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In the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, Bush and his government were given unequivocal free reign to launch the “war on terror”. In so doing they proposed a number of constitutional reforms which subsequently were passed without much retaliation.

In 2005, Bush passed a spy program allowing the surveillance of all American’s electronic communication without warrants or congressional authorization. Almost five years later, a lawsuit brought on by two American lawyers representing a now defunct Saudi charity has brought this issue to the feet of U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker.

Now that this case is garnering national attention, it may become the first step in preventing future U.S. Presidents from adopting other ‘Terror Surveillance Programs’. One more small step in reacquiring our constitutional rights as Americans.

In today’s world the average first world person is constantly bombarded with the threatening reality that identity theft could happen to them. We are told to be extra careful when disclosing any sensitive information to other parties, and if we follow all the right precautionary steps, we will avoid being just another horrific statistic. However, just when you thought you were safe, it turns out you really aren’t.

A recent study conducted by computer scientists at Carnegie Mellon University, has concluded that by analyzing the SSN’s of the deceased, the living’s sacred 9 digit code is now highly predictable. Analyzing a public data set called the “Death Master File” can enable hackers and criminals to see birth information and SSN’s of people who have died, and thereby deduce by using complex patterns, living persons actual Social Security Numbers with a high degree of accuracy.

Oh, and if you’re a younger reader and think you may be safe because of all this talk about dead people, think again.

Before 1988, many people didn’t apply for SSN’s until after they finished college or got their first job. However, the government ‘wisely’ stepped in, and came up with the “Enumeration At Birth” initiative, allowing parents to apply for their new born children’s numbers right away. Subsequently this allows patterns based on birthdays to be more accurate for hackers and puts all the youngin’s at higher risk.

The answer to this problem? Continue to be extra safe with your vital information, and hope that with this new study, the government will step in a second time and prohibit companies from verifying identities with the disclosure of ssn’s.

Clear, the company known for giving their clients a free pass through security lines at airports, abruptly closed its doors on Monday.

Founded by journalist Steven Brill, Clear allowed members to skip long security lines for just 200$ a year. Of course this luxury was given to travelers for the mere exchange of all their vital information, including social security number, credit card, fingerprints and even an iris scan. Now that the company is no more, members are left to wonder about where this information is now being kept and by whom.

Clear has stated that it will attempt to sell their 250,000 members sensitive info to another company offering such fast lanes, but the duration of this window has not been specified. Is it worth 200$ a year to have such vital information on the market? Clear claims the information is in safe hands, but peace of mind is something I could never put a price on.

The highly anticipated I-phone 3G S’s secret is out. Apple has deliberately refused to release information regarding the chips inside the new phone, but due to a miscue, T-Mobile in the Netherlands has made it public. Apple shouldn’t panic though. As soon as it was released, someone would tear it up, and the secret would have been let out anyway. This does nothing to change the fact that whatever new technology is released by Apple, countless consumers fall prey to the uncontrollable desire to be hip and millions inevitably follow.

On June 12, the final transition from analog to digital television will be made nation wide. In order to enable the switch, the government has asked all analog television owners to purchase converter boxes at the reasonable price of 80$. Coupons have even been made available to cut the price by half. However, there is still a percentage of Americans (2.8%) unprepared for the switch taking place tomorrow. Should we be concerned for them? With the average American watching just under 4 hours of television per day, we need not worry, the stragglers will come around soon enough.

New LA based ‘restaurant’, Kogi, uses Twitter to alert consumers where the Kogi bus can be found.  

Wikipedia is the most frequented website on the net for popular subject searches. Hard to believe based on the fact that pretty much anyone can write anything about any subject and it will most likely be published. However, recently Wikipedia decided to strike back against a series of entries authored by scientologists attempting to manipulate information regarding their religion. These authors have been banned by the site’s arbitration council in a 10-1 vote, overturning some vital wikiprinciples in the process. But will this ruling work in their favor? Or will this merely encourage others to continue in the scientologist’s footsteps, in a fight against censorship? http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/05/wikipedia-bans-church-of-scientology /Users/gabrielr/Desktop/wikipedia-logo-en-big-244×300.png 

My sister sent this to me the other day. Having grown up in Australia for a few years, and planning on returning again to study for a semester in the Fall, I found it really interesting. It was created by an Australian director, Patrick Hughes, for a Schweppes commercial. The lack of words and emphasis on other sounds and images draws the viewer’s attention in, and the creative fictional plot demands your attention throughout the short skit.

Watch at PatrickHughes.com (allow a few minutes for loading)

Thailand’s annual AdFest is focusing on the importance of branded entertainment this year. Also, John Hegarty of Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) acknowledges that China has huge potential to help the advertising industry’s market expansion.

Watch a clip on it here: http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1370868150/bctid17937908001

Colombian scientists have just discovered the world’s largest snake remains. It was 42.7 feet long and 2,500 pounds and one paleontologist explained that “reality has exceeded the fantasies of Hollywood.” See CNN.com for more on this story.

This is what the snake was thought to have looked like when it was alive 60 million years ago.

One Super Bowl commercial that I could not stop laughing about was the Pepsi ad titled, Pepsuber. There is a popular skit on SNL title MacGruber with Will Forte. I thought it was great when companies took personalities on the NBC network and stuck them in to their own commercial. It was great marketing because the Super Bowl aired on NBC. Talk about two birds. Here is my favorite commercial from the big game. 

President-elect Barack Obama may be the next biggest thing in the sports world. His political status has helped him pull to have Chicago elected for the 2016 Olympic Games. Not only would this be monumental for our country to have the Olympics back again, but the amount of promotional money it would raise in the next eight years would severely help our economy. Broadcast fees alone would begin at $1.5 billion and both Fox and ESPN have already agreed to put down bids to cover the potential Chicago Olympics.

Obama spoke in a clip sent to the IOC to petition Chicago as the 2016 location for the Olympic Games.

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I figured I could give some update to the movie business these days. There has been a lot of hype for the new Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince film. I, myself, am an avid fan of the Harry Potter franchise. I thought I would post the newest trailer for the upcoming film directed by David Yates. It looks a bit dark but the movie shall be pretty amazing.

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Addiction is when we become too attached to something that feels rewarding. This can range from eating to having sex to consuming chemicals and drugs to behaving in certain activities such as gambling. According to this week’s issue of The Economist, a London-based foundation called Food for the Brain has started to research certain foods that can replace the neurotransmitters that are lost in an addicted brain. For example, the amino acid known as NAC can be found in nuts and seeds and can reduce cocain cravings. Meat, fish, milk and brown rice can all help boost serotonin levels that fall drastically in depressed addicts.

Research is continuing in this field in hopes of finding more simple cures for poorer people with addictive problems. However, this could end up having detrimental effects on the successful drugs that have built their empires because of our relience on using chemicals to fix our problems. If natural food proves to be as successful as man-made products, it could severely change our pharmaceutical industry and hurt a lot of brands.

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Showtime Networks, Metropolitan Home Magazine, and six renowned designers have transformed a townhouse in Granmercy Park, New York into a collaboration of the most popular television programs on the Showtime network. It was inspired by the ideals of The Tudors, The L Word, Californication, Weeds, Dexter, and The United States of Tara. Showtime, a major influencer to the creative talent at places such as The Brand Gallery, has used its own creativity to blend entertainment and interior design in this new Showtime House.

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Last week one of the greatest actors of our time passed away from cancer. Paul Newman, known for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid along with many other classic films, died while battling cancer. He was not just known for his acting talent but also for his charity work and love of car racing. In 1982, Newman began Newman’s Own, a food products company. He made it a promise that all proceeds would go to charity.

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PromaxBDA from Bill & Byron on Vimeo.

This summer we were able to speak to some very interesting people. It was not until we got to interview people at the PromaxBDA conference in midtown New York City that we actually got to talk some of the most creative advertisers in the industry. It was pretty intense seeing so many creative directors and producers who make advertisements come alive on the screen. Here is some of the footage we got from our time outside of PromaxBDA.

We went out to the streets of New York to find out what advertisers thought was the hardest demographic to advertise for. Everyone seemed to agree that it was the 20 to 30 year old age range that seemed to be the hardest. Here is some footage from our interviews.

Who Do Advertisers Want to Reach the Most? from Bill & Byron on Vimeo.

… Advertising and New York City go hand in hand. We went out to talk to some people at big ad agencies like Ogilvy & Mather to find out what it was like workin in the media industry in New York.

Why Is New York City a Great Place for Advertisers? from Bill & Byron on Vimeo.

Last week, a couple of us hit the streets to find out what people thought about blogging. Check out the video to see what we found out… 

Blogging In New York City from Bill Scott on Vimeo.