Showing posts with label blogs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blogs. Show all posts

Sunday 22 November 2009

Digital Necrophilia - I Like To Fork Myself


Now I think about it there's a lot of outstanding posts percolating in my head and which I've made rushed notes to in various places, though this is one post I feel like writing and which was originally sparked by some of the excellent conversations I had with Teflon John, before his Goldman Sachs girlfriend discovered I'm a Metrosexual Marxist. 

Well... (dot dot dot) I'm sure he's got a different perspective but as he was in the rest room during the chilly silence that descended before his return, I can only say that I was admirably unfazed by the inappropriate but not unique assertion of bi/curious sexual preferences that the monologue drifted onto after a long soliloquy on Goldman culture. But I think my conversation switcher of  'let's talk about me' may have closed the deal.

Unlike Goldman Sachs of Hyenaville, money isn't my main driver. Though I hasten to add I don't know if I'd be any better a pack dog if fate had slipped me into that alpha male club instead of the ability to write about it with a mixture of candour, humour and disgust. But we don't really know that stuff until we're in the context itself though having lost all my possessions and money recently I'm pretty happy with what I don't have as well as what I do. Which is a reality tunnel topic I'm dwelling on since discovering Robert Anton Wilson over at the Media squat through the increasingly funny and brilliant Douglas Rushkoff.

Anyways (as the Jamaican bad boys say): 

Digital Necrophilia. 

Like so many subjects in accelerated culture (and it's so fast I'm in my element) the early thinking has been superseded by this podcast I listened to and then followed by Neil's post on learning to forget which is quicker to read though I recommend you check out The Forum on BBC radio to listen to Victor Mayer-Schoenberger if you didn't attend the talk Neil did.

But the reason for resurrecting this topic is twofold. A few years ago I was asked to write a presentation about beauty on the net for Unilever regionally in Asia, and despite having 300 slides chopped down to a very primitive 150 I did pick up on some of the themes in blogging and internet culture including discovering Daul Kim's blog which I predicted would be a taste of the intimacy of reading into the lives of people who inhabit the trillion dollar beauty business. 

This has come back to haunt me like an Ave Maria curling round a cathedral choir during a requiem mass. 

Depressing.

She was seventeen ish when I discovered her blog, and died in Paris on Friday, at the age of 20. Here's her last blog post where she says 'hi to forever' with Jim River's "I go deep". One thing we had in common was our love of British minimal tech. See you on the other side Daul.

Tuesday 16 September 2008

AirAsia - Very On Brand


AirAsia Berhad (MYX: 5099) is a Malaysian-based low-cost airline. AirAsia is Asia's largest low-fare, no-frills airline and a pioneer of low-cost travel in Asia. AirAsia group operates scheduled domestic and international flights to over 400 destinations spanning 25 countries. Its main hub is the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). Its affiliate airlines Thai AirAsia and Indonesia AirAsia have hubs in Suvarnabhumi Airport and Soekarno-Hatta International Airport respectively. AirAsia's registered office is in Petaling Jaya, Selangor while its head office is located in Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Air Asia plans to open ASEAN regional headquarters in Jakarta by August or September 2011. The airline itself will maintain its headquarters in Kuala Lumpur for the time being.

AirAsia won the Skytrax World's best low-cost airline award in 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011. It has the world's lowest operating costs at $0.035/seat-kilometre in 2010. It is also the first airline in the region to implement fully ticketless air travel system.

I love this


Age and a few others have a problem with it that I've addressed in the comments of his blog but in short its going to be very tempting to do my Woman Whisperer imitation the next unreasonable request I get. I'd have scripted and directed the last few seconds less cliche bit in any case it's very very meme like for me. Whoa whoa ...ssssssshhhhhh... Easy there.

Thursday 31 July 2008

Dave Trott's Blog

Dave Trott was, is and always will be an advertising legend. His Blog is spilling  grade A advertising experience onto internet screens around the world for free and not only that, unlike when I was getting into the advertising business, you can engage in dialogue with him if your comments are in shape. 
If you're not sucking on his RSS feed yet, you should be. It's not too late either to go through the archives without sacrificing a whole weekend. It's worth it.

Monday 28 April 2008

如果你是学生 - If you are a student

如果你是学生,你是大学生,我个人建议,东西你爱买不买,但是不要上街,不要集会。
游行和集会是可以上瘾的。今天你可以打着爱国的旗号对外,明天你就可以打着爱国的旗号……,所以,你是得不到支持的,整个过程里你只能面对中国人 民和中国防暴警察,你连一根黄毛都看不见。不要发生无畏的伤亡。爱国主义不是免死金牌,爱国主义有时候反而送你一程。在和平年代的激进爱国者和偶像的粉丝 是没有区别的,但他们还不能选择偶像,所以势必更加疯狂。
以前我觉得煽动是政府的一个托词,现在我相信人真的是可以被轻易煽动的。当然,人不容易被煽动,但是人立志要做炮灰的时候,灰就容易被煽起来。不要把现在和五四相提并论,情况是完全完全不一样的。我们现在需要安定,暂时不要再有任何的篓子,不要出任何的乱子,这是无谓的。
复述一次,这不是出口,也没有出路,现在还不是时候,现在还不是时候。
我愿被你们说成是汉奸和走狗,只为告诉你们,保留你们的热情,拿出你们的温柔,接受不同的声音,现在还不是时候

If you are a student

If you are a student, a university student, I have a suggestion for you. If you like something, buy it; if you don't like something then don't buy it, but don't demonstrate on the streets.

Protests and rallies are addictive. Today you carry the flag of patriotism against the outside world, tomorrow you carry the flag of patriotism against...

So you won't get support. During the whole process, all you can do is face the Chinese people and the Chinese riot police. You won't even see one blonde hair [i.e. foreigners]. Don't let pointless injury or death happen. Patriotism is not a golden talisman that will protect you from dying. In fact patriotism can be the death of you.

In an era of peace, radical patriotism is no different from a fan's adoration of his idol. But because people don't choose the object of their patriotic love, it's bound to be ever crazier. Previously, I thought inciting the masses was just government rhetoric, a pretext, but now I realize that people can be stirred up rashly. Of course, it's not easy to incite people but when they are determined to be cannon fodder, it's easy for them to blow up. Don't equate the current situation with the May Fourth movement [when patriotic students protested the Versailles treaty in 1919].

May_Fourth.jpg
Student protest - May 4, 1919

The two situations are totally different. Right now what we need is stability. Don't cause disturbances or stir up trouble, it's pointless.

To repeat: that's not the way forward, now is not the time.

I am willing to be called a traitor or a running dog, if only to give you this message: hold back your passions and show a gentle face, accept different voices. It's not yet the time now.

by Han Han

Han Han (韩寒) is a novelist with a huge and dedicated fan base. He is also a racing driver and a blogger.

On his blog he has recently been discouraging his compatriots from getting too passionate about their patriotism. Here is a translation of a blog post he published on April 25

By way of the excellent Danwei

Wednesday 23 April 2008

Adult Swim

As Rob is off on a nostalgia trip of lycra pants, long hair and sneaky trips away from HHCL where we used to work in London to read Kerrang I thought I'd share something that came my way in RSS feeds last night from Tokyohanna, that immediately stood out from the usual music tip offs.




I really like this ability to embed and share music with people through blogs and widgets. It's a terrific recommendation/distribution model, and means that Adult Swim make it into my awareness and/or consideration set quickly easily and effectively.

I guess their next task is to find a way to get a few Euros out of me. I believe they can do this outside of the traditional revenue model and despite David's startling assertion in a brilliant post he just wrote that content production as we know it may be dead, or even the nature of content itself.

I'm guessing it depends a lot on the context but make sure to follow his thought leadership blog for more on the future of media and take time to check out David's seminal 'Where are the Joneses', for a glimpse I believe into the future of mobile content.

The other talent that caught my attention recently off the Radio One site are Crystal Castles. This video is for Rob because its all about the noise right?




Thursday 17 April 2008

China Protest

On Tuesday, I was tipped off that an SMS was being passed around encouraging people to place a heart on their messenger and boycott Carrefour in protest at the Olympic flame's experience in France. Sure enough my messenger now looks something like this.


There's no need to have an extended commentary on this except to say that nobody questions the Chinese people's love of their country. There's a lot to love, and I'm particularly fond of the people of Beijing. However all countries/governments get it wrong at some point and the real journey in life begins when we begin to love and trust ourselves.

I think this young Chinese man who blogs in English has an international and mature perspective that corresponds more closely with the Olympic Slogan of One World One Dream. I blogged about it over here and questioned the sincerity and logic. Nothing would please me more than if the Chinese people proved me wrong on this.

Punk Planning Banned in China


I guess it had to happen. The blogging platform Blogspot has been switched on and off since 2003 but I've managed to finally draw the attention of someone somewhere and been placed on the list, along with the greats like Robert and Sean (ahem), of Banned blogs in China.

Wednesday 16 April 2008

Blogspot and Blogger

Looks like Blogspot/Blogger, my blogging platform is accessible again in China. Here's the run down of censorship for just this platform and remember that Wordpress and/or Typepad are also affected meaning I can't leave comments on some of your blogs even though I often want to.

Blogspot blocked again April 14, 2008
Wikipedia and Blogspot unblocked April 1, 2008
Blogspot unblocked and blocked again January 14, 2008
Blogspot blocked again — ongoing saga June 1, 2007
Blogspot unblocked again March 29, 2007
Foreign blog providers (including Blogspot) blocked March 20, 2007
Blogspot working in Beijing again November 23, 2006
Blogspot blocked again October 27, 2006
Blogspot unblocked August 9, 2006

- Blogspot was first blocked in 2003

This article comes via the excellent Danwei.org

Thursday 10 April 2008

Ladies & Gentlemen - The Kaiser


This is why we all think The Kaiser is destined for greatness. Ahead of his time and destined for glory. It's destiny I tells ya. Brilliant!

Wednesday 23 January 2008

The Digital Divide


Get over to those top folk from Minneapolis, Zeus Jones, for a little more detail on a wonderful post about the digital divide as they see it. It's a compelling chunk of writing and for me has all the makings of a hallmark digital anthropology post.

Thursday 30 August 2007

My blog's WELL BIGGER than yours


By way of The smell of fish and chips

This reminds me of two recent clips mashed up (I cringe using those words) together that I've come across. One is the Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip musical video below, and the other was a viral for Rayban I think, that used a kid doing a wheelie just as in the one above but with an endline something like, "Never Hide".


Update: Here it is. I found the Ray Ban viral.