priceless Mastercard -the China version

The One Show China program,organized by the The One Club, has delivered some interesting campaigns this year.

The Gold-winning MasterCard campaign went to an agency called Tianjin Back Sea, who added a dark twist to the "Priceless" campaign so well known worldwide.

A "cat lady" abandoned by her human children, a doll collecting childless couple, and a trasvetite whose "priceless" desire is to "be able to dress the way you want" are the central pieces of the winning campaign.

I wasn't able to find a translation for all the ads, but I can imagine what is 'priceless' in each case.

1. Childless couple, collecting dolls:


2. Without her kids, but with her cats:


While the Western version works more on the funny side of life, it is really interesting to see the Chinese approach to what may be considered 'priceless' in life.

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Re-thinking Coca Cola Blak

When Coca Cola Blak appeared in the market, I was happy and sad at the same time.

Happy, because anything that means another way of consuming caffeine is fine with me.

Sad, because some months ago, thanks to a Colombian friend I have tried the Juan Valdez version of the same beverage and my first thought was that once again a big giant company was copying a small one, with better chances of success.

Nevertheless, the Juan Valdez beverage is not easy to find in SoFla and Coca Cola Blak is. So, from time to time I would buy Blak. Not very often though, because a) I still prefer the Valdez version (obviously you can taste more and better coffee in that one); b) I found Blak a little expensive considering is just Coca Cola with a bit of coffee and c) there is not a "diet" version available.

But the revenge has come.

Now, in almost any gas station when you buy your normal coffee you can get for free "Stok" (see picture below) a small caffeine "add on".



So each time I stop for a coffee, I would take with me one or two Stok, the unsweetened version. And then, spending just 50 cents or so in a can of Diet Coke, I can have my own "Blak" my way. Just add one or two of these coffee shots to your preferred Cola (Diet, Zero, regular, etc.) and you got more Blak for less money.

I am pretty sure I am not the only one that has figured this out (and if I am please feel free to use my recipe!) and I am wondering how long would Blak stay in the market.

Considering that they copied Juan Valdez' idea, if Coca Cola Blak now fades out from the market, it seems to me like poetic justice. If Blak disappears I will not be sad..., as long as Stok is still available, of course!

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Vamos a la playa, oh oh oh...

En fin... el fin de semana pasado fue fin de semana largo, FINALMENTE, luego de 4 meses sin un maldito feriado. Asi que el sabado y domingo descansamos (bastante) y el lunes, feriado él, me pareció que ya era hora de salir un poco de la casa en horario diurno...

Hacia apenas unos días atrás que había caído en la cuenta que desde hace casi dos años que no piso la playa. Of course, no se debe a que me quede tan lejos (serán unos 15 o 20 minutos de casa) sino a que realmente, en fin, para mi la playa sería taaaaanto mejor si estuviera rodeada de cemento en vez de arena.

Asi que le propuse a Glenn ir a la pileta, (dos minutos caminando, pero chiquita ella) o ir a la playa, para variar un poco y tomar un poco de aire y sol. Me temía que con 4 maratones en TV todas de series que me gustan (Sopranos, CSI, Law & Order y Monk) si no salíamos aunque sea un rato me iba a quedar prendida a la tele como garrapata...

Glenn se inclinó por la playa. Claro, no solo el chico es caribeño al fin, sino que le gusta pescar y si salíamos en una horita (eran las 4 y algo de la tarde) seguramente ibamos a estar allí, in situ, para el atardecer, aparentemente uno de los mejores horarios para pescar.

Asi que alli fuimos. Claro, era feriado, asi que para cuando llegamos, casi 6 de la tarde, era dificil encontrar estacionamiento y los barcitos de la playa estaban en puro estado de joda, con la música a todo lo que da y turistas pasados por alcoholes de todo tipo.

En fin. Yo había llevado mi librito (una recopilación de los mejores cuentos sobre perros que esta buenísima), mi toallita, cafecito y allí me tiré a leer.

La verdad, la verdad, me hizo bien la salidita. No sólo porque un poco de aire de mar y sol no le viene mal ni siquiera a este vampiro (después de todo, es una vez cada dos años) sino que me sirvió para recordar por que NO me gusta ir a la playa. Algunos de los tantos motivos son:

1. Hay arena, muuuuucha arena. Mucha. Infinita. Y vuela.
2. El agua viene con naturaleza incluida, léase algas y otros.
3. La gente te rodea.
4. La gente tiene niños.
5. Los niños juegan con la arena..., y como si fuera poca la arena que te rodea, la de los niños, esa que levantan con la palita o el baldecito, leyes de Murphy mediante, también va a parar a tu cuerpecito, tu café, tu libro o tu toalla.

Si a eso le sumamos los residentes y turistas en estado etílitico... pues lo mío no es la playa, o al menos no éstas playas...

Pero no me quejo. La salidita estuvo buena, mi café era decente y me sirvió para descubrir que he perfeccionado mi mirada asesina. Una sola mirada y aquella madre detrás mío cuyo niño tiraba arena a cuatro bandas me pidió disculpas y se encargó de alejarlo de mí.

Otra mirada, y los cuervos alcoholizados que creían que estaba sola en la playa (cuando Glenn se había ido a pescar) supieron que en vez de hacerse los langas, lo mejor era dejarme solita....

Ahora, en serio. Las playas solitarias me gustan... un poquito, por unos días. Pero eso de estar rodeada de críos, naturaleza, arena, y teniendo que escuchar la famosa "Macarena" a todo lo que da mientras gringos, canadienses y latinos hacen con cero gracia los famosos pasitos al son del "Dale a tu cuerpo alegría, Ma'dalena, que tu cuerpo e' pa' darle alegría y cosa' buena" es too much para mi.

Igual me sentí reivincada cuando por los parlantes empezó a sonar una de mis canciones favoritas que iba con la ocasión más que nunca: "I will survive". Pues sí, sobreviví!

Algunos podran pensar que me estoy volviendo vieja. No, no, no, a no engañarse. En todo caso, nací vieja. Pero yo creo que lo mío es mucho mas simple. Soy una chica de ciudad. Citadina pura, que puede ir a una playa abandonada de la mano de Dios por unos días y hasta ahí, pero que tiene cero cintura para aguantarse el mix de naturaleza (arena y algas) con lo peor de la ciudad, léase niños, madres gritonas, bailantas improvisadas y coyotes rondando, todos desinhibidos y aglomerados!

Por los proximos meses, será pileta para mí. Tambien hay niños, pero al menos no hay arena que vuela....!

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May 23, 2007

A matter of taste...

Seriously, this is just a matter of taste (and means, of course).

I find both things, uhm, 'not something I would buy' not only because they seem useless to me (I am still alive and I do not have a baby) but they are definitely not my taste.

Still I am not surprised to know there is a market for these products out there. In our days there is without doubt a market for anything... it depends on how you "present" it (positioning matters!)

Odd thing #1: "Personalized coffins" (for grownups and children)




Odd thing # 2: White Gold and Diamond Pacifier (that of course SHOULD NOT be used by babies...!)

You can see more pictures @ Oxford Coffins and @ Personalized Pacifiers

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May 22, 2007

Giuliani, Clinton, Obama, the Mormon guy, or the Law & Order boss?

It seems that both parties have some tough decisions to make when it comes to who will be the presidential runner. Me? I have already made my mind... if we can get them to run!

The running ticket I would vote for, without any doubt is: (drums)


If you believe is a joke, think about it for a second.... They are both brilliant, that fact alone would be a major change to what inhabitates the White House now...!

The SC'08 image is from Busted Tees, where you can check for some other interesting ideas for t-shirts...

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May 21, 2007

Three nice ads to start the week

Mmmmm (... big yawn...), by some unknow reason the blog is a weekday activity for me... so here I am in slow motion as I start the week, sharing 3 good ideas from big brands!

1. FedEx:



2. Bic Razors:


3. Mr. Clean (I would have loved it even more for Clorox but Mr. Clean got to it first...!)


Thanks to Sally for sending these ones! :)

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May 18, 2007

Google goes for "universal search"

Google announced two days ago its critical first steps toward a 'universal search model' that will offer users a more integrated and comprehensive way to search for and view information online.

The company also introduced an updated homepage design and several new navigation features that make it faster and easier for users to find the information they are looking for.

As it has happened before, when GooglePress came out with the announcement that also stated that a new experimental version of its popular search service called Google Experimental was already available on Google Labs, it wasn't yet available...

But now it is. This new test site provides users an opportunity to try out some of the latest search experiments and innovations and provide Google with feedback. One of the first experiments to be featured on the siteenables users to view their search results on a map or timeline. Go check it out!

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Beetlemania!

Cars are one of those things people use to express their creativity.
But let's face it: 'creativity' is a too ample word and there is a long road between an idea and its execution (that is why a big part of a good idea is how well it could be executed --a good idea that can't be well executed is not such a good idea).

The old VW Beetle seems to be one of the cars that most inspires people to experiment, probably because of its unusual shape. Some results are just awesome, some are funny and some are... well, regrettable.

Here you can see a bunch of weird ideas well executed on the little Beetle.



My favorite is, of course, the UFO model (as an alien myself, it reminds me of my own mothership) :)




If you want to see more, here is the complete collection of the most odd Beetles!

Source: Thrillingwonder

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May 16, 2007

Psychology and communications

(Sigh) I really want this blog to be mostly about creativity or ideas and not about politics or news, but these days that is almost impossible for me. Nevertheless, one can help to explain the other.

So here I am posting a video that has nothing to do with creativity but I will invite you, the reader, to 'play' with me as we can use this video to explain some of the challenges that any communicator needs to face when s/he wants to communicate an 'idea'.

Lets see the video first:



This video has been posted several times in youtube, in one case even with the name of the soldiers. Each video is exactly the same, but the text with the posting varies from one to another, as well as the keywords... and therefore the comments and the ratings (ratings go down when the original text is more agressive).

While some seem to find it (as the soldiers, apparently) "hilarious", some others (like me) think is a shame. But there are another points of view, being the most interesting at least for me, the one claiming something like "see, we need to give more funding to the troops, so they can give water to the kids...". That reasoning would never cross my mind, because for me it was pretty clear that it wasn't a matter of "funds" just a matter of... call it what you want, bad taste, alienation, weird sense of humor or whatever.

Still this shows how we all see completely different things while watching the same video. Why? Because our own values and beliefs prioritizes one aspect of the video over the other. Our psyche plays a big role on how we 'understand' facts.

This case also shows how for some people is more difficult to put themselves in the shoes of 'the other one'. I bet money that some of the same that considered this video 'hilarious' would be the first ones that would like to put a bullet betwen the eyes of anyone that dare to do the same to their kids, if the situation was the other way around and their kids were the thirsty ones begging and running for water.

Communications is rarely about the facts, but about what we want (and we can) see or understand when we are exposed to a message. I see something shameful, some see the need for funding, some see a joke and we all have seen the same video.

Good communicators know that when transmitting an idea, you should use your recipients' values and beliefs, and you should expect different reactions from different publics, specially if the target audience is extremely wide.

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About gas prices and actions

Gas prices are going up everyday. And some people (like Stanley Bing) are calling for some citizens' action about it.

I understand the anger, believe me. I live in a State where you can't go anywhere without a car and to make things worst that state is Florida..., and for the second straight year, South Floridians have been declared the most boorish, aggressive and dangerous drivers in the United States! So the pain is double: you have to drive and you have to do it among the rudest people in the country..., and you have to pay each day a bit more for that 'pleasure'.

On my side I find it a bit pathetic that it seems to be more 'calls for action' for gas prices than for a deserved impeachment but maybe those that 3 years ago where driving proudly with that tasteless bumpersticker that reads "Nuke their ass and get their gas" will now consider one of these:


If you don't want to make this political, or your problem is not with the price of gas (you drive a hybrid for example) but you have something to say to those Hummer owners, here are some other choices:

And there are more, much more. Just Google "gas" and "bumper sticker" and you will find for sure one for your personal taste.

I think that just carrying bumperstickers is not enough, but I also had the crazy idea that a president that lied to his country to go to war could not get elected a second term, and here we are... so, maybe, making a statement through a bumpersticker is not such a bad idea!

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The Dot Com bubble burst...

... and everything fell down..., literally...


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May 15, 2007

Innocent until proven guilty!

This is not my dog (Soy), but it reminded me sooo much of him during his first 2 weeks at my house, that I have to publish it here too.

The reason it reminds me of Soy is because after I picked him up from the streets, during those first weeks, I would come home to find the trash bag moved from the kitchen to the living room, ALL the trash around the empty bag and Soy happily wagging his tail, very proud of his trash removal...

But what I liked the most, as it also can be seen in this picture, was THAT face of pure innocence!


BTW, I found this picture in a blog named "Nothing to do with Abroath", the perfect place for those looking for unusual stories. Take a look, you will have fun!

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May 12, 2007

Pollution goes graphic

An anti-pollution campaign that runs in China.

The cloud reads something like:
"If you drive one day less, look how much carbon dioxide you'll keep out of the air we breathe."

And apparently, that cloud represents a short commute.... :)

Via: Core77

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Giving a good first impression

For some especific professions where creativity is expected as part of your traits, your business card is the first place where you should show you have what it takes. Of course, there is your portfolio, but you don't go with your portfolio everywhere, while you can take your business cards anyplace.


At Flicker, you can find a collection of ingenious business cards, 481 of them, actually. Some of them are just intricate or extremely expensive (what really doesn't always convey creativity, just enough money to spend) but you can find a good number of really good ideas. Here are some of them.

1. The 'recycle' idea: in Spanish we would call this one ¨bueno, bonito, barato¨ (good, cheap, and pretty). As you can see the card is in fact a metro card with just a sticker on it...



2. Making the most of your name (what will help them to remember it)

3. Making the most of your slogan (in this case ¨another point of view, ¨a bit of a cliché but is not just what you say but how you say it --and this is a good example of that).

4. From my pont of view, the best one: She is a hair professional and make up artist, therefore the bobbypins as hair gives the card an extra touch, that is completely related to the 'product' that she offers.

If you want to see the whole collection just visit 'business cards' at Flicker.

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May 11, 2007

The world's greatest beer ad

No comments needed....


Thanks Scott for sending it!

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May 9, 2007

Common sense? Anyone?

Gas station owner told to raise prices.

According to an article in Boston.com, a service station that offered discounted gas to senior citizens and people supporting youth sports has been ordered by the state to raise its prices.

The owner has been offering senior citizens a 2 cent per gallon price break and discount cards that let sports boosters pay 3 cents less per gallon. But the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection says those deals violate Wisconsin's Unfair Sales Act, which requires stations to sell gas for about 9.2 percent more than the wholesale price.

So if he does not not comply, he could be sue and penalized with a fine.

I understand the concept of 'unfair sales'. But I also understand that the law should be applied with common sense. One discount was for senior citizens and the other was a discount card so it is not exactly a discount, as some money was paid in advance to buy the card. Very very arguable by a good lawyer, but I still can't believe it how often people with good ideas ended up needing a lawyer...

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My other creative (and hippie!) side

For those that are always asking what I am doing now when it comes to my hobby (being it making silver jewelry) here are some pictures of the last things I have done. Now, I am working a lot with silver and hematite, but as always I am 'experimenting', so it may take some time until I have one of those to show here.

The technique I am using is completely different to what I was used to (metalsmithing vs. clay) so each piece takes longer to be finished. Hopefully that will change with more practice!






(Thanks JC for the pictures!)

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April Fools' the geek way

Thanks to Dani for the info about this book!

I must confess that I found it a bit geeky even for me, meaning... uhm let's say ´too technical´. But I trust the source that it is probably hilarious if you know enough about RFC´s to begin with.

So I am sure my geek friends will get a good laugh from it.

This is the story behind the book:

RFCs are the documents that the IETF publishes to document how the Internet works.

On April 1 of each year sometimes one or two are published that are parodies. This book collects them all under one cover in a book suitable for your coffee table, office, or hidden somewhere so your friends don't know how geeky your humor is.

Interested? You can get it here.

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May 8, 2007

Bicultural joke

In Argentina and in some other places in Latin America ´gallegos´ (that is people from Galicia in Spain) are what Polish are in the US. For us if there is a joke about not being bright, it involves a ´gallego´.

But this is the first joke about Gallegos that I have seen in English (thanks Bi!) and I think is because you have to know English, Spanish and how bad we (Spanish speakers) may pronounce English in some occasions. Basically, it is a bicultural joke that goes like this....

Three men, an Italian, a French and a Gallego went for a job interview in England.

Before the interview, -they have to compose a sentence in English with three main words: "green", "pink" and "yellow".

The Italian was first: "I wake up in the morning. I see the yellow sun. I see the green grass and I think to myself, I hope it will be a pink day."

The French was next: "I wake up in the morning, I eat a yellow banana, a green pepper and in the evening I watch the pink panther on TV."

Last was the Gallego: "I wake up in the morning, I hear the phone "green...green...", I "pink" up the phone and I say:... "Yellow?"

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A tiny bity ball...

...floating somewhere in the universe... fragile, limited, exhausted...

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What I've learned about me so far...

thanks to my spam!

In at least one of my email accounts, I decided not to filter spam. The reason is simple, I want to know what is 'out there' even in that territory. So I receive around 4 or 5 hundred emails per day, and just one hundred are really for me.

But I learned a lot about me thanks to the daily spam I get...

Some of those things are:

1. Even when my name is Sandra, I am obviously a man and one with severe sexual problems: my penis is too small, I can't maintain a long erection and I can't 'come' like a porno star (sic) so I need Viagra or Cialis or some other magic pills, that I can buy online much cheaper from pharmacies in Canada or Mexico (or who knows where)

2. I am terrible overweight and my only way to lose all that before summer is with 'completely safe' pills, natural herbs based on Hoodia or, of course, the Oprah trainer.

3. I hate my job and my boss, and I should be doing millions without leaving my home through the Internet working for Ebay or making Google work for me.

4. I must be extremely stupid: I could have received millions from different banks in Russia, Nigeria, and Middle East. I have also won the the EuroLotto several times but didn't cash it for the same reason I didnt get the money for the banks... stupid as I am I never answered those emails with the personal information they were requesting...stupid, stupid me...

5. Oprah is my God, so no matter what she endorses, recommends or uses I should too.

6. Good people out there loves me so much that they send me tips on stocks that for sure will skyrocket in just one week. And because I know Japanese and Russian and German, I receive emails in all those languages too...

7. Whatever I am paying for my loan or mortgage, is too much. I can get a better quote and erase my debt in just minutes!

8. I could have a degree without studying. I could just make a call and my new degree could be on its way...!

9. There are several 'secrets' out there that could make me feel fulfilled with my life and set me free. For just $69.99, I can have each of those secrets today and change my life tomorrow!

10. Last but not least, is not clear if I am over 30 and lonely, over 40 and single, over 50 and looking or if I am black or jewish or both. But I am lonely, single and looking. What makes sense, remember that I am a man with several sexual problems... etc etc etc :)

Now, this is the English version of my spam. For some reason, the spam I received from Argentina is completely different and has teached me that:

1. I am a DIY person. I want to buy CD's that will teach me from how to build bungalows, or do feng shui, to how to grow my own colony of escargots (snails).

2. My golf skills are really important for me, so I can also get a CD to learn the secret to lower my handicap

3. My life is a continuous party, so I am invited and in the VIP list of every club in Bs As.

4. I want to take a course on anything: from how to manage my small company, to how to take a course in taking courses... /:)

5. It doesn't matter what my business is about, there is someone that can make a website for me for 30 USD and someone that can sell me a list to 'email' (spam) and start all over again this vicious circle....

Now, talking a bit more seriously, spam in general is annoying but when they send you stuff that is not even near your interests (I am not a man ergo I do not have ED, I am not paying any loan or mortgage and I hate the concept of DIY) it goes from annoying to plain ridiculous....

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May 7, 2007

Drinking Alcohol Shrinks the Brain

WEDNESDAY, May 2 (HealthDay News) -- While it might help your heart, drinking even moderately could shrink your brain, U.S. researchers say.

The researchers found that the more alcohol people drank on a regular basis, the smaller their brain volume.

People who had more than 14 drinks per week had an average 1.6 percent reduction in brain volume compared with people who never drank.

Mmmmmmm... isn't Bush a recovered alcoholic?

This report can explain at least half of his problem. The other missing half of his brain may have been lost while trying to avoid serving in the Army. Or at birth... Who knows?

Thanks to AdBusters for the spoof ad

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May 6, 2007

Handmade PC Case

More and more we are having our pc´s cases personalized. Mine at home has some cool lights where the fans are. But this one is a one of the most complex cases I have ever seen!

Click on the picture if you want to know more about it... UPDATE: Sorry, the image is not there anymore. As it was removed from where I got it, I also removed the link because now takes you to an e-commerce site.

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May 5, 2007

Melting pots, empires and creativity

A good idea from CreativeClass.org: they took a look at cities by employement to try to identify which cities dominate the creative area.

How? Well, they focused on the ones that have more than 10% of the national employement for creative occupations and especific creative fields.

These are some of their findings:

- Advertising/ Marketing is dominated by New York in shear numbers.
- LA and New York are the hotbeds for arts, media, and design.
- Houston has a stronghold on engineering.
- Washington, DC is a research town.
- Boston is, not surprisingly, strong in biosciences.
- Technology hotspots: Silicon Valley and Washington, DC.

This conclusions (not so surprising after all) seems to reinforce a theory I have been developing for some time: the most creative cities tend to be the ones that for different reasons are or have been great 'melting points'.

I enjoy creativity and that is one of the several reasons I love cities like NYC, London, Barcelona, Marseille, Rome and Buenos Aires among others.

Some of those cities have become melting pots because they were harbors since ancients times and some others because at some point or another they were the center of an empire. Creativity feeds and nurtures from previous ideas and open mindness and is when different ideas bump into each other influencing one another, that they fused and they give birth to new ideas.

Big cities (where survival is harder) and big melting pots (where is difficult to be too narrow minded) are therefore the best places for creativity to flourish.

But not all is lost for smaller cities. We have a bigger melting pot out there, one that is accessible to millions: internet. And thousands of websites have become a new path for creativity to surface everywhere.

See complete report here

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May 4, 2007

Simple ideas that could make our lives easier

This is a great idea, presented by a student as his final project.

The idea is simple but powerful: Magnetic Hangers. It is simple, helpful, neat.

As far as I know it hasn't been developed yet at an industrial level, but seems easy to develop.

The only thing you need are strong magnets and some hangers with extra strong magnets (a bit more expensive) for heavy coats.

But not only it makes easier to 'hang' things if you are short like I am (as you will not need to 'stretch' yourself so much, just extend the hanger and the magnet will stick to the metal top) it allows you to have a top metal in any shape (rectangular, square or round) and arranged your clothes in different ways that the normal hangers will never allow.

I hope someone can fund this student and they can start making them really soon! :)

As seen in Creative Juice

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The only thing missing are the CDs...

cartoon from www.weblogcartoons.com

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

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May 3, 2007

IPod's Grand Daddy!

This is a 1956 ad for lingerie from France. With more than 50 years, it could be considered the grandaddy of IPod's last campaign.

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May 2, 2007

O'Reilly exposed

People that know me, know that I despise O'Reilly. Not lightly, but with all my heart. The main reason is because while everyone is entitled to its opinion on things and to preach whatever they want, there is a difference between cheap propaganda and journalism.

If O'Reilly had positioned himself as an Imus or a Howard Stern I would still don't like him, but at least there would not be the pretension of real journalism or fairness. What really gets to me is that while he is doing cheap propaganda, he wants to make it look like journalism and analysis. What is not.

I like intelligent discussions. But I hate propaganda, because propaganda works on the premises that you the one receiving the message, you are an idiot. Propaganda uses basic feelings like love or fear to get your thoughts killed by more primal instincts. Propaganda uses name calling and bully, bold slogans, to simplify and make complex things look simpler.

As Einstein said one "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler." And the reason behind this is that if you make something 'simpler', it is not anymore that thing that you were trying to explain but something else.

So, among millions of other things, what makes me hate O'Reilly is not his 'opinions' but that he present those to millions of people and he presents them as if they were 'analysis' and depth thinking. Is not. Is a bunch of slogans well articulated.

I know it works. Propaganda was Hitler's first ally with the German masses. Propaganda works good with masses, with people that do not want to think by themselves. But when intelligent people falls for it, and can't see the difference between propaganda and journalism or analysis, that is a problem.

This is a study from the University of Indiana, that analyzes O'Reilly's program not from a political point of view but from a communications' point of view. It analyzes the techniques used, ergo not the opinions delivered but how they are delivered. Basically it exposes his cheap tricks.

Sadly, this is the kind of things that the 'masses' would not read. They want quick slogans and simpler explanations and 27 pages is probably too much to read. But those that have no problems with reading will find this a very interesting paper no matter how they like O'Reilly or not.

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MTV & Aids 25th Birthday

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The 'Logic' of the Army

The Army National Guard is telling its unit level Equal Opportunity representatives that it is OK to discriminate against atheists.

I love the logic behind it (from the original article): "The Sergeant Major who conducted the EO training for Ohio’s unit level EO reps told them that “since atheism is not a religion, atheists are not protected by the regulation and it is acceptable for officers and chaplains to disparage their own soldiers”.

As the same article explains, "This is, of course, a fallacy. To discriminate against a soldier because he has no religion is still discrimination on the basis of religion. The Army’s position on this is like saying that discriminating against someone because they are black is illegal, but discriminating against someone because they are “not white” is fine.".

As an atheist myself, I vote for the Army to keep this discrimination policy. I would really like to not see one atheist joining the Army (c'mon guys why join a group that considers is ok to discriminate you?). And then lets keep the 'war on terror' forever. In the long run, we win. If the war on terror continues (and remember that the guys that invented the concept are guys terrorized by anything that moves that does not speak English, so they can easily have a war forever) the ones that will remain alive and in this country will be mostly us, the atheists. And then, finally, it would be our turn to run the country! :D

Original Article: American Chronicle

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Not Happy - Can you hear me now?

I received this one via email (thanks Ricardo!) and it reminds me of other stories, like the guy that payed a huge amount in cents, the one that wrote his check on the door of a house and the one that wrote his check on a live pig.

Still, this one has much more 'style':

And after reading it, I can imagine the guy saying: "Can you hear me now?"

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Can't we just laugh?

Today I found an old article in Gizmodo, about the "boobies mouse pads" that you can see here.
As someone commented there, you can find them tasteless (or not) but a whole debate about the mouse pads being 'sexist' and 'setting feminism back 50 years' sounds to me like a bit too much...

The product is not new, but what really got my attention was the debate around it. IS A MOUSEPAD, is a joke, is not a big deal!!

If you want to read the comments just visit Gizmodo. If you want to buy the product, go to 'Busty Mouse Pads'

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How I'll end up in hell...

This chart explains it all. Creationism or evolution, it all ends in hell!

By LivelyIvy --as seen in DeviantArt

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May 1, 2007

iGoogle 'gadgets' launched yesterday...

Now if you want to put a special note in your friends' Google homepage, you don't need to be a developer. Google launched on Monday the "make our own gadget" for their personalized homepage that they have renamed as (drumrolls) iGoogle.

So far looks like a new toy, not exceptionally useful but 'cute'. You can also change the theme of your personalized home.Below you can see an image of the new name with a test I did, a San-a-Day gadget...

Now...iGoogle? Reaaaally? There was NO better name? Not enough lawsuits going on? Not one creative that could come on with something better? Whassup? IPod, IPhone, IGoogle?

'Iwillcommitsuicide' would be my next favorite product if someone else launches another IProduct! Please!

I am not saying is an easy job to come up with products names (I have been there and believe me, is noooot easy) but with all the benefits that the simplicity of the name may entail, is boring, and at this point a common place created by another brand... (sigh)

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Google Earth not helping with borders' issues :))

The Chilean government wants Google to fix its Earth geographical search program that places a village named after Chilean independence hero Bernardo O'Higgins in Argentina.

While Argentina and Chile have had borders problems forever and they almost went to war in 1978 because of that, it is a bit funny that Google Earth and Google Maps got it wrong with a city that has the name of a Chilean hero and has never been a disputed territory.

On the other hand, it is not 100% Google's fault. Technically, Google is licensing this data, so it needs to get fixed first by Google's providers and then updated on the Google Maps side of things.

This is how the map look last Sunday:

As seen on Search Engine Land

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The PostSecret Project

The general idea is that if you have a secret that you haven't told anyone and you want it out of your chest, you can then create a home made postcard, include your secret there and send it to the PostSecret Project.

According to the group your secret could be anything, a hope, a regret, a fantasy, a fear, a betrayal, an erotic desire, a confession, -- as long as it is true and you have never shared it with anyone before.

Each Sunday new secrets are posted in their website and at least three books have been published already with some of the postcards.

I go to their site from time to time and each time I have a few laughs thanks to 'funny secrets' --but there is always also at least one secret that I just hope is not true.

Is a weird thing. Sometimes you feel like a voyeur. Sometimes you find yourself there, in someone else's words. Sometimes you think that people have stupid secrets. And sometimes you fear that all of them may be true.


Visit PostSecret

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