I remember back in the day when advertiser first learned of the animated gif and suddenly all ads had to be animated. Websites quickly became flashing billboards trying to pull the visitor’s attention in several places. Then Flash came along and advertiser were able to place more whiz-bang in the advertisements. Everything was peaceful for a while until the latest push; audio based flash ads which run automatically.

The site in particular which made me write this post was Forbes.com, specifically this page.

http://www.forbes.com/global/2000/1030/0322066a.html

Muting the ad works until the next ad cycles thru, at which point another loud ad appears distracting the reader from the article. Try it for yourself, click around the site until you see an ad region like the screenshot below. http://www.forbes.com/energy/

Forbes isn’t the only culprit. The NFL has been doing this for sometime now, http://www.nfl.com yet I don’t have RealPlayer installed so I’m safe visiting this site. Keeping with the sports theme, ESPN http://www.espn.com likes the self-running ads also.

Self running Flash ads annoy the visitor, distract the visitor from accomplishing a task, and they are annoying in the work environment if a user has their speakers turned up.

Companies should start taking the YouTube approach. Show the initial screen of the video / commercial and then load the file. If the user wants to see more they can press play.

MySpace originally started out as a way to guerrilla market bands and it has now become a cultural phenomenon. Introducing Sellaband.com. On Sellaband artist generate interest to the tune of 5,000 Followers (groupies), once that number is reached recording studios and producers get involved and the bands begin to generate revenue. Followers buy ’shares’ of $10 for each band. Getting in early gives Followers the recognition they deserve and a limited edition CD created for the first 5,000 Followers.

Are you tired of junk mail and garbage coming to your house? If so, then check out Remote Control Mail. This service redirects your postal mail to a third party for screening and management. When you receive new mail, Remote Control Mail sends you an email scanned version of the mail document. Once you have had a chance to review your mail, you then indicate if you want the message securely destroyed, recycled or forwarded to your home. While the monthly fee is a little steep, $19.99 it might be worth considering if your home mailbox is stuffed with junk.

The Oasis, by Laurie Chetwood, is an interactive sculpture where architecture and sustainable energy meet to provide a meeting point in the heart of London. The 40 ft tall structure uses wind and solar energy to drive three LCD screens and two speakers which tell visitors location specific information about the area the Oasis is currently in.

The ’smart’ Oasis determines location via GPS and downloads regional information to it’s computers. At night, the energy which has been collected throughout the day in the battery pods is used to power a light show which interacts with the movement of the people around the Oasis.

Oasis is a great example of form, functionality and sustainability all nicely integrated into an object which is both beautiful and utilitarian.

http://www.thelondonoasis.com/

Discover Magazine recently posted a graphic showing the ever changing gravitational pattern on the Earth. For one, I had no idea the Earth’s gravity continually changed (I guess I missed that physics lesson). Yet the visual clearly brings home the point.