Monthly Archives: February 2010

Fariyland by McAuley

Just finished Fairyland by McAuley (http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/m/paul-j-mcauley/fairyland.htm). Tough to follow, but brilliantly disturbing look at where things could go. Gene hacking, the Ultimate Hack of crossing the human machine boundary, nano tech out of control, post-humanism, derivative species. It's all there. I like Banks alot better, but McAuley is better with the science. 

The taming of Chatroulette.com

Chatroulette. It’s insane and fascinating. But, aside from making the world a much smaller place, does it have any interesting practical applications? A few ideas:  

Market Testing
Can your marketing piece grab someone instantly? Chatroulette is a great tool to A/B test marketing images or gimmicks. Throw up a marketing image, message, funny act, webpage, or other piece and see how long on average people look before clicking away. Then throw up something else and test against it. This could be used for fashion too. 

Costume Testing
Seems like a good way to see how people will react to a costume (that might be used at a party, in a play, movie, or commercial). For those celebrating Purim this month, hint, hint. 

Global Scavenger Hunt for Charity
Could definitely be arranged somehow, with clues that are links to other websites or to the next clue to be searched for on chatroulette. 

Wooting
Announce a product and the first 50 people that Next it and follow the link get a discount

Food Presentation
See market testing–design your dish and see how long you last on chatroulette.com

Generally, anything that uses the “time to next” function or the “thrill of the hunt” element can make good use of Chatroulette for something productive!