I am sure everyone who saw the recent Michael Bay movie “The Island” would have been smiling when they saw the product placement [a.k.a. ads] for Microsoft in the movie. We see MSN Search powering the information directory, and also see a practice match between Scarlett Johansson and Ewan McGregor through an “Xbox” system. These product placement ads are amusing at first, but when you think about it more, they act as advertisements in the movie itself and they do their job well.

Not only are you paying for the movie and have to watch ads before the movie starts, you now have to watch advertisements during the movie also. Besides watching the products of Microsoft in such prominent positions that make you focus on Microsoft and its products more than the actual scenes or the actors within them, you also see ads for Puma [shoes] which Ewan flashes in a very nice pose right in the beginning of the movie that actually does fit into the movie plot, everyone drinking Aquafina, and Scarlett buying every kid she could see Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and hands it to each kid herself while we keep seeing the name of the ice cream maker, taking about 30 seconds to make sure we know which company she prefers for her ice cream. I did not notice which company was used for all the credit cards in the movie [Visa, MC, American Express, or someone else].

The movie didn’t do well at the box office; this was Michael Bay’s biggest flop to date at the box office. Maybe the companies with the advertisement will think twice before placing their ads in an action movie like this in the future. It is, however, very important to find out whether these placements were paid for by the companies [like Microsoft], or if the producers of the movie were simply influenced to choose them by the respective companies. Either way, it is an interesting movie to watch [in a good way].

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I listen to radio every day. It is almost essential in keeping up to date with breaking news that might happen between a long 2 hour journey on any typical day, or a 5 minute journey to the gas station. While it is still unclear as to whether the radio in my car starts telling me the news and sometimes sings music to me because of the importance of such things, or simply because it can, it is definitely a good source of knowledge and a good way to learn about independent media. Here I will talk a little bit about how the radio was treated around the year 2000, when everyone ran to the internet to watch live streaming feeds of debates if they weren’t close to a computer [or if you were chatting with someone online], and when people tuned into television more than ever before. I will also point out where radio stands today compared to its counterparts ; print publications such as newspapers and books, television, and the newcomer on the block called internet.

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1999 can be marked in history as the first year to be known as the death of radio. While we may not have noticed it consciously, there was more television coverage, more online coverage, and more print coverage on different events that was publicly known than on the radio at that time. While stations such as National Public Radio did keep on going and doing their splendid job, many people tried using other forms of media to learn about different news, including the 2000 Presidential elections. I myself watched almost all the videos of the debates and live coverage online [Windows Media Player buffered streams very well at that time, along with RealPlayer]. This was very interesting, as both the internet and the television then offered everything that the normal [and typical] radio [and the radio stations] offered, and much more. We could not only hear, but also see things “live” on TV and interact “dynamically” online.

Around the end of the 1999, sites such as Live365 came around to declare [unofficially] the end of the normal radio stations, and people were delighted. Thousands of people went ahead and setup their own little radio stations on such sites during the year 2000, streaming their own opinions, news, and most of the time, personal music collections. I myself wasted countless number of hours listening to the 80’s and other music around those times on “Live 365″ and actually enjoyed it. Everywhere people thought that everything the radio had to offer was inferior compared to internet radio. People started advertising more on the internet, and the advertising revenue that was already being divided between print, television and radio advertisement had a new person who wanted, and got, its part of the share; the internet. We all focused on cd players compared to radio stations, and listening to a radio station in a car was considered “cheap”, probably because you couldn’t afford a cd player for your car at that time. It was unofficially, and unconsciously, the end of radio.

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However, interestingly enough, something “kept happening.” I quote those words because they mean a lot of things. While we saw an increase in the number of online advertisements and more people going online to check for news, we found out that more people “listened to” radio than watch television or go online. When I quote the words “listened to”, I am emphasizing on the fact that people listened to them, and did not turn to them deliberately, for news. Radio was always available at a convenient place; within the kitchen or in the car. People loved this accessible feature of the radio, and quite unknowingly. They turned on the radio while driving down to the grocery store. They turned on the radio when the cd player they had didn’t have any new CDs to play. They turned on the radio while going to work, as in the morning you want to hear news instead of music, specially if you are stuck in traffic and the melodic tunes feel like punches pounding you and telling you “you’re late for work again.”

No matter what, we did listen to radio one way or the other. We heard it while walking at Albertsons, or while at the beach, or we heard it while having a hair cut. We heard it while we waited for our turn at the post office [which was music, instead of news, by the way], we heard it while cooking at a restaurant or at home, and we heard it while we had a car that did not have a cd player. One way or the other, radio stayed, and we kept listening to it. All the cars in the U.S. still come with a radio player. It’s so common, it’s not even a standard. It’s now considered part of the car, much like the engine or the tires. How would you feel if you just bought a brand new car and it didn’t have a radio?

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Furthermore, advertisers slowly found out that while television advertising did result in instant phone calls from customers who had just watched an ad and were excited to place order for products, and while online advertisement did result in online orders and more customer loyalty and more people going to the target web sites [which serves the purpose of much of the online advertising, to drive traffic that is], radio advertising still reached out to the largest number of consumers than both the television and online advertising could reach, combined. Consider this: according to Radio Advertising Bureau, in 1994 the radio medium reached about 202,351,000 people, about 96% of the country’s population, every week. Imagine that: over 200 million people every single week of the year, on average. That means every radio station, every radio channel, and every radio program out there reaching out to about 96% of the U.S. population. Advertising has the highest potential here, as advertising can be plugged into any category, if suitable, such as music stations, news stations, sports stations, and even speciality stations such as weather stations that focus only on the weather along the coasts in certain areas. In 2004, this number rose to over 228 million listeners a week. That is more than what the Internet can provide for many years to come, as even online most people just check their emails and log off, let alone stay online for sometime regularly and every week.

We have to keep another thing in mind also. While reading a newspaper and watching television, and even surfing the web, you have continuous opportunities to click on another web site, look at a book instead of watching a movie, or put down the newspaper and turn on the television. Listening to a radio at office or mostly in a car is different; you cannot access any of the other 3 media paths [print, television and online], and you are focused on only 2 things; driving and listening. You can’t do much, unless you want to call someone or look at a girl/guy in the car next to you or cut-off someone. But basically, you are limited to one channel for listening and remembering, and that is the radio. You can change stations, but you are still tuned into the radio. That is very powerful, and that is why radio is so successful.

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Nowadays, radio stations are becoming more sophisticated. Instead of just offering music, stations such as 104 KBIG [formerly known as "KBIG 104"] and Star 987 now offer hourly traffic reports in the region [for the two listed stations, this would be Orange County and the Los Angeles area], daily news at different times of the day, daily ticket giveaways to different events [not limited to the entertainment industry alone]. Also, these and other stations are now relying more and more on their web sites to offer prizes, secret passwords of the day to unlock tickets to events and concerts, and other things. On top of that, these stations add a little flavor of their own special talent on different days. “104 KBIG” offers a “Psychic Medium” every night these days, where you can have a special “reading” to reach out a loved one [or someone you don't love, though that hasn't been tried yet, and I would love to hear such a reading] who has passed away. It sounds kind of spooky to many people who hear it for the first time, or even “fishy”, but if you hear about the popularity of the program from people who have actually participated and want to participate, it’s really amazing to know how people are on a waiting list to get on that show. Similarly, “Star 987″ offers a relationship counseling session at nights, all live on radio.

The web sites for the stations are the place where people can register to be on such shows, thus mixing the internet with a traditional form of media. These two “specializations”, in case of these two radio stations, each with its own unique program, tend to attract more listeners and build a loyal listener base. Even more interesting is that these stations now offer more music and fewer commercials, meaning advertisers are willing to pay more for a commercial that airs at fewer frequencies than before. Results must be good so far for many radio stations and the businesses also, I assume.

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So there you have it; the brief history of how the radio was destined to die in the peak years of the Internet [before the dot com bubble had burst completely], and how it turned out to have adapted to the changes and challenges faced by online, print and television advertisement [competition] and blended in different things to get good results, and continue to be in operation and is alive and better than ever. Radio is here to stay for the time being, and may even stay longer than many people expect it to be. Not only are people still outgoing creatures and thus not giving up all travel in favor of sitting in front of a computer, they are tuning to radio stations instead of always relying on their cd players.

I drive between 30-100 miles everyday depending on what I have to do. Even I prefer to listen to the radio news or new music on radio instead of listening to a music cd every day, since listening to the same thing repeatedly is boring, and changing cd’s repeatedly is a hassle since it’s hard to drive and choose cd’s at the same time and push the eject button and then wonder which cd to play next, and since I don’t have a multiple cd player [changer] in my car, it must label me as a “cheap” according to my own article that I just wrote above, which isn’t true since radio does provide live breaking news on NPR which is hard to burn in advance on a cd, and I just don’t have time to go and wait for an hour or two after an appointment to get a cd player installed in my car, since it didn’t come with one when I got it, which doesn’t make it “bad” since it was in mint condition when I got it in the first place, which isn’t important since I like radio anyhow, so I will stop writing about this now. It’s time to listen to some music on my computer for the night [ok, really, I will stop writing now].

Have you ever gone to a movie theatre and seen the advertisements before the trailers? These ads come in the forms of slide shows, images, and even the ‘in’famous “20 Entertainment Ignited” segment shown at theatres owned by Regal Cinemas, including the “Edward Cinemas.” The chain calls these ads “informative”, offering insight and news that isn’t available easily elsewhere. When these segments first appeared before people sitting down in the chairs, waiting for their movies to start, it seemed as if they were a relief from the ads that were usually displayed in the form of static images for almost half an hour [depending on how early you came to the theatres]. I personally preferred the static images when I was alone at times, and the segments when I was with someone I didn’t want to be. The different segments, offering behind the scenes specials of different movies and news related to the entertainment industry, seemed like a fun thing to watch in the first few months of their birth.

Soon, however, it felt as if these segments were ads themselves. Management for the chains deny this, but people think it’s another way to make more money by giving people more advertisements instead of a decent, ad-free movie. Each part of the segment was sponsored by a movie studio itself, and it simply gave a “positive” insight into the movie analyzed. In addition to that, in the middle of every segment [about 4-5 parts in each segment] were about 2-3 ads about either food [to make you hungry] or the theatre itself. People started criticizing these also, saying that these segments were nothing more than advertisements. Now people don’t like the idea as they used to. Each segment does indeed seem like a huge advertisement. Fancy reviews, scripted talks with actors and every movie review and “outlook” having nothing but positive things to talk about it and promoting it as being the best in its class have occupied the entire segment.

One thing is for sure, though; whether or not it is considered advertisement, it isn’t boring and does help pass the time while waiting for the movie to begin.

I found the “Bait Car Program” very interesting in the sense that each suspect is arrested with the help of around 22 specialized cops who use a car as a bait, set it up to be stolen in an area where car theft is high, and then arrest the suspects. The idea is simple; put hidden cameras on a car that can record video and audio, and have the car tracked by a GPS system that alerts an operator of the speed, location and other details of the car. The operator coordinates all the details to officers who slowly, and surely, follow the suspect. When they are in a good position, they let the operator know, and the operator turns off the engine of the car with the “click of a mouse button.”

The site now sports a new color theme. This is to reflect the blistering heat. The previous color theme reflected the scorching sun and the heat. Now that we are fed up with heat [finally], here’s a small and indirect tribute to the cool winter. The penguins also reflect my true self, according to some people who are always acting silly. If you have any suggestions or comments about this change, please let me know either by emailing me or posting a comment here.

The new title and the supposed “meme” changed also [meme changed a bit, while the name changed completely], with the previous ones being “Writing about Riyu” and “The Orange Blog : The image of the world from a young gaijin to this world”, which served their purpose. While I do miss the oranges, I am sure I can have them anytime at the local grocerry shop, while penguins are hard to buy [and keep, since my fridge is not big enough to have food and penguins living together]. Thus, the new title reflects this new transportation to reach the same goal.

The previous layout served it’s purpose from November 29th, 2003, till today, July 23rd, 2005. That’s a total running time of 1 year and 237 days [combined total of 602 days]. Goodbye old layout, and goodbye yellow/orange combination. It was nice knowing ya.

Besides the color relation to the season, this new color theme is also easier on the eyes. I received several emails this year alone from users and visitors like you saying that they loved the color combination. While I would hesitate from changing something that people already like, these new colors have taken a long time to test to see how they are compared to the previous yellow and orange shades. So far, I think the new colors are light [obviously] and make it easier and nicer to read the text. I hope all of you like this new combination also.

Previous layout snapshots:

Selling advertisement space has been common online and in retail places for several years now. The new concept of selling “body” space is catching up [among those who wish to put ads on their bodies in return for money] and is taking many different turns. If you browse ebay, you can usually find pretty sweet deals. You can also find pretty weird deals which are weird not because of their price, but because of what the auction is supposed to result in once it ends and satisfies the seller. These weird deals include selling advertisements on your body and doing other things to your body for some amount of money.

A Minnesota man recently sold himself and his family to the highest bidder, and in return agreed to wear a t-shirt bearing the message that the bidder wants them to wear. Meanwhile, instead of advertising a name or a website on her body, a teenage girl supposedly shaved all her hair for the highest bidder and then donated it to kids with cancer. What’s even weirder is that she was willing to do more [read the auction] if the auction ended in a higher bid. Whether creepy people need hair for comfort or just as a voodoo sacrifice, they are willing to spend over $300 to get it from a teenager. Creepiness existed in medieval times, and still exists in the high tech world.

The following post will interest those who are looking for Newton’s General Scholium in his “ The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy.” The following work is classified under the public domain work, so anyone is free to use it. Since many people in universities will need it and many live by it to consider Newton the ideal of their life [hmm, do you have a life?], here it is.

Have you ever seen someone park their car in reverse in a parking lot? Have you noticed them taking up to 3 minutes, literally, to fix their car into that parking space in backward mode? They can easily pull into the spot right away, but they choose to go forward, and then reverse and then move forward again to fit the rear of their cars inside first.

Did you know that, despite all the portrayals in movies and books, the Greeks and the Romans painted their temples, halls, statues, sculptures and mosaic art in bright colors of blue, green, yellow, red and other visible variations?

Over the course of more than two thousand years, these pieces of art lost their painted colors slowly.

Ever wonder why the sales people at a car dealership invite you to take a ride in one of the cars, and after you are done, they always say “Let’s go back to the office to see if the car is available.” Ever wonder why the car you just test drove is always available, no matter what?

Here’s why: This is a tactic to get you into the office. Getting you to the office is one of the 3 hardest parts they have to go through [one is to get you interested in a car, second is to get you to start the application process to see if your credit qualifies, and third is to have the deal loom around the price they wish]. The sales people already know which cars are available and which aren’t. They wouldn’t waste their time “helping” you choose and test drive a car that is already reserved for someone else.

Since they already know that you want the car and that it is available, they talk to you while you test drive, trying to find out your background and information about your current situation [why are you interested in the car?] to know how to act and what to say [to close the deal] once they get you to the office after the test drive phase is over.

Next time you are at a dealership, keep this in mind.

The Tsunami Relief link has been removed, now that the donations have been stopped by many online agencies.

The navigation system has been modified a bit. “Picture” posts have been integrated into “General” area. Ability to create and log into your account is now available. Layout has been enhanced for higher display resolutions.

Please email me if you have any suggestions, any questions, notice any bugs, or if you simply wish to send an email to serve the purpose of email itself.

Changes in this update:

• Tsunami Relief link has been removed.
• “Pictures” posts have been integrated into “General” area.
• A few layout enhancements.

Thank you again for your support.

With all the major special effort of art going mostly into movies, and almost no one talking much about bronze or stone sculptures, here is an interesting idea : sand sculptures. One of the many groups of people doing that right now is Team Sandtastic. They also create ice sculptures, by the way.

Now that I have stopped talking about a certain rabbit [which I just did again in this sentence], it’s time to mention a few things about my recent trip to Northern California. I went in the middle of June and came back on the 10th of July [some of my previous posts were written during the trip]. It was an interesting trip indeed; I took my car, also used the bus system, trains, trams, subways, and the fastest of them all, the plane. You can visit the collection of the pictures taken through the Gallery. I went to San Francisco, San Jose, Berkeley, Oakland, Emeryville and the surrounding cities. Of many things, one of the interesting things I noticed more prominently on the trips was that there was a security camera recording everything on the buses in Berkeley and San Francisco [picture below].