Qualcomm Explains Butterfly Attacks

Here's the follow on to that butterfly attack videos. Qualcomm holds a press conference to explain the attacks and what they have to do with the company's interferemetric modulation technology..whatever that is. Anyway, give it a watch. Live the secondary news scroll at the bottom of the screen.

AdAge Selects New Ad Review Critic: Me

We Love Our Adrants Gig

This may come as a surprise (in fact, it was a surprise to me) but after a long, hard decision making process I've decided to accept the role of Ad Critic at Advertising Age, where I will report directly to Editor Abbey Klaassen. Klaassen was kind enough to let me break the news here.

I started my career in advertising reporting nearly nine years ago, blogging from a swanky McMansion in Boston where the interns, clad in plaid, pleated minikirts would bring me my coffee at nine and my Old Fashioned at three. After having been layed of one too many times, I decided to forgo agency life and all the trappings that came with it and, instead, toil in the hand to mouth lifestyle as a burgeoning ad blogger. Well, what with all those plaid, pleated,miniskirt-wearing interns, it hasn't been all bad. From there it was an upward climb towards Bob Garfield-like infamy. The two of us have had our fair share of words over the years but Advertising Age realized it was time for a change. Recently, Garfield announced his abdication of the Ad Critic throne after 25 years of service.

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Fiverr the New Playground for Cheap Marketers, Money-Hungry Agencies

I will come up with a slogan for your website or product for $5. I will hold up a message on time square for $5. I will submit your site to all major search engines for $5. I will print screen your company logo on a t-shirt and wear it for a week for $5. I will consult your business on search marketing for 30 minutes for $5. I will design a custom web banner for your business for $5. I will write a memorable tagline for your business for $5. I will do a voiceover for your podcast/website/business for $5. I will design your Business Card for $5.

Well I won't but hundreds of fiverr members will. fiverr is a site on which people promise to to things for $5. And it's as simple as that. Browse. Click. Buy. If you need some simple, ad-related tasks done, this site is definitely worth a look.

And if you're an agency looking for the opportunity to wildly mark up costs to reap a ridiculous profit, this site is most definitely for you.

Travelocity Gnome Joins Chatroulette

Chatroulette, a random video chat service that's similar to speed dating, now has the Travelocity Gnome jumping aboard the chat-fest. It's not the first brand to try the service. French Connection did that early last month.

Travelocity agency McKinney mans the gnome who holds up signs with various messages including "This would be more fun if we were in Rio." Hmm. How long before some enterprising hacker invents an "auto-next" feature so everyone can avoid chatting with a brand while they are busy having cybersex (remember that term?)?

Regarding some people's natural inclination to work sex into every media form, Travelocity's Joel Frey told AdWeek, "If we run across that type of person we're not going to engage we him. We'll leave it at that. It's something that's a concern with a new and different form like this. As long as we're being disciplined, we can overcome that and keep it to conversations with people who should be thinking about trips."

So here we have a yet another new "social media" service and within months, brands are all over it. Is this a good thing? Is there a place for brands on Chatroulette? Do people really want to chat with a brand? Thoughts?

Publicitair Launches World's First Ad Supported Airline

And...here we go. The first April Fool's joke of the day. "Former pilot and regular air traveler" Mark Terry-Lush, Renegade Media founder, has launched Publicitair, the world's first free passenger airline. The operation will be funded completely by advertising.

The release wants marketers to know, "Every surface of the aircraft, inside and out - from the tailfin to the in-flight entertainment - is available for branding."

Terry-Lush explains his approach, saying, "With BA strikes, airlines going bankrupt and budget airlines charging to go to the loo, it's clear that aviation business models are floundering. Passengers are getting a raw deal, so we've put our 20 years media industry experience to the test and created the world's first advertiser-funded airline."

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Audience Conference Returns to New York

Last November, The Audience Conference made its debut. It's making its second appearance this year Saturday, August 14 the day before Affiliate Summit East kicks off. The conference, produced by 1938media and Affiliate Summit will be held at Caroline's On Broadway. For more information and to register, head over to the website.

So that you have an idea what this conference is all about, we'll share with you the content and our experiences from last year's inaugural outing. MC'd by the acerbic Loren Feldman, speakers included Jason Calacanis, Joe Jaffe, Brian Clark, Rae Hoffman, David Binkowski, Jeremy Shoemaker and many others.

There were no panels. It was all about the speaker and the audience. In fact, Feldman insisted no one tweet or blog from the event and that audience members actually pay attention to what speakers had to say. He even (not so humorously) threatened to throw anyone out he caught tweeting. The notion of audience handing over 100 percent of their attention to what was happening onstage - which included musical acts as well - was refreshing in today's always connected, always on environment.

Here are some highlights from the event:

- The Cult of the Audience's Andrew Keen said Twitter is a scam. No one using Twitter is making money (debatable). The only ones who are are founder Evan Williams and his management team. He said creators and authors must be authorities. Humility will get you nowhere and the audience won't do your work for you.

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Cause Group Asks Ronald McDonald to Retire

AgencySpy reports activist group Corporate Accountability International staged a "Retirement Party" protest outside a Chicago McDonald's Wednesday afternoon.

AgencySpy's Kaitlin Madden spoke with CAI spokesperson Karla Pippa who said, "For the last fifty years Ronald McDonald has been hooking our kids on unhealthy foods, spurring an epidemic of diet related disease, and we are calling on McDonald's to retire this icon so that he can have a break, and we can have one too."

She hopes "Ronald McDonald will go the way of Joe Camel." And in a study touted by CAI in a press release, nearly half of those surveyed were found to favor Ronald's retirement.

Like Such As South Africa and The Iraq Everywhere Like Such As

"...and I don't see why I have no reason why I shouldn't win."

OK, then. Good thing she's a designer and not a copywriter.

So what the hell was that all about? The press release tells us, "ATTIK and Scion are very proud of this six episode reality series, which is designed to give up-and-coming artists a chance to showcase their innovative ideas and build a car that will further their creative craft while pushing the boundaries of self-expression."

It's called Reinvent the Wheels and it's an episodic reality series from Scion.

Axe Pranks You Into Smelling Better

Becky and Jesse. BJ. Get it? Yea. Only from Axe. It's the Axe Fixer Show. It's like a talk show with all the nastiness and stench of a high school locker room crossed with a septic tank. Yea. It's all about human stench and how Axe can reduce it. That along with the usual bevy of hot chicks tossed in for eye candy. Hey, if we're gonna be gross we're gonna need some delicious distraction to keep our attention.

Oh. And in case you were wondering. Pranking rhymes with spanking.

Taunting Cows, Kinky Crocs, Sexist Coffee, Nesting Canaries

- Southwest and AirTran continue to taunt each other. This time with cow suits.

- Cramer-Krasselt overshares letting us in on the fact Crocs have a kinky foot fetish.

- And in the over-thinking category, a sweet little Folgers ad is sexist. Shut up. Just shut up.

- For its eightieth birthday, Ad Age asked VCU Brandcenter students to re-imagine its logo.

- SapientNitro is out with a new site for Coca-Cola's Powerade. Using "deep-dive" technology, viewers can interact with the movie and find points where they can see inside the minds and bodies of each character in the story about a football match.

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