Archive for November, 2007
By Kyle Austin
The new Fortune.com is up today and the print magazine is soon to follow in its rebranding.
“I’m looking, and I’m liking,” as Greg Focker would say. It really has a sleek new look and as I’ve written about before Fortune and the rest of Time Inc. group of publications are continually looking to capitalize on their growing online efforts with CNN.com. The text and color scheme of the new site certainly works better with the rest of the CNN.com site.
Fortune.com, as part of the rebranding, is also bringing a few new columnists into the mix; including our favorite green-techie Marsupial. Todd Woody who originally created the “Green Wombat” blog for now defunct Business 2.0 has joined Fortune as an editor and has also brought along his great online column that will continue to look at technologies positive and negative effects (read his recent blog post on California’s Web 1.0 response to the San Francisco oil spill) on the environment.
David Kirkpatrick who has been a strong proponent of the rebranding “is savoring the redesigns of Fortune and Fortune.com which both emerged today” – according to his current Facebook status.
November 26th, 2007
By Ben
The newest marketing campaign in England may leave people with cleaner hair and with a taste of chocolate. Similar to the United Postal Service, the Royal Mail (a.k.a. British Postal Service) has taken a financial hit from email, but has come up with the newest marketing and money making campaign that’s sure to catch you attention – and senses. According to an article in the New York Times, the new campaign will allow companies to send mail with a sent, sound, or taste (I’m still not sure how taste is going to work, I hope this doesn’t include eating or licking the envelope) to potential customers. The program, developed by the Royal Mail and Brand Sense, is eying what marketers have done in magazines (including shampoo or perfume samples in advertisements), but has taken the campaign one step further, one that could bring about a new wave of junk mail.
Just imagine sorting through your mail at the end of the day, and having one of your letters smell like a new kind of shampoo, and the next ‘tasting’ like maple syrup. This is a whole new method to appeal to our senses. No longer will you just be forced to watch the McDonald’s commercials on TV, where they can make such an unhealthy double cheeseburger look so delicious (and plastic), but now you’re going to have to smell the same cheeseburger when you arrive home at the end of the day. Should be interesting.
November 15th, 2007
By George
Racepoint Group has been working with One Laptop Per Child for more than a year now. It has been an incredible experience. The non-profit organization headquartered in Cambridge, Mass. has a simply mission with an extremely difficult end-goal: to use education to eradicate poverty in developing countries.
To undertake this noble mission, OLPC has created and is now manufacturing the XO Laptop — the so-called “$100 Laptop” (which currently costs about $188, but with economies of scale kicking in, the cost should begin to migrate downward toward $100).
The organization believes that supplying children with laptops will open up their worlds, unleash creativity and exploration, and ultimately lead to a revolution in education.
The technology achievements in the XO Laptop are amazing. It is the greenest laptop ever devised and contains these remarkable features:
- Rugged design and sealed case to make it water-and shock-resistant
- High-resolution screen that can be read in direct sunlight, as well as indoors in the dark
- Low power consumption using only 5-10 percent of the average wattage of a normal laptop
- Can be powered by solar energy and human energy with pull cords and hand cranks
- Mesh (peer-to-peer) network that turns each XO laptop into a full-time router connecting each laptop and allowing for easy Internet access
- No moving parts, except for rabbit ears (for the mesh network) and the hinge
- Runs on free, open source software
- Contains no lead, mercury, cadmium or PVC
Racepoint has had enormous success in driving the public relations program for OLPC with global coverage for the project numbering in thousands of articles, blog posts, and television and radio coverage. Some of the highlights: 60 Minutes, Good Morning America, FOX-TV, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, BBC, NPR, Associated Press, Time Magazine, and People magazine.
The XO Laptop is designed for children in developing countries, but for a limited time (from November 12 to November 26) the laptop can be purchased by people in the United States and Canada. North American consumers can buy one for $399 U.S. dollars and get two computers. They keep one – and the other goes to a child in a developing country. The program is called Give One Get One.
The support so far has been amazing. If you’re looking for gift that can make a real difference – look no further.
November 12th, 2007
By Jordan
Still on the fence about Second Life? The internet-based virtual world du jour, launched in 2003, now lists over 20 million users. More interesting however, is a recent article from AP writer Brian Bergstein which shows how police departments across the country are incorporating social networking sites into their regular beats. Although many departments already have the capabilities to implement computer forensic analysis, the mass popularity of sites like Second Life and social juggernauts Facebook and MySpace, have allowed police new ways to track criminal activity –by entering the digital age.
The article notes that with the advent of these networks, criminals and victims alike are leaving clues on their profile pages, in online diary entries or through web conversation. Just recently while surfing on MySpace, I was somewhat surprised to come across a public MySpace page of an openly admitted gang member. Who knew MySpace was the place to share gang tips…
One of the best points made in Bergstein’s story is a quote from a computer crimes investigator for the Virginia Attorney General; “Police need to incorporate Internet analysis into just about every investigation. In the coming years, asking whether a police department has a distinct cybercrime unit will be like asking if there’s a telephone squad.”
November 6th, 2007
