The Society Of The Spectacle

Really nice use of Facebook here from who else but Nike.

To engage young people in Amsterdam in running, Nike Running created a platform within facebook that allowed users to create their own routes, but with a twist, more graffiti designs than just simple running routes. Skulls and Space Invaders were just some of the routes created.

Building on the digital community that had participated in the campaign, Nike provided the a space to gather in the real world; ‘The Runhouse’ became a venue for people to join in their customsied runs together, as well as a space to hang out, and enjoy the some benefits of being part of this community.

It’s a smart idea that builds on the mature platform of Nike+ (which attracts a slightly older, and more hardcore running demographic) and adding value offline that helps make it a more rounded and interesting platform. Which really is the most exciting thing about this, another example of advertising and communication beyond the campaigns and into added value platforms. Building ‘things’ that people use, not just view.

Good stuff Nike.

In response to probably one of the best ‘Google Doodles‘ there has been; (created by MTA.me and Google Creative Laber Alexander Chen) someone has created My Doodle Songs. An ever growing collection of song snippets created with the doodle that celebrated what would have been Les Paul’s 96th Birthday. My favourite? Well the simple ones do it best. Imperial March anyone?

Sometimes we all need an alibi. The odd little white lie saying we’re at home, but really we are at the bar with someone else. Of course, with pretty much everyone lifecasting at some level, there will inevitably be a slip up here and there. Luckily, My 4Square Alibi has been created to help just this problem. Check in anywhere around the world, when you’re not there. The possibilities are endless. Let the location based lying begin!

(Nice little bit of work from the The Famous Group, their blogpost on Alibi is here)

Remember Bb 2.0 from last year? It was the work of Darren Solomon. Music producer and technologist. He crowdsourced musicians through youtube to create a sound sculpture editable by the user through their own interaction with the videos. It was a great piece of work that naturally went viral quickly. Now, Solomon is back (with the help of Northern State University) with another experiment. Marker/Music.

Using the Google Maps API as the platform, Solomon asked the residents of the small town of Aberdeen South Dakota to play his composition through a variety of instruments and and natural sounds (walking through leaves etc.). The result is another dreamy folk/ambient collage of a city, with the same hypnotic qualities that made Bb 2.0 such a success. The intimacy and charm of the piece is certainly elevated by the knowledge these are all in the same city. A great idea, it would be fascinating to see this work on a larger scale. The possibilities for collaboration would be huge and incredibly diverse.

Check it out HERE.

(Via The Creators Project)

This week, Google Creative Lab developer @alexanderchen launched www.mta.me, which promptly set the twitterverse ablaze with it’s musical loveliness, through the real time tracking of NYC Subway.

But it’s also not the first, or in some reagrds, the best. You see, while my usual internet voyages, I stumbled upon something that while not as simple, as ‘now’ as mta.me with it’s HTML5/Javascript loveliness,  is just as compelling, with the added bonus of being denser, trickier, more rewarding than it’s sister idea. (OK, well it did win FWA site of the day too…)

Isle Of Tune is like the Sims of internet musical interfaces. Put the different houses, trees and such like in different places and watch  and listen to your musical town click together. It’s not that easy to start with admittedly. (Scrub that, it’s FUCKING hard), but the reality of all of these musical sites is not ot have you channeling your inner Stockhausen or Eno, or even your inner James Blunt (God forbid). It’s to get you to appreciate play and experiment with these platforms, all interaction, 100% of the time. That’s what I really love about all these sites. They inspire you to just have fun. And that’s no bad thing. Don’t believe me?  Listen to this version of Beat It and try not to smile. Amazin’.

(Hipstamatic taken at The Loft September 2010)

I think we are all familiar with the loveliness on Hipstamatic. So it’s inevitable that the successful blog Hipstamtics has taken the leap into the digital world with it’s first exhibition of Hisptamatic prints at the Orange Dot Gallery in London. 157 of the best photos have been selected to be part of this show. Coming on the back of the rise of Instagram using the same principle of retro filters, but adding the social element to it (Tim @madebymany has a top notch round up here) setting the digital gliteratti ablaze with it’s new level of digital intimacy and ease of use (I’ll admit, I’m hooked). It’s easy to forget about Hipstamatic and the charm that it engendered. But what both apps show yet again is how from these technology can bring us closer to, and attain it’s emotive, craft qualities. (example Nº1 Ben Malbon’s Instagram photo essay is a great story) Hipstamatic, by moving some of it’s best photos into that physical realm, is showing just one more way our digital lives are bleeding into our physical ones. Other than that, I’m sure it will be a great exhibition. Check it out.

(Via Charlie Gower)

Last year I posted some really unique remixes/cut-ups using sound and visuals from Pixar films, including my personal fave: Upular. The creator of those soundscapes, Nick Bertke (Or as he’s known online – Pogo), now wants to bring the concept alive onto a larger stage, by creating soundscapes of people and places around the world. Creating along the way a unique document of our world through sound. (He’s already done it here with the ‘Gardyn’ and ‘Joburg Jam‘ videos) Surprise surprise, the best platform to do that is…. Kickstarter. Contributions to this project start as low as a dollar, so it’s not like an investment of some degree wouldn’t be fully worth it. Watch the video above and then head over to the project page to get involved. A great project to kick off what I’m sure (for me anyways) will be some serious Kickstarter investments in 2011.

(Via Malbonnigton)