By Rosa Golijan, Gizmodo – July 16, 2010 at 05:02PM
We’ve seen teasing photos of the Boxee Box and we touched it at CES 2010, but now there’s a video of the final product as it will sold by D-Link in November. Yes, it’s gorgeous. [BI] More »
By Sean Michael Ragan, MAKE – July 16, 2010 at 01:00PM
This is the PT54 PhlatLight from Luminus Devices, Inc. It’s intended for use in portable video projectors. More photos of the setup here. [via Hacked Gadgets]
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By Whitson Gordon, Lifehacker – July 15, 2010 at 06:15PM
We’ve done a lot of work helping you perfect your media center, but your friends may not think it’s as cool as you do once they actually try to use it. For their sake, consider a temporary remote control sleeve.
Lifestyle blog Divine Caroline’s simple trick for babysitters unfamiliar with the house’s remote control: Cut out the important sections of the remote with construction paper and label what each part does in plain English.
It’s super useful when you have multiple remotes that control different things, like in the above picture. We imagine it would also be useful if you’ve got something like the tornado of buttons known as the Logitech Harmony One, too. Slide it off to use the more advanced functions of the remote, and put it back on when your tech-challenged family member takes over the living room—everybody wins. It’s a bit silly, sure, but you can’t argue its effectiveness. Got any other technology simplifying hacks? Let us know in the comments.
By Matt Mets, MAKE – July 15, 2010 at 02:00PM
Looking to improve your documentation photography on the cheap? Rather than buying a glitzy new camera, you might want to focus your effort on improving your lighting. And you don’t have to spent much money, either. Over at CRAFT, Brookelynn Morris has a nice write-up of the photography tools that she uses for her tutorial photos, which consists mostly of inexpensive lights and light modifiers.
Lighting doesn’t have to be complicated or fancy (just turn a couple of them on!), however if you are interested in learning about it, I would suggest checking out a copy of Light, Science and Magic.
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By Jason Fitzpatrick, Lifehacker – July 15, 2010 at 09:30AM
If you have some bulky items that need a thorough cleaning—lawn chairs, outdoor gear, Craigslist finds not treated with care—but lack a power washer to scrub them with, your local car wash can help.
Over at the home and design blog Apartment Therapy they purchased a set of sinks off Craigslist that were significantly dirtier than they expected. The sinks were so dirty they were afraid they’d have to spend a whole day getting them degreased and cleaned up. Their creative solution cut the cleanup time down from hours to minutes.
We ran across this pair of restaurant sinks on Craigslist and we were warned that they were dirty. We assumed your normal light coating of grease like many of the other restaurant finds we’ve come across lately, but when we arrived, we were in for quite a surprise.
This pair of sinks has to have sat no more than 2 inches from a fryer in its previous life as it was coated with a ridiculous amount of grease, food chunks and other things we cared not to identify. Knowing it would take us hours of work to clean this at home, we stopped off at our local car wash to hose them down.
Who knew engine and tire cleaner would get them so shiny? Sure we received odd looks, but it worked like a champ and the light misting from the water was much appreciated when temperatures were over 100 degrees! You can use the same technique on tables and chairs that are covered in mud and debris, outdoor furniture if you don’t want to buy a pressure washer (though you’ll want to take a sand bag to hold them down so they don’t get blown away by the pressure), and other solid surfaces.
It’s a very practical solution, especially for people who don’t own pressure washers with detergent tanks. We’d recommend going at an off time so you don’t frustrate customers trying to actually wash their cars and to pack your stuff up and go as soon as you’re done with the equipment. Nearly all self-serve car washes have rules against lingering in the stall to detail clean after you’ve finished using their equipment—and are no longer paying to use the stall.
Have a tip or trick related to cleaning up really dirty or bulky items? Let’s hear about it in the comments.
By Drea, Business Pundit – July 14, 2010 at 10:59AM
You’ve probably seen the Old Spice guy, former Seahawks wide receiver Isaiah Mustafa, online or on TV. He’s the stud featured above who embodies manly possibilities via the scent of Old Spice. Parent company Proctor & Gamble’s Old Spice ad campaign has produced several viral hits, and a solid fan base.
Today, the Old Spice guy became interactive, and P&G’s ad company must be patting itself on the back. The Old Spice guy went live on the @OldSpice twitter feed by proclaiming “Today could be just like the other 364 days you log into Twitter, Or maybe the Old Spice man shows up.” Then, he started producing custom videos for bloggers, Facebook and Youtube commenters, and people asking him questions on a variety of other online outlets.
He’s answering all questions topless, in a shower stall. Here’s an example, after Facebook user Gail Berg wrote on Facebook: “Any suggestions on finding a guy worthy to purchase Old Spice for?”
This is exciting. No wonder everyone wants to talk to the Old Spice guy (and, ahem, mention Old Spice and implant the brand into our brains). I myself had to log onto Facebook and ask him how he takes care of business. Hey, it’s worth a try, right?
I love what P&G’s agency has done with the interactive component, too. They’ve given Old Spice a face, and an attractive, responsive one at that. Users are building positive memories of interacting with Old Spice man. Those emotions will probably come up again in the supermarket aisle.
The interactive aspect also makes the brand more accessible online. I assume that Old Spice Man is making people more willing to follow the brand, sign up for news, and take part in other Old Spice marketing activities.
Consider it a major marketing win.
By Dennis Yang, Techdirt. – July 14, 2010 at 10:17AM
When we last saw the Old Spice man, he was on a horse, and demonstrated how a brilliantly clever ad could attract its own viewers, instead of trying to divert attention with an annoying or distracting ad. In the five months since the ad first aired, the ad has collected nearly 13 million views on YouTube and was also awarded the Grand Prix for film at this year’s Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival.
The Old Spice man is back, and once again, showing that he truly gets how to engage with his audience. Starting Monday, he began posting video responses to various Twitter, Facebook, and other social media commentary, oftentimes resulting in hilarity. Most of the over one hundred responses have been posted within a few hours of a tweet or comment, which is a blistering pace for an ad campaign with a traditional CPG company. My favorites are his response to Alyssa Milano and the one where Twitter user jsbeals asks Old Spice man to propose to his girlfriend for him:
Then again, surely jsbeals will be buying a few cases of Red Zone in appreciation of the help from Old Spice man (his girlfriend accepted the proposal).
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By Gareth Branwyn, MAKE – July 14, 2010 at 01:00AM
Inspired by the project of the same name in the Geek Dad book, Paul and his family decided to make the ultimate Slip ‘n Slide. They encountered a few snags along the way, but were satisfied with the results:
Overall, it was a nice DIY project that turned out to be a very impressive slide. For about the same price as you pay for those commercial Slip ‘n Slides, we made our own that will last a lot longer, is a lot longer and wider, and is sure to be a hit with the other kids in our family (and probably the parents too!).
Best Slip ‘n Slide Ever from @WiredGeekDad
More:
Make: Kids: An interview with GeekDad’s Ken Denmead
By Erick Schonfeld, TechCrunch – July 13, 2010 at 09:32PM
What if commercials really did talk to you? What if a familiar spokesperson addressed you by name and responded to your thoughts and feelings. In what is definitely one of the more creative social media ad campaigns in a while, Old Spice is doing just that. Its shirtless, muscled spokesman, the Old Spice Man, is shooting YouTube videos in response to people’s Tweets. Many oft these are well-known people with tons of followers like Kevin Rose and actress Alyssa Milano, who retweet the videos and spread them virally.
For instance, Digg founder Kevin Rose Tweeted out that he was sick, and in response the Old Spice Man created the video embedded above, in which he tells Rose that he has never had a fever himself because his body is “98 percent muscle.” He even talks to Rose in binary code so that Rose can understand, to which Rose responded on Twitter:
HOLY SH*T, best get well video EVER from the old spice man! https://bit.ly/dpSeOs
And:
OMG… the old spice guy is stalking me.. ha’!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O44C765UiMw
The Old Spice Man also made multiple videos for actress Alyssa Milano, as well as ones for Olympic skater Apolo Ohno, actress Justine Bateman (who Tweeted, “Can the Old Spice guy do ads for ALL the world’s products?”), and Gizmodo. But he also responds to less famous people on Twitter like “Gabe” (see below).
The responses are often hilarious. (“My concern is that if I did ads for all the world’s products, it would cause global prosperity”). And they are certainly highly targeted. And it also just redefined the model for Promoted Trends. Old Spice is a promoted Trend, which takes you to the Old Spice Twitter account highlighting these videos as individual responses addressing each Twitter user who gets their own Old Spice commercial. The irony is that if Old Spice hadn’t paid to be a promoted Trend, it probably would have made it as a Trending Topic organically. But apparently you can’t appear twice as a Trend.
There are already more than 100 customized Old Spice responses on YouTube. We just wonder how long the Old Spice Man can keep it up. Below is a sample, along with the original TV commercial.
