Common Sen•se

POLL: Jeremy Lin's stages of fame

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:04:00 +0800

Lin-sanity. Lin-credible. Lin-derella. Here are the next 10 stages of Jeremy Lin’s fame.

Lin-ternet
Lin-tercourse
Lin-satiable
Lin-adequate
Lin-ebriated
Lin-carcerated
Lin-famy
Lin-cognito
Lin-consequential
Lin-t

Which of these are you most looking forward to?

Pinterest, just let us opt in!

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 23:06:00 +0800

ReadWriteWeb ran a story late last week on how users of Pinterest can get sued for the content they upload (read here). They’ve followed that story up today with news of a code Pinterest is making available to web publishers who would like to prevent users from re-posting any of their content on the social-sharing service (read here).

A tool like Pinterest can be really great in helping new users discover new sites/portals, but I understand publishers wanting a greater degree of control over how users get at their goods.

I’m actually bothered by the fact that Pinterest has chosen an opt-out approach.

Say I’m a web-publisher who uses an image service like Getty or AFP, and I’m not at all aware of Pinterest. I might now be held accountable for the content that I supposedly “allow” (by virtue of not using their opt-out code) to get scooped off my site and republished on another page.

What if competing services launch that are similar to Pinterest and they adopt a similar approach? Am I supposed to add each one’s code to my header, body and footer? When do I cry uncle?

There is an argument to be made for having Pinterest be an opt-in service, where publishers are concerned. You shouldn’t get to republish my content unless I give you the express permission to do so. At the very least, there should be a really simple standard for syndication — oh, wait, yes there is: RSS (see what I did there? I’m here all week).

If RSS isn’t cutting it, then upgrade the standard.

I know it’s somewhat ironic me taking this stance on, what in essence is, copy-protection for the web, having been vehemently against attempts at the same made by the record and film industries, but I do have to say that the situation is different.

The content here is already being given away for free. The money that is made comes from ad revenue, so the way the user accesses the content has a far greater impact on publishers’ ability to sustain their business.

I’d like to think publishers will adapt, survive (and eventually thrive) in a new environment created by new user habits but unlike music and film, our industry doesn’t really seem to be bouncing back. Most outfits that depend on ad sales are struggling, both online and in print.

And now you want me to hire someone to see what new code I have to put in my page that tells your bot not to jack my sh*t?

Lollipops, social gaming and advertising

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 22:02:00 +0800

Lollipops, social gaming and advertising:

The Asian division of ad agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) has launched a new venture, Chuck Studios, which they will run in partnership with Chupa Chups maker Perfetti Van Melle. The plan is to create social games that would promote the lollipop brand and split the revenue generated from that content.

What grabbed me was the fact that BBH and Perfetti Van Melle expect the content to bring in money. Agencies have been partnering with their clients to create promotional content-based ventures for years, but the expectation of revenue generated directly from user-engagement with said promotional content has been rare, until now.

Words now banned in the English language

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 01:33:35 +0800

Words now banned in the English language:

Every year Lake Superior State University bans a bunch of words and phrases from the English language for good. They just released their list today and, I must say, it is amazing. Oh wait, we can’t say “amazing” anymore.

First glimpse of Stallone in ‘Bullet to the Head’ Eh...

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 17:59:12 +0800

First glimpse of Stallone in ‘Bullet to the Head’

Eh eh, pakcik, tolonglah pakai shirt!

Sly Stallone loses his top in a new vehicle due out this coming April hoping to prove The Expendables wasn’t just a one off.

The film is an adaptation of the graphic novel with the same name. Stallone plays a New Orleans hitman who teams up with a New York City cop to take down the men who killed their respective partners.

Bored already!

❏ WTF: Opening Night - ‘The Darkest Hour’ » The...

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 14:53:40 +0800

❏ WTF: Opening Night - ‘The Darkest Hour’ »

The latest episode of WTF: Opening Night. Find out which movies were the most pirated of 2011, who slayed Buffy and what I thought of The Darkest Hour.

Stan Lee to create Indian superhero, Yoko Ono to conquer...

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 15:18:00 +0800

Stan Lee to create Indian superhero, Yoko Ono to conquer Delhi

The legendary comic-book writer is working with a Bangalore-based design studio to create an Indian handsome yet geeky superhero. Lee intends to launch Chakra - The Invincible as a a series of downloadable comics in April of 2012. It will draw from classic Indian mythology. [Read more]

In other New-Yorkers-conquering-India news, Yoko Ono is bringing her avant-garde art show to New Delhi. The Wall Street Journal puts India on notice, telling New Delhi’s art lovers and media to beware. [Read more]

Billion Dollar Hippie BBC’s documentary on Steve Jobs...

Sun, 18 Dec 2011 04:46:12 +0800

Billion Dollar Hippie

BBC’s documentary on Steve Jobs (full length).

The Dictator (trailer) Finally! After nearly a year of waiting,...

Sun, 18 Dec 2011 03:40:00 +0800

The Dictator (trailer)

Finally! After nearly a year of waiting, we get our first peek at Sacha Baron Cohen’s latest, The Dictator. Check out the cameo by Megan Fox.

Mashable: Ron Howard Film to Make World Premiere on YouTube

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 01:30:12 +0800

Mashable: Ron Howard Film to Make World Premiere on YouTube

❏ ‘Kung Fu Panda 2’ leads Annie noms » Variety...

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 01:04:00 +0800

❏ ‘Kung Fu Panda 2’ leads Annie noms »

Variety reports on the nominees for the 39th annual Annie Awards, recognizing the year’s best in animation.

'Starship Troopers' remake in the works

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 00:58:21 +0800

'Starship Troopers' remake in the works:

The main brain behind the revival is prolific producer Neal Moritz, the man behind the Fast & The Furious films and several thousand other titles. It’s not really shocking that he’d turn to Starship Troopers, since he’s already shepherding one Verhoeven remake to the screen with Total Recall.

❏ Peter Weller joins cast of ‘Star Trek...

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 00:54:00 +0800

❏ Peter Weller joins cast of ‘Star Trek 2’ »

Specifics of Weller’s role are under wraps. His selection came on the heels of Abrams choosing Alice Eve as a character that’s believed to be new.

Benicio del Toro is Abrams’ choice to play the villain, as Variety first reported Nov. 4. Most of the cast from the previous installment is returning, including Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto.

New clips from M:I4 'Ghost Protocol'

Sat, 03 Dec 2011 07:38:00 +0800

Doctor Who writer Steven Moffat tweets…To clarify: any...

Sat, 03 Dec 2011 07:33:00 +0800

Doctor Who writer Steven Moffat tweets…
To clarify: any Doctor Who movie would be made by the BBC team, star the current TV Doctor and certainly NOT be a Hollywood reboot.

Mariah Carey seduces minor It has been years since anything has...

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 03:27:00 +0800

Mariah Carey seduces minor

It has been years since anything has creeped me out quite as much as the sight of a 17-year-old Justin Bieber checking out a 41-year-old Mariah Carey (mother-of-two).

I honestly think he did this duet to drive down Mariah Yeater’s SEO rankings.

BTW: Bieber’s mom? 35 years old. Patricia Lynn Mallette. Think about that as you watch Mariah blow him kisses and flash him her rear end.

Eepy-cray!

Daniel Day Lewis as ‘Lincoln’ A first shot of Lewis...

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 01:42:00 +0800

Daniel Day Lewis as ‘Lincoln’

A first shot of Lewis with an Honest Abe beard in Richmond, Virginia, where the actor is shooting Spielberg’s biopic on the American president.

Elvis Costello: Please don’t buy my album The...

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 00:38:00 +0800

Elvis Costello: Please don’t buy my album

The singer-songwriter has urged fans not to buy his latest boxed-set, The Return of the Spectacular Spinning Songbook, because it’s priced at over US$260 (or £212.90).

In a post entitled Let’s make things sparkling clear, on his official site, he writes:

All our attempts to have this number revised have been fruitless so we are taking the following unusual step.

If you want to buy something special for your loved one at this time of seasonal giving, we suggest, “Ambassador Of Jazz” - a cute little imitation suitcase containing ten re-mastered albums by one of the most beautiful and loving revolutionaries who ever lived – Louis Armstrong.

The box should be available for under one hundred and fifty American dollars and includes a number of other tricks and treats.

Frankly the music is vastly superior.

While I actually do agree with Mr. Costello on that last line, it “frankly” doesn’t diminish my opinion of him in the slightest. And the fact that he posted it? Buys him my undying affection!

For some the ethics of this might seem questionable: To have a music label support and invest in you only to then cut your nose to spite their sales.

There is, though, a greater concern artists like Costello have (and are right to have). The fear of appearing to have to sold out.

~~One could~~ — heck, I am — argue(ing) that having a boxed-set hit the market at that price point would diminish the credibility and rapport Costello has with his fans.

I don’t think all artists make the best business decisions. For instance, I don’t think Justin Bieber should be allowed to price his next CD.

But for a label not to listen, as the above post suggests, to an artist as established and experienced as Costello on matters of his product, is sheer folly. He knows his market. He has sung for them, met many of them, found a way to appeal to them for 34 years.

To look past a suggestion or sidenote? Sure. To go ahead despite an emphatic objection? You get what you deserve!

To Mr. Costello I suggest, as a next step, performing excerpts from all of the 39 tracks in this box set on YouTube in a series of medleys uploaded over the course of the Holiday season.

If you do happen to use that idea, sir, I beg you say my name on the first video. It’s: Johanan Sen (pronounced Joe-hay-nen Sen).

Lady Gaga posing nude for Tony Bennett in Vanity Fair So...

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 22:14:00 +0800

Lady Gaga posing nude for Tony Bennett in Vanity Fair

So here’s the photo Gaga teased us about last week. Photographed by Annie Leibovitz for Vanity Fair, the Lady is shown here posing nude for a portrait by Tony Bennett.

For all his spiel on Gaga being Picasso-esque, Mr. Bennett does look a tad afraid. Can you blame him?

Click through to see a behind the scenes video of the photo shoot.

Grammy nominations redux

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 22:04:00 +0800

Kanye (7) and Adele (6) top this year’s list of nominations, along with the Foo Fighters (6) and Bruno Mars (6).

Rumour has it though that the British diva might sit this year’s ceremony out, as she’s recovering from surgery on her vocal chords (Source: LA Times).

Adele had surgery to repair her vocal damage in early November, and it remains unknown when she’ll be given the green light to sing again. All accounts, however, are that she is expected to make a full recovery. She posted on her official website that the operation was a success and that she was “chilling out now” until she got the “all-clear” from her doctors.

// LA Times

The Hollywood Reporter ran down this year’s surprises and snubs, including Beyonce’s “Grammy brush-off”. The singer only snagged 2 nods despite having a slew of singles released from her latest album, 4.

Entertainment Weekly wrapped up the best and worst moments from this year’s Nominations Concert.

For the full list of nominations, click here.