This has shaped up to be a “transitions” edition with some rewind and some re-imagining thrown in. Read on!
BlackBerry, Keyboard & All, Reaches End of the Road…
Lots of transitions going on starting with the BlackBerry smartphone hitting its End of Life (EOL) stage. End Of Life (EOL). Apparently, the classic keyboard BlackBerry has finally reached the EOL stage. As noted by the COO and general manager for devices Ralph Pini said in a recent blog post.
…The Classic has long surpassed the average lifespan for a smartphone in today’s market. We are ready for this change so we can give our customers something better…
The very first RIM device was the Inter@ctive Pager 900, a clamshell-type device that allowed two-way paging, was announced on September 18, 1996.
RIM-TIMELINE/ – Illustrated timeline against share price chart of company events for BlackBerry maker RIM. RNGS. (SIN05)
Another Classic finds a New Outlet…
Heading into the holiday weekend, we saw a piece in The Wall Street Journal on Martha Stewart’s Facebook Live episodes. This is a woman who ruled television and print for years. Per her bio on PBS:
Martha Stewart, founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (1996) and Emmy® Award-winning television show host, entrepreneur and bestselling author, is America’s most trusted lifestyle expert and teacher. Millions of people rely on Martha Stewart as a source of useful “how-to” information and a guide for all aspects of everyday living — cooking, entertaining, gardening, home renovating, collecting, organizing, crafting, holidays, healthy living and pets.
Some interesting comments from Ms. Stewart, who turns 75 in August:
“It’s efficient and economical”
“You can let loose and have fun. There’s no teleprompter.”
“I miss my daily show but not the expense or difficulty of making it.”
The trade-off is revenue. Like most who showcase their talents online, she isn’t compensated for her efforts.
We’re going to try to spend more time studying Facebook Live and pondering a sustainable revenue model that we can adapt for Jedemi.
Gordon Ramsey Got Game
While we are in the category of television chefs for $200, we found it amusing that Glu Mobile now has a Gordon Ramsey Dash game. Released June 30, it already has 11,000 downloads which bodes well for the company.
At SeekingAlpha.com, Chris Lau wrote:
Gordon Ramsay Dash’s game introduces the player with a straight-forward tutorial from the Ramsay in-game character himself. As the player progresses from one level to the next, the game offers upgrades, such as faster ovens or ice cream machines. The cost for buying ingredients is not outrageously high.
We’re wondering if he curses like he does on television? Next up, a test ride of the app. We’ll let you know what we find out.
F-Bomb Warning
An Unlikely Unboxing…
We couldn’t help but smile when we read about Burger King’s (BK) unboxing video which stars one of our favourite “spokes-cats,” Chester Cheetah.
This is a really clever and amusing way to convey their latest eatable innovation: a limited edition Mac n’ Cheetos, tie-up with Frito-Lay. It is macaroni and cheese, covered with a special Cheetos coating, and fried for handheld eating.
Sounds really messy, but pretty much anything Cheetos-related is.
In Burger King’s unboxing video, the smart-mouthed feline breaks down details of the concept, even describing “some sort of flappy thing” on the box. Chester does not even appear to pretend to eat the product in the video, yet gives it two thumbs up.
Check it out here…
An Unlikely Use of an Iconic Figure…
The visual of Mr. Clean playing a guitar while standing in a bathtub is just too… forced. David Gianatasio of Adweek wrote a piece about the iconic Mr. Clean getting “freshened up for Millennials.” Just the thought makes us cringe. A sing-along Mr. Clean? Really!?
You see, Mr. Clean, introduced by Procter & Gamble (AKA P&G) in 1958 is pretty much as iconic as the Maytag Repair Man Were the brand police asleep when this got approved?
“There’s no clean like Mr. Clean.”
Here’s some background for those unfamiliar.
You can also “Meet Mr. Clean” on his website: “A man of few words, but many muscles.”
AWSI… We’ll take cleaning tips from him. Heck, he’s been at this for a long time. That being said, we surely want nothing to do with him singing in the bathtub minstrel-style. Just say “No!” to sing-alongs.
Here’s a link to the ear-worm ad if you really want to see / hear for yourself.
What a Skateboarder Sees…
Let’s switch to a much better visual, care of those skateboarding folks at Nike (say what?). You get to see the world through the eyes of pro skateboarder Stefan Janoski — where everything’s a potential skate space.
Thanks to Creativity Online for the heads-up on this one.
Alexandra Jardine wrote:
Stylishly directed by Hoffman Bros, the three-minute short opens with shots of Janoski’s (real-life) personal possessions — the skater is well-known as a collector. It then shows him driving through town (filming was done in Austin, Texas) and visualizing every set of steps, railing or flat piece of concrete as a potential skate park. Finally he finds the perfect spot, and together with fellow riders Sean Malto and Karsten Kleppan, he sets about creating one all of his own.
Check it out here.
Of course, the point is to promote Nike SB’s Stefan Janoski Hyperfeel shoes that run $100 and come in a variety of color options.
Brings us to a nice segue to the next story…
Google Buys Deep Learning Sneaker Scanning Company…
Yeah, that’s a mouthful, but it had us curious. Peter Sayer of IDG NEWS SERVICE reported Google bought a Paris-based machine learning startup, Moodstocks, a company that taught a computer how to recognize 15,000 different types of sneakers.
The company’s focus has been on giving eyes to machines by turning cameras into smart sensors able to make sense of their surroundings by way of image and object recognition software using deep learning techniques.
Our Tommie was quite taken by the technology:
By analyzing video from a smartphone camera, and correlating it with accelerometer readings to determine how the camera is moving around, the software is able to infer information about the three-dimensional shape of objects in the video, facilitating their recognition.
It will be interesting to see what Google does with this technology.
That’s a Wrap!
Time to put pencils down and move on. But first, our featured song which is a rewind to 1996 (the year mentioned earlier in this post). It’ll make you smile. And don’t forget to check the companion song — a very creative, somewhat related, version. Enjoy!
Thanks for reading and #SCMF!
—The Gang
Animaniacs / Macarena Spoof
In case you want to sing along… Here are the lyrics:
Yakko and Wakko
HellOOOOOOOOOO, NURSE!
Yakko
Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…
Dot
I am not trying to be annoying.
Yakko and Wakko
Ai!
Dot
I act like a nut, so they call me Macadamia
I dance like a klutz on a show called Animania.
(with overdubbed harmony)
Am I a cutie? Absolutie!
And a beauty, you can bet your patooty!
Dot, Minerva and Hello Nurse
But if you touch me, or even get near me,
I’ll have you arrested…Do you hear me?!
Yakko and Wakko
Dot is a nut, so they call her Macadamia.
She’s cracked in the head and kooky in the brainia.
Each line in this song sounds pretty much the samia.
Oy, Macadamia!
Ralph
Dah…
Yakko and Wakko
¿Donde que vas a Nintendo Macadamia?
Hola que pasa you grande sack o’ grania
Qui a coupé le fromage, we abstainia
Oy, Macadamia!
(Wakko belches)
Dot
Now please don’t mention my brother,
The one they call Wakkorino!
(Wakko belches again)
Dot
(with harmony overdub)
He’s always burping every hour,
So I threw him out of the tower!
(Wakko yells, Dot laughs)
Now, come on! What did you want me to do? He was grossing me out! And I’m just a cute little thing, so don’t cross me!
Yakko and Wakko
She’s cracked like a nut, so they call her Macadamia.
Whenever she gets mad, you’ll experience pania.
Cuts and bruises you will sustainia,
Oy, Macadamia!
Pinky
Narf!
Yakko and Wakko
Lava tus manos, por favor, Macadamia.
The world is the goal for Pinky and the Brainia.
Dot
Otra vez on y vas the repetitive refrainia…
Yakko and Wakko
Oy, Macadamia!
The Brain
Yes!
(Break it down now!)
Dot
Don’t hate me because I’m cute!
Yakko
Mac M-Mac, Mac Mac, Macadamia,
Mac M-Mac, Mac Mac, Macadamia,
Mac M-Mac, Mac Mac, Macadamia,
Oy, Macadamia!
Skippy
Spew!
Bonus Content
[…] Like the Mac n’ Cheetos unboxing video shown in this post. […]