We all know what happens where on the 8th of August 2008- the Olympics kick off in Beijing, China.

We all know how I feel about thems- they are scumbag snakes!

We all know why I feel that way- amongst everything else, because they are occupying Tibet.

So, starting 08-08-08, I’m going to post up one entry a day that:
1. Tells those scumbags to get out of Tibet; and
2. Tells them that they are fuckwads; and
3. Tells them that they are destroying the planet; and
4. Tells them that “the party” is probably the worst thing to happen to them and the planet.

That’s it really. I don’t hate all them Chinese. Just the ones who are responsible for the disaster out East. And the ones who aren’t doing anything about it.

So:
1. FREE TIBET
2. FUCK CHINA
3. GET OFF THE PLANET
4. COMMUNISM IS DEAD!

Oh, and here’s what my MacBook Pro has to say about it:

My 2.6Ghz 15″ MacBook Pro arrived. I’m finally gonna do what I recommend to everyone else- switch to a Mac!

The crew at RPA launched an all-new Honda Automobiles site this past week. What a beast of an effort.

Joost has now given beta testers (aka yours truly) unlimited invites. Leave your name and email address in a comment and I’ll invite you.

Press release after the jump.
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Rick IMed me the link to the new Volkswagen site earlier today. Check it out for yourself. It’s slick, it’s cool, it’s gimmicky, it’s nicely designed, the icons are cute, the images are awesome, Michael Newman says the Flash is “crazy” and remarked “wow a tag cloud” and then said “i like it [...] cool icons [...] it’s very apple”.

Sounds all good and looks all good. But then you dig deeper. Mike Margolin dug deeper and we really began seeing the holes. The big honking Search box is a fantastic concept, but falls flat on its face. Try entering your ZIP code in it. It returns

HMM, YOUR SEARCH FOR [My ZIP] HAS NO RESULTS.

WE’RE NOT SAYING IT DOESN’T EXIST, BUT YOU MAY WANT TO CHECK THE SPELLING. NOT THAT YOU’RE A BAD SPELLER. JUST TRY A SIMILAR TOPIC.

Why couldn’t it just give the closest dealer?

Then, go to the Find a Dealer. The Yahoo! Flash map is hot, and when I zoom into where I live, I see no dealers. To see the dealers, I’m required to enter my ZIP code to find dealers. Why? Isn’t it enough that I’ve found where I am on this map for the site to tell me where the dealers are around me?

Mike said it best when he said something to the effect of “This site is cool. It’s all cool. It’s exactly something that a cool, creative-type agency would put out. An agency that doesn’t understand usability and website user experience. And most importantly, an agency that doesn’t understand how to use the web to sell effectively.”

So, cool site, gimmicky, and slick. But effective and useful? I think not.

This past week I upgraded to “Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007″ along with “Microsoft Visio 2007″. I was wary initially- this is my primary work machine, if things fuck up, I’ll be up the creek without a paddle (ok, not really because I would still be able to go back to Office 2003, but it would be hours burned getting everything back to how it was)- but after a few good reviews (and a final ‘fuck it, just do it!’) I decided to bite the bullet.

Read on for my take on what I think of Microsoft’s most ballsy revamp of such a business-critical suite.
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Our Sapien bookcase (short) from DWR arrived last night. Setup was a breeze- just a couple of bolts at the bottom, and then the shelves slide in.

I really wasn’t looking for it to display/keep books, but instead to keep the networking/technology equipment in a much more elegant manner with the wires disappearing behind the column. So, here’s a few views (still need to finish tidying up the wires etc):

More after the jump.
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A new desk and bookshelf has been ordered. It took many months of research to find the perfect match, but it’s worth it. The old desk (really a drafting table, a fantastic Bieffe one to boot) was sold off last week. Here’s what I ordered:

Atlas Desk from CB2

Sapien bookcase (short) from DWR.

Can’t wait!

Over the past month I’ve been working on an online app that’s part of the launch hoo haa for the new Acura RDX SUV. The campaign is centered around the whole ‘high tech’ theme. The vehicle is mighty cool with a turbocharged engine, live traffic via GPS and a bunch of other… you know, high tech stuff.

I digress. As part of the launch, we created an online app that’s part of a contest where, if you correctly “tag” the vehicle, you get entered into a chance to win an all expense paid trip to LA and a bunch of other goodness. So, how do you tag? From: http://www.acura.com/win/:

[Just] Take a photo of the Acura RDX in a magazine ad with your camera phone and e-mail it to win@acura.com. Or if you can’t find the RDX in a magazine, shoot a photo of it online [on http://www.acura.com/win/]

If you snap the correct photo (it’s not too hard, the local Pakistani kid could do it) you get entered into the competition and you instantly get a free ringtone (cheesy sound of the engine).

So, go bust out your camera phone, go check out http://www.acura.com/win/ and get snapping (or just take the photo of the image below and send it in to win@acura.com). You just might get lucky and get a trip to LA on Acura’s dime.

To be FBC (Fully Bitchin’ Compliant, thanks Jeff Kaufman), the site is mobile enabled, so if you want an all-out high tech experience, hit up http://www.acura.com/win/ on your mobile device.

If you have any feedback about the app and how it works, you know my email address. If you have any feedback about the campaign or the marketing concept as a whole, call RPA (+1 310 394 4000) and ask for Andy VanAken. If you have any feedback about the vehicle, well… just call Andy, he’s a swell guy and I’m sure he’d love to chat with you about the RDX until the cows come home.

Disclaimer: I work for RPA and this is a shameless plug. But it’s for something that’s actually cool and not teh ghey, so I’m exempt from the standard “STFU and DIAF” or “sellout!” responses.

Two words: Holy Crap!

Click the image for a full-size view