Buddha-shaped pears grow on the trees at an orchard in Weixian county, north China’s Hebei province on September 19, 2009. Hao Xianzhang, a local fruit farmer, spent six years to perfect the process by growing the pears inside molds.
Source: http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/weird/Weird_News_Photos.html
Why Kanye's stunt on MTV's Video Music Awards was probably staged for cheap viral buzz
When I first discovered this whole fiasco on the Twitter streams, I decided to watch the MTV Video Music Awards to learn about what the ruckus was all about. If you haven’t seen it yet, you can see it here: http://www.mtv.com/videos/misc/435995/taylor-swift-wins-best-female-video.jhtml
Anyway, at first I thought, OK this is Kanye being insane again. Then as I continued to watch and do some googling, here’s 6 reasons why I think this whole stunt was staged.
1. The video of the incident could be found all over the web during the live showing of the VMAs, but any other VMA related video was quickly taken down with a disclaimer (i.e. Lady GaGa’s performance) “This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Viacom.”
2. Taylor Swift quickly moved off the scene and was given an amazing concert performance from Subway station to the front of Radio City Music Hall.
3. The way Kanye storms the stage with a microphone appearing magically in his hand is VERY similar to how he stormed the VMA UK stage: http://www.spike.com/video/kanye-wests-mtv/2784958
4. MTV has previously done crazy controversial staged stunts, including when Bruno falls on Eminem in the last award show.
5. Twitter seems to be a HUGE part of the show as they’ve created a whole buzz tracker for the VMAs and various MTV reps have continued to ask people to keep talking about it http://www.mtv.com/ontv/vma/2009/twitter.jhtml
6. Finally, the most obvious reason: when Beyonce wins the Video of the Year award, she gives Taylor a chance to have her moment (she comes from backstage so she knows she is going to have her opportunity), and this also shows that Kanye’s stunt is foreshadowing Beyonce’s win. Then MTV recaps the incident AGAIN after the show ends with both clips: Kanye on stage interrupting Taylor and Beyonce giving Taylor her moment at the end.
Well, whether it was staged or not, I think it worked in MTV’s favor to get the buzz out for the MTV Video Music Awards as Twitter, Youtube, and almost every other form of social media is spreading the news rapidly about this whole incident.
T-Pain’s marketing genius + Smule technology = Amazing Auto-Tune iPhone app that really works! I bought it myself the day it was released and have been having a hoot singing into it. T-Pain’s videos all over the web to announce his new app are pretty entertaining… Here’s one of them!
12 delicious street food vendors using Twitter marketing in San Francisco and Los Angeles
Street food + twitter, what a magical combination! Twitter allows for food announcements randomness. You love their food? So follow them to know when you can have some! Below is a listing of some interesting street food vendors who have utilized the power of twitter to announce locations, menu changes, time they’ll be open, and more… LA gets a little bit fancier than SF. ;-) (Note: I have not been to all these places so I can’t say off-hand that they’re tastey.)
SF Bay Area:
Adobo Hobo
http://www.yelp.com/biz/adobo-hobo-san-francisco
http://twitter.com/AdoboHobo
Magic Curry Cart
http://www.yelp.com/biz/magic-curry-kart-san-francisco
http://twitter.com/MagicCurryKart
The Crème Brûlée Cart
http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-creme-brulee-cart-san-francisco
http://twitter.com/CremeBruleeCart
Farmerbrown’s Little Skillet
http://www.yelp.com/biz/farmerbrowns-little-skillet-san-francisco
https://twitter.com/littleskillet
Amuse Bouche Cart
http://www.yelp.com/biz/amuse-bouche-cart-san-francisco
http://twitter.com/AmuseBoucheSF
Bike Basket Pies
http://bikebasketpies.com/
http://twitter.com/bikebasketpies
Gobba Gobba Hey
http://www.yelp.com/biz/gobba-gobba-hey-san-francisco
http://twitter.com/GobbaGobbaHey
The Gumbo Man
http://twitter.com/gumbocart
http://www.yelp.com/biz/gumbo-cart-san-francisco
Sexy Soup Cart
http://twitter.com/SexySoupCart
http://www.yelp.com/biz/sexy-soup-cart-san-francisco
Los Angeles:
Kogi BBQ
http://kogibbq.com/
http://twitter.com/kogiBBQ
Nom Nom Truck
http://nomnomtruck.com/
http://twitter.com/nomnomtruck
Sprinkles Mobile
http://twitter.com/sprinklesmobile
http://www.sprinkles.com
However, if I’m in a shitty mood when they inevitably ask “What do you design,” my answer will be “everything.”
– Death to Creatives!!! (From GOMEDIAZINE)
If you’re a woman, you must try these. Nuvo is THE WOMEN’s champagne. I can’t explain it but it makes you feel like a woman. X-Rated is just pure yummy for those who like fruity vodkas. Both are good as is, but X-Rated can also be mixed into various cocktails. Boys, you can try any of these as well if you like sweet and delicious. Enjoy!
Twitter's attempt to prevent identity theft
I noticed a little something different today when I browsed over to Kevin Rose’s Twitter page. Take a look:
Verified account!?! What’s this? So I click on it and learn a bit more:
What is a verified account?
To prevent identity confusion, Twitter is experimenting (beta testing) with a ‘Verified Account’ feature. We’re working to establish authenticity with people who deal with impersonation or identity confusion on a regular basis. Accounts with a
are the real thing!
Now all you Jonah Hill and Kanye West imposters, look out! Twitter’s got a new system to verify these celebs/official accounts so that the people we follow are legit. Great idea, Twitter!
An update: Apparently this program launched in early June (see: Mashable article, thanks @evangoldin for the update!)
About Me
I'm Shali, a Social Network Designer currently working at Ning in Palo Alto, California. Here you'll find my thoughts on social media, music, design, advertising, and more... that go beyond 140 characters.
Follow me on twitter @shalinguyen
Or visit my portfolio http://www.shalinguyen.com
