Ok, this is a bit of a rant post. I hate the flu. I just spent three days in bed dying from the flu. I rarely get sick and it's a bit strange that I got this sick during the summer months. It makes me wonder what's going on, I mean, are viruses getting stronger or am I just getting older? Either way, with six billion people in the world surely there's got to be a modern day Einstein out there that can figure out how to beat these things. Give me a glass of anti-viral nanorobots and I'll drink it down with a smile. Right now all I've got is echinacea and vitamin C - which thankfully seems to have done the trick (this time).

On the plus side I'm amazed at the body's capacity to fight off infection - which I definitely had given the crap I'm still coughing up. The body still reigns as the most advanced piece of 'technology' in the world today - truly mind boggling in its complexity.

Anyway, it's great that with Windows Vista I can now switch between windows in a cool overlay pattern that makes me stop and say 'wow, that looks neat' -  and that it probably only cost 70 billion dollars or something to enable that feature - but can someone please go find the next Einstein and give him a couple billion dollars to figure out a way to beat these viruses (and to do so in a way that doesn't just make them stronger).

Yes, yes - build a better mousetrap and nature will build a better mouse. All I know is that we've been to the moon, I can travel to the other side of the planet in less than 24 hours and if i got hit by a bus they could put my heart into someone else's body - surely there's a way to shorten the flu from 5 days of hell down to one or two.  

If viruses keep getting stronger I'm going to get myself a Darth Vader helmet with air filtration and wear it all the time. Heck, toss some air conditioning in it and it might be the next big product.

I recently came across a site by HBO on addictions and all I can say is - wow! It's great to see the expertise of a company like HBO being applied to a social issue. They've merged the marketing, film making and presentation skills of HBO with the expert knowledge of researchers, professionals and addiction organizations to create a compelling information portal. I was also impressed with the breadth of issues they address on the site.

I don't know who put the site together - probably HBO themselves - but kudos on a job well done. HBO should create a marketing arm to their business of creating sites that fuse video and content in a way that doesn't destroy the user experience.

Click the link below to visit the site (note: if you have to choose between Canada and the USA to enter, click the USA)

www.hbo.com/addiction/

I thought this poster was sort of interesting. It's basically a mapping of all the social marketing apps / services out there and how they contribute to communications.  http://theconversationprism.com/

This free app is pretty cool. I just downloaded it so I can't vouch for how useful it's going to be, but initially it seems like it will be pretty useful. The App basically aggregates RSS feeds as well as a ton of other information. While it's positioned as a tool for PR folks, it's really for anyone, aggregating info on stocks, weather, shopping, etc.

What I really want is something like this for my google news alerts - now that would make my day!

You can check it out at http://www.mwwpr.com/minsight/

It works on the iphone and blackberry. The download was super simple and passed my 'set up' test - which is basically if it takes more than 60 seconds I cancel the set up and never use the app.

OK, I'll be honest, I like the idea, not a big fan of the delivery. I'm talking about Quizno's new social media campaign for their Toasty Torpedo.  Check it out at: www.toastytorpedo.com  

They've got a talking stove that says "Stick it in me'" (which did make me laugh) and a contest and a presence on Youtube, facebook, etc.

Like I say, I like these multimedia campaigns that leverage flash, video, social networking, etc... but, they are still just mediums for communication. It's like a television show - just because it becomes available  on the web won't make it any better or worse than on tv - quality content is still king. So in this example I find the whole campaign to be pretty flat and not all that exciting or viral. I can't see myself telling anyone 'you've got to go check out Quizno's new micro-site (even though I've just done so in this blog!)

Sears and AOL have launched a media outlet called Good News Now. I think this is an amazing idea. What better way to association your brand with positive good feelings than to surround it with positive good feeling news! Kudos to Sears for thinking beyond the 'here's our product, buy our product' and thinking more along the lines of 'you're our customer and we're about making your life better.'

www.gnn.com