N-Control has hired an independent consultant, Austin, Texas-based Moisés Chiullan, to field press inquiries and oversee sales and marketing operations going forward. ... "We have to move forward and take care of Avenger’s customers," Chiullan said. "I can't worry about the fact that there isn’t a bus big enough for me to throw Paul Christoforo under. The internet did that for me. I think they set him on fire too."

"We’ve been flooded with complaints recently because our YouTube videos can't be embedded on websites, and in certain countries can't be seen at all. And we want you to know: we hear you, and we’re sorry. We wish there was something we could do. Believe us, we want you to pass our videos around more than you do, but, crazy as it may seem, it’s now far harder for bands to make videos accessible online than it was four years ago."

“OpenID Connect”, therefore, is what I’m starting to use in casual conversation as my answer to Twitter and Facebook Connect.

"Now, you might want to show your Wow to family and friends. You might want to show your Wow, even, to other people out there in the world. But the site is neither messaged or built that way. It's an archetypal example of the corporation wanting to do something community-enabled and just not getting it: 'Hey customers! Send your most special memories to our corporate PR department!'"

"I have decided to take you up on your generous offer and so include below my first post for your perusal. I hope it’s not too irreverent…"

"I wonder if it ever occurred to these people that the reason the music of these interesting and alternative bands is being recruited is because their fans are now the ones calling the shots. In other words, we have arrived! Of course the ad is trying to sell you something and by using a band you like, attempting to gain your confidence by exploiting the band's integrity for a commercial end. So what? You're not a fuckin' moron are ya? You see through that, don't ya?"

"The most unwanted music is over 25 minutes long, veers wildly between loud and quiet sections, between fast and slow tempos, and features timbres of extremely high and low pitch, with each dichotomy presented in abrupt transition. The most unwanted orchestra was determined to be large, and features the accordion and bagpipe (which tie at 13% as the most unwanted instrument), banjo, flute, tuba, harp, organ, synthesizer (the only instrument that appears in both the most wanted and most unwanted ensembles). An operatic soprano raps and sings atonal music, advertising jingles, political slogans, and "elevator" music, and a children's choir sings jingles and holiday songs. The most unwanted subjects for lyrics are cowboys and holidays, and the most unwanted listening circumstances are involuntary exposure to commercials and elevator music."

"It asks: "Honestly, don't the Bavarians annoy us all?" and then proceeds to list all these annoyances, such as the "senseless jabbering," and sense of superiority as well as all those "pointless mountains and boring lakes." The site says that Bavaria never really belonged to Germany and "is better suited to Austria than us." The tract ends with the rallying cry: "Whoever finally wants to kick Bavaria out of the Federal Republic of Germany, simply needs to give their vote to the BP -- in all of Germany."

"No, it’s increasingly clear that socialism’s newfound popularity comes from the Mitch McConnells, John Boehners, Rush Limbaughs, Sean Hannitys, and Glenn Becks of the world, whose repeated invocations of the term have pushed a previously DOA political movement to new heights of popularity."

An attempted viral marketing ploy is uncovered on Facebook.

"director of Christian Voice"Any bus which allows itself to be abused in this way will spend eternity in the company of Satan's bus. They will burn alongside gay buses, buses that have had abortions and buses that knowingly took people to see Jerry Springer: the Opera."

"The Complete Resource for the Do-It-Yourself Musician"

"The latest viral from the Italian Fashion house Diesel is a little close to the 'bone' don't you think?"

"A e-mail from the Kluger Agency, which performs such product placements, mistakenly sent to Jeff Crouse of the Anti-Advertising Agency and Double Happiness Jeans, provides a rare glimpse into the secretive market for song lyric product placement."

"£5000 in £10 and £20 notes were individually dropped around the streets of London with a removable sticker that read, Carlsberg don’t do litter. But if they did it would probably be the best litter in the world’."

"This commercial is for real. I mean it happened for real. He really made a rap video for his furniture store."

Neophiliacs rejoice!

"When advertising became about image rather than facts, adverts for the most part ceased to make truth-claims at all."

"The absurd (and unfounded) criminalization of Berdovsky and Stevens is part of an über moral tale with a discernible target: General deterrence, as rationale and goal."

"Sometimes I get dangerous thoughts in my head, like 'I wonder what it would look like to see every ad in Times Square all on one page.'"

"Microsoft sent this tape to retailers to explain the benefits of Windows 386. Boring until the 7 minute mark when the production is taken over by crack-smoking monkeys."

"I know what I am, and that is not a Second Life user. Oh, but hey, I made two avatars over a year ago, so I guess I am a Resident."

"I have been watching the press reaction to Second Life with increasing confusion." Seconded.

Blog on building online communities and related matters.

Tom Mabe cranking a telemarketer.

"The 87,500 square feet logo was created by tiles placed in the Nevada desert, near the super secret Area 51. The stunt marks the revamp of the KFC logo, which now features a more streamlined image of Colonel Sanders."

Most likely rather subjective, but all-in-all rather funny.

"Our latest TV ad - featuring massive paint explosions - took 10 days and 250 people to film. Huge quantities of paint were needed to accomplish this, which had to be delivered in 1 tonne trucks and mixed on-site by 20 people."

"Linden Labs, its creator, likes to constantly trumpet the idea that SL represents new opportunities for real-world companies to make money virtually, but that’s simply a flat-out lie."

Uh-oh, a PR disaster for the new movie The Science of Sleep in the making.

A method of playing with annoying telesales people.

Stats about different types of gamers.

"Colin Anderson, managing director of Dundee-based developer Denki, discusses why we could be on the brink of a new era of game development - and why publishers had better be ready for it."

The history of the FedEx logo.

Article about the history of the Starbucks logo.

"Junkies robotically filling boxes with packing peanuts. Lovely."