If Atheists Ruled the World

Woah. If Atheists Ruled the World - real quotes from fundamentalist Christian forums, performed for your pleasure.

The Pun 2009

We've just launched our redesigned website at www.anewleaf.com.au all ready for this years' Comedy Festival. This includes Twitter channel, festival blog and SMS reviews.
Once the festival is up and in full swing, we'll be publishing reviews here, as well as traditional print methods and some super funky new tech ideas.

The Age of Stupid

The Age of Stupid: final trailer, Feb 2009 HD from Age of Stupid on Vimeo.

Awesomes

British Rail are finally being honest about their staffing arrangements...

via LUTD

Ewok is not a dirty word.

The word 'Ewok' is a household name, but it is never mentioned once in the whole Star Wars trilogy.
Marketing machine: 1, decent film-making: 0.

50 reasons why Return of the Jedi sucks.

Kermie sings Talking Heads

WHY HAVE I NEVER SEEN THIS BEFORE!? Kermit sings Once in a lifetime by Talking Heads.

The power of #Twitter

We've been using Twitter here at GreensMPs for quite a while now, and thought it was high time we screamed it's virtues from the rooftops.

For the unitiatied, Twitter is a microblogging platform that enables quick, short messages to flow between hundreds, thousands and even millions of people worldwide. With a limit of 160 characters or less for each tweet, messages can be sent from the web, your phone, your Blackberry, your iPhone, etc.

A variety of other things are possible besides simple text in a tweet. Links to relevant websites, specialised Twitter pictures services and other such multimedia are widespread, but it is the conversations that happen, out in the open for all to take part in, that make the medium so different from other net-based options.

Check out this video from Common Craft, which explains the underlying principles of how Twitter works.

For a localised example, take one of the issues racing through the Australian (and worldwide) Twitterverse lately - the planned Australian Internet Filter. From the day Greens Senator Scott Ludlam grilled Communications Minister Conroy about details of the planned filter, the Twitterverse has been watching. It's a topic that is right at home with technologically savvy, connected people. Want to join in the conversation? Place the hashtag #nocleanfeed on any post, and it will be collated alongside others with the same hashtag. This information can be viewed on the web, or through Twitter desktop programs such as Thwirl.

The information flows freely, without control - this is true citizen journalism - digital freedom.

Consider this from Stephen Fry, who has become somewhat of the posterboy for true Twitter advocates:

"If people want to announce their new this or their new that, they're going "I'm not going to do an interview, I'm not going to sit in the Dorchester for seven days having one interviewer after another come to me, I'm just going to Tweet it, and point them to my website and forget the press". And the press are already struggling enough - God knows they've already lost their grip on news to some extent. If they lose their grip on comment and gossip and being a free PR machine as well, they're really in trouble. So naturally they're simultaneously obsessed because they use it (as it fills up their column inches) but they're also very against it. So you'll get an increasing number of commentators going "Aren't you just fed up with Twitter? Oh, if Stephen Fry tells me what he's having for breakfast one more time, I think I'll vomit." They really will have a big go at it because it attacks them, it cuts them out."

Surprisingly, unlike most other Web 2.0 developments, Twitter has been warmly embraced by the tradional Australian media world. Most outlets in Australia do publish a Twitter feed, and more and more are interacting directly with their audience. It's this direct contact that makes the medium so powerful.

Consider this exchange from today between our Senators at GreensMPs and Sky News:

SkyFirstEdition @GreensMPs What are your thoughts on the clean-up efforts on Moreton Island and the southern area of the Sunshine Coast ?

Our response:

GreensMPs @SkyFirstEdition "The PM's ultimately got the responsibility for bringing much faster & much more broad scale aid onto those beaches." - Bob

Sky News passes that message on:

SkyFirstEdition RT @GreensMPS: ''The PM's ultimately got the responsibility for bringing much faster & much more broad scale aid onto those beaches.' - Bob'

And then asks for rebuttal from Queensland Premier Anna Bligh:

SkyFirstEdition @anna4queensland The Greens say a much faster and broad scale response re: oil spill could be coordinated from Canberra. What do you say?

(at time of writing this post, Anna Bligh had not responded)

Here, the news (and interview) is instantaneous. No waiting to get all parties on board, no preparation of a studio and other technicalities. No relying on the age-old 'media cycle', where 5pm is too late and yesterday's news is already over.

True, a lot of news outlets are mere Twitterbots - that is, the only information that is relayed on to Twitter is automated, and sometimes only headlines that hyperlink back to their website. But this can sometimes be a good thing - a simple, quick news update, such as that sent out on the hour by @ABCNews. At @GreensMPs, we opt for a combination of both automated links and personalised tweets. For politics, campaigning, interacting and engaging, Twitter offers a new way of communicated with people - one that we're excited to be a part of.

Perhaps a little too late to help his bid for the Presidency, even John McCain has seen the light in the power of direct social media - he's scheduled to have an interview broadcast live on Twitter with ABC News correspondent George Stephanopoulos.

There is also the counter argument that increased connectivity and technology will lead to breakdowns of privacy, confidentiality and legal ramifications. Take the recent case of a juror who jeopardised a case by tweeting directly from the courtroom - therefore breaking the rules of outside communication. Or the highly publicised Pirate Bay copyright case, where the defendents were able to re-start their crashed web server (the one they were on trial for, for providing copyrighted material for download) from inside the courtroom.

For now, the opportunity to communicate directly with people, answer their questions and truly interact with engaged, educated, involved people is something that the GreensMPs cherish. We'll leap to the opportunity to debate with @TurnbullMalcolm, @KevinRuddPM, @Anna4Queensland and @StephenFry. Especially Stephen Fry.

twitter.com/GreensMPs

First published on GreensBlog

Choose Your Own Adventure

Law has his own TV series up on the ABC!
Lawrence Leung's Choose Your Own Adventure. I can't wait! Awesomes!



And oh my god - was that a DeLorean I saw? So it's ok for Law to live out the fantasy of being Marty McFly, but not for me?

Craig posting in Melbs

These are awesome. Text art, posted all over Melbourne. Each with a different story to tell, hopefully getting people to stop, read and smile.

via weston culture

Stuff Graphic Designers Like

So true - the ultimate list of Stuff Graphic Designers Like
. Only a few I disagree with there.
1. Fonts in general
2. Office dogs
3. Thick-framed glasses
4. Espresso-based drinks
5. Macintosh computers (and of course, all things Apple)
6. Black clothes (maybe a cool dark grey at most)
7. Orange, lime green or magenta (but only one at a time)
8. Old posters
9. Movies
10. Sushi
11. Subversive poster activism
12. Drawing or painting (they are all frustrated artists)
13. Quaint stuff like bowling alleys and roadside diners that has not been gentrified
14. Photography (they are all frustrated photographers)
15. Talking Heads (with the ultimate designer-musician, David Byrne)
16. The B-52's
17. Andy Warhol (he was the first one to do 4-up on a page) - No. He's shit.
18. Colourful collectible sneakers
19. Looking as though they made no effort to dress
20. Art
21. Collecting anything
22. Writing tools
23. Stationery
24. Being agnostic
25. Comic strips
26. Ephemera anything
27. Patterns
28. Modernist furniture and architecture
29. Paul Rand
30. Wolfgang Weingart
31. Michael Beirut
32. Stefan Sagmeister
33. Show and tell
34. Design competitions
35. Books on design
36. Good clip art
37. Logos
38. Documentaries
39. Creating their own content (only works if you're a star designer)
40. InDesign (Photoshop would make it here too, but is too overused by lay people)
41. Funky old office buildings or offices converted from bowling alleys
42. Bowling shoes and bowling shirts
43. Messenger bags
44. Expensive haircuts
45. Purses and clothes with large graphics
46. Wallpaper magazine
47. Readymade magazine
48. Dwell magazine
49. Urbanism
50. Ligatures
51. Small caps
52. Web design
53. Negative space
54. Kerning
55. Helvetica specifically (definitely not Arial)
56. Obscure signage
57. Music CD covers
58. Indie bands
59. Designing for arts groups
60. Clients who "get" design
61. Going into business for themselves
62. Landing a new client
63. 6-colour printing
64. Special finishes (die-cutting, embossing, lamination)
65. Star designers
66. Design conferences
67. Reading about design in the newspaper, even if the reference is completely oblique
68. Bringing up the topic of design
69. Identifying fonts wherever they go
70. Creative ways to design the portfolio section of their websites
71. IKEA (decent design which can be afforded on a graphic designer salary)
72. American Apparel - hasn't reached Australia yet, but looking forward to it.
73. Little plastic toys on their desks
74. Inspiration boards
75. Designing their own wedding invitations, birth and moving announcements
76. Self-promotion
77. Stuff that's so unhip it's hip
78. Tax advice - you what!?
79. Books on colour combinations
80. Uppercase, flush left Helvetica or as long as it's a bold sans serif font
81. White 3/8" borders
82. Small format books
83. Squares and circles
84. Sending out desk calendars to clients for Christmas
85. Collaborating with printers on self-promotion items
86. Collaborating with other designers (only works if you're a star designer)
87. Analyzing pop culture
88. Analyzing design trends
89. Trying their hand at other areas of design, such as interiors
90. Leaving design behind and going 3-D (only works if you're a star designer) - nope, too hard.
91. Bandying about the word "branding", at least when talking to their clients
92. Using the word "business consultant" instead of "graphic designer"
93. Using the word "visual communications" or "communication design" instead of "graphic design"
94. Design manifestos (after Bruce Mau started it, these are now becoming part of the curriculum at design schools. Every student emerges with their own manifesto.)
95. Anything to do with communication in general
96. PeeWee Hermann (until he was busted for kiddie porn)
97. Movies directed by Tim Burton, and preferably starring Johnny Depp
98. Retro anything
99. Dutch design
100. Swiss design
101. Emigre magazine
102. Codes of ethics
103. Design organizations

via Coudal Partners

Interwebs the rainbow

Yet another company has jumped on the social media bandwagon, but this time it's with full awareness of the medium. Last week I sat through an hour of Microsoft experts telling political campaigning staff to 'let go' of their control issues in messaging when using social media platforms - now, with Skittle's new site comes the prime example of just how much to let go.

The whole site has been tightened right down to just feed any mention of Skittles on Twitter. That's it. The fact that the corporate execs have relaxed enough to let any and all content come through on their official website shows that they understand, or have been convinced (more likely), that they can no longer control their brand. To be really successful, you have to let it go. If you make a good product, people will talk in a positive light about it. Bad product - bad light.

It's creating a whole new world of consumerism. No longer are just sales important - it's a truly market driven economy of publicity. The big problem comes when every marketing and advertising exec in the world finds a way to manipulate this back to dollars. While Skittles will get a lot of cred for this move, it's still all about brand recognition. (Even with this post, I don't like that my writing about them serves to help their marketing machine.) The worlds of the interwebs and advertising have been getting closer and closer over the years, with boundaries blurring all the while. The current trend for a few companies is to launch a 'shoot yourself to stardom' campaign, and capitalise on members of the public creatin viral campaigns in return for a cheap plane ticket and a pile of cash. In the past, these campaigns would have cost millions, now they can do it with $5000, a website and a YouTube account.

I'm putting out a call to action - don't buy it. Don't enter your quirky video, don't submit your great idea for an event, don't re-tweet an advertisement message and above all, don't pass on that *product name* is great. It's what they want, and it results in more cash, their way. (I recognise the irony in my above post - quiet).

Ninja Bear

It's a motherfucking ninja bear!

Free Books!

Bookbarn, one of Amazon UK's largest warehousing and fulfilment suppliers, lost its lease on its Bristol warehouse, so they flung open the doors and invited the public to come in and take all the publishers' consigned books they had on hand, as that was cheaper than returning them to the publishers who still owned them.

Many arrived armed with crates, boxes and even prams to carry their horde away, some managing 150 books in a single visit. Available genres range from horror, computing and cookbooks to sports, literary classics and religion - most of which were "musty" but otherwise in excellent condition. By early afternoon, most shelves had been cleared but tens of thousands of books were left scattered around the floors of the warehouse in Bedminster, Bristol.

Story in Telegraph | via BoingBoing

You Should Have Seen This

Worried that you just don't understand the interwebs?
Don't know what the hot meme's are?
Embarrassed when your hip and jiggy wit goes down in flames whenever you open your mouth?
Fear no longer - because here comes Greg Rutter's Definitive List of The 99 Things You Should Have Already Experienced On The Internet Unless You're a Loser or Old or Something.