milk *an advertising agency

Cluster-F – CrunchPad is Dead

Two weeks prior to launch and the CrunchPad is dead. If you don’t know what CrunchPad is you may have wanted to. Hell, Joe went into a fetal position when he heard the news. We think he’s still under his desk. You see, Joe’s a gadget guy and he wanted to get his hands on this low cost tablet PC designed for web surfing. It looked like a really big iPhone. But as often happens greed and jealousy got in the way. So no CrunchPad…for now. They were too close. We have a feeling we’ll see something similar in the not too distant future. Check it out.

For Your APP-etite

Sorry about the headline. Couldn’t resist. But here are five commuter friendly iPhone apps to try (especially if you’re buzzing around town on your new BRAMMO Enertia). Bike Your Drive is a free app that allows bike commuters to calculate things like how far they’ve biked, how many calories they’ve burned and how much gas money they’ve saved. Transit Maps allows you to store any transit map on your phone. Aha provides real-time traffic info and location searches and even lets you share real-time info with other drivers on the network. Zipcar is a free app that makes being a member of this unique car rental company a snap. You can choose a car to rent, reserve it and even turn it on using your iPhone. Finally, Maps + Compass is a standard app that will help you select the best routes no matter what your mode of travel is. Its bus feature even tells you when the bus will arrive. Check them out. And happy travels!

Inspiration or Imitation? – The Credit Debate

American Express is running a new commercial to promote its purchase protection service. The spot uses a series of images featuring everyday objects or scenes that resemble a sad face or happy face (see the screen grab above.) It’s a nice spot. Simple and well executed. But here’s the rub and the reason for this post. When we viewed it on YouTube we saw a comment from someone accusing AmEx of ripping off the concept of a site called Faces in Places and failing to credit the site and its contributors. As you might imagine, FacesInPlaces.com is a site that features images of faces in everyday places. It's a lot of fun. Maybe AmEx’s agency knew of this site. Maybe they didn’t. But let’s assume they did and it inspired them or they simply “lifted” the concept. Do they owe the site credit? Is the act of recognizing the image of a face in a pumpkin suddenly the intellectual property of FacesInPlaces.com? No. AmEx is not going to use a second of its sixty to say, “Thanks FacesInPlaces.com!” Nor should it. Just as every movie with a Cinderella story doesn’t credit every Cinderella story that came before it. We understand that person’s beef, and it’s a debatable issue, but man would never have flown without seeing the birds first. What’s your take?

Toys R Suck - Disturbing Toys

Here's a funny post from Cracked.com. The 13 Most Unintentionally Disturbing Children's Toys. Number 2 on the list: Hugo, Man of 1,000 Faces. Really? 1,000? If they put in that much time to do the math, you think they would have done a little testing as well. The other 12 are just as creepy. Check it out.

A is for AN AM RAG

Here's a fun Anagram site we found. It's thirty seconds of your life you won't mind spending. Courtesy of SQUEEZE A JOIN and your friends at the OK LIMB GL. Check it out.

Just Be Cause – ActOfGood.org

By now you know of our work with 1000computers.org, the charity that sends used computers to schoolchildren in Africa. You can check it out here. You can also find other worthy organizations at ActOfGood.org, the site that “connects causes with the people that care about them.” The site is in BETA, so some categories like Arts & Culture are still empty, but it’s well designed, user friendly and created by people who want to make the world a better place. Check it out.

Never Forget Anything Again

Are you forgetting something? If you are, you have no excuse for it, because thanks to the power of the Internet and mobile devices nothing should slip your mind ever again. No kidding -- everywhere you look there is a new site or app that allows you to remind yourself about, well, everything. For example, Bitbom allows you to schedule free text message reminders to your phone, and Jott is a simple and convenient mobile service for leaving yourself notes and ToDo reminders. Don’t want to forget that important email? TeleFlip will let you auto-forward your emails to your phone as text messages, and Flurry enables you to follow up on your emails and even receive latest articles from favorite blogs/websites on your mobile. Just don't forget that you read about it all here.

Bitch, Bitch, Bitch – BossBitching.com

Many of you enjoyed PassiveAgressiveNotes.com from our June posts, so we thought you’d get a kick out of BossBitching.com and maybe even find it useful. Just don’t expect Dilbert-like humor here. People are ticked off right now and hold little back, especially when their bosses cut back on everything but golf outings. Check it out.

Behold the Power of Cheese – Awkwardfamilyphotos.com

This site is a fascinating look at how families and friends choose to display their affection for each other. Frankly, we can’t get enough of it. It’s almost hypnotic. Check it out.

Word of Mouth – The Shrinkwrapper Restaurant Blog

Posted by Cynthia & Jeff who like small, unique places with inventive food and atmosphere, The Shrinkwrapper has become our go-to source for vittles everywhere from SoNo to the East Village. The duo knows what they like, and present it in a palatably honest voice; as you’d hope two friends would. They pull no punches and they don’t get paid for this. Like so many in the digital age, they’ve paired something they love with the ability to blog and it’s done well. Which is rare. For this medium. The Joe Sequenzia pick of the month. Check it out.