Junkyard Jumbotron

Professional brains Rick Borovoy and Brian Knep at MIT have come up with the Junkyard Jumbotron; a web tool which allows you to stretch a single image over multiple screens or in Borovoy's words "We've built a way to stitch together a bunch of random displays into one large virtual display."


Not hugely useful but it looks like fun. Check out the video below and head over to Wired for the science bit.*




*Speaking of Jennifer Anniston - see her new meme-tastic spot for Smart Water; it squeezes in Double Rainbow Guy, dogs on skateboards, that creepy bespectacled lip-synching kid, dancing babies, sex tapes and 'The Rachel' haircut. It's sharply done but the spoofing is maybe a little too knowing for me, not that that matters - it's already well on its way to 8m hits. Link

Microsoft all the way

Its been a while since our last post but holidays are over and we are back to it. First off we have been noticing a lot of niche web cultures leaking into the mainstream. Alongside a slew of recent articles digging into the online message board 4chan, we noticed this recent video from Microsoft, featuring Yosemitebear of Double-Rainbow fame. Although there's a risk that a big brand involving itself will be viewed with cynicism, so far the response seems to have been good. Microsoft have certainly come a long way since their last unintentional viral hit.

The Week's cool stuff

As a challenge to our current Saatchi and Saatchi interns, they have been sending me cool things they see on the internet. If I've seen them I get a point, and if I haven't they do- the winner buys the drinks (the challenge shamelessly stolen from @on_jay). Here are some of the ones I hadn't seen. The winner will be announced at the end of the week.
Paintball painting - The new 3D projection?
Red Bull - Great use of Youtube annotations adding interactivity
SyFy - Very cool zooming website for Tin Man (following on from their amazing Alice in Wonderland work)
Double Rainbow song - Fantastic meme. For the original video see above, and for an explanation of what the hell this is, go here.

How I got famous on the Internetz

This video possibly has quite a niche audience but it is a really nice story about internet memes and the people who were part of them. The most interesting aspect is that none of this stuff was created with a business plan or as a way to exploit a gap in the market. It tends to be interesting, creative people doing things for the love of it, or else fame is thrust upon people who actually don't want it. Brands clearly still struggle to be a part of this culture.