things we've bought, found, seen and collected that
have inspired us or made us smile. Hope they make
you smile too.
English or Chinglish?
Interactive Director
I've been patiently waiting for my new car for 6 months now but boy have I been entertained in the meantime...
You may have seen Ling Valentine on Dragon's Den, some time ago now. She runs the successful contract hire company www.lingscars.com.
By way of compensation for my long wait, today I received some car mats in the post with a picture of Ling on, bandaged, brusied and a speech bubble "HEY!!! Get your smellly feet of my face!!!". The attached note stated "They are universal shape, which means they don't really fit any car and they are designed to entertain by moving around in the footwell and jamming under your brake pedal. I hope you have lots of fun with them."
If you've never visited Lings site, it's well worth a visit. the content is pure genius. There is a special feature that translates English into "Chinglish". Chnglish is Lings version of English. Here's an example:
English text "The delivery date (if anything like mine) is down to God."
Chnglish "The delivery wan' flied rice or boiled rice (?). This is not damn takeaway! No53 sold out, so date (if anything like mine) ni ni ni ni Hao, lah, Zai-Jian! is down to God.."
In addtion, you can:
Play a game called "Hang the dealer"
Read BBC news in Chinglish
See Ling exterminate Jeremy Clarkson with her version of "Chop Gear"
Plus lot's more! she evens leaves out food for google spiders!!!
Exactly how do you spend your time?
Marketing Director
We've all been talking this week about SIX WEEKS, the experiment by city worker Paul McCruddan to invoice brands for the time he wastes on their premises. The man is a genius.
He argues that companies waste our time by forcing us to queue, wait to be served and so on, while their brands profit from the exposure, and we get nothing in return. McCruddan's professional time is chargable by the hour but these brands exploit it for free. He has therefore invoiced them for his time.
Check out Pret's excellent response.
Using your IPhone in the freezing cold
Marketing Director
You don't have to freeze your fingers off in the cold weather just to use your iPhone or other touch screen. These nifty DOTS gloves are a regular pair of gloves with a twist: a "dot" on the fingertips lets you use your touch device without smudging or scratching it.
We like!
Check them out at www.dotsgloves.com
What's your pet up to while you're at work?
Internet Marketing
The animal lovers amongst us at Whitespace have often talked about what our pets get up to while we're at work. I always thought my cat spent her days sleeping until my neighbour reported her fighting in the pond with a mallard - half a mile away! I can't even think about it.
Anyway now you can take the guessing away by strapping a camera to their collar and then downloading the contents to your computer when you get home. Ingenious. None of us have tried it, but if you do, let us know if it works.
Check out this and other fab gadgets at www.Iwantoneofthose.com
Does my bum look big in this?
Marketing Director
Product visualisation is key in ecommerce and we're using video to demonstrate products more than ever before. The concept of Augmented Reality though, is taking things to another level! With this technology you visit a clothing website and try on items before you buy.
Check out this example on the We love Viral blog spot.
http://weloveviral.blogspot.com/2009/06/online-shopping-app-utilizing-augmented.html
We're keeping an eye on this technology as it develops. Next time someone asks if their bum looks big in this, you can tell them it's just their augmented reality. Unless they work for a digital agency, that is, in which case you might get walloped.
