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Fake Vintage Ads For Social Media

Dennis Bjørn Petersen — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 12:25:30 +0000

These fake vintage ads for Facebook, Skype and Youtube created by Brazilian ad agency Moma for a media seminar called “Everything Ages Fast”. They are just brilliant.

Thanks to Laughing Squid.

9 Things That Makes You A Problogger – Year 2

Dennis Bjørn Petersen — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 13:28:15 +0000

A year ago I wrote “9 Things That Makes You A “Wannabe” Problogger“. I guess you are all very excited to see what has happened since then. These are the bullets I think are a vital part of every problogger.

Use a Mac, usually a MacBook Pro, iMac or MacBook Air
Keen interest in photography, usually a Canon Digital Rebel XTi or Nikon D40 or similar. Darren Rowse, Matt Mullenweg or Lisa Bettany. They all take great pictures and have a lot of followers on flickr
Adobe Photoshop skills. The photographs must be edited in someway. Also great for making graphics for your blog posts
Attend a convention. I always envy the bloggers that attend a blogger convention. SXSW is just one of the conventions I would love to participate in. There is so much going on there
Speak at a convention.Jennifer Laycock, Guy Kawasaki, Lorelle VanFossen and Andy Beal travel the roads and sky thin speaking at conventions.
Have a cool nickname. Robert Scoble is the Scobleizer and Jeremy Schoemaker is Shoemoney. Just to mention a few. I’m sure there are plenty of others out there too
Vlog, podcast, lifecast or stream either your life or a daily/weekly show. Justin Kan from justin.tv, Sarah Meyers from Pop17.com, Justine Ezarik from iJustine and Chris Pirillo from LockerGnome all have a show or lifecast (sometimes both). Use services such as Revver, Qik, Ustream, Mogulus or YouTube
Say smart, useful and thoughtful things on twitter or pownce
Be a part of a Web 2.0 startup

To keep the post short, please read 9 Things That Makes You A “Wannabe” Problogger to see my answers one year ago.

And how does it look anno 2009:

Yes…I’ve bought a MacBook Pro. Best computer I’ve ever had. It’s fast, stable and overall just great. I would recommend anyone to buy one.
Still got the Nikon D40. I’ve upgraded it with a Nikon 55-200 mm lens and a Nikon SB-600 Flash. My wife is quickly becoming the pro-photographer.
I’m still a Photoshop novice.
SXSW is right around the corner and I (want) would still love to attend it. Unfortunately I haven’t been to a single blogger convention yet. There really aren’t any in Denmark.
I’ve spoken at seminars and other work-related events, but never at a blogging convention. I still want to do that.
I’m still stuck with “dennisbp” as username. I can live with that though. I still use “Dennis Bjørn Petersen” too. So unless something really interesting comes up, I stick to it.
I still dream of podcasting or vlogging. I’ll get to that. It doesn’t define a problogger, so it’s not on top of my list. It could help me become one though…
Pownce is dead, long live Twitter. Remember to follow me on Twitter. I say smart things!
That’s a negative. I haven’t done anything to be a part of a Web 2.0 startup, so that’s ok.

So to sum up. My biggest wish is still to attend SXSW or a similar blogger conference. What’s your ambition? Do you plan on becoming a problogger too?

Music From Star Trek Trailers

Dennis Bjørn Petersen — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 11:01:30 +0000

Maybe you’ve seen the latest Star Trek trailer. If you haven’t, you’ve missed one of the best trailers in a long time. I saw it several times and it gives me goosebumps every time I see it.

I blame the goosebumps on the music used in the latest trailer. After seeing the Star Trek Movie trailer a couple of times, I had to find out where the music was from.

So I did a little research and stumbled upon TheTrailerMusicMan on YouTube. I wrote to him and within a short time, he told me the music written by Two Steps From Hell and was called Freedom Fighters.

So far so good. I’ve done some more research and it turns out that one of the composers behind Two Steps From Hell, Thomas J. Bergersen started a blog a few days ago. He wrote this the other day:

There has been a lot of interest in the Freedom Fighters music in the new Star Trek trailer (thanks!) so here’s some more information for you. The executives at Paramount studios ultimately had the final say in what music was used for the trailer. They ended up liking the music so much they wanted exclusive rights to use it (to avoid us from licensing it to other advertisement campaigns). This does however not mean that the music cannot be published on CD, and we’ll likely include the modified version on one of our future public releases.

Make sure you catch the trailer at your local theatre, as the surround sound mixing is EPIC!

Best,

Thomas J. Bergersen

So unfortunately the music from the third Star Trek trailer isn’t available yet.

If you are into music from trailers and what I would call “epic music”, you should definitely check out Two Steps From Hell.

They also wrote the music behind the second Star Trek trailer. That track is called “Down with Enterprise”.

Their albums will become available on iTunes.

Now if you are really really interested in their music you can find their music on YouTube and on their Facebook fan page. A simple Google search will also give you a lot of hits. There are a lot of forums discussing the latest Star Trek trailer and the music in them.

(and just a small hint: If you really want to download “Freedom Fighters”, it’s out there…)

What’s On Your Computer Chris Pirillo?

Dennis Bjørn Petersen — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 12:07:08 +0000

It’s the season premiere of What’s On Your Computer aka. Show Me Your Desktop. I’ll continue with the akas’. Chris Pirillo aka L0ckergn0me will kick this season off.

You can’t write about Chris Pirillo without linking to a lot different sites. Chris and his wife Ponzi are the minds behind the increasingly popular technology conference Gnomedex.

Chris Pirillo is also behind the community called Geeks!, where geeks meet and discuss everything from Mac tutorials to recipes and L0ckergn0me Blog Network, where you can get your own blog and get paid.

I have a feeling that I forgot something…Ah yes…Chris live streams from his home every day, which has a very active chat. His YouTube channel features some of the tech reviews, advice or tips from the live stream.

Then, of course, there is also just Chris’ blog Chris Pirillo, which has everything from coupons and contests to discussions on FriendFeed.

What is your background picture?

Always changes based on:

http://chris.pirillo.com/2008/02/28/how-to-create-your-own-wallpapers-with-oxidizer/

http://chris.pirillo.com/category/wallpapers

Why did you chose that picture?

Well, it’s what came up – and what caught my eye.

You have both a personal and a work computer, which program do you use the most on your personal computer?

Adium, Mail.app, Linkinus, Safari… on either / both.

Which program do you use the most on your work computer?

All of the above, but the one that’s most important to me is Mail.app (which is quite superior to Outlook with managing Internet mail and threads – considering I used Outlook for 10 years, you should take that statement seriously).

Which web browser is your preferred browser?

Safari, believe it or not – it isn’t perfect, but I use it in conjunction with OpenDNS URL shortcuts and get by without too much strain or stress. Moved over from Maxthon in Windows and haven’t really seen massive issues (I do wish Safari would not open more than one window at a time).

Why is it your favourite browser?

It’s fast, fast, fast – even on Windows, it’s fast. It’s getting faster, it’s getting leaner, it’s staying clean, and it just works. I don’t necessarily need wacky toolbars (though accompanying SEO widgets would be nice). Firefox is there as a backup, and v3.0 is looking quite nice on Mac OS X to boot.

What is your favourite program and why?

Depends on what I need, honestly. My favorite program is always task sensitive – always. There are best of breeds, certainly (but no single favorite that stands out). If I were to call a “favorite”, it would actually be Mac OS X – and I know that it’s not perfect, but the collection of apps OOTB (the platform, the experience, the speed, etc.) make it more of a perfect storm than anything I had found with Windows to date.

Which program is the worst?

The one I’m not using? Actually, the worst programs are the ones not very well designed on the surface – and the converse is equally as true (a pretty app that runs like a dog will only be useful so long as it remains without competition in the marketplace).

Do you have any tips and tricks on how to get the most out of your computer or blog?

Challenge convictions, try new things, don’t cheat the system, don’t base your beliefs on someone else’s opinions (make up your own mind), and don’t be afraid to be yourself.

What kind of world are we living in?

An increasingly-connected one, an overtly-borderless one, a dangerous one… turn, turn, turn.

The last thing I would need is a screenshot of your desktop.

It’s boring – just a wallpaper, and you now have a link directly to it. I have a clean desk / desktop.

Thank you very much Chris! (Oh and just a small side note: Chris answered my email 5 minutes after I sent it. That’s a new record)

New Microsoft Ads Are Hilarious And Creates A Buzz

Dennis Bjørn Petersen — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 11:22:00 +0000

Microsoft’s latest ads are hilarious! I admit they are a bit strange and really don’t have much of a story or message. It could remind you about a certain sitcom featuring a certain actor with a certain last name.

The $300 millon ad campaign features Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld as opposite to “Hi I’m Mac and I’m PC”.

There are no big sales pitches or statements, why Vista is better than MacOSX. It’s just an “ad-com” (Not sure if it’s a word, but I cleverly combined sitcom with advertisment).

To explain this pretty clever campaign in a popular way let me put it like this:

Launch huge ad campaign featuring Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld $300,000,000.00
Start a buzz in the blogosphere including all tech major blogs PRICELESS!

I guess $300,000,000 could buy you a few 125×125 ad spots on a lot of blogs, but getting the exposure on YouTube, TechCrunch, TechMeme, The Inqusitr, Mashable, Engadget, The Beta News (!?) and a lot of other minor and major blogs can’t be put into value.

It’s almost like the ads are made for internet distribution. Why make a long and short version? There is nothing better, than bloggers who can’t figure something out.

We love to talk/write about stuff we just don’t get. It’s not keeping us from guessing though, and when/if we find the golden eggs, we’ll write a post more about it.

You can see the two ads here: (they are both in high quality)

This is the first one:

Click here to view the embedded video.

This is the second:

Click here to view the embedded video.

You can read the official press release from Microsoft here: Microsoft Kicks off new Windows Campaign with Star Power

Read all the other major blog’s coverage here:

Image credit: Mashable

A Day In The Life Of Twitter

Dennis Bjørn Petersen — Fri, 30 May 2008 14:15:16 +0000

This is only my second video, so please be gentle.

Using summize.com I’ve gathered some of the tweets from desperate, disappointed or even angry twitterers after twitter.com’s nasty downtime last Wednesday.

Which program and on which hardware I made the video is not important, at least not now, but it’s a part of my quest for the Apple.

Of course, this could also be Robert Scoble and other twitter super users (Fake Steve Jobs calls them twittertards) fault. I doubt it though. They just need a solid backbone and some better infrastructure.

I say that without knowing what their problem is, but my guess is just as good as blaming someone else.

Anyhoo I just wanted to show you this little video I made the other day. I’ve uploaded it to Viddler and YouTube.
The song is Alana Taylor’s Twitter Song. Thank you very much for letting me use it.

Show Me Your Desktop Fake Steve Jobs

Dennis Bjørn Petersen — Mon, 26 May 2008 12:46:42 +0000

Did you remember to read last week’s interview with Shoemoney? This season’s last interview is with Fake Steve Jobs.

Most people know Steve Jobs (creator of the iPhone), but not everybody read Steve Job’s secret blog/diary.

Some say it’s not written by Steve Jobs himself, but by Fake Steve Jobs. Some even say that Fake Steve Jobs actually is Forbes senior editor Dan Lyons.

Fake Steve Jobs aka. FSJ has nicknames for many things. Microsoft is The Borg, people who work at Microsoft are Borgtards, twitterers are twittertards, WSJ tech-journalist Walt Mossberg is Goatberg and Sarah Lacy is hot.

FSJ writes why Apple is so cool, and why Apple’s products are so damn innovative and awesome. He finds most people annoying and is upset by negative people.

FSJ like turtlenecks, black, white, trees, zen and is a benevolent dictator.

This video from TechCrunch’s Crunchies says it all:

And now the interview with the great Fake Steve Jobs

What is your background picture?

Solid blue.

Why did you chose that picture?

I’m boring. And easily distracted. Solid color lets me focus on what I’m doing.

If you have a personal and a work computer, which program do you use the most on your personal computer?

Firefox.

Which program do you use the most on your work computer?

Firefox.

Internet Explorer or Firefox?

Firefox.

Why do you use IE or FF?

I hate IE. I hate all the new Microsoft apps. Too cluttered and bloated.

What is your favourite program?

Firefox.

Which program is the worst?

If you mean what’s the worst program I use, I’d say it’s Quark CopyDesk. If you mean what’s the worst program in the entire known universe, it has to be Lotus Notes.

Do you have any tips and tricks on how to get the most out of your computer or blog?

Spend as much time as possible working on it.

Mac or Pc and why?

Mac. The OS is better.

Thank you very much Mr. Fake Steve Jobs. I’m really thrilled that you took the time, out of your very busy and innovative life. I know it can be hard to communicate with the man on the street.

Peace out!

This is the season finale (I always wanted to say that) of Show Me Your Desktop, but unlike certain other “shows”, I don’t cancel something, just because people don’t watch it. (Take that Fox, CBS, ABC and SciFi).

Season 3 will be back very soon with brand-new questions and more interesting people.

Should We Fear The Total Google World?

Dennis Bjørn Petersen — Fri, 09 May 2008 12:15:01 +0000

Every single Google service is brilliant and very useful, but when they connect you get a very powerful system, that could be too much good. Should we start to watch out?

The other day our son turned 7 months and it probably won’t be long until I have to help him set up his first Gmail account – it’s a father-son thing.

It won’t take long to set up the account, a few basic information about the kid and he is ready to roll.

In time more stuff will be added to his profile.

With tears in my eyes I will proudly say to him: Welcome to Google, son, from now on, most of what you’ll be doing on the computer, will be registered by one company.

It will be like his baptism – He’ll be a part of a huge and abstract universe, with some kind of obligations, I’m just not sure which.

While filling out the online Gmail form it’ll strike me, is this the right thing to do. Isn’t there an alternative instead of making his life public to the search engine?

But it’s so easy. It works, you get a lot of really clever and free services – and you just need to log in once and one place.

One thing is, that Google is already his start page and key to the internet and it searches your email and blog.

Google also remembers which video my son will watch on YouTube, which he’ll probably watch more than television.

This is probably just the beginning.

It won’t take long before my entire family will be equipped with cell phones embedded with GPS chips, so I can see on Google Earth or Ocean where they are.

The next step will probably be Google Health, where, like Microsoft’s “health vault”, all the data about our health will be collected. Everything from the doctor and hospital’s journals to the daily rating from the bathroom scale and data from my jogging watch.

It can even be more detailed, if you chose to get your DNA decoded by companies such as 23andme.

One of 23andme’s directors is married to Google-founder Sergey Brin and Google is one of the major investors in the company.

They will decode your DNA for $1000.

It isn’t unrealistic that DNA analysis will be the standard tool for doctors, like X-rays and blood samples are today.

But it will require a lot of computer power to store and manage all that data, and computer power is what Google have.

Everybody expects that Google will be one of the select few, who will offer “cloud computing“, where you can buy capacity of Google’s huge computer farms.

Soon you’ll buy computer power, just like you buy electricity today.

All we need is a 3D online-universe, that combines fictional and user-created environments (like Second Life) with real geographical data from Google Earth.

It will be connected with our cell phones, so that you can walk around in the physical world, while having a close encounter with a parallel and virtual universe, that combines real buildings and persons with avatars and 3D models.

Each one of Google’s services are really useful, but when you connect them you get a system, that is both powerful and extensive, but is it too much to be good?

As Google says: “Do no evil”. I think it’s important that we help Google maintain that motto.

Do you think Google can get too powerful?

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

Are Online Ads An Endangered Species?

Dennis Bjørn Petersen — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 11:57:05 +0000

According to experts the use of online advertising will increase by 23% in 2008. This is more than 40 billion dollars, but a riot might be around the corner.

Adsense has made Google one most valuable companies in the world and the ads on social networks such as Facebook help those companies make billions each year.

But could all this be in danger?

A new analysis from Deloitte indicates that more and more users are tired of online ads.

Are you one of them? Do you find online ads more annoying than ads in newspapers and television?

A good example is the latest protest against Facebook’s Beacon system. When Facebook users shopped online, Beacon told friends and businesses what they looked at or bought. The latest statistics show that users doesn’t spend as much time on Facebook and MySpace as they used to.

This tendency might turn Facebook and other social network’s ad-goldmine into a nightmare. There might be some light ahead though. According to the Media Summit 2008 in New York, there are other ways of targeting consumers online, but it requires courage.

As you probably already know blogs can circumvent this. If a blog recommends a product on Amazon, you usually don’t consider that advertising. If you let a blogger tell you what they think about a product, it will remove the suspicion towards a product.

But will companies entrust their brand to the users? Brands like Pepsi and Coca-Cola spent billions of dollars building a strong brand. Will they allow users to play with their brand and values on YouTube?

The companies will have to redefine their brand and if they want the users to be engaged, they have to let go of their perfect image. This transformation requires a lot of confidence and I’m certain some companies doesn’t want to risk it.

Sources: Media Summit 2008, Beacon protests, Deloitte Report

The Beta News Contest Draw And Winners

Dennis Bjørn Petersen — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 16:50:42 +0000

The Beta News 2 Year Anniversary Contest is now officially over and the winners have been drawn.

A great thanks goes to the sponsors, Lorelle VanFossen, David Airey and Entrecard.

I’ve drawn the winners using Random.org and recorded it with Camtasia Studio. This is my first video, so please be gentle.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Congratulations to:

Erz from Blogodise – Lorelle VanFossen’s book “Blogging Tips”

Laura from Laura Williams’ Musings – Blog Design critque from David Aiery

Emma from ItsWriteNow.com – $100 Amazon gift card

BetShopBoy from Bet Shop Boy – $30 Amazon gift card

Egonitron with a messy blogger HQ – €20 Amazon.de gift card

Indo Contest from Indocontest – $25 cash through PayPal and a The Beta News t-shirt

My Blog Contest from MyBlogContest – $25 cash through PayPal

Vincent Chow from Reviewow – The Beta News t-shirt

Sparky123 from Just Another Contest Blog – The Beta News t-shirt

Once again congratulations everybody and thank you very much for participating!

I hope to see you all around on The Beta News.