Weapons of Mass Distraction - Giving you the extra firepower!
How deep are you willing to go? Do you need extra firepower when it comes to finding something to talk about? Look no further than the Think Tank - an online version of the conversation you get with that weird guy that knows way too much about the most random things!
When it comes to stocking up on random conversation fillers the worse thing is to go in under powered and come off looking like a clown. Fear not, we are well researched and go deeper to Get The Big Picture so that you can feel confident passing this stuff on, posting it to Facebook or just use it in randomly when the need arises. Go exploring - the articles are sometimes topical but more often than not just random investigations into random things. Follow your nose, click through the related articles, or use the search tool to discover more.
Latest Noise in The Think Tank.
Hipster's. It's the new cool - & the sh*t they say
The sh*t that hipsters say. It is so funny because it is ironic. They are so funny because they are so onto it. And being better than everyone else is accidental because they really dont mean to be. Supercool. Confused. We are. Lets get to the bottom of hipsters, the weird shit they say and a very funny, but deadly serious hipster plea for funding their lifestyle to go cross country building blanket forts. Read the full article.
Extreme motorcross on a knife edge, extreme crashes & viral magic.
Extreme motorcross takes a very certain kind of person; one that is fit,strong and a dedicated shade of crazy! This dude has got a viral video on his hands as he rides some epic trails, and records it with a helmet cam. He takes a crack at a very impressive ridgeline in the snow & is now a youtube star with a potential bright future just making videos. He also has his fair share of spills. OUCH! Read the full article.
How to say HELLO in 45 classy, memorable moves via memorable movies
Hello is it me you are looking for. This is a very clever video. Someone has taken the time to piece together this classic old love song with some clever editing from bits thieved from classic TV and Film moments. Nice job. We take the time to go a little deeper and look at some covers of a truly super cheese 80's romantic classic. Read the full article.
When good advertising gets lost in the brand - the competitors brand!
Consumer electronics giant LG releases a new commercial for the Dyson beating vacuum with a fashion industry trickery, body image friendly ad that suffers a major fail. It goes viral as expected, but promotes their market leading competitors brand a little too much, customers get confused and Dyson wins. Read the full article.
The weightlifting Jedi effect is a cool trick, but the potential of the idea is what is exciting
When it comes to living the Jedi lifestyle it pays not to advertise your skills publically too much, or this kind of thing starts happening. Photos appear in blogs. People start mocking you. But think of the possibilities..... We are on a mission to uncover more jedi levitation tricks. The results are amusing. Read the full article.
Space Porn as dramatic images from the massive solar storm bombard us, with another on the way
Brace yourself, here comes another massive solar storm, one after the other. Yesterday the sun unleashed a massive M( class solar flare, certainly not the largest in this cycle but aimed right at the earth. Not quite time to break out the tinfoil hats but if you love seeing the polar lightshow with an intensity not seen before, then now is your time. Maybe also time to unplug your computer if you are in the far north or south.... Space porn some are calling it. Nature at its finest, and scariest others are saying. Read the full article.
Friday's Heartstopping Music FHM: Sarah Brightman & Hot Gossip "I lost my heart to a starship trooper"
I lost my mind & good taste to a Disco Starship Trooper when looking through this video that came via a friend's facebook wall. At the time I thought WTF. After looking deeper into the ThinkTank it is even more weird. Glam rock and disco was a pretty weird time. The more you start looking at it the more freaky it becomes. Like this classic video of a young Sarah Brightman, the Hot Gossip gang and some serious Starship Troopers costumes with full glitter. The 70's were so fun! Read the full article.
It seems that big brother really is watching. It is called Facebook.
What is the story with Facebook? Is it really as clever as the occasional random experience leads you to believe? Is this the long arm of Big Brother at work? We have just had a surreal experience setting up a Facebook page for a client & are left pondering the implications. We set up a business as a personal account with no connection to the owner, yet Facebook appeared to read between the lines & recommend his relatives anyway. Spooky! Read the full article.
Wednesday's Weird Web Thievery - The Evil Duck is out to get YOU!
The beauty of Google Adsense is that you can make money from the traffic on your website with little effort. The ugly side of the Adsense Programme is that you have no control over what ads are served.
This Wednesdays Weird Web Thievery is an example of google adsense going horribly wrong in the worse way imaginable when a page about duck phobias is matched with an ad featuring a duck! Read the full article.
We love you too Phillip Morris, but it is the cast that steals the show. Monday's Movie Madness Review: 3 stars
The movie "I Love You Phillip Morris" is a fascinating look at love, life and theft. Jim Carrey & Ewan McGregor however steal the show and create a wonderfully rich and vibrant take on a true story, that of the life and times of convicted conman Steven Russell and the love of his life, Phillip Morris. Not really knowing what to expect made this movie a little odd upon watching the first half hour, but then it blossomed into a sincere & heartfelt observation about desire & what some will do for love. Read the full article.
Tourettes karaoke - a message not for the faint hearted. ArseCheeks!!
Do you find Karaoke frustrating? Probably not quite as much as Guy Francis, a sufferer of Tourettes, but that doesn't stop him from giving it a crack! This is for real, & this guy uses humour to deliver quite a serious message, as well as make a career for himself to support his family. He has create an large audience for himself via youtube, his performances are both raw & hilarious, whilst at the same time raising the profile of Tourette's, Aspergers & other "attention" disorders - the elephant in the room. Read the full article.
2011 a year in review, a year on twitter, & the changing concept of time.
2011 was a year of great change. Change in the physical world with earthquakes, floods & tsunamis; change in society via social revolution actioned through social media & massive change in the virtual world, with social media for business becoming very mainstream & necessary. Take a look at the year in review through the eyes of social media. WOW! Read the full article.
Start the New Year with a shocking hangover - part II may be worse than the original Monday's Movie Review- The Hangover Part II
The Hangover Part II is an extension of the original movie that became quite the comedy cult classic, but this time more screen time is given to the legends that made the first one so special, Mr Chow & Zach Galifianakis' character Alan. Is it as good as the original? Opinion is divided, the movie is pretty much a carbon copy of the first, just a little more polished, but the characters are brilliant! Read the full article.
Santa time has come, this year he is bringing the gift of awesome to make you LMFAO
This festive season there is nothing better than the gift of laughter, especially if it comes nicely giftwrapped in a pretty layer of irony. The Key of Awesome are at it again with a parody of LMFAO's "Sexy & I know it". This is absolutely hilarious - so we take it a step further & look at rich kid party boys LMFAO, the party rock lifestyle, and copyright infringement due to the banning of their video on youtube. Read the full article
The art of cross over - when humans become the video games
Swiss performance artist Guillaume Reymond from the NOTsoNOISY creative agency has quite the festival performance piece utilising humans as game pieces in the physical recreation of old school video games like Tetris, PacMan and Space Invaders. Watch the evolution of an idea from the first small scale versions using that classic 1980's video game "Pong" through to more complex "Transformers" inspired pieces using large trucks. Quite the hit on YouTube! Read the full article.
Something Topical from The Think Tank.
The ways of a hacker turned corporate terrorist.
Monday 23.01.12. Last week in Auckland, New Zealand the owners and head honcho's behind massive file sharing network website MegaUpload had their house raided by a joint task force made up by NZ Police and "FBI representatives". The four guys supposedly behind the site, including the site founder Kim Dotcom were arrested and being held. Interestingly they are not being charged for copyright infringement under any NZ laws, instead they are being held for extradition to the USA to face a range of charges there. It seems that the SOPA conversation is in full swing anyway, with the site already being shut down.
The hacker conversation is a vast one. Much like Julian Assange, Kim Dotcom started life as a hacker, and Kim Dotcom has since turned that skill into one that can make him alot of money. It seems he his not too far removed from the hacker community with the "Hacktivist" group Anonymous coming to hi aid over the weekend and conducting take downs of a range of sites involved with his arrest and the subsequent shut down of Mega Upload.
We wrote an article a while back looking at the concept of hackivism and how the Anonymous group went about their business. Read the full article from our archives. Since then there has been much conversation about the tools being used by Anonymous and who is actually behind it. I for one would be thinking very hard about particiapting in any such activities. Once you download hackivist programmes (like the Low Orbit Ion Cannon as discussed in the article) or even visit sites associated with them, you run the risk of being a pawn in their game anyway. And you never really know who is the game master.......
Our news.
In the midst of December, the traditional start to our New Zealand summer, it rained here in Nelson. A lot. So much so that quite a few denuded / deforested hills lost it and decided to retire to the flats. The region has suffered so many slips that the council has had to bring in additional geo-tech engineers to help assess the damage and consult on the best course of action going forward.
The hills opposite us suffered quite significantly with major slips coming down on houses below - the water and rain was relentless.
We have taken much more footage which we will edit together and post later in the week.
Random Thoughts from The Think Tank.
Hands up if you have heard this old quote: "If a tree falls in the forest and there is no one there to hear it, does it still make a sound?"
What on earth does it really mean? Are we, as a species, really that self important that we feel that we can create reality, and if we are not present then reality simply does not exist?
