Archive for May, 2007.
May 28 | Posted by Dave Fletcher | 1 Comment
Anyone who flies inside what I’ve come to refer to as “mechanically–challenged, winged space parrots” – even semi-regularly – knows that the entire process of getting from “Point A” to “Point B” usually includes several points in-between and continues to devolve into a painfully demanding & hebetudinous operation. Whether getting to the airport only to experience the blitzkrieg of hundreds of hostile travelers trying to reach their destinations before anyone else; to the poorly designed automatic check-in kiosks; to worrying whether or not your regulation size bag will be squeezable into an undersized compartment above your head or forced below the plane because there simply are too many knuckleheads and not enough room. Worrying about whether or not you can bring a dollop of soap in a baggy, for fear that you’ll be forcefully held at gunpoint by security guards and trained attack wolves, makes the overall trip a consistently wearisome panic attack waiting to happen.
Thankfully, much like an Advil, cheerfully delivered by an enchanting Koala bear, Qantas Airlines is showing the obscenely wealthy that those headaches are over.
While on layover in Sydney or Melbourne, you me and the rest of the weariest travelers can merely dream of relaxing in luxury, nestled within the new Marc Newson-designed Qantas First Class Lounges. Designed like the futuristic lair of The Jetsons or James Bond, these fantastically designed chill-out spaces sport individual marble-lined shower suites, Payot cosmetics and Kevin Murphy hair products, as well as a library stocked with best selling books, magazines, newspapers and board games – all free for the price of a first class ticket. There’s also an ‘entertainment zone’ with plasma TVs and Sony play stations. A trip from Melbourne to Budapest will knock you back a little more than $14,000. Once again, great design becomes limited to only the people who can afford it.
But, for even that price, they are quite breathtaking, and give the “filthiest of the rich” an experience they are, I’m quite certain, already very used to: facials, internet, marble showers and plausibly, off-duty attack wolves that apply and lick perfectly posh and pedicured feet with all of the skin moisturizer and lotions airport security confiscated from my suitcase at the security check.
May 23 | Posted by Dave Fletcher | 1 Comment
Google just purchased Feedburner 4 hours ago for a cool 100 Million. Word is that they’ve already been in talks with Satan about buying his hot place of suffering and torment for an undisclosed but much larger sum.
When reached for comment vacationing in Los Angeles with Dio and Charo, Ol’ Scratch crossed his hooves and hissed through his curiously well-groomed goatee, “I’ve been telling those cats over and over that I need my pad for the Rapture, but they’ve assured me that they’re just going to hold on to my bottomless pit of misery and hatred until I need it.”
Is the dot-com boom-boom primed for a “Second Coming,” or is Google just trying to show they have more money and time on their hands than The Almighty? Only time will tell…
May 23 | Posted by Dave Fletcher | Add a Comment
According to this report from News of the World, Ann Summers (Google it…) has released a “naughty thing” for the iPod, called an iGasm. The interesting point here is that Apple isn’t denouncing the device itself. They are threatening to sue over the ads. By the looks of the press, traffic (and most likely warm, hard cash) that Ann Summers is reaping from the immediate backlash, this iPod-toting Neanderthal wonders what type of message this sends to young designers for seeking originality in your final branding solutions.
Surely (if this becomes a successful product, which you know it will…), the debate goes on for stressing the power of originality in our fine profession vs. the incessant lust for controversy to create profitability in new product launches.
Sue me, I win? Perhaps.
May 14 | Posted by Jeffrey Barke | Add a Comment
If you're using the WordTube extension for WordPress , haven't been hacked yet, and haven't heard about the remote code execution vulnerability, then you're very lucky and should read on.
The Problem
The following critical problem affects every version of WordTube prior to 1.44. From Secunia:
M.Hasran Addahroni has reported a vulnerability in the wordTube plugin for WordPress, which can be exploited by malicious people to disclose sensitive information or to compromise a vulnerable system.
Input passed to the "wpPATH" parameter in wordtube-button.php is not properly verified before being used to include files. This can be exploited to include arbitrary files from local or external resources.
Solution
Upgrade to version 1.44 immediately!
Jeffrey Barke is senior developer and information architect at theMechanism, a maxi-media firm in New York City and London.
May 10 | Posted by Jeffrey Barke | 6 comments
This plugin adds a checkbox to the post status box that lets one designate a post as "sticky." It was originally written by Owen Winkler and available at http://www.redalt.com/downloads/. Not only is it no longer available there, the latest version doesn't play well with WordPress 2.1. So I fixed it and am making Adhesive available here.
Simply follow the link below, unzip the download, and drop it into your WordPress plugins directory. Then activate it in the plugin administration panel.
→ Adhesive 3.3 for WordPress 2.1
Jeffrey Barke is senior developer and information architect at theMechanism, a maxi-media firm in New York City and London.
