General Mills is deploying a new tactic in ongoing battle for cereal dominance. (pardon the metaphor). Retro cereal box designs are appearing on store shelves in Target, and elsewhere. Read the full story here.
Love the slim key shaped design of the LaCie iamaKey USB Flash Drive ~ and only a mere 28$ for 8GB. Another great move by a great Portland company.
Apple has quietly introduced a new 4GB iPod shuffle. Not only is it bigger on the inside — it’s smaller on the outside. So small, in fact, that it has no buttons other than the shuffle mode switch. All the controls are now on the earbud cord, which means that you’ll be stuck using Apple’s own earbuds until third party versions make it to stores.
The new Shuffle also talks to you. Press the center button on the remote (a long press) and the “VoiceOver” function will tell you the name of the song and artist you are listening to, and it will also read your playlists. This is a rather helpful new feature, especially since, at 4GB, the Shuffle is approaching the capacity of the original full-sized white iPod.
VoiceOver speaks 14 languages, from Spanish to Mandarin. The actual speech is generated by iTunes and then schlepped across to the Shuffle when you sync. This means that if you are syncing with a Mac running OS X Leopard (the latest version) you get to hear the rather good robotic voice of Alex. If you are running an older version of the OS, or using a PC you get a rather crappy voice. You can check them out here at the Apple site.
And because the Shuffle now reads out your playlists, you can skip through them until you find the right one. Suggestion: Keep the names short and distinctive to avoid frustration.
The new iPod also loses a couple of hours in battery life — 10 instead of 12, and costs a little more at $80. The old Shuffle is still available in 1GB form for $50.
I would have loved to be at this photo shoot. Funny thing is, if you come into my office on any given day you will find me (on my desk) in the EXACT same position.
Watch him on YouTube - you’ll be glad you did. - Thanks Fiona
Hey - want a massage?
Forward this email to 7 friends and CC: info@rightbrainresource.com and you could win a $100 gift certificate to Loyly (Spend it on a deep tissue massage or a visit to their sauna or steam room). Loyly specializes in Swedish relaxation and deep tissue massage, it’s the perfect way to forget about your worries and focus on the positive. This promo will last until the end of March. Drawing will take place on March 31st and be announced in the following newsletter. Good luck!
Join PAF for a Town Hall style meeting with Portland’s mayor. Throughout his campaign and as a member of Portland’s City Council, Mayor Adams has been a huge advocate for the creative service industry. Now that he’s sitting behind the big desk, let’s find out what his plans really look like and give him an idea of what we think!
Current market conditions make your contribution more important than ever. Make sure you’re part of forming the direction of our industry and be there!
DATE: Tuesday, March 10, 2009
TIME: 5:30-6:30pm
LOCATION: Wieden & Kennedy Atrium, 224 NW 13th, Portland
COST: $10 PAF Members/$25 Non-Members
During his State of the City Address last Friday (2/27/2009) Mayor Sam Adams announced that the successful TNT T.V. series Leverage has chosen to base its production here in Portland. Leverage, starring Timothy Hutton, will begin shooting in Portland this spring. “it happened because the City of Portland worked speedily with the Governor’s Office of Film and Television to pull together a package and secure the production in 48 hours. The project will bring hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars of revenue to the Portland region. “Said Adams.
About the Show
In LEVERAGE, Hutton plays former insurance investigator Nate Ford, a once-loyal corporate employee who had recovered millions of dollars in stolen goods for his employer. But when that employer denied his son’s insurance claims and allowed the boy to die, he realized he could no longer work for such an entity.
Out of work and descending into alcoholism, Ford is hired by an aeronautics executive to recover airplane designs the executive claims were stolen by a rival company. Helping him are four highly skilled team members: Parker (Beth Riesgraf – Alvin and the Chipmunks), an expert thief; Alec Hardison (Aldis Hodge – Friday Night Lights), a specialist in Internet and computer fraud; Eliot Spencer (Christian Kane – Into the West), a high-octane “retrieval specialist” who can take out a gang of henchmen without breaking a sweat; and Sophie Devereaux (Gina Bellman – Coupling), a grifter who could win awards for her acting skills during difficult scams. At first the newly formed team is hesitant to trust each other after so many years working alone but being double-crossed changes the dynamic, ultimately forcing them to unite. They emerge from the job realizing they are far better working together than apart. Once they discover they can trust each other the group targets their cons toward the richest, the greediest and the most unjust.
