Today I got an interesting OOF message that immediately caught my attention, from an agency using it to promote one of their clients.  Here’s what I got from Tom De Bruyne (Boondoggle Amsterdam):

Bye,
I am currency out of the focus. I will make my comeback on Tuesday July 28th. Please contact my comics at Boondoggle for surgeon matters. I will cancer your male asap.
Kind rewards,
Tom De Bruyne

Below this message it had a small banner for Berlitz:

The banner obviously referring to the fact that people say strange things whenever they are not good at foreign languages.

I just loved it! Berlitz is known for creative advertising (just thinking about the ‘What are you sinking about’ video makes me laugh) but I never had seen such an original auto-reply just yet. Great stuff Tom! Just tell them Berlitz people to do something about their website, it looks horrible.

Das ist auch etwas, was ich - in Hinsicht auf Guerilla-Marketing empfehlen würde - dies auch für die eigene HomePage zu nutzen - aktuelle Berichte aus themenrelevanten Foren zu verlinken - um den Lesern etwas zu bieten, was sie sonst vielleicht nicht finden würden.

In Blogs funktioniert das relativ einfach - da gibt es unter Darstellung immer Plugins, in welchen dann nur mehr die entsprechenden Seiten eingetragen werden müssen, damit es automatisch funktioniert.

Und für "normale" Seiten kann man sich unter - RSS to Javascript - einen entsprechenden Link erzeugen lassen, um den dann auf die eigenen Seiten ein zu binden.

This is a great environment piece. Perfect placement. People riding the elevator will see the Oreo sticker, people coming down the escalator will see it, EVERYONE will see it. Very simple concept, but it's the placement that makes it killer.

Brief thoughts: Oreo's are dunked in milk. Dunking is moving something down into something else. What else goes down?...Elevators!

Great job, Creatives

La verdad es que se vuelve una forma directa de comunicarle a la gente lo fácil que es tropezar con un letal artefacto como este, sin mencionar el delicado desenlace que atraerá dicho descuido:

Muy inteligente y directo, una acción simple de guierrilla que ocupó muy poco dinero, pero con gran impacto y un call to action para ayudar a las víctimas de las minas antipersonas.

Desafortunadamente no tengo el dato de quién la hizo, así que si alguien lo sabe estaría buenísimo que lo dijera.

Buen fin de semana y cuidado por dónde caminan.

La imagen me la traigo desde los recomendables sitios de NFG y Zarqun.

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PS3fanboy has posted a in detail look at the multiplayer classes of Killzone 2 which look to bring some tactical teamwork into the Killzone 2 arena. If you choose ISA or helghast the effects of the classes will be the same.

Rifleman:

The default multiplayer character is assigned when no primary badge is selected. A secondary badge may still be added. Riflemen can start with most weapons, except for the specialized ones.

Engineer:

Primary badge ability: Sets up an automated turret which targets the enemy.

Secondary badge ability: Repairs ammunition dispensers, mounted guns, and automated turrets.

Medic:

Primary badge ability: Revives downed team mates.

Secondary badge ability: Throws a health pack, which can be picked up by other players.

Scout:

Primary badge ability: Uses a cloaking suit to become near-invisible.

Secondary badge ability: Tags all on-screen enemy players with a hidden marker, which broadcasts their coordinates to team mates.

Assault:

Primary badge ability: Dons heavy armour twice as strong as normal.

Secondary badge ability: Temporarily boosts running speed.

Tactician:

Primary badge ability: Throws a coloured smoke grenade, which serves as a spawn point.

Secondary badge ability: Requests air support from a sentry bot which targets the enemy.

Saboteur:

Primary badge ability: Assumes the disguise of a randomly selected enemy player.

Secondary badge ability: Throws a sticky, proximity-activated C-4 charge.

These classes can bring some great teamwork to Killzone 2, so if you are in a clan this could get you excited.

Last weekend, I checked out the latest show over at the Museum of Natural and Artificial Ephemerata. I love people who choose see the magic in the way the world works. People who look a little longer, and who consider alternative explanations. And I also love poeple who cram their converted garages with a bunch of weird crap, then invite the general public to come have a look! If you're in Austin this weekend or next, you should really stop in (they're open on Saturday afternoons). But don't worry if you miss the current exhibit because, as their bumper stickers say: "We are living in the Museum of Ephemerata." Indeed we are.

Chavez verduidelijkte dat hij aan de Frans-Colombiaanse die na meer dan zes jaar gevangenschap bevrijd werd, de hoop heeft uitgedrukt "voor een samenwerking met haar" in de bevrijding van alle gijzelaars van FARC en in de vredesonderhandelingen met de guerrilla. Het Venezolaanse staatshoofd heeft de rol van onderhandelaar gespeeld in de bevrijding van zes 'politieke' gijzelaars in januari en februari laatstleden waaronder Clara Rojas. Zij was de campagneleidster van Betancourt voor de Colombiaanse presidentsverkiezingen op het ogenblik van haar ontvoering in februari 2002.

Ingrid Betancourt werd samen met drie andere Amerikanen en elf Colombianen bevrijd door het Colombiaanse leger. "Het deed me groot plezier om met haar te praten en haar een lang leven te wensen" verklaarde Chavez. "Ze heeft me gevraagd te blijven vechten voor de andere gijzelaars en samen te werken met haar", vertelde de president. Hij stelde voor om te helpen bij de vredesonderhandelingen in Colombia tussen de regering en de guerrilla. "Het uur is gekomen voor Colombia om te praten, niet over oorlog en dood maar over leven en vrede", zei hij nog. (afp/sps)

bron: HLN

d.d. 10/07/2008

-Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (AIP)

Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), has been taken by a group of rebel gorillas in an apparent coup d’état.

The gorillas, who are known to inhabit the dense jungle lowlands surrounding the Congo River in the northwest portion of the country, and also area zoos, stormed the capital Saturday armed with heavy artillery. The Palais de la Nation, or presidential palace, was taken late Saturday night in a hail of gunfire, and President Joseph Kabila was brutally beaten and tied to a tree outside the palace.

Reports over the past year have indicated growing discontent amongst DRC’s gorilla population. The encroachment of human settlers into what has traditionally been their land—as well as dissatisfaction with the increasingly capitalist economic policies of the current presidential administration—is seen by many as the likely cause of the coup d’état. Nonetheless, the overthrow of the DRC government by an armed contingent of these largest of primates was seen as unprecedented by many.

“We never thought such things could happen,” says Kinshasa resident Jacques Tabole from inside his barricaded home. “I was taking my children for a walk, when I all of a sudden heard gunfire. I turned around and saw these gorillas with guns, shouting incomprehensible slogans. I suppose this is our reward for taking their tribal lands.”

Added Tabila, “Oh God, I hope they don’t treat us humans too badly.”

The leader of the rebel gorillas, Chief Silverback Ooh-Ooh Uuh-Uuh, said the following in a statement released early Sunday morning: “Aah aah, ooh, ugh ugh, ooh aah, ugh. Ooh ooh ooh ugh, ugh uuh aah uuh aah. Ugh ugh ooh ahh, ooh, ooh aah aah ugh, ugh ooh aah ugh ooh. Uuh aah aah uuh aah ugh ugh, ugh ugh aah ooh ugh ooh aah ugh ugh aah ooh aah!”

]]> http://ridder44.wordpress.com/?p=22 Sat, 12 Jul 2008 10:11:22 +0000 ridder44 http://ridder44.wordpress.com/?p=22 Het nieuwe Ajax shirtje moest natuurlijk even passend onder de aandacht worden gebracht.

I came upon an interesting guerilla marketing tactic called clean-vertising. It’s a brand message on sidewalks simply created by a pressure washer and a template.

Given that many municipalities have recently been cracking down on sidewalk clings and the like, this is a safe, green and inexpensive alternative. No paper, no ink, no printing process and they can last up to six months, depending on foot traffic and weather.

If you don’t mind your brand message being walked all over, this tactic may be for you. It seems especially ideal for brands related to shoes, feet and cleaning.

[caption id="attachment_187" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Example from PUMA"][/caption]

One way of invading peoples photographic privacy is to use Kameraflage which uses a special material/ink that only shows up on mobile phones and digital cameras so you can display hidden messages or print copyright warnings hidden from the eye visible only on the digital photograph.

Another innovative way to stamp your brand or message on peoples photos is to use the Image Fulgurator, the brainchild of Julius von Bismarck. The device senses if a camera's flash goes off and synchronizes a projection on the object being photographed at the same time, this can be an image or text.

The process is undetectable to the human eye but is evident for all to see on the resulting photographs. This process works for analog and digital cameras as well as mobile phones but only if its night or if the flash is being used. For an example see video on Youtube.

FYI, the site I'm developing is actually a user profiles website ... kind of like a dating website but it has nothing to do with dating. And like I said before, it's quite simple.

The depressing thing is, the closer I get to the launch date, the more I feel that I haven't actually carved a niche to gain a foothold in. But still, I'm hell bent on finishing this project :-)

Anyway, you might be interested in taking a look at my SVN (subversion) commits -

As you can see the most commits I did was 19 on the 28th of June. And I only began using the SVN repository on the 16th of June although I had been working on an off in the previous months before that. SVN is an indespensible tool in a team environment, and even if you're working alone (like me), it helps that you can access the latest version of the project on any computer, and it's also a good source of backup and you get to compare pieces of code across different versions of your software.

Although I've still got a lot of coding still to do, I have been thinking of some form of offline "guerilla marketing" like making little stickers and sticking them in random places in my University. The stickers themselves would not reveal much about the site, in an attempt to appeal to the audience's curiosity. That may or may not work, I don't know. Finally, I'm not unaware of the legal implications of this sort of advertising so I had better tread carefully.

Ingrid Betancourt has been a hostage for six years now, incarcerated in the jungles of Colombia while her two children grew up. Within a few hours of her release she was addressing a press conference when the sight of one man in the audience made her break from the usual proceedings.

Via Andrea Jaramilo for Bloomberg:

"I'm sorry,'' said Betancourt, 46, as she moved away from a microphone set up on the military airport runway in Bogota. "But this has to be a hug.''

She then embraced Herbin Hoyos, founder and host of "Voices of Kidnapping,'' a radio program that relays messages from family members to people held captive by terrorists. Betancourt, a former presidential candidate, said the words read over the airwaves helped her fend off suicide.

"I never attempted it,'' she said. "I put it off every day upon hearing my mom and my children on the radio.''

Once again we see the reach of radio bringing much needed human contact to those in need. In an age where 2,800 Colombians are held captive by terrorists, drug traffickers, and paramilitary groups it is hardly surprising to see a show of this nature evolve. Ms. Betancourt declared Hoyos a "friend for life" in the wake of her release along with 14 others last week.

Hoyos' program, transmitted by Caracol Radio from midnight to 6 a.m. each Sunday, fields calls by the hundreds from the relatives and friends of those who are held hostage. The hope is that the captives will hear their family on the air, giving them hope and reminding them that people are working for their release.

Luis Eladio Perez, a 55-year-old former senator, said the radio was his "umbilical cord'' during the seven years he was held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, the country's biggest guerrilla group, which also held Betancourt.

FARC guerrillas gave Perez his radio -- a silver, pocket- sized Sony -- in mid-2001, days before chaining him by the neck to a tree. [...]

"There comes a point when you want to die,'' Perez said. The messages "make you remember that your family is fighting to get you out. You have to hold on. You have to eat. And you have to exercise. You just have to try to stay alive.''

This does point out an odd symbiosis that seems to have developed. Guerillas and other captors have taken to passing out radios to their hostages in an attempt to help keep them from committing suicide. Hoyas himself notes that the goal of keeping the victims alive is one that is shared by the families and by the kidnappers in what he terms "a cruel mutual need."

Nonetheless Caracol Radio continues to reach out through the steaming subtropical jungles, bringing the reassuring voices of family members as they offer moral support to their missing loved ones.

If not for radio, Ms. Betancourt's family might have never seen her again. If you'd like to learn more about this unique radio show, the original Bloomberg article tells the story of how Hoyos created it in the wake of his own kidnapping in 1994.

Welcome back, Ingrid! Congratulations from the Radio2020 team!

Photo courtesy of FlashStef, used under its Creative Commons license

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Ingrid Betancourt et 14 otages des FARC auraient été libérés grâce au versement d'une rançon de 20 millions de dollars par les Etats-Unis, selon une information exclusive de la RSR. Washington a nié toute implication dans cette affaire.
Une source fiable, éprouvée à maintes reprises au cours de ces vingt dernières années, a fourni des détails à notre collègue Frédéric Blassel. Selon elle, le montant de la transaction est de quelque vingt millions de dollars.

Le gouvernement des Etats-Unis n'a versé "ni un dollar, ni un peso, ni un euro" pour la libération mercredi de 15 otages, dont trois Américains, enlevés par les Forces armées révolutionnaires de Colombie (Farc), a répliqué vendredi l'ambassadeur américain à Bogota, William Brownfield.

C'est l'épouse du gardien des otages, aperçu par Ingrid Betancourt nu et bâillonné au pied de l'hélicoptère, qui a servi d'intermédiaire depuis son arrestation par les forces régulières colombiennes. Elle a permis d'ouvrir un canal de négociations avec les preneurs d'otages et d'obtenir de leur gardien, Geraldo Aguilar, qu'il change de camp. L'opération armée serait une mascarade A l'origine de la transaction, les Etats-Unis, qui comptaient trois agents du FBI parmi les quinze otages. En principe, le FBI n'intervient pas à l'étranger, mais les trois agents avaient été prêtés par l'agence à la DEA, l'Agence américaine fédérale de lutte contre le trafic de drogues. Avec l'Afghanistan, la Colombie est en effet l'une des deux principales bases d'intervention de la DEA à l'étranger.

Cette libération, arme au poing et façon opération Ninja, ne serait donc qu'une vaste mascarade. L'élément qui a déjà mis la puce à l'oreille de nombreux observateurs, c'est qu'elle s'est déroulée sans la moindre anicroche, on peut dire comme sur du papier à musique. Même les otages ont été dupés, semble-t-il, dans un premier temps, par cette mise en scène.

Enfin, hormis de rares images, aucune vidéo complète de l'opération n'a été diffusée, alors qu'en général ce type d'opération est toujours filmé de bout en bout par un membre du commando. Puisque l'opération a été un succès, pourquoi cette vidéo n'a-t-elle pas été diffusée ? Les raisons d'une mise en scène Cette fiction permet au président colombien Alvaro Uribe de s'en tenir, du moins officiellement, à sa ligne dure, qui exclut toute négociation avec les rebelles, aussi longtemps que les otages ne sont pas libérés. Il ne faut pas oublier que les FARC détiennent encore des centaines de personnes, moins fameuses qu'Ingrid Betancourt.

Ensuite, le chef de l'Etat colombien voulait pouvoir décider du Jour J où cette libération interviendrait, et ce en fonction de son propre agenda politique. Il y a dix jours, Alvaro Uribe a en effet demandé au Congrès colombien de convoquer immédiatement de nouvelles élections présidentielles anticipées, et ce coup d'éclat lui permet à présent de redorer son blason d'homme fort du pays.

Le timing est parfait, alors que les rebelles des FARC n'ont jamais été aussi faibles sur leur propre terrain, celui de la guérilla.

D'après le journal de la Radio Suisse Romande