Good-bye, satellite radio. I cancelled my subscription last month, a service I loved from the get-go. Had it for four years and I’ll admit it saved me from going nuts while listening to commercial radio stations on my way to work.
Today, in our “reset economy,” I looked for costs to cut. Radio seemed a likely choice for a number of reasons: (1) it costs $12 per month, (2) I wasn’t listening to it as much, (3) the playlists got tiresome after Sirius bought XM and combined channels, and (4) I no longer drive to work every day.
I’ll find a way to survive, I thought. I have my iPod for recorded music, and the iPhone can tune in to Internet radio station. In my area, I’m lucky to receive listener-supported WFMU 91.1 FM on my home and car radios. Fortunately, WFMU is also available in iTunes’ radio (under eclectic), and via on a number of free iPhone apps that feature public radio stations (listened to my favorite show last Thursday while driving on the NYS Thruway). You can also listen directly via iPhone. That’s cool. Out driving earlier and I hear a song on WFMU that I wanted to make a note of. Sounded good; sort of ghetto-tech. Quickly turned to the iPhone and brought up the live stream, where the name of the artist came up: Buraka Som Sistema, from Portugal. The song was Kalemba (Wegue Wegue). The genre is actually kuduro, originating in Angola. Bet you can’t sit still listening to it…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CkXhtw7UNk]
Thanks to listener-supported WFMU, my musical interests are continually expanding. Learning never ends: read more about the group here.
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkwh4ZaxHIA]
Nice video, ey? A seemingly amazing feat of engineering. Is that dude crazy? Or did he have superior preparation and testing before he slid down the slide?
It got thousands upon thousands of view when first released, and, undoubtedly, had its share of critics and hoax-hounds. Turns out they were right: it was a crafty move by an agency for Microsoft Deutschland…
Marketing giant MRM Worldwide, who created the campaign on behalf of Microsoft Germany, issued a statement saying: “We really enjoyed the discussion about whether our film was real or not.
“At the beginning we didn’t want to tell at all, but after reading several people’s comments, who were seriously thinking about trying this on their own, we decided to reveal officially that we used some digital magic to make the film.
“DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT TRYING THIS! IT’S JUST A MOVIE.”
The spoof was created in a series of stages: first an MRM employee registered a website for make-believe engineer “Kammerl”, where the viral was hosted from.
For the footage itself, a stuntman was used to slide down a slope, secured by a rope.
This was added to an animated sequence of a body flying through the air, with another real shot of the stuntman jumping into the pool at the end.
The entire sequence was then meticulously edited to make it look like a single take.
MRM said the point of the viral campaign was “to entertain people and to demonstrate the unbelievable possibilities of good planning”.
“With Megawoosh, we developed a viral campaign for Microsoft Germany which generated unbelievable response in communities, in just a few hours,” it added.
I’m not sure this type of manufactured viral program is in the best interests of the customer. Sure, it got heaps of short-term attention and response — and it was probably cost-effective. However, I’m not convinced this makes a lasting, favorable impression for Microsoft’s efforts in Germany.
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