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Korean cyberwarfare

In culture, internet, japan, korea on 1 March 2010 with no comments

I tried 2chan.net earlier on today to have a poke around and see if I could find any memes to write about here. Unfortunately the site is down. According to a Japanese newspaper article, it is due to Korean cyberwarriors who took down the iconic site because it some of the forum posters had complained […]

Enron - the play

In business, culture on 27 February 2010 with no comments

I walked down to Robert Dyas on St Martin’s Lane and found out that the story of a former client, Enron, had been turned into a West End play.

I felt conflicted about the whole thing.

I had helped launch the Enron Broadband business in Europe including the ‘Enron Intelligent Network’ and a video-on-demand deal with Blockbuster […]

Oprah Time: The evolution of useful things by Henry Petroski

In culture, design, oprah time on 17 February 2010 with no comments

The evolution of useful things is a book about innovation and product design by engineering professor Henry Petroski. Petroski covers the history of how different products have evolved from cutlery, pins, paper clips and McDonald’s food packaging.
The key hypothesis of Petroski’s book is that irritation is the mother-of-invention. One particular example that I liked was […]

Probably the coolest investment bank ad ever: BoA Merrill Lynch ad in the Wall Street Journal

In business, culture, design on 9 February 2010 with no comments

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BoA Merrill Lynch ad in the Wall Street Journal, originally uploaded by renaissancechambara.
Merrill Lynch promoting its role in Disney’s acquisition of Marvel. It’s a classy advertisement. Not sure what […]

Doraemon as a dodgy looking bun from the Japan Centre

In culture, design, japan on 8 February 2010 with no comments

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Doraemon as a dodgy looking bun from the Japan Centre, originally uploaded by renaissancechambara.
A for effort, C for execution.

Dang Gao (cake)

In culture, design on 28 January 2010 with no comments

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Dang Gao (cake), originally uploaded by renaissancechambara.
Just because.

Authors and prosumption from your readership

In culture, media on 14 January 2010 with no comments

I am a big fan of cyber-punk pioneer William Gibson. His current work in progress is called Zero History. It is being followed avidly by fans over at the ZeroHistory blog, who help the author out with research for the book. In return, they try and divine the plot based on the creative bread crumbs […]

Notice in Cathay Pacific lounge at Heathrow

In china, consumer behaviour, culture on 13 January 2010 with no comments

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Notice in Cathay Pacific lounge at Heathrow, originally uploaded by renaissancechambara.
 

Wedding 2.0

In consumer behaviour, culture, online on 2 January 2010 with no comments

My friend Rachel got married in Malaysia earlier today and I along with a number of other friends got to join the 500+ guests virtually through a live Ustream-hosted video and a live twitter chat.

It was a fantastic way of making the event scale so their friends around the world could help celebrate.

Killing the charts: Rage against X-Factor Update

In consumer behaviour, culture, media, meme on 20 December 2009 with no comments

The multimedia leviathan that is X Factor has been trumped in the charts by Killing in the name by Rage Against The Machine.
Whilst Sony Music benefits from the double present it has received this Christmas, the music industry must have some food for thought given the depth of deep-seated opposition to the cynical conveyor-belt pop […]