Market This!

Not sure exactly where we’ll throw this graphic yet (besides here, of course), but it’s still nifty to see our Twitter name in Twitter font  – or close enough to it, anyway.

To get yours, check out twitlogo.com.

Via Chris Pirillo and Brand Flakes.

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

Let’s hope we can keep this kind of technology firmly on the side of all that is good and right, because it’s likely that the early model of the HAL 9000 was an eye-tracking bus shelter, and it’s a slippery slope from there to blowing your circuitry and jettisoning poor Dave Bowman out into the cold, dark universe.

Anyway, the ad fixture above in Hamburg, Germany is installed with just such a device (an eye-tracking camera, not a monomaniacal ship computer), allowing it to sense when a nearby person is looking at it. When this happens, the fixture waits a split second (so the person can see that the picture is of a man abusing a woman), then flips a switch and changes the image to one of the happy couple smiling as though nothing is wrong. The tagline reads: “It happens when nobody is watching.”

Yes, it’s a neat trick done to win awards, and you likely won’t see the technology going mainstream throughout the world (we’ll skip this and go straight to holographic advertising), but it’s still a nice execution of a cool idea. And even if it does seem like a glorified version of the Tip-n-Strip novelty pen, at least it’s conveying a less misogynist message.

Just let’s not give it any weapons, okay? It might seem nice now, but it’s watching us.

From Gizmodo, Copyranter and Dvice.

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

For those who may have missed it over at www.fiestavus.com, Asgood & Better co-founder (and sometime standup comic) Nathan Hartswick is assembling a group of Vermont comedians to bring some laughs to different venues around the Green Mountain State later this summer.

The twist is, as our buddy Seth is in possession of a 2011 Ford Fiesta (not yet available in the U.S. commercially), he has agreed to drive the comics around Vermont in the little green beast. The car will be on display at each venue and hopefully the tour will generate some buzz among comedy fans and car buffs alike.

And of course, A&B will be there videotaping not just the shows but also the hijinks on the road, for a “concert-documentary” style film of the adventure.

Dates and venues are still being nailed down; stay tuned! In the meantime, check out the teaser trailer…

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

When it comes to posting personal photos, there are two types of Facebookers in the world.

The first type are the ones who upload every picture, embarrassing or otherwise, and regret it later when they are fired because they posted photos of themselves at a bachelor party in Vegas when they told their boss they were home sick with swine flu.

The second are those who know better, and keep everything personal off the Internet. They make lengthy justifications about this, but you can sense their sadness, like the neighborhood kid whose mom won’t let him play in the rain with everyone else because he might catch cold.

What you may not know is that it’s possible to have your cake and post pictures of yourself eating it, too. Below are two easy steps to creating an added level of privacy on your Facebook account. Once you’ve done them, you’ll be able to allow your real friends to view personal photos, while blocking other contacts from seeing them (work friends, high school ex-boyfriends, etc.).

First, a disclaimer: Don’t be an idiot. There are some things that just shouldn’t go on the Internet, period. You know what they are. (We don’t care how well you protect them, shots of you bathing in the sink at work should stay on your hard drive. Or preferably, be erased from it altogether.)

Ready? Here we go:

**************************************

Step 1: Create a “Preferred Friends” List

1. From your homepage, click “Friends” in the navigation.

2. On the left under “Lists,” click “+Create.”

3. Create a name for your list such as “Preferred Friends,” or “Personal Friends.”

4. Select a group of Facebook contacts you trust. You know, the ones you actually want seeing those photos of you doing a drunken handstand in the subway.

A word of warning: Add co-workers to this list very, very carefully. Just because you didn’t put your boss on the list doesn’t mean your office mate (who, incidentally, is best friends with your boss) won’t take a screen cap of you in a tutu and email it around. Consider this cautionary tale.

5. Click “Create list.”

Step 2: Set Your Permissions

1. From your homepage, click “Profile” in the navigation.

2. Click the “Photos” tab.

3. Click an existing album, click “Edit Photos,” then “Edit Info.”

4. Under “Privacy: Who Can See This?” you’ll want to select “Custom,” then “Edit Custom Settings.”

5. Click “Some Friends” and type in the name of the list you just created. (“Preferred Friends,” etc.) Click “Okay.”

You’re done! Repeat the 5 points above for every personal photo album you want to protect.

Questions You May Have at This Juncture

Q. Should I protect all my photo albums this way?

A. We recommend leaving a couple albums public — the one where you went on that business trip, the one of you and your wife playing with the puppy in the yard, etc. This way, when an old high school friend or a current colleague finds and requests you on Facebook, you can give them the thrill of accepting their friend request (and they’ll think they’re seeing your whole profile) – while still protecting the good stuff.

Q. This tells me how to protect existing albums. How do I protect a new album I create?

A. It’s easy: just customize the privacy settings on the first screen to allow only your “Personal Friends” list.

Q. Can I protect other information (not just photos) in this way too?

A. Yep. If you click “Settings,” then “Privacy,” you will have the ability to allow that preferred list of yours to only see certain elements of your profile. Perhaps you don’t mind all your friends seeing what your birthday is, but you’d rather only certain people know your phone number. It’s all possible now that you have a list of “safe” friends.

Q. How to I add and remove friends from my “preferred” list?

A. Simple: if you’ve just added a new friend you want to give access to, go to your “Recently Added” friends and, next to their name, click “Add to List” and select the preferred list. If someone ticks you off and you want to pull their access, you can do that too.

We hope this helps! Now have at it – go upload some fun photos and share them with your friends. (You know, as long as we’re on the list.)

Click here to become a fan of A&B on Facebook

Recently our co-founder and copywriter extraordinaire Nathan Hartswick lent a hand to a dear friend and client, co-writing and editing an article for Maryland Hospitality Magazine.

The piece focuses on the energy and innovation surrounding the local food movement in Maryland, particularly with regard to chefs in the area’s top restaurants.

To take a gander, visit marylandrestaurants.com or click here to download the PDF. (The article starts on page 8.)

If you haven’t heard the buzz around the new film adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s classic Where the Wild Things Are, chances are you’ve been hiding out in the Australian bush for awhile. Come to think of it, since that’s where they filmed the movie, you may not even have been immune from it there.

For the few who may have missed it, this live action version is directed by lovable weirdo Spike Jonze, who brought you Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, and our favorite, the Chris Walken Fatboy Slim video.

To flesh out the beloved children’s story into a full-length screenplay, Jonze not only consulted with its author, but also collaborated with novelist Dave Eggers, whose best-known works include A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and the astounding biography of a Sudanese refugee What is the What.

And that would have been enough to sell us, really. It seemed clear this wouldn’t be a Chris Columbus Harry Potter movie, sanitized and squeaky clean. With this combination of people, the film would be as fun, scary, and – well, wild – as its source material. All of which was confirmed by the trailer that came out a few months ago.

But now, the coolest part: a brilliant tie-in. This shouldn’t have surprised us, since the founder of McSweeney’s (the online literary magazine and novelty press) is involved. Eggers, a man known for selling limited releases of kooky collectibles, not only co-wrote the screenplay to Where the Wild Things Are, but has reworked the story into a novel, to be released on October 1 (just a few weeks before the film). The book clocks in at 300 pages, and in a fun twist not seen in movie marketing since the Coraline boxes, is also available in a fur-covered edition.

Most of Hollywood’s attempts to play to our nostalgia by reworking an old favorite (Land of the Lost? Transformers? GI Joe?) you can keep. But this is one product (well, two now, actually) that we’re actually looking forward to. Keep an eye out for us in the movie and book release lines this October. We’ll be the nerds wearing the pajamas with the furry tails.