24

My view of the Series 24 has changed in the last few 24 hours. A few days ago we started watching the first series DVD. We only saw 4 episodes that day. This sunday when we arrived home at 2 p.m. Patricia was watching the same first 4 episodes in hope that she could keep up with the rest of us. What happened after that is an act of pure obsession. Me, Batixa, Pedro and Patricia spent the rest of the day (yes all of it) watching another full 8 episodes of the first series of 24. Total addiction.

But what is 24? As Amazon puts it:

Such a simple idea–yet so fiendishly complex in the execution. 24, as surely everyone knows by now, is a thriller that takes place over 24 hours, midnight to midnight, in 24 one-hour episodes (well, 45-minute episodes if you extract the ad breaks). Everything to take place in real time–on-screen and off-screen time the same–which means no flash-backs, no flash-forwards, no nice handy time-dissolves. Every strand of the plot has to be dovetailed and interlocked to make sure that things happen just when they should, in the right amount of time. Not that easy.

Like any other Cult Series 24 is very well served in terms of online content. My favourite is the BBC website where you can access among other things the Series 1 and Series 2 Guides, a list of characters, Interviews and many other interesting things. As always you have fan obsession area for all of you that like 24 that little bit more. I also unfortunately found the 24 Series store.

Kiefer Sutherland is the excellent Jack Bauer and besides acting he Kiefer Sutherland is also Producer. Following this type of filming and acting Phone Booth is another extraordinary example of Kiefer’s latest work.

I was not the addicted neither the followed-episodes-record-breaker but I confess that now I just can’t wait to see the remaining 12 episodes and have already started thinking on the second series.

Note: do not, I repeat do not follow any content links on episodes if you want to maintain the suspense until the end.

November 29, 2004 | Tags: day to day | 2 Comments

Solio - Plug into the sun

Thinking of all the times you wish you had a wall plug close to you, Solio is a device that was developed to solve that problem. Solio is a Portable Solar Charger for Mobile Devices developed by Better Energy Systems for use in all the situations where you need power in your mobile device but cannot access a power source. One of it’s biggest features is it’s ability to store energy to use only when in need.

Solio’s features include:

The Solio can accept both solar and mains power for energy storage
When full, the Solio will charge a phone at the same rate as its dedicated wall charger
Compatible with multiple electronic devices
Solar cells that are water and weatherproof
Can be used for all outdoor and urban pursuits
Solio has been crafted using eco-design principles for easy disassembly and recyclability
Has minimised the use of toxic and unsustainable components.

Solio is a wonderful result of great product design and it was surely design thinking of it’s potential customers needs. Besides that Solio is a small-breakthrough type of product and thinking of that their website has a huge education area where you can read about subjects like Global Warming, Solar Power Energy or even find your area’s Solar Intensity Map. So a very clever marketing strategy too.

November 26, 2004 | Tags: brand identity, e-marketing | Leave a Comment

London at last!

I’ve been waiting for LoQUo London to come out for a while! I live in Lisbon and really love this city but if choose to move abroad (which I would like to) I would definitely choose London to live. I’ve been addicted to London for many years. Whenever I have time I buy a ticket and just fly there for a few days.

London is one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world. It’s an amazing city with almost 8 million people. Whether you go there for shopping, monument seing or just to visit on of it’s wonderful art museums like Tate Moderm you always end up enjoying the city’s life in many other ways. Markets, pubs, parks, walks, etc.

After the first trip to London with it’s must-see-museums and other famous-but-not-so-good attractions you can then really start to enjoy London. Walk through it’s famous neighborhoods (Notting Hill and Chelsea for example), buy fresh goods from lovely markets (the Borough Market it’s my favourite) or simply spend a few hours wandering down one of the calm parks like Holland Park.

Hopefully London with it’s exciting and vibrant life will benefit from LoQUo London. In time we will see a strong cosmopolitan London community using LoQUo’s categories like missed connections or music / theater / dance. I just can’t wait to start using it.

November 25, 2004 | | Leave a Comment

New Loquo Cities

This month has been very keen on new LoQUo launches! LoQUo is now also available in Porto in Portugal (with me and Pedro), Olso in Norway and Marseille and Paris in France (thanks to Joaquim Cuenca). And Pedro is posting about LoQUo London being launched today! Hopefully there will be many more cities that will be able to use LoQUo has it’s local online resource.

Congratulations to all LoQUo maintainers for their work. And a special thank you Ubaldo and Lissette for all their hard work on making all LoQUo things come together.

November 25, 2004 | Tags: day to day | Leave a Comment

Meet the eglu

Designer chic for the modern living concept produces a lot of interesting new things for urban life. Move over good industrial design, good marketing and a very different idea can became a cult in a few months. That’s exactly what Omlet did with it’s new product. Imagine that you want to have a chicken as a pet or that you can have have fresh eggs directly from your own garden. The eglu is the world’s most stylish and innovative chicken house or is the perfect way to keep chickens as pets.

According to a
Omlet’s marketing

Fresh, great tasting food and a healthier lifestyle. Omlet makes keeping chickens that lay delicious eggs easy and fun.

With the now famous eglu you can buy some very funny accessories too like this fox-proof run or an all weather shade to protect the animals. Additionally, you can choose the color of your chicken house.

The PR has been huge and has helped the eglu a lot. Adults and children love it and magazines have very positive reviews on it. The website is very simple, funny and informative and has a few special sections like the eggcam.

From an entrepreneurial point of view the eglu is a very sucessful product based project. The project was dreamed up by a team of students at the Royal College of Art and has already won a few awards. As Omlet co-founder James Tuthill said

The eglu is the first ever major rethink of domestic chicken housing and will make keeping chickens straightforward and fun for anyone.

If it wins the challenge to change people’s minds then Omlet will sure have a very bright future.
Also check the Clip-n-Seal site and blog for a very similar product oriented type of business.

November 24, 2004 | Tags: brand identity, e-marketing | 14 Comments

photoblog

I’ve started my own photoblog. It’s still a beta thing but is has been a nice experience to express myself with images. I’ve also taken the oportunity to have a photo gallery where to put small albums.

Photoblogs are a very interesting way to comunicate. Unlike words, pictures tell a whole story with only one frame. The photoblog is also a very different experience because you identify places and things you’re somehow connected to. Let’s see how it goes.

November 15, 2004 | Tags: day to day | 1 Comment

Real Innovation: Radio with the Pause Button

When Nikola Tesla first worked with airwaves or when Marconi transmitted a wireless signal across the Atlantic for the first time they where dealing with real innovations. Both developed new technologies that improved everyday life in some form. Since then Radio was invented it has been almost the same as we know it now. Innovating on a mature technology as Radio is a big challenge. But RobertsRadio has made it.

The Gemini 1 is a DAB Digital Radio with some very interesting user-centered features. PAUSEplus is a button that allows you to freeze the current radio programme while you answer the door or make a cup of tea, or simply to hear a song or an address you missed, for example. Additionaly, the device features a built-in memory that can store up to around 40 minutes of audio internally while you take a telephone call. It can also jump back in time to let you listen again to the name of the song.

This is a real innovation in a mature technology market. Focused on user needs and with support of other technologies (memory cards) the Gemini 1 is an impressive example of innovative product design.
I’ll just add that I’m a big fan of Radio technology and a proud owner of a Model One for my daily broadcast needs.

November 15, 2004 | Tags: day to day | Leave a Comment

LoQUo Porto is up!

Pedro noticed that since we’ve been receiving lot’s of posts from Porto but couldn’t validate them we should launch the Porto site. So LoQUo Porto is up, running and ready to receive your listings.

So now LoQUo is available in Spain with Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, Alicante, Malaga and Tenerife. In Portugal there’s lisboa and Porto. LoQUo’s also in Paris and Olso.

November 12, 2004 | | 1 Comment

Europe’s low-cost Airlines

A lot of buzz as been around the way low-cost airlines are changing the way people travel. Low prices have enabled Europe to becaome even more mobile. Add no-borders to the Euro and low-cost flights and you inevitably get a greater sense of proximity. London, for example, is only 10 € away from Brussels.

Wired in running an article on Europe’s low-cost market. Competition is good for passengers and has leaded traditional carriers to re-think their way of making business.

To make money, the budget airlines are outperforming their larger rivals.

As in any other matured industry, price-conscious products have appeared focusing on making money on added services. Traditional air carriers have to think how are they going to compete with more efficient ones. Brand value can help but is definitely not enough.

November 8, 2004 | Tags: day to day | 1 Comment