They're still working on the "discless frisbee"

Patent No. US 7037243: Cordless Jump Rope

That's right. It's being marketed to clumsy people. And anyone who might think to use the cord as a suicide implement.

I can't help but be awestruck by such good ol' fashioned American ingenuity. And to think .. some people once thought that everything useful has been invented already.

Another great print ad

This just cracks me up. The girl is hot but that's not why I like it. It's the tiny little Matchbox car hood she's sitting on.

R-3-5-P-3-C-7, find out what it means to me!

Here's what they call a "guerilla ambient" campaign that's pretty cool. They put these stickers on various signs around neighborhoods. The "1337 speak" is very targeted to Gen Y. (It says "RESPECT" for those of you who don't read 1337.) Notice that the signs all have to do with respect of some kind .. respect the work zone, respect the flower bed, etc. I believe the brand is actually a clothing label. Whatever, but it's a very cool way to use a brand logo in unusual places. And I'm not familiar with the concept of "guerilla ambient" campaigns but I know I've seen similar uses of these kinds of things before .. very creative stuff.

I had another thought this week .. dentists really could be selling ad space on their ceilings. Or at least put little messages up there like, "Don't like sitting here? BRUSH MORE!"

I was looking at the ceiling because I was trying really hard not to stare into my cute dental hygenist's eyes. Her name's Tricia. She is usually the one to "work on" me and we laugh the whole time. Sometimes she even scolds me for moving (laughing) but then keeps making me laugh anyway. Too bad I only get to see her once every six months.

The Washington Post: Free Advice for Criminals

Once again the mainstream media lives up to its intelligence. This is from last night's Best of the Web at Opinionjournal.com:

If You're a Crook, Don't Read This
A Washington Post editorial warns of a potentially catastrophic snafu at the Department of Veterans Affairs:

Yesterday the department's boss, R. James Nicholson, announced that every living veteran is at risk of identity theft after an employee took a data file containing names, birthdays and Social Security numbers home, where it was stolen. Mr. Nicholson says that the employee was not authorized to take this information home, but his department clearly failed to do enough to enforce its own guidelines. It now promises to restrict access to sensitive data to those who need it and to conduct background checks on those who do. It's extraordinary that this approach did not prevail already.

Some 26.5 million veterans risk being defrauded. If they are lucky, the thief may not realize the value of the stolen file, and it won't be used by criminals to drain veterans' bank accounts or borrow money in their names.

In other words, if they're lucky, the thief doesn't read the Washington Post! The Chicago Tribune reports that John Kerry* put out a statement demanding, "Someone needs to be fired." But if Kerry were smart, he'd release his military records now, lest the thief do it at a time of his choosing.

* Haughty, French-looking, Vietnam, 478 days ago.

"Digital Incompetence" indeed.

Business is business

Saw this today on Slashdot in a thread about Everquest. I consider it particularly insightful.

Sony doesn't love you :( (Score:5, Insightful)
by V_drive (522339) on Friday December 27, @03:22PM (#4968478)

I frequently see the anti-capitalist rant. "The companies don't care about me. They care only about making money!"

When was the last time you bought something from Sony and gave them an extra $5 to help them out? No, you paid the minimum amount--just enough so that you could legally acquire what you were purchasing. Must be that you care only about keeping as much money as you possibly can. Your motives are selfish and greedy.

Sure Sony doesn't love me. I'm okay with that. I don't love Sony. Every now and then, they offer a product or serivce I want for a price i like and we do business. That's where our relationship ends. They provide me no more than I pay for, and I pay for no more than they provide me.

There are some exceptions--times when I've acted specifically to support a particular company. However, my efforts are primarily greedy because it's always a company I want to survive and grow, or a situation in which the company owner is a friend of mine.

Love your family and friends and get it in return from them. Business is just business.

Gee, I always wanted to go to Baltimore

The cops there are just so helpful ..

Couple Arrested For Asking For Directions
BALTIMORE -- Baltimore City police arrested a Virginia couple over the weekend after they asked an officer for directions.
WBAL-TV 11 News I-Team reporter David Collins said Joshua Kelly and Llara Brook, of Chantilly, Va., got lost leaving an Orioles game on Saturday. Collins reported a city officer arrested them for trespassing on a public street while they were asking for directions.

..."The first thing that she said to us was no -- you just ran that stop sign, pull over," Brook said. "It wasn't a big deal. We'll pay the stop sign violation, but can we have directions?"

"What she said was 'You found your own way in here, you can find your own way out.'" Kelly said.

Collins said the couple spotted another police vehicle and flagged that officer down for directions. But Officer Natalie Preston, a six-year veteran of the force, intervened.

"That really threw us for a loop when she stepped in between our cars," Kelly said. "(She) said my partner is not going to step in front of me and tell you directions if I'm not."

Collins reported the circumstances got worse. Kelly pulled 40 feet forward parking next to a curb and put his flashers on while Brook was on the phone to her father hoping he could help her with directions. Both her parents are police officers in the Harrisburg, Pa., area.

"(Brook's father) was in the middle of giving us directions when the officer screeched up behind us and got out of the car and asked me to step out. I obeyed," Kelly said. "I obeyed everything -- stepped out of the car, put my hands behind my back, and the next thing I know, I was getting arrested for trespassing."

I wonder if Officer Natalie Preston is married. If she is, I feel sorry for her husband.

Sweet

My first CASE award.

CASE Circle of Excellence awards are given to materials like brochures, magazines, newsletters, photography, etc. CASE is a national competition and you compete with the best. Check out the winners list from 2005 and look at some of the schools we compete against. In advertising I'll be surprised if anyone recognizes this award, but in academia this is a very highly esteemed prize (so I am told).

For 2006 they only gave two awards, a Silver and a Bronze. We got the Bronze. There were no Golds presented. I took that to mean these judges were being very tough this year. I don't know what other schools entered this year but regardless, I'm pretty happy with my Bronze. It's the first time I've won an award in a national contest.

As an interesting aside, the print version of the magazine did not appear to win a CASE at all this year. This is strange, because the magazine has consistently won CASE awards (Gold, Silver and Bronze) for the past 4-5 years or so. This year, only the Web site got an award.

On some levels, awards like this don't really matter that much. But it always makes me feel a little bit better about what I do when I enter a competition against other professionals in the field and my work stands out enough to win. These days confidence boosters are hard to come by for me, so I'll take what I can get.

You should see the certificate. It's bigger (and cooler) than my diploma.

Too funny not to post