Why we have camera phones.

I got my car windows tinted yesterday, which meant that I had about 2 hours to kill in Mansfield (those of you who know Brisbane will understand just how boring that prospect is). But there was one little perk.

Compulsory Voting in Australia…

…and how to get out of it.

No, seriously. I won’t be voting on Saturday.

I’m actually bloody annoyed at this prospect, because I actually feel informed enough about this election to make an honest, satisfying decision. But here’s what happened.

Nerd News!

Some of this is probably old, but it’s stuff I’ve only just learned about.

Firstly, a word from the case-modding scene. Now, I’m a fan of case modding, provided it’s sensible and creative. Stupid big-arsed windows showing off empty cases and ugly builds aren’t for me (I’m looking at you, Kaz)!, but cool mods like integrated fan controllers and USB hubs, handles, castors and wicked paintjobs I’m all for.

New Adventures in Web Idiocy!

I know it’s been 20 days without a post, but at least I’ve come back with a good one.

Just stumbled over this link on Dan Rutter’s blog.

Unfortunately, the guys over at Penis Land Pen Island are out of sample stock.

Why I’m going to study marketing.

Most ad campaigns suck. They’re boring, quickly-forgotten exposures to a brand. How is that raising awareness of a product or service? It’s not like they stick in your mind! A good advertising campaign has to have a hook, a quirk, something to make it stand out and be memorable.

As astute readers will know, I’m a big fan of things like Alternate Reality Games, particularly the ones for Microsoft’s Halo games, and the one Audi did about finding a “stolen” car (and getting to keep it). I think viral marketing is brilliant. Do something clever, and let word-of-mouth (the best form of advertising there is) gain exposure for you.

Engadget Linkfest!

I’ve been getting reacquainted with an old friend - Engadget. Seriously folks, stick that site in your feeds - it’s awesome.

Here’s a few gems I’ve found from the last few days.

• Pimple Cleansing MP3 Player
• Wearable Video iPod display
• Animal-shaped mobile phone holder that wags its tail when calls come in
• Further advances in induction charging.

I like your old stuff better than your new stuff.

You know how you can hear on the radio that your favourite band is releasing a new album, and you hear a sneak preview, or maybe the first single, and you get all excited cause it’s really awesome?

I don’t. This has led me to ask two questions.

Gladiators, ready!

I listen to the radio in the morning on my drive to work. Typically, it’s Triple J, because Myf, J and the Doctor are awesome. They’re not back from Innisfail yet, so Dools was filling in again this morning, and he made an announcement that got me very excited. Gladiators is coming back!

Silly shoes.

You know how you can be out shopping, and you see something being advertised as super-awesome, but you just look at it and think “What the fuck were the marketing people THINKING when they agreed to try and sell that product?”

At work today, I noticed such a product. It was in The Athlete’s Foot.

Mobile gaming might have a new champion.

Mobile phones are now becoming a lot more complicated. Well, they’re getting a heap of new features and abilities, anyway. Now there are at least 2 mobile phones on the Australian market with full GPS navigation functionality and at least 2 others with GPS receivers built in (but no nav software as standard).

Cameras are getting bigger, and (arguably) better. Ok, I admit they’re a lot better than they were a few years ago, but I still contend my now-ancient Nikon Coolpix 2 megapixel camera took better shots than the current crop of 3.2MP camera phones (Nokia’s N73 and Sony Ericsson’s K800i, amongst others). FM Radios have been around for a while now, but now you can have Internet Radio streamed to your device as well.

But there’s one area of mobile pimping market that’s been around for longer than any of the others, is hugely entertaining, yet continues to produce the crappiest results. Gaming.