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There’s nothing concrete to point to yet, but it appears that WordPress might be working on an official Android application.  What’s the clue?  A subdomain (android.wordress.org)  has been set up on the official WordPress server, indicating an Android version could be in the works. 

It’s hard to say how far out the app might be released, but these next weeks will definitely be a prime time to make an announcement.  The Nexus One buzz is reaching a fevered pitch. The popular blogging tool is already available in Blackberry and iPhone iterations.

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Filed under: Marketing/Advertising, Videos, Mini

Heineken ran commercials that showed a guy’s ultimate closet as a walk-in refrigerator filled with the Dutch beer. To support the ads they put huge cardboard boxes around Amsterdam on garbage day with “Walk-In Fridge” written on them, as if someone had actually gotten one as a gift. Well, it looks like Mini did the same thing after Christmas, casting giant, empty boxes with shreds of gift wrapping around Amsterdam. Predictably for a Mini campaign, it got people’s attention. Check it out after the jump.

[Source: Creative Criminals]

Continue reading Box Art? Clever Mini promotion litters streets with giant packaging

Box Art? Clever Mini promotion litters streets with giant packaging originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 02 Jan 2010 12:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Para além de ser conhecida pelas suas ferramentas web, tais como o seu motor de busca ou o GMail, a Google também é conhecida pelas suas instalações exemplares e excelentes condições de trabalho. Aqui ficam algumas das mais recentes fotos das instalações da Google em Mountain View (Califórnia) e de Zurique (Suíça). Quem não gostaria de trabalhar aqui?

WebTuga – Instalações da Google

You may not want to wear them where your less-gullible friends can see them A recent CalorieLab post offered a few tips on spotting weight-loss drugs, programs and devices that are probably fraudulent, such as boasting that the product “works for everyone” or produces “miraculous results.”

The Federal Trade Commission also offers some basic guidelines for the wary consumer, such as: Distrust anything that promises a weight reduction of more than two pounds in a week. One thing the FTC explicitly warns against is pinning your hopes on any weight-reducing substance that is supposedly absorbed into the skin, which would include a number of weight-reduction patches now on the market.

Not that the concept is crazy or impossible, mind you; an effective weight-reduction drug could be administered by absorption. It’s just that none of the patches have been shown to contain such a drug.

Instead, they are marketed with names like Ezee Slimming Patch and Be-Slim, and their typical ingredients include bladderwrack (a diet patch favorite even though there’s no evidence that it effects one’s weight or appetite), 5-HTP (an amino acid alleged to suppress the appetite), L-carnitine (makes your cells’ mitochondria just lap up the fat!), yerba mate and menthol, among other esoterica.

The only thing liable to come out weighing less is your wallet

The various patches’ claims are right out of the diet industry handbook: “stops cravings for sweets and junk foods,” “enjoy a healthier figure,” “feel more energetic than ever,” “lose weight permanently,” and the shameless come-on from Pink Patch, marketed expressly to young females, “You WILL have the hottest body and the dream life.”

As the head of Duke University’s Diet and Fitness Center told the Los Angeles Times, “The more hyperbolic the claims, the more people can quickly dismiss the product.”

The fact is, no patch on the market has been subjected to an independently conducted and published weight-loss study, a simple and inexpensive test that would have long ago been done if any of these things actually worked.

Even some of the patch makers acknowledge that they won’t be effective unless the wearer starts eating less. That being the case, the most effective application of the patch would probably be taped over the user’s mouth.

For the record, they come in packages of 15 and 30 and will run you from $1 to $1.65 per patch. At any price, say the experts, they’re a waste of money.

(By Robert S. Wieder for CalorieLab Calorie Counter News)

From the RSS feed of CalorieLab News (REF3076322B7)

Weight-loss patches: just another skin game?

MadWorld and Bayonetta developer Platinum Games has put up a countdown on their Japanese website, presumably for a new game.

The 2000s are gone. They didn’t bring the future, those Aughts. Doesn’t matter. 2010 is rolling. Watch out for those flying cars when you go to pick the laundry in your jetpack. [Nedroid Comics via The Daily What via m0ddie]

Motorola making a device in more that one color? You don’t say… One of our connects sent us the above photo of the Motorola Calgary / DROID Devour / Whatever, and confirmed the specifications we posted a few months back.

We’re told the keyboard was “nice” and the phone itself was “easier to use” compared to the Motorola DROID. Obviously that’s personal opinion, and maybe the BLUR OS simplifies things for some people, but the trackpad apparently is killer as a navigational input device. Oh? The device has Wi-Fi, GPS, a 1420mAh battery, but unfortunately no SIM card slot as it is not a global device. Whether the unit will come in multiple colors or not is not confirmed as these are still non-final units, we’re told, but we’d probably bet on it being available in black as well as silver. If only they kept that RAZR-keyboard…

BGR features the latest tech news, mobile-related content and of course, exclusive scoops.

Last week two bloggers, Steven Frischling and Chris Elliot, were visited by TSA agents and threatened with jail time if they did not reveal their source of the TSA Travel Directive that they each published shortly after the attempted terrorist attack on Christmas day. Frischling caved immediately and handed over his computer. Elliot did not. Since then the Department of Homeland Security has dropped the subpoenas, but there is a bigger issue here. The protection of sources is a cornerstone of our freedom of speech.

As bloggers, we have a duty of confidentiality to our sources. And that means keeping information confidential even if threatened with the tyranny of government. And even if the legislatures and courts haven’t decided that as bloggers we have real rights protecting us from that tyranny.

I’ll never be surprised by a tyrannical government. In a sense, it’s their job. It’s our job as bloggers to stand up to that tyranny, even if our liberty has been threatened. Journalists have gone to jail rather than disclose their sources. If bloggers want the same level of respect, and protection from government by the courts, they need to stand up for what’s right.

And Frischling, when faced with the decision to do what’s right and go to jail, flailed badly. He willingly handed his laptop over to the government.

Easy To Say, Hard To Do

You could argue that it’s easy for me to make statements like this, since we blog about technology. The Department of Homeland Security doesn’t knock on my door very often demanding to know my source for the latest Google acquisition rumor. But if they did, I’d like to think I’d tell them to go to hell. Even if that meant they dragged me out of my house and put me in jail.

We have received a number of threats of lawsuits unless we revealed our sources around various sensitive stories. In each case we’ve either ignored the threats or told them to pound sand. In each case the other side backed down.

We’ve also had other situations where we’ve had to consider revealing sources. In March 2008 we wrote about acquisition negotiations between Digg and Google. The companie’s CEO Jay Adelson effectively called us liars, and we were sorely tempted to reveal our original source. But to do so would mean that people would know that under certain circumstances they couldn’t trust us. We want that trust to be unconditional, and so we took our lumps and never revealed the source. Later we had our vindication anyway.

We were challenged yet again in 2009 with the Last.fm/RIAA story where we believe at least one source, including an executive at Last.fm, lied to us. We haven’t, and never will, publish that information. Even though there’s an email string that would make excellent reading.

And there is a whole book I could write around the Twitter document fiasco from 2009. That book will never be written either.

I think I can understand how frightened Frischling must have been when the TSA agents showed up at his house. Even though he has has worked for Life, Time, Newsweek, New York Times, and was embedded with troops in Iraq, he “didn’t know what to do.” He caved, and he gave the agents his computer. From Wired:

“They were indicating there would be significant ramifications if I didn’t cooperate,” said Frischling, who was home alone with his three children when the agents arrived. “It’s not hard to intimidate someone when they’re holding a 3-year-old [child] in their hands. My wife works at night. I go to jail, and my kids are here with nobody.”

His argument is that he received the email from an anonymous source via Gmail, so he wasn’t really handing over confidential information. But the TSA, seeing the email, can then easily get Google to hand over information around that Gmail account, and can likely track down the source. Any anyway, it doesn’t matter. At the end of the day, he lacked the courage to stand up for what’s right.

Anyone working with Frischling now knows that he’ll respect your confidentiality, just so long as it’s not inconvenient to his liberty. And that’s not respect at all. He let all bloggers down the other day when he willingly handed over his computer to the government. It was his duty to stand up to those agents, and even spend time in jail. Perhaps if he fought the whole situation in court it would lead to stronger laws protecting all bloggers. But Frischling didn’t do that, and the tyranny of our government went unchecked once more.

If I’m ever in the same situation as Steven Frischling I hope I have the courage to do what’s right. Not just what’s right for me right then.

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

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Here’s the latest from VentureBeat’s Entrepreneur Corner:

Venture Capital 2010: Hot (and cold) sectors to watch – Grotech Ventures Steve Fredrick and Don Rainey general partners give their take on the VC outlook for this year – as well as their predictions on the areas that are likely to show the most significant growth (and consolidation).

Eight trends to look for in 2010 – This year may not be as tumultuous as 2009, but it could still hold its share of surprises. Dave Kellogg, CEO of Mark Logic, looks at what 2010 holds for social networks, cloud computing and Google, among others.

Should you sell your business in 2010? – While selling a company is never easy, doing so in 2010 should be slightly easier than it was in 2009, says John Ovrom. The founder and CEO of Exit and Answers gives his thoughts on M&A activity, the financing situation and why the franchise business could be red hot.

The start-up chronicles: Reflecting on reflecting – It’s easy to feel productive when you’re working hard – but spending a lot of time on a project doesn’t mean it’s beneficial to your business. Bruce Judson looks at the importance to stopping to evaluate what you’re doing and learning the discipline of strategic thinking.

Startup therapy: Six questions to ask yourself regularly – You read plenty of stories telling you what to do – but how do you identify what you need to do now to grow your business? Angel investor Jason Cohen puts you on the couch to give you six questions you should be asking yourself.

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oh how i love optical illusion!
the imeüble shelf designed by bjørn jørund blikstad.

Mornin’ PopCrunchers! Hope you’re having a great new year thus far. Let’s check out what’s happening around the blogosphere…..

-Nobel Prize-winning humantarian Mother Teresa, The Negro Leagues, and screen legend Katharine Hepburn are among the dignitaries being honored with U.S. postage stamps this year…..

-I actually went out for New Year’s Eve this year — if you can believe that! But if you’re one of the millions of folks who rang in 2010 with Dick Clark and Ryan Seacrest, you may have seen entertainment icon Dick fumble the countdown during ABC’s annual New Year’s Rockin’ Eve Special. Shame on the simpletons who find this funny. For pity’s sake, the poor guy is a stroke victim. You’ll be lucky to be alive at his age and I sincerely hope that you hecklers will suffer some sort of traumatic closed head injury yourselves; perhaps that’ll teach you some compassion…..

-R&B star Mario goes topless for PETA — and his abs aren’t half bad….

-Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ married penis supplier Swizz Beatz team up for the first new music video of the new year: “On To The Next One….”
-Miracle on the Hudson pilot Chelsy Sullenberger was the guest of honor and Grand Marshall at yesterday’s Rose Parade in California……

-Iron Mike won’t face charges for decking an agressive pap at Los Angeles International Airport in November…..

-Four Celebrities Caught With Their Pants Down……

-Diddy puts the kibosh on the wedding rumor he started on Twitter New Year’s Day……

-Here’s a nice visual: Hayden Panettiere getting a facial….

–Twenty years after the orginal, Three Men & A Baby’s Ted Danson, Tom Selleck, and Steve Guttenberg are in discussions to appear in Three Men & A Bride……

-Nicole Richie will guest star on Lifetime’s Project Runway next week…..

-MTV’S Made kicks off the new year with new episodes premiering this Saturday, Jan. 2 @ 3 PM ET/PT. Check out the previews here and here……

-Maybe someone should tell Bradley Cooper that he’s showing plumber crack……