Suddenly Last Supper - Popped Culture There's nothing like a couple thousand years of of repetition and an iconic painting to get story to get lodged inside the heads of the creators of pop culture. Leonardo da Vinci's 15th century depiction of Jesus announcing that one of his 12 disciples would betray him is so ingrained in our culture that it has been co-opted by those wishing to give weight to their parodies, tributes and caricatures. Update April 2009: Hit the link for 50 more Last Supper parodies Mickey Mouse Last SupperOne of several works by pop artist and culture jammer Ron English. This is one of my favourites as I like that the disciples are divided between Disney and Warner Bros. characters all looking to Mickey Mouse, the first cartoon superstar, as Jesus. What puts it to the top though is cartoon spokesperson Joe Camel as Judas. Oops, made an error right on the first one, as has been pointed out by a few, including Drunken Chud: "Joe Camel is not Judas, he's Peter. From Anonymous: "ACTUALLY - That is Mrs.
14 Add-ons that make Gmail more awesome(ly productive) Gmail has been my email client of choice ever since I managed to get my hands on an invite years ago (ah, the days of Gmail-by-invitation-only, I’m just glad I never paid for mine). I never really did much do pimp my inbox though, until now. Well, until Multiple Inboxes made it possible to prioritize my messages and turn even my inbox into a to-do list. Turns out, I can do a lot more than just this, as long as I download the right script. I decided to compile a list of the Firefox extentions and scripts that seriously pimp your inbox and improve on Gmail’s basic powers. Productivity & Organization Add-ons Gspace: If uploading to Google Docs isn’t enough, you can use Gmail as a virtual online drive. EasyJobApplications: If you use Craigslist a lot to apply for gigs or jobs, this script seriously cuts down on the time-per-application you need. Which one of these are you using?
louisgray.com: Twitteronia vs. Status.net: The Battle for Hosted By Jesse Stay of Stay N' Alive (Facebook/FriendFeed) It's no secret that I'm a huge proponent of self-hosted Microblogging. I've written numerous times on LouisGray.com and my own blog about the benefits business can see by "rolling their own" microblog with their own brand, look and feel. There is something to be said for a brand being able to have full control over the relationships and community they build. Status.net Evan Prodromou has been busy since we last heard about Identi.ca and Laconi.ca. When I chatted with Rachael Herrscher, CEO of TodaysMama, she told me Evan had given them several hours each month that they were paying for, to help them out with the install of their Laconi.ca instance. "I’ve been telling people for a few months that one of our plans for commercializing the Identica software and getting more people on the OpenMicroBlogging network is to have a hosted service for new microblogging communities. Evan seems to know his users are businesses. Twitteronia
9 Scientific Ways to Make Your Ebook Go Viral 1. Fill a knowledge gap During World War II researchers in Britan and the U.S. studied how rumors could be weaponized. They discovered that when something happened (like a big noise) and there was no "official" explanation for it, rumors proliferated in this information void. In every niche there are still areas where there isn't much real information or data available. 2. Is there some new trend in your space? 3. From my research into urban legends I learned about the concept of communal recreation. You should try to exploit this natural human urge in your content. 4. When asked why they spread content , people often cite conversation as a primary motivator. 5. Another commonly cited viral motivation is "utility." 6. When you're done writing your whitepaper or ebook, pass it around to a few friends or "industry celebrities" that you know and ask them to comment on it. 7. 8. 9.