Linguiphiles rejoice!

Flogos
Shapeable artificial clouds. Float your logo for up to 40 minutes. Born in Alabama, used by brands worldwide. (source: Springwise, 4/23/09) http://www.flogos.net/flogosvideo.html

They're Grrrrr-ateful
What happened to all that cereal after Michael Phelps toked away his Kellogg's endorsement? Two tons of it went to a very happy SF food bank. Assuming the rest was distributed similarly. Mike got the munchies; lots of hungry people got to eat breakfast. Poetic. (source: SFGate)

Harsh
Ditch the team, keep the girl. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDpKx4w_NIc (source: Ad Age, 4/20/09)

Real men eat salad
Or they don't reproduce. According to a small study of fertility clinic patients, men who eat lots of processed meat and full-fat dairy may have poorer quality sperm than those who eat more fruit, vegetables, and low-fat diary. Something to do with antioxidants vs. chemicals that mimic estrogen. So, broccoli up. (source: International Dairy Foods Assn /Reuters, 4/17/09)

Does it come in camo?
iPod Touch is the new "it" tool among US troops. It's super rugged, networked, totally intuitive, less expensive and more functional than military-designed devices, is easy to build apps for, like translation, remote control bomb disposal, and facial-recognition, if what you need doesn't already exist, and apparently, it's hard to hack. Soldiers like them and the military's on board. More info http://www.newsweek.com/id/194623

Murrow he's not
But if you're Ashton Kutcher and you have over a million Twitter followers, aren't you actually broadcasting? This new-media-goes-old-media insight from Simon Dumenco at Ad Age, 4/17/09.

Huzzah!
On or about April 29, English will log its 1 millionth word. (source: Global Language Monitor/The Economist)

Phone home
20% of Americans have cut their land line in favor of cellular. 5.2% use VoIP as their primary home phone. (source: Portfolio.com)

Now
I really like the new Sprint anthem ad. Maybe it's the factoid-lover in me. Maybe the ad just says what the last campaign tried to say in a much more engaging way. If you've TiVo'd past it, check it out here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YhWNiRRblY

@Dinner
Maureen Evans of Belfast, Northern Ireland, tweets recipes. Try this one out for size:
Saffron Asparagus Orzo: brwn c orzo/T butter/garlic; +.25t saffron&s+p/2.5c broth. Cvr@low9m; +2c asparagus3m. Fold+8T parmesan. Srv w parm
http://twitter.com/cookbook (source: NYTimes, 4/21/09)

Wait? As if!
Never big on delayed gratification, 65% of tweens & teens prefer to watch live TV rather than wait to see their shows via DVR (25%) or the web (10%). They also prefer shows with a script (64%) to "reality" (36%), and cable shows (77%) to network (23%). But don't touch their internet access. Only 23% would give it up for a week over TV (77%). Although most of the time (78%) they use both together, while texting (66%), so don't expect a lot of attention to be giving to whatever you're producing. (source: Pangea Media/Media Daily, 4/22/09)

Looking for a novel vacation?
Try volcano boarding in Nicaragua. No wavers, no helmets. Weee. http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/04/19/travel/19headsup.html?8dpc

Good placement?
The $5 foot-long placement on "Chuck" last week. I watched it, knew it was a paid product integration, and didn't mind because it felt natural to the storyline and characters. Successful placement, right? But now I'm not so sure. Big Mike's called Big for a reason. Does his love of Subway (and his daily box of donuts) truly fit with and promote the QSR's healthy eating brand? See for yourself at http://www.hulu.com/watch/67728/chuck-chuck-versus-the-first-kill

$5 may be too much
Adjusted for inflation, in Q4 08 consumer spending on food dropped 3.7%, the biggest decline in 62 years. Food giants like Kraft, Nestle, and Campbell believe the change is here to stay, so they're adjusting their tactics. Ex. Campbell's ended a 10-cans-for-$10 promotion ("the original dollar menu") because nobody was biting. The company learned that people aren't willing to stock up, even at a bargain price. Even if they have the money, they're "expecting and planning for the worst." However, recipes with basic ingredients are in hot demand. Visitors to Campbell's website printed 430,000 in 2/09, up 29% vs. 2/08. (source: Wall Street Journal, 4/21/09)

Hear ye
20 million bloggers in the US
1.7 million make some money off it
452,000 blog for a living (about 162K more professional bloggers than firefighters, but still 100K fewer than lawyers)
In case you're tempted, on average, it takes about 100K unique visitors a month to earn $75,000 a year. Still, bloggers can strike it rich: the Huffington Post is expected to eventually surpass the value of the Washington Post. (source: Wall Street Journal, 4/21/09)

This one's for Atlanta
If you need ER service, but it's not life-threatening, get in line online. The InQuickER service not only saves you a place in the queue, it tells you when you'll be seen and lets you choose a different time that's more convenient. Oh, there's a time guarantee, too. Your broken arm's going to hurt no matter what, you may as well watch "South Park" on the couch while you wait. http://www.inquicker.com/hospitals/show/1-emory-adventist-hospital (source: Springwise, 4/23/09)