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News, insight and tips from the social web.
The Hoop blog covers the evolving digital landscape, social media, mobile communications, content marketing and also includes 5 top finds and Fish on Friday. Feel free to make comments.
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5 top finds #33 »
A balancing dog, an entrepreneurial young Londoner, snowboarding in the dark, iPad 3 rumours hot up and an Easter egg hunt hits central London. It's 5 top finds...
1. Maddie the dog (who likes balancing on things)
Tumblr's quite an interesting social network, with some lovely and sometimes rather strange content. Case in point; today's discovery of Maddie the Coonhound. Maddie's an American hunting dog, who seems to like balancing on things (or rather, her owner likes her balancing on things). Bizarre (but quite cute)!
2. The teenage entrepreneur and his six figure round of funding
It's not often you hear of a 15 year old budding entrepreneur, even less so of one who develops a technology that receives a significant amount of funding before said entrepreneur's 16th birthday. Mike Butcher over at TechCrunch EU has the info on Nick D'Aloisio and his Summly startup [iTunes].
3. Snowboarding (in the dark )
Remember when skiing with lighted torches seemed pretty cool? Fashion photographer and film maker Jacob Sutton and profession snowboarder William Hughes have wiped that from the collective memory with the 'L.E.D. Surfer' – which sees "Hughes light up the snow-covered French hills in a bespoke L.E.D.-enveloped suit". Worth a watch, not worth trying with a boiler suit and some taped on torches.
4. iPad 3 rumours
The rumour mill for the impending launch of Apple's iPad 3 is gearing up – as the release is expected in just over two weeks. What can we expect from the new device? A new and improved camera, retina (HD) display as per the iPhone 4/ 4s and faster processor(s) all seem likely. We'll have to wait until March 7th (the rumoured launch date) to find out for certain though...
5. Massive eggs. In London. Today.
London is welcoming 200 fibreglass eggs to the city this morning, having launched at 7.30am in Trafalgar Square. Participants of The Big Egg Hunt will be given a map and app to track down the eggs, each of which will contain a code that could help entrants win a £100,000 Fabergé egg. At the end of the month-long exhibition, the eggs will be auctioned to raise money for the charities Action for Children and Elephant Family. Awesome!
Categories: 5 top finds
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5 top finds #31 »
Apple attempt to reinvent textbooks (and learning), typographical tube maps, SOPA's good for EU technology businesses, an amusing idea to prevent embarrassing photos and becoming Spiderman. It's 5 top finds...
1. Apple release software to revolutionise publishing – or do they?
Yesterday, Apple debuted two new software products; iBook Author and iBooks 2 – aimed squarely at the education sector and to getting the iPad into schools/ curriculums all over the world.
Whilst the publishing programme iBooks Author does look like a great tool for publishers, there have been some interesting discoveries about the compatibility of its content and the software's licensing terms. We'll be watching how Apple's attempt to reinvent textbooks and classroom learning with interest...
2. A tube map with a difference
The London Underground map is a great thing and a source of inspiration to artists and designers the world over. We think you'll agree TRNSPRTNATION's typographic design is simply stunning.
3. An interesting take on SOPA/ PIPA
The British sense of humour eh? TechCrunch EU editor Mike Butcher published a piece on Wednesday discussing the benefits of censoring the web with SOPA/ PIPA – and gets a few readers riled up in the comments. Well worth a read (but remember, it's a joke).
4. A downside to the social web – blocked by beer
Ever found less than flattering photos of yourself online after a night out? If it's an affliction you suffer from frequently, you may want to invest in South American beer brand Cerveza Norte's 'Photoblocker'. Genius!
5. It's all an illusion. Or is it?
We recently spotted Leandro Erlich's latest installation in Paris – an easy way for anyone to start climbing the walls!
Categories: 5 top finds
Tags: Apple, Sculpture, Social media, SOPA
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5 top finds #28 »
Social sharing trends from 2011, Google Street View tours Japan after the tsunami, Ice Cube discusses LA's architecture, a success story on Kickstarter and a delay to Google's Motorola Mobility takeover. It's 5 top finds...
1. Social sharing trends from 2011
Given we're winding 2011 down and gearing up for 2012, now's the time when all the interesting analysis from the year starts surfacing. We spotted an awesome infographic the other day, courtesy of AddThis and Clearspring;
AddThis, a sharing platform, and Clearspring, a social data aggregator, present the sharing trends of 2011. With over 1.2 Billion users analyzed, this may be one of the most comprehensive sets of data available about online sharing.
You can read the article on TheNextWeb and see the full infographic on Flickr.
2. Tsunami streetview
It's hard to believe but the earthquake and subsequent horrific tsunami that destroyed the coast of Japan was in March.
A virtual tour via Street View profoundly illustrates how much these natural disasters have transformed these communities. If you start inland and venture out toward the coast, you'll see the idyllic countryside change dramatically, becoming cluttered with mountains of rubble and debris as you get closer to the ocean. In the cities, buildings that once stood proud are now empty spaces.
In the 10 months since, the country has gone some way to rebuilding itself but, as Google's 'Memories for the Future' Street View project shows, there is still a huge amount of work to do.
3. Talking buildings with Ice Cube
Did you know Ice Cube studied architectural drafting before pioneering gangster rap with N.W.A.?
No, we didn't either.
But, according to the man himself, it's the gospel truth. We spotted Cube discussing the Eames' house in Los Angeles over on Creative Review. Well worth a watch.
4. The 'Cadillac of iPhone docks'
We're always impressed by the ingenuity of people advertising products on crowd-funding platform Kickstarter.
Nine times out of ten, we've found that iPhone docks are more hassle than they're worth. It seems Casey from Portland's industrial design Elevation Lab agrees with us. He posted a Kickstarter project yesterday afternoon asking for funding for his (CNC'd block of aircraft-grade aluminium) dock, and 15 hours later the project has $110,570 (almost $36,000 over the project's goal) worth of funding from 1,200 backers.
We'll hopefully be seeing the Elevation Dock here in the UK one day; they look awesome!
5. The European Commission presses pause
Remember when Google tried to purchase Motorola Mobility back in August? It seems the EU Commission isn't happy with the proposed deal and has delayed the proposed takeover on antitrust grounds.
Among key questions that it has already tried to tease out are whether Google would favour Motorola over other hardware manufacturers which license Google's Android software for mobile phones and tablets. Google has repeatedly insisted that it would not.
The Guardian's Technology blog has the details.
Categories: 5 top finds
Tags: Apple, Design, Environment, Ice Cube, Infographic, iPhone, Kickstarter, Memories for the Future
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5 top finds #26 »
A new logo for London 2012, Facebook's mobile phone is apparently a failure (and it's not even finished yet), Google's take on iTunes, i(can't)Message, chasing deer and chasing investment. It's 5 top finds...
1. 2012 gets a facelift
There was quite a bit of consternation when Wolff Olin's logo for London 2012(™) was unveiled in 2007. We were a little surprised to see the consternation continuing – with an alternative logo being submitted to Logo Design Love just last week (with an accompanying dig at Wolff Olin's attempt). venturethree's version is actually rather good!
2. Poor Buffy's not doing so well
There have been rumours drifting around the internet for years about the possibility of Facebook producing a phone. Or rather Facebook writing the software and partnering with a hardware producer like HTC or Samsung to produce a mobile.
Tech blog AllThingsD recently published a story revealing that FB are actually in the process of producing such a phone running on a HTC handset with souped-up Android. Apparently, according to Inside Mobile Apps, things haven't been going smoothly...
But, on a more positive note, all is apparently not lost. The Wall Street Journal is reporting Facebook are looking into filing their elusive IPO "targeting a time frame of April to June 2012 for an initial public offering, said people familiar with the matter" – in which the company is looking to raise $10bn.
Which would value the company at around $100bn...
3. Spinning in control (as long as you live in America)
Google launched their attempt to steal the digital music crown from iTunes (Match) last week. The imaginatively titled (but rather awesome) 'Google Music' lets you upload up to 20,000 of your own tracks to the cloud (for easy listening on any device), share your music tastes via Google+, access your music anywhere and discover new music via the Google Music recommendation system.
Which all sounds great, but it's as of yet unavailable in the UK...
4. To iMessage or not to iMessage
When Apple announced iMessage, their version of Blackberry's BBM service, back at WWDC in June, we all jumped for joy at what we thought would be a (free and) fantastic, SMS-killing service.
But, as is often the way, all is not as magical as first advertised. Entrepreneur Matt Galligan eloquently described what we couldn't. Well worth a read.
5. Chasing deer and rapping for investment
We've two videos in this week's 5 top finds:
1) Benton (no relation to the author, for those of you who were about to ask; who the Sun is reporting is actually called 'Fenton') being admonished – but taking no notice – for taking an afternoon jog with a herd of deer.
2) An intriguing way of marketing your startup and asking for angel investment (but it seems to work).
Categories: 5 top finds
Tags: Apple, #Benton, Buffy, facebook, Google+, iMessage, iPhone, London 2012, Mobile, Music
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5 top finds #25 »
Internet successes, some lovely WebGL, a discussion around human-machine-hum interaction, QR code cows and stop-motion animation. It's 5 top finds...
1. Success stories
If you're still in doubt of just what the internet is capable of doing, the Google blog has a wonderful story of how anything is possible. Even selling tongue brushes via YouTube. Awesome stuff.
2. Harvard does WebGL
Ever wondered what the surface of the brain (as well as the neural tracts) looks like? If so, Harvard have answered your prayers with a bit of nifty WebGL. Definitely worth a look.
If brains aren't quite your cup of tea, why not take HelloRacer's F1 car for a spin?
3. Will Siri change the human language?
The iPhone 4S has only been in the public domain for a few short months, but it will always be remembered for Siri; Apple's virtual assistant. But Siri is a choosy beggar and only accepts directions spoken in a certain way.
Tech journalist and venture capitalist (and Apple fanboy extraordinaire) MG Siegler recently posted a discussion piece suggesting, in some circles, Siri may alter human-human interaction because of the way it demands a rigid human-machine relationship. We'll wait and see what happens – but it's an interesting concept nonetheless.
4. QR cows
Nope, we weren't joking. An innovative farmer (and his technologically-minded friend) has painted QR codes on his cows to market his farm's produce. A truly ingenious solution to a difficult problem! 2d code has the details and you can watch the video on YouTube.
5. "Marshell"
We love video, especially if it's a good stop motion animation. Marcel the Shell (with Shoes On) ticks all the right boxes. A heartwarming story for a Monday morning.
Categories: 5 top finds
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5 top finds #24 »
Movember but in HTML5, WWII tweeted in real time, the infographic to end all infographics, Apple doing (not) NFC in their own way and stop motion at its finest. It's 5 top finds...
1. HTM(ovember)5
We're always impressed when we see a good cause backed up with a bit of humour (and awesome technology is always a bonus). Mobelly, a campaign to support Movember with HTML5 Video, Canvas and JavaScript, has all three – in spades. Awesome stuff!
2. World beer – in an infographic
We love beer. We love infographics. Beer + infographics = massive win!
3. @RealTimeWWII
There are times when we're still amazed by the ingenuity of people on the web. This Twitter account is a perfect example of such a time. Real time tweets, starting in 1939 and set to cover the course of the Second World War. Well worth following.
4. Apple debuts their version of NFC (not really)
Sorry if that headline got you all excited. Apple haven't finally thrown their collective weight behind NFC – they've just updated their Apple Store app to allow consumers to scan the barcode of items instore and pay with EasyPay there and then with their iTunes account. TechCrunch and Engadget have the details.
5. A day in the life of stop motion
You can't beat a good bit of stop motion video. I Look & Move ticks all the right boxes for us – let us know if you like it too!
Categories: 5 top finds
Tags: Apple, HTML5, Infographic, Twitter
