plus nine. neo now.

It's really blurry (taken from the subway). But what the huge graffiti tag says isn't some message. Nope, it's a URL! Like "Hey guys, I have something to tell you, but I'm not sure I'll get it right the first time, and it's such a long message. So why don't you just check it out on my homepage?" Odd.

ps. This had better not be an attempt to start a viral campaign. The URL doesn't even seem to work. Oh boy.

A snip from the manifesto of SaveTheInternet.com, which Xeni says is going to launch on Monday, i.e. in just a few hours:

We believe that the Internet is a crucial engine for economic growth and democratic discourse. We urge Congress to take steps now to preserve network neutrality, a guiding principle of the Internet, and to ensure that the Internet remains open to innovation and progress.

Network neutrality is the Internet’s First Amendment. Without it, the Internet is at risk of losing the openness and accessibility that has revolutionized democratic participation, economic innovation and free speech.

From its beginnings, the Internet was built on a cooperative, democratic ideal. It has leveled the playing field for all comers. Everyday people can have their voices heard by thousands, even millions of people. Network neutrality has prevented gatekeepers from blocking or discriminating against new economic, political and social ideas.

The major telecommunications legislation now under consideration in Congress must include meaningful and enforceable network neutrality requirements to keep the Internet free and open to all.

Go support it if you can; This initiative is US-based and all, but the overall issue of network neutrality being at threatened by commercial interests is the same anywhere else, too. And yes, this is a big issue...

Update: Ask A Nijna links to a great 2 minute video explaining what network neutrality is all about.

[via Boing Boing]

"The creative process is beyond the editing suite," Baskerville explains. "Most directors/production companies are totally part of the entire supply chain, from the script to the final poster. Good film marketing these days is about creating an extension to the film."

As the story goes, Marvin, the character for the Hitchhiker's Guide movie, was developed partly in Second Life. The team tested the android's movement and all there.

Justin Bovington has been a Second Life Resident for three years. He realized that it was a place for creativity to develop and flourish. In Second Life, he envisioned a place where Rivers Run Red could create unique brands and events that would cross over into real life. This inspired Rivers Run Red to buy the first island in Second Life. On their island, Avalon, they built an emporium where they could create these brands and special events.

Now, I'm not so sure what promotes what here: Does Second Life (SL) promote the Hitchhiker's Guide? Does the movie promote SL? Do random ad agencies promote random stuff? Maybe SL just promotes itself? There's some very weird campaigning and meta-campaigning going on there, that's for sure.

Another note on Second Life: I was quite skeptical as to what's the use of SL. Like, it's a bit of a graphical chat after all, where the crassest commercialism has been popping up before any kind of culture had time to develop, with real estate prizes sky-rocketing and all kinds of odd virtual jobs popping up. Bit strange, is all. But seeing Mia Garlick's Creative Commons talk on SL a few days ago really changed my views on that issue quite a bit. As a tool for gatherings, meetings, exhanges, SL could be very, very useful. Like, it's relatively simple to use, offers quite some fancy tech support (like in-game video) and all. So despite all its weaknesses (slow, hardware-intense, text-chat instead of voice), it could establish itself as a platform for meetings and online collaboration. At least for the first step of collaboration, for example in international teams, like before the first face-time, SL could be really valuable. Well, we'll see.

These are allegedly real photos of the pre-election posters for Yulia Tymoshenko - nicknamed "the Orange Princess" - one of the leaders of the Orange revolution in Ukraine. Her party came in second in the recent general election with ~22.4% of votes.

Those posters are just too funny. Trying to copy Night Watch and Dark Angel, they just look so oldschool. It's awesome. Here's Yulia's campaign website's poster/wallpaper gallery, and here's an external poster gallery.

[via Boing Boing]

they always make me smile, and they keep going and going: space invaders in paris (2x), berlin (2x), bangkok.

oh, and here's a special one: mombasa!



[thanks for reminding me, gell]

file under: public space, urban art

berufsbedingter autonerdismus: xc90, s80, c30. v8 vs diesel. navi vs map24. und gerüchte über überwachungsvideos in der bar, von nachts um halb drei. agenturmenschen auf schlafentzug.

Na super. Nicht, dass ich ein Fussballfan wäre. Aber dieser Pinguin als Maskottchen, naja. Verzeihung, sagte ich Pinguin?

Das neue DFB-Maskottchen Paule sei ein gelbschwarzer Adler, trage auf dem Rücken die Nummer 10 und sei von Münchner Entertainment-Spezialisten innerhalb von nur 16 Monaten entwickelt worden. Na dann.

This one is rather new: Jeep: Bouncy and fun. I guess Google Video will help guerilla ads a good deal.

a classic of guerilla / hi-jacked ad history: Puma Blow. As far as I know, nobody ever managed to prove who actually made it - if it was a Puma guerilla or if someone hi-jacked it.

Girl Power is a campaign by the Swedish government to increase awareness about how ad campaigns work, i.e. how people have to be perfect or at least perfect-looking, and about the sexist aspects of these ad campaigns. good stuff!

[via kunstbetrieb.org]