Digital Connections

The latest Digital Connections newsletter, but on a blog

A belated Happy New Year everyone!

Once or twice a month, I send out a Digital Connections newsletter to a few subscribers. As a quick test I've posted the latest version as a blog post. Unsure whether I'll keep on doing this - but if you'd like it in your inbox then it would be great if you subscribed. The box should be somewhere on your right ---->

 

Digital Connections Newsletter #2

Apparently the brief for Rio's 2016 Olympic logo was to "Transmit Olympic values and attributes, to reflect the local culture, to project the city and country's image, to assure universal understanding as well as be current until the actual Games, along with many other considerations." In which case why should we be surprised that it's another wishy washy Olympic logo? More here

An intriguing football supporter infographic map of London, pulled together by a graphic designer using data from footballderbies.com and a bit of guesswork. It first did the rounds on Twitter but was picked up by Wired Magazine.

 I love this concept -> Nike's designers are now designing kit to make American Footballers look faster.  The colorways are meant to bring your eyes to the fastest moving parts of the player's bodies -- the hands, and in particular the shins, which move twice as fast as the thighs do while running.I wonder how long this will take to cross over to mainstreams sports and teams?

This visualization did the rounds a couple of weeks ago - but its still awesome. Using data from 10million people (2% of Facebook users) of the connections between friends on Facebook, Paul Butler an (amazingly talented) intern at Facebook has created a remarkable map of the world tracking conversations.

Unless you've been hiding under a rock, you wont fail to have heard the story about Ryan Babel the Liverpool footballer who posted a picture of referee in a Manchester United Shirt. Plenty has been written but for me this "Twitter Ye Not" article by the BBC's John Sinnott was the pick of the bunch. And by the way Ryan Babel's photoshop skills aren't too shabby either!!

I'm really liking Google Realtime at the moment. It's a good tool to monitor breaking stories on Twitter. I've used it this week to keep an eye on the Spurs v West Ham "Olympic Stadium" conversations. Interesting to see when the story broke & see how conversation has changed over the days.

If the England Football Team were a car, they would be a ...
Vauxhall follow up their sponsorship of England with similar but smaller deals with the Welsh and Northern Irish football associations. Sports Pro article here

An attempt by Nike to get across Nike's CSR message - Not quite sure whether I believe any of it - but its a really nice example of an HTML 5 microsite. www.nikebetterworld.com

Finally, an interesting article in the Guardian covering the Office of Fair Trading's investigation into Celebrities endorsing products on Twitter. One to keep an eye on as there will obviously be an impact on the sponsorship industry.

Wicked Suzuki Bike Assembly by Noah and Friends

Hats off to these guys ... usually I save random vids for my posterous site.

But this self assembling Suzuki GSXR stop start animation is truly special, and Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer is a great choice for the backing track .. brilliant!!

Part of me does wonder whether Suzuki were behind it though... fair play if they were!

James Martin (Celebrity Chef) v Brad Wiggins & The Twittersphere

Twitter still has the power to amaze me,

It is without question one of the internet's most powerful tools  - its ability to facilitate online group collaboration and self organisation is absolutely phenomenal.

But there is a dark side, it can be vicious, unforgiving and even assist in bullying, herd like behaviour....

And as of 9.03pm GMT, Monday 14th September there is a "live" example of this taking place.

Yesterday, James Martin the "celebrity chef" wrote the following in his Daily Mail column;

"The Tesla Roadster is the all-electric supercar that's as fast as a Ferrari ...but as quiet as a bicycle".

"God, I hate those cyclists. Every last herbal tea-drinking, Harriet Harman-voting one of them. That's one of the reasons I live in the countryside, where birds tweet, horses roam, pigs grunt and Lycra-clad buttocks are miles away. But recently, there's been a disturbing development.

Each Saturday, a big black truck appears at the bottom of my road, with bikes stuck to the roof and rear. Out of it step a bunch of City-boy ponces in fluorescent Spider-Man outfits, shades, bum bags and stupid cleated shoes, who then pedal around our narrow lanes four abreast with their private parts alarmingly apparent. Do they enjoy it? They never smile. I'm sure they just come here to wind me up."

"Twenty minutes into my test drive I pulled round a leafy bend, enjoying the birdsong - and spotted those damned Spider-Man cyclists. Knowing they wouldn't hear me coming, I stepped on the gas, waited until the split second before I overtook them, then gave them an almighty blast on the horn at the exact same time I passed them at speed.

The look of sheer terror as they tottered into the hedge was the best thing I've ever seen in my rear-view mirror. I think this could be the car for me."

A simply staggering piece of "Journalism".... And amazing that the Editor actually authorised this? and of all newspapers ....The Daily Mail!

Brad Wiggins, Pro-cyclist was one of the first to pick this up on Twitter ...

"James Martin TV chef, The word cock springs to mind, stick to Ready Steady Twat mate"

"Meal suggestion for this Saturday Kitchen for James Martin, Spotted DICK!"

"Everyone check out on the web what JAMES MARTIN, TV chef thinks about the thousands of cyclists that enjoy riding bikes around the lanes"

"Hey James Martin, How about COCK au vin this Saturday"

as did his wife Cath

"am sipping a peppermint tea,then off to hug a tree before going on my bike with a cheeky wiggle of my lycra clad arse"

Even Taylor Phinney, Colorado based 3 time World Champion cyclist was on the case

"Speaking of douche bags... I present to you, chef James Martin!"

And within 6 hours Australian, Robbie McEwan also commented

           "@lancearmstrong maybe you can tweet out for a group ride around where this idiot lives."

If Lance responds with a tweet then I really think that things might go from bad to worse for James.

James Martin's wiki has been altered (see below as now changed back) and an "I hate James Martin" Facebook page has been set up - so far with 880 members. And The Daily Mail have removed and disabled comments on the original article.

Cycling Blog BikeRadar.com have also reported the story.

And Lia Hervey at SkyNews (@skynewsolympic), is getting ready to follow up. Earlier today Lia used Twitter to organise interviews with @CTC_cyclists @bradwiggins @cathwiggins and @cyclingweek.

James Martin is obviously a total fool for a) mowing down cyclists and b) bragging about it in a national newspaper. And for that he should make a full apology.

If Twitter is the catalyst for an apology then great - but as the story develops, a clear element of playground bullying / herd mentality can be seen at work....

This story is going to roll ..........

follow it here....http://search.twitter.com/search?q=james+martin

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Subsequent Podcast Interview with Rachel Konrad, Tesla’s Senior Communications Manager for the Tesla Roadster: http://www.thefredcast.com/?p=904

Errr... Lots & Lots of Ferraris

Out for a Sunday stroll at Cliveden today and happened to come across approx 100 Ferraris/Lamborghinis.

A sight to behold.

 Absolutely nothing to do with digital, but felt that I had to blog.

I'll (badly) shoehorn digital in, by pointing out the glaringly obvious fact that organising an event like this is far easier using today’s collaborative tools.

Full set of pics here.

Mini Clubman Viral: It's A Fake

Thanks to Simon Veksner’s blog I caught the Mini Clubman “viral” that I’d missed last week.

In which a Mini clubman performs gravity-defying stunts, communicates the driving agility of the Mini Clubman and showcases the car rather well.

All in all a rather charming, entertaining, & light-hearted poke at “virals.”

Unsure of the agency, so if it was you - please wave!

The Internet Of Things: Pattie Maes' Sixth Sense

Some of the talks, most in fact, of the talks on the TED website (or their YouTube channel) are absolutely exceptional.

One of the latest is by Patti Maes at MIT Media Lab, who along with her colleague Pranav Mistry has developed a wearable device with a projector that enables interaction between everyday things and the internet.

That "internet of things", where everything we make contains a sliver of connection is a fascinating area, and we're witnessing the first stages of this

The internet is developing beyond beyond virtual space and establishing itself in the physical world. The internet is everywhere not just on a screen, its in the shoe (Nike Plus), its in the car (Fiat EcoDrive) - both developed by AKQA.

According to futurists, such as Kevin Kelly, almost every object carries the possibility of being connected to the internet. This means that domestic appliances, clothes, books and cars may be assigned a unique IP address, just as both computers and web pages are assigned them today, to enable them to talk to each other.

If anybody else has any other examples of the "Internet of Things", then please... share ...

"Get A Life, Get Swiftcovered" Says Barechested Ex-Druggie

Chances are that anyone commuting on FGW into London Paddington during the past month or so won’t fail to have spotted the Swiftcover.com Ad featuring the topless Iggy Pop.

Last week I was stalked by this 61 year old, as he travelled with me on every train single journey, not to mention the 48 sheet awaiting at Paddington station and the Bus Rear on Praed Street.



Not forgetting....

"Save time" says Iggy. If you're messy and incapable ofa filing a piece of paper, then you can save time by taking out insurance with swiftcover.com.

I have to admit that at the back end of 08, Swiftcover were not on my insurance radar, and now, they are etched into my brain. Yes, it has cut through and yes, I'm sure that Iggy Pop has boosted their awareness scores no end.

But what’s the connection between Iggy Pop and Insurance? How is an ex-junkie and rather ill looking "has been" going to persuade me to take out insurance cover? Why should I believe Iggy Pop as he has the audacity to order me to "get a life, get swiftcovered!"

Maybe the campaign is targeted at drug fuelled, topless Subaru owners from Sunderland. In which case why was it on the FGW commuter route between London and the Home Counties?

Iggy Pop was young and innovative once, however those days are long gone. The decision to select Iggy Pop to endorse an online Insurance company is something I just can't understand.

Rather akin to Johnny Rotten and his Country Life Butter “gig,” Iggy's obviously done if for the money – expect a Celebrity Big Brother appearance in the near future!

I just hope that Iggy Pop and Swiftcover.com have checked out the Terms and Conditions on Iggy’s car insurance.

“We will not pay any liability, loss, damage, cost, or expense caused by a driver working part time or full time in: Entertainment, gambling, modelling, professional sports, Foreign Service”

Newly Found Values

It’s my belief that continuity of reflection is one of the indicators of a good book, therefore a book that is able to maintain continuity of reflection during a second or third read is really something special.

I'm re-reading, "Truth, Lies and Advertising,” Jon Steel's 1997 book about advertising & getting to great ideas, and if I'm honest my continuous reflection is contributing to an enjoyable yet time-consuming read.

In the book Jon makes reference to the impact of the recession during the late 80's early 90's.

"For a while, many people couldn't afford expensive German sports cars, but it didn't stop them wanting them. Rather than admit they couldn't afford them, though, they justified their lack of action on the grounds of newly found principles and values.”

As I apply Jon's thoughts to our current economic downturn, I hope that the recent swell in green and ethical consumerism isn't predominantly fuelled by a lack of income and a touch of guilt.