Suddenly Typing In The Dark Just Got A Cooler....

These cool little gadgets have suddenly made it easier for people who can't touch type to communicate in the dark! You can make the keys glow when you hit them, create your own moving patterns, or simply set it to glow in a solid color of your choice.



The Korean keyboards from Luxeed look brilliant and they come in two colours: white, which lights the whole button (approx £64) or black, which just lights the letter on the key (approx £77).

*adds to top of christmas list*

Light Graffiti...

...is amazing. By simply using low shutter speeds and running about like a loon you can make some awesome photos.

Eric Staller is an artist that seems to have a knack for doing this kinda stuff. As shown below:




There are others plastered over the web - some of whom have websites I have popped at the bottom of this blog - and it can make some truely stunning images. I want a go!





It is incredibly smart, but also more legal that its paint-like cousin. It can bring the mundane to life and for that I salute it.



Websites:
Eric Staller: Light Drawings
black.horizon: Donegal 2006
COLOURlovers: Painting with Light
Michael Bosanko: We Come In Peace

There Is Something About An Abandoned Town....

What causes people to abandon an entire settlement, town, or even a large city? Here are a few amazing examples from the locations like the USA, Russia, Italy, Taiwan and the Ukraine. Some of these were mysteriously deserted, while others were abandoned due to catastrophic circumstances.




I have no idea why, but I am fascinated to see these places completely desserted. I sit looking at these images imagining a bustling community. Yet, now they are empty. Dead to the world. Ghost towns.

The very sites that got me thinking on this subject:
English Russia: Lost City of Chernobyl
Lands of America: Ghost Towns of the American West
Web Urbanist: 7 Deserted Wonders of the (Post)Modern World
Electro Plankton: The Abandoned City of San Zhi [Part 2]

Box Office Smash?

With all of these big franchise films coming along and taking our hard earned money, its revived something that has been irking my conscious for a good long while.

Often when films are released over in Europe after starting in America, or a DVD is released, we normally see "the #1 box office smash!" or something along those lines. I accepted, for the first 15 years of my life, that this should be read as "wow, this film is very popular, you should REALLY see it!" Now, a good 7 years wiser, I find that it isn't the case.

During a film lecture, I put in some thought about the subject, obviously not the subject I should have been thinking about:

People go to the cinema, pay their money and watch the film.

They don't give money if they liked the film. Therefore a lot of the "all time highest grossing films" ever are films that had a lot of hype and no substance. People paid their money and were sadly disappointed. Good box office takings does not mean a good film.

For example, with the use of MovieWeb.com, I have the top 100 highest grossing films of all time. There are some that truly deserve to be there [Titanic, ET, Star Wars, Jaws] but some of the entries of rather appaling!

#6: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest [$423 million]
#35: The Grinch That Stole Christmas [$260 million]
#39: Night At The Museum [$250 million]
#47: My Big Fat Greek Wedding [$242 million]
#70: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory [$206 million]

Now there are more films that people will be shocked made it into the top 100, but these are examples I know were panned by the critics and I also had the displeasure of sitting through. These films are not great, hell, they're not even good, yet their takings were amazing [Nearly a quarter of a billion dollars for Greek Wedding is a joke!]

It just gets on my nerves that we can get so duped into piling so much money into these films, only for them to not deliver and then boast about how much money they scammed off of people as they try and get more when the DVD comes out. ¬_¬

It was nice to see 'Gone With The Wind' hanging in there at #77 though

May = No New DVD's

Well I'm 10 days into it, but so far I've been a good lad and not bought any DVD's.

Now that may not sound like very much to you, but I'll tell you something: I love film.

I have a degree in film and love expanding my collection. So much so I made 10 DVD-related transactions last month. I don't have anywhere left to put them yet I'm still buying them.

This led to me setting a personal goal: No DVD's in May.

No £3 bargains from HMV. No £1 last-minute bids on eBay. No nothing. No DVD's.

This means that no matter how cheap and amazing a film is, I can't get it. I was doing amazingly well until yesterday, when my wandering eyes laid themselves onto Play.com. They are having a BIG sale. Beverly Hills Cop boxset: £5! Schindler's List, Munich, Brass Eye, Se7en, Blade Runner: all five sodding pounds!! i managed to resist yesterday, but there is only so long a man can hold out!

These next three weeks will be hard. ¬_¬

If anyone fancies grabbing a bargain and testing my patience the sale is: here

En Francais

Bonjour!

Don't worry, I'm not good enough to do it all in French. Regarder...

Kelly and I are jetting off to Paris in a few days. And something has dawned on me.

I like France.

Now, as an Englishman, I should, by steroetype, dislike the French. Yet, I find their language, culture, food and architecture fascinating.

I love mussels and chips (or moules et frites) and baguettes are a genius invention. Croissantes have also crept into my favourite food list recently. There are so many iconic spots in Paris. The Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, the Palace of Versailles, the glass pyramid of Le Louvre where a host of masterpieces are held. It's fantastic.

J'adore Paris. Je suis excited!

Google Ads: Not As Simple As You Think

Hello there.

Here is yet another attempt a keeping a blog. So good luck to you as you read this in 9 months time and this is still the only post.

Well, the title suggests a lot. I'm currently working on a Google Ad campaign for Gradwell.com, my new employers. Its not as easy as some might think.

General thoughts before starting: "Piece of cake. Design a few lines of text, throw them on the internet and we are flying. Easy days."

General thoughts after starting: "I've got to make sure I use the DKI to improve my CTR and make sure the CPC stays low enough to ensure a good PPC. Oh, and I've got to make sure that i split-test the VPS and RCF Ads and then make sure the content bids are secure enough on the VoIP Ads."

You can see my point. There are so many thnigs to consider in a Google Ads campaign!

Things aren't going too badly as I start to make sense of it all. Wish me luck!