My Five: Five things worth sharing from the last week (or so), brought to you by a different member of the Browser Media team every Friday.
This week’s My Five is by James.
1. #shicklegate
Social media was buzzing earlier this week over a resignation letter that was sent around a company, outing the wrong-doings of a certain ‘horrible boss’. The email was picked up on on Twitter and went viral within minutes. Check out the #shicklegate hashtag for some amusing (and potentially offensive) commentary on the incident.
2. Gracie University
Anyone who knows me will know that I’m borderline obsessed with anything to do with martial arts.
So needless to say that when I heard that you could achieve black belt status via the internet, I laughed. However, having delved a little deeper, I may just be coming around to the idea.
The course is run by legendary martial artists Ryron and Rener Gracie, and students learn techniques via a video stream, much like many other online qualifications.
Of course learning from the best in the world has benefits, especially for people who have little or no access to physical martial arts classes, but as revolutionary as it may be, it’s not my cup of tea.
If it sounds like your cup of tea, check out https://gracieuniversity.com/.
3. Ben the Bodyguard
I’m not too interested in the App itself, more the website. This website is a great example of the ‘parallax scrolling technique’, which uses multiple image layers at different speeds to create the illusion of depth, much like a 2D video game.
Keep scrolling down the page and you will hit with ‘Ben the Bodyguards’ sales pitch. Creative stuff, this definitely gets a thumbs up from me!
4. Marmite to sponsor Oxford street Xmas lights
Oxford street has been offering up its Christmas lights display to sponsors since 2007, with Disney being the first to get on-board. Now 2012 has come around and it’s Marmite’s turn.
Aptly named ‘love it or hate it’, this year’s light display will feature a cast of lovable Christmas characters including elves and Father Christmas. These characters will either ‘love’ or ‘hate’ marmite (can you see where this one’s going?)
Tied into this campaign will be the launch of a Facebook app which will allow people to upload photos of themselves pulling one of two expressions – ‘love’ or ‘hate’. These photos will then feature on a big screen located on Oxford street.
Love it or hate it, this is set to be a social media campaign that the West End will never forget.
5. The 2012 Lyttle Lytton Contest
The Lyttle Lytton Contest challenges entrants to write (or find) the worst opening to a novel, in no more than 200 characters.
If you fancy your chances at claiming the 2013 crown, head over to http://adamcadre.ac/lyttle.html where entries will be accepted until April 2013.
Here’s a couple of top class examples to get you inspired:
“The red hot sun rose in the cold blue sky.” – Judy Dean.
“This was the story of a brave man, a freeman, who can’t stop touching society.” – Tadashi Narumi.
“Even as I leaned on the lamppost, the sadness of my heart could not be brightened.” – Kirsten Walther.
