Zach Anner and the Power of the Internet

There is a concept on the internet called "breaking the fourth wall" where an image or person whose entire existence is reserved for the internet begins to have implications in the real world. Anouther example has been created.

Zach Anner became an Internet Superstar a couple months ago when he applied for a television show on Oprah's new television network, OWN. The catch is that Zach suffers(?) from a condition known as cerebral palsy which has confined him to a wheelchair and inhibits his speech and movement. Zach inspired those who watched him by taking his disability and laughing about it, cracking jokes such as "I have cerebral palsy.. Which I think is the sexiest of the palsies." and joking about his own inability to do basic things such as cook and do yoga.

The internet took up the cause of this young man and deluged the Oprah website with votes requesting that Zach's travel show become a regular on OWN TV. Within a week votes for Zach topped seven million.

Last week it was announced that Zach would receive his own television show. Whether or not the internet remains interested in him in the following weeks remains to be seen. For the time being Zach is riding high.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_35KKa3b1c

Photosynth

I know it isn't my week to post but I thought I would get this off my chest while I still remembered

http://www.ted.com/talks/blaise_aguera_y_arcas_demos_photosynth.html

around 1:31 you can see what really made me think. I encourage watching the whole video because it truly is jaw-dropping but the part I have indicated truly pertains to the course.

The technology shown in this clip has been around for years but is being mainly used for industrial design in the form of AutoCad and other design tools where the detail shown is only inhibited by the pixels on the screen. It seems it was only a matter of time before these tools got use in advertising in the real world, particularly online.

As Blaise points out this will hopefully do away with the pop up advertisement on websites. Perhaps even doing away with the need to open new windows to access ads you're interested in. Why would you when you could just dive in to the actual ad and see specifications, ordering instructions and even customer reviews?

Just another way the advertising world is changing around us.

So what do you think?