I will never trust a horoscope again

Not that I did before, but after seeing this movie everyone should think twice. It's one of a series by Derren Brown about how people get tricked. The techniques used in the move are called cold reading and the Forer effect.

Found through Flabber.

Halo 3 Science of Play

For all those (other) Halo fans out there, here is an insight on how Bungie Studios is working on the testing of Halo 3. Well worth a read.

We have come a long way. I wonder if they ever did game testing like this on PacMan?

Source: Wired

The Encyclopedia of Business Cliches

I'm going for a win-win situation here. Oh, how I always marvel at our business clichés.

The 12 kinds of ads

Apparently, there are (only?) 12 kinds of ads in the world.

That is, according to Donald Gunn, once a creative director for the advertising agency Leo Burnett.

An excerpt from the article in Slate:

"Though his position implied expertise, Gunn felt he was often just throwing darts—relying on inspiration and luck (instead of proven formulas) to make great ads. So, he decided to inject some analytical rigor into the process: He took a yearlong sabbatical, studied the best TV ads he could find, and looked for elemental patterns.

After much research, Gunn determined that nearly all good ads fall into one of 12 categories—or "master formats," in his words. At last year's Clio Awards, I saw Gunn give a lecture about these formats (using ads mostly from the '70s and '80s as examples), and I was fascinated by his theory. I soon found myself categorizing every ad I saw on TV. It was a revelation: The curtain had been pulled back on all those sly sales tactics at the heart of persuasive advertising."

Rent a Tank

If you ever get really bored, you can always go and rent a tank.

Have a look on YouTube to see what you'll get for your money. I can think of some other creative uses!

Polar Rose versus IDPS (IDentity Protection System)

Everybody puts their pictures online. Picasa, flickr, you just name them. But what if your friend puts a picture with YOU on it online? Cue the IDPS (IDentity Protection System), a sticker you wear that "tells" a camera taking a snapshot of you to blur out your face.
(Found at the YaHoo Design week.)

If it works, this may be a good thing, because at the other side of the spectrum, there is Polar Rose, a browser plugin that lets you discover who is in any public photo. They're in beta right now, but just imagine someone having a picture of you, and then using Polar Rose to find pictures of you all over the internet (even the ones you don't know of, and/or don't want others to know about).

New Krav Maga Instructors for Belgium

The proud, the few, the sweaty. After 20 days of intensive training, a new batch of Krav Maga instructors got their instructors diploma from Gabi Noah.

Find out where to train in Belgium on the local IKMF site.

Brighten your day

Over at Zen Habits is a post of 75 things that brighten your day.

Some of my favourites:
1. Listening to good music in the car.
2. Taking a long, relaxing shower.
3. A good novel.
3. Walking on the beach.
4. Being lazy on a Sunday.
5. Getting a massage.
6. Taking a hot bath.
7. The feeling after a good workout.
8. A clean desk (not gonna happen).
9. A fresh snow (I want to go ski now!).
10. watching the ocean.

Thanks for pointing it out, Bnox. And what are YOUR top simple pleasures?