Dumb Terminal Live!

Orcon's new banner ad has more life than most

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 14:26:49 +1200

Yes, it's a banner ad but at least it's fun. Check it out here

Zombies from Hell

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 15:35:22 +1200

Hell Pizza has launched an awesome (their words) viral ad campaign featuring undead, bloodsucking zombies. And it's interactive. Make the wrong decision and you're toast (or maybe on toast with a nice Chianti).

Speed of Chrome

Fri, 07 May 2010 11:16:31 +1200

You may have been considering a few experiments of your own to test browser speed. Just not quite like these.

The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth

Fri, 16 Apr 2010 10:19:28 +1200

It can be hard work getting honest and relevant comment from people involved in the ongoing Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. But when the person answering the questions is a minister who demands any questions be emailed rather than answered in a verbal interview, things get downright ridiculous.

Windows and Microsoft head to head? Get outa here!

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 16:50:23 +1200

Sometimes it's worth double checking your opinion polls before they go live on your website, especially if you operate one of the best read sites in New Zealand. Stuff.co.nz managed to create this beauty in a news story about Apple's new iPad.

The excitement of travel

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:24:24 +1200

I can't help thinking this travel agency is overselling their tour visit to Auckland. Last time I checked we did not have the world's only loop-the-loop harbour bridge.

Lost or just Not Found?

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:22:12 +1200

Cool, TNT now sends a consignment notice email to tell you a delivery is on its way and you can track it. Or not.

Customise your Dell, or not.

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 12:44:25 +1200

It's the ability to customise every last option that makes Dell so great. Ok we realise it's just the way the Dell shopping cart works, but that doesn't make a screen like this any less silly.

"Woof" means, "Would you be so kind as to share your delicious-looking snack with me?"

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:50:48 +1200

The Bowlingual, a gadget that analyses a dog's bark to detect its emotion, is being relaunched.

First put on sale in 2002, a new version from toy-maker Takara Tomy is due to be launched in Japan in August and was on show Thursday at the Tokyo Toy Fair.

The Bowlingual was developed in collaboration with an audio researcher and analyses the acoustics of a dog's bark. It is said to be able to recognise and convey six basic emotions.

It consists of two parts: A microphone worn around the dog's neck and a handheld unit that receives data from the microphone, determines the emotion and then displays a corresponding phrase on the screen for the owner.

The new version has a smaller handheld unit and packs a built in speech synthesizer so it will audibly tell you what you dog is supposedly trying to communicate, in addition to displaying it on the screen.

When it went on sale in 2002 the company sold more than 300,000 in Japan, a country where many owners will often spare no expense in making sure their pets are happy.

The Bowlingual will cost just under 20,000 yen ($314), and will initially be available in Japan only. There's no word on when it might be available outside Japan.

Office 2010: The Movie

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:16:06 +1200

Here's Microsoft going for some ironic viral LOL cred. Suite trick Microsoft.

Scroll down please.

I am your toaster, Luke.

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 10:24:40 +1200

The Star Wars merchandising machine will roll out the ultimate fanboy kitchen appliance at this year's Comic Con in San Diego.

With the Star Wars toaster you can pop in your Vogel's and have it branded with the smoking likeness of the Dark Lord himself.

"The Force is strong with this one."

Image from Starwars.com

Microsoft Pushes IE8 With Ads That Are Actually Funny

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:46:07 +1200

Microsoft has done it again: The company has released another set of baffling and mystifying ads, but this time they're actually funny. The software giant released four new ads to promote Internet Explorer 8 starring Lois and Clark's Dean Cain as a 1960's style ad man--no doubt inspired by AMC's Mad Men. So far the new ad campaign is an online-only affair, and uses the tagline 'Browse Better.'
The ads highlight IE8 features using mock situations and cutesy acronyms like F.O.M.S.--fear of missing something--for IE8s web slices, and S.H.Y.N.E.S.S.--sharing heavily, yet not enough sharing still--for the browser's accelerator feature. But the king of all four ads is O.M.G.I.G.P.--oh my God! I'm gonna puke--for IE8s private browsing feature; private browsing temporarily stops your browser from recording your online activities including your web history and tracking cookies.
O.M.G.I.G.P. is the most honest ad we've seen from Redmond in a long time. Microsoft openly acknowledges in the spot the most common reason to use private browsing: hiding your online porn tracks. I'm not going to go into detail about what happens in the ad, but let's just say the title O.M.G.I.G.P. is taken very literally.

The new campaign is also tied to Microsoft's dedicated IE8 website called, Browser for the Better.
Since the launch of Internet Explorer 8, Microsoft's browser has struggled with dwindling popularity, as users turn to other Web browsing alternatives like Mozilla's Firefox and Opera.
Ian Paul (PC World US)

Twitter's Top Twits

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 09:33:11 +1200

No, we don't mean the all-time most pithy, relevant, balanced, constructive or just plain old inspiring tweets ever made on the Twitter platform. We're talking about the all-time narcissists here and the self-regarding slop that leaks from their keyboards.

Tweetingtoohard.com rounds up these self-important tweets for the rest of us to enjoy and vote on.

If you thought you sometimes had tickets on yourself, you've got nothing on some of these folk.

Auckland - We are 4th

Thu, 28 May 2009 11:27:53 +1200

Jafas unite, we are fourth. Voted fourth best city to live in, that is.

Enjoy the video and then download the song to donate to CureKids at moro.co.nz

When 100% is not enough

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 14:30:09 +1200

Sometimes your software apps need just a little bit more juice to get the job done. Note the spontaneous overclocking Norton manages on the CPU meter with this antivirus update.
Thanks to Roger Curl for the pic.