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03
Aug 2012
05:35 PM

The BRINKguide to Olympic Viewing Spots

With the number of homes with working TVs steadily declining, I thought some of our followers would have the same problem I do: where the hell can I watch the Olympics now that I’ve ditched the black box for Netflix? I’ve found a go-to spot in my city (Tucson) and I reached out to our BG editors in to see where they are going. We were looking for comfy spots with big TVs, icy drinks and attentive waitstaffs. Deals were a factor too. Here’s what we found.

PORTLAND
Nick’s Famous Coney Island / 3746 SE Hawthorne Blvd / 503.235.3008

They have big screens and also full stereo on for the more popular events. And they serve $4.00 Guinesses during all the soccer matches! Check out their site for more (ever-changing) event-specific deals, and they have regular Happy Hours 3-6pm every day. Plus, they’ve been a sports fan-friendly watering hole since 1934, so you’ll be supporting a legacy.

BROOKLYN
Berry Park / 4 Berry St / 718.782.2829

They’re opening early and closing late for the Olympic season, and when Team USA wins they’re are pulling out lots of deals. Berry Park boasts a massive indoor space and equally impressive rooftop so you can bring a whole cheering section. They have an impressive menu and beer selection all of the time, so you won’t be making a sacrifice coming here. It really is a huge improvement over some of the crappy sports bars in the city that will be showing the Olympic Games.

TUCSON
The Union Public House / 4340 N Campbell Ave / 520.329.8575

HUGE TVs line their bar, plus they have extra comfy booths are nearby for lounging. There are specials all week at this hip, new spot, but my favorite is two-for-one drinks on Sundays. Their selection isn’t skimpy, as you might expect from a reasonable joint – they have over thirty beers on tap. Plus, cigars are available and you can smoke them on their patio, if you’re into that sort of thing (I am). It is a drive from downtown, but the stellar Olympic-watching atmosphere is really unmatched in Tucson.

-Caroline Jackson, BRINKguide editor

17
Mar 2011
02:06 PM

BrinkGuide Goes Android

Hey all you Androidians or Apple Product dissenters out there: BrinkGuide is now available for the Android. (AWESOME!)

Now you too can access the only mobile vagabonding guide takin’ traveling back from the man! Available to download on your Android phone here.

23
Feb 2011
10:36 AM

This week’s tip: “Brink has posted something on your wall..”

We often get interesting questions from our clients on a wide range of web marketing topics. In this week’s tip, we share a recent social media quandry, with the hope you may benefit as well. Enjoy!

Dear BRINK,

I manage my company’s Facebook page which is used to communicate with our customers and fans. The problem is, when I go on other pages to post on their wall, or comment on pictures, the posts show up as coming from me, not our company… Is there an easy way to fix this??

Please help,

Frustrated with Facebook

*********************************************************************************************

Dear Frustrated,

There is a simple solution to your problem. On Facebook, any administrator of a page can click “Account” in the upper right hand corner – select “Use Facebook as Page” and then select the page you want to use (if you are an admin of multiple pages). Once you have enabled this feature, you can post on other pages as a page rather than an individual, and when you’re done, you can easily switch back to your personal account. Try it out – it’s as easy as pie!

Rock on,

BRINK

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21
Feb 2011
02:47 PM

6 ADDYs? Why, Thank You.

BRINK Takes It Home

What a night! BRINK was honored with 6 ADDY awards from the American Advertising Federation, Tucson at Saturday night’s ceremony, held at the gloriously deco Fox Theatre.

2 Gold ADDYs were awarded for The Last New Yorker website and The Killer Inside Me Pre-Distribution Campaign, 2 Silver ADDYs for BrinkGuide Mobile Applications and brink.com, 1 Bronze for the Kalamity Movie Poster, and 1 Best of Show for the Last New Yorker website.

Thank you to all of our clients, friends, and supporters. It’s an honor to be recognized by our marketing and ad agency peers!

Represent: The Brink Delegation at the 2011 ADDY Awards

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14
Jan 2011
09:27 AM

John Stewart Watches Tucson Mourn

6 days after the tragedy in Tucson, humor helps.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
Veiled Criticism
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog The Daily Show on Facebook
12
Jan 2011
10:50 PM

Thank You President Obama

Hang in there Gabby… we love you!

08
Jan 2011
11:48 PM

We Love You Gabby!

we love you Gabby

Hang in there. We are praying for you.

13
Nov 2010
10:58 AM

Taming Social

Properly managing your business’ various social media profiles/pages/accounts can be a daunting task. Luckily, there is help available: social media management systems that can save you time and help you achieve your goals.

Our own Joshua Belhumeur guides you through recommended tools and their features in this informative article from October 2010′s Inside Healthcare. Click here to get started.

11
Nov 2010
05:53 PM

Get to Know Him!

“Because once you can produce a film, you can produce just about anything – from websites to rabbits from boxes….”

Words of wisdom drawn straight from MO.com’s close-up interview with our intrepid leader, Danny Vinik, President and Founder of BrinkMedia. MO.com interviews entrepreneurs across industries and the globe to learn the habits, methods and business strategy behind their success. Danny’s wide array of projects, ranging from film production to art direction, certainly piqued their interest. Click here for more: http://www.mo.com/danny-vinik

07
Oct 2010
06:22 PM

Looking for a 2011 Calendar? This One’s a Hoot!

Mr. February

Mr. February

Shivani, the owl-loving author of My Owl Barn (www.myowlbarn.com) has created a charming, customizable, and totally totally free “Owl Lover 2011″ calendar, available for download here: http://www.myowlbarn.com/p/owl-lover-2011-calendar.html.

Ratchet up the charm and recession-proof your holidays by selecting your fave owl art for each month, printing on card stock, and tying up the whole package with a bow!

You’ve gotta admit – these are owl-fully cute ;)

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28
Sep 2010
09:30 AM

From social media to social movement, the story of the Stewart/Colbert rallies

Stephen Colbert Rally

How a grassroots movement calling for a satirical D.C. rally, in response to Glenn Beck, grew from a simple idea to reality (backed by Comedy Central stars Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert) through social media and the strong backing of the Reddit community.

This is the story of a brushfire. An early morning spark in the mind of an anonymous internet user, an idea kindled by an inspired web community. A movement that spread across multiple platforms within a day and received mainstream attention within four days. A raging fire that grew from inception to reality in just two weeks.

Embedded in this story are lessons on how a good idea, a crowd of motivated people, and a powerful medley of social media tools can spawn an entire movement.

—-

August 28

Conservative pundet Glenn Beck hosts a rally labeled “Restoring Honor” on the steps of the Lincoln memorial. The rally is criticized both for its chosen date (on the anniversary of the MLK “I have a dream” speech) and for its fear-based motivations. The rally receives substantial media attention and buzz across social network.

In the days leading up to and following the rally, the web community Reddit had multiple negative links and discussions regarding the rally including disgust over a YouTube video that featured interviews with a handful of ignorant and/or bigoted attendees of the Beck rally.

August 31

Reddit user mrsammercer has an epiphany and shares it with Reddit. He proposes that satirist Stephen Colbert should lead a faux rally in Washington in response to Glenn Beck. The community embraces the idea and “upvotes” (Reddit allows posts to be upvoted or downvoted to determine their prominence on the site) it to the front page of the site.

Members of Reddit spring into action and begin brainstorming ways to get Colbert’s attention. An unidentifiable number petition Comedy Central executives to garner attention.

Lesson 1: Movements need passionate and motivated organizers behind them in order to get any traction.

September 1

A website is setup to facilitate communications surrounding the rally and a Facebook group entitled “100,000 Strong to Restore Truthiness to the US Capital” is created. The term “Restoring Truthiness” is widely adopted by those impassioned by the movement.

The movement is also getting notable attention on Twitter.

September 3

The buzz gets loud enough to get the attention of a few major bloggers, most notably the Huffington Post. Reddit user mrsammercer creates a “subreddit” (a category on Reddit) named /colbertrally to facilitate all rally communications.

September 7

Through the website, Facebook group, and the /colbertrally subreddit, supporters of the movement organize and execute Operation Restoring Truthiness. The movement’s goal is to have the collective participants search for and post about the rally on Google and Twitter simultaneously in order to get the topic trending. It was an incredible success.

This spawned far more media coverage including Christian Science Monitor, Chicago Sun-Times, and NY Daily News.

Stephen Colbert first mentions the existence of the movement on his show. There are also hints by Jon Stewart that he will be making an “announcement” soon.

Lesson 2: The big key to unlocking media coverage for an internet-based movement is to become a trending or hot topic on major social media platforms. These are the modern press wires.

September 12

The New Yorker publishes an excellent article detailing their time spent observing Jon Stewart and his staff at work on The Daily Show. The article reveals that Stewart and his team were discussing the idea of hosting a rally in response to the movement, possibly calling it the “March of the Reasonable.”

September 13

Another coordinated movement is conceived. Operation Truthy Classroom coordinates Reddit users to contribute money to DonorsChoose.org, a charity that Stephen Colbert is personally invested in as a board member. The movement gets official endorsement by the Reddit Admins and surpasses its initial goal of $29,945 (to beat what Hillary Clinton was able to previously raise) within 8 hours. It would eventually go on to raise more than $250,000.

The administrators at Donor’s Choose vow to pass on news of the campaign’s success to Mr. Colbert.

Lesson 3: Putting your money where your mouth is legitimizes your movement and puts tangible numbers behind it.

September 14

Stephen Colbert sends a personalized letter to the Reddit administrators to share with the community thanking everyone for their generosity and proclaiming “we could stage a hundred rallies” with the momentum of the movement.

September 16

Jon Stewart announces that he will be hosting the Rally to Restore Sanity on October 30, 2010 at the Washington, D.C. mall during The Daily Show. Stephen Colbert then announces the March to Keep Fear Alive “competing rally” on the same date and location on his show, The Colbert Nation.

Success.

Reddit administrators create a special logo to commemorate the achievement and changed the site’s slogan to “Reddit – Where dreams come true.” Users still utilize the website to coordinate travel arrangements and share press surrounding the event.

—-

This story is both inspiring and revealing. Social media has changed the political and social game and paved the way for unprecedented reach. In particular, communities such as Reddit have shown, on many occasions, the ability to organize and focus the power of the collective towards single causes. Sometimes they are inspired by the desire to help, other times they are inspired by a longing for change, and still other times they do it for the lulz (to laugh about it).

In the end, possibly the greatest unknown arising from all of this is how an organizer can petition the community to support their cause to begin with. A good idea that meshes with the hive mind’s beliefs is necessary. But what is the ultimate catalyst for a movement? Or will it always be a matter of luck? Maybe.

What I do know is this: Reddit should savor the deliciousness of their monumental achievement. I will see you all on October 30th.

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29
Jul 2010
07:33 AM

The Man Your Man Could Smell Like

old spice man isaiah mustafa

Editor’s Note: If you have yet to see the latest Old Spice commercials be sure to check out their You Tube channel prior to reading on.

Hello ladies. It’s me, a somewhat average looking man sitting behind a computer writing a blog article. And while I don’t look like the Old Spice man, I can smell like him. That is, of course, if Proctor and Gamble can convince me to shell out my cash for a brand my grandfather probably used, and in an extremely competitive market none-the-less.

There is no doubt that the efforts of ad agency Wieden + Kennedy have made tremendous strides in rebranding Old Spice for a whole new generation. Unfortunately it would be impossible to quantify success in terms of sales for any one particular campaign given the extremely diverse promotional mix Old Spice has utilized. As many bloggers and media outlets are recently reporting, Old Spice body wash sales have more than doubled in the wake of their recent social media push (having Old Spice man Isaiah Mustafa answer fan questions in near real time via hilarious YouTube videos post over Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, and other social networks – click here to learn more). If causation were truly established, this would be a major landmark in propagating the legitimacy of social media as an advertising medium. It is already exceeding email advertising in terms of ad dollars spent; however, there are still many nay-sayers out there that don’t respect its potential.

But not so fast. As Fast Company points out, in the same period, sales of Gilette and Nivea increased tremendously as well, without the help of a brilliant social media campaign. All growth companies utilized a strong coupon campaign in the same period, which many argue is the real cause of that tremendous short term growth. As much as it pains me to say (full disclosure: I am a big advocate for new media), the data may not be there to support the proclamations of success after all. As advertising legend John Wanamaker famously stated; “I know half of my advertising dollars are wasted, I just don’t know which half.” The recent Old Spice advertising blitz is a perfect example of this.

However, whether or not there is proof that Old Spice has ultimately yielded groundbreaking success in terms of sales is almost irrelevant to me. There are so many factors that go into converting that final sale, from the effectiveness of the advertising to the packaging to (obviously) the product itself. As I previously alluded to, they are still hard at work trying to wash away that “grandfather” smell from the brand image.

The important take away here is that Old Spice had astronomical reach in their campaigns using social media, a relatively inexpensive format. Their YouTube uploads have garnered more than 115 million views to date; numbers analogous to a multi-million dollar Superbowl spot. Yet, even a small business could easily recreate such a campaign with the right creative partners. Sure, it is hard to reach the same notoriety without the supporting traditional media that a mega corporation like P&G has at their disposal, but imagine the sales potential in reaching even a hundred thousand users in your target market. We have seen many examples for years now. Old Spice has just introduced a great conversation piece in our industry and arguably the most well executed social media campaign to date.

Look at your social media strategy, then look at theirs, then back at yours, then back at theirs. You are undoubtedly envious of their success no matter what size your company is or what product or services it offers. The beauty of it all is that social media is unlocking advertising potential never before seen for the little guy. Imagine what you can do with a HD camera and a clever idea. If analyzing this campaign has taught us one thing, it is that creativity wins on the internet. I may not look like the Old Spice guy, and I don’t really want to smell like him, but I am certain that I have the potential to execute a social media campaign just as successful, and you do too.

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28
Jul 2010
03:23 PM

Because Some Jet-Setters Use Android

At BrinkMedia, we’ve been slaving away at our work stations to help you travel better.

Monaco Travel Guide QR Code

Scan this code with your Android, and get directed straight to the app!

We’re thrilled to announce the launch of the Android version of the Monaco Travel Guide, the definitive (and free!) mobile resource to Monaco’s best hot-spots. Built by BrinkMedia for the Monaco Government Tourist Office, this app follows on the heels of the guide’s successful release on iPhone.

To download the app, just scan the QR code to the right with your Android Barcode Scanner, or simply search for Monaco Travel Guide in Android Market.

All we ask is a postcard for our efforts. You’re welcome.

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24
Jun 2010
03:48 PM

Hooray for Tucson!

We hope that anyone considering a boycott of our lovely state in the wake of SB1070 will hear the news that the city of Tucson (homebase for BrinkMedia) is actually the first city to sue the state of Arizona over SB1070. The whole state is not some fox washed nut job right wing key hole, just some of it. And Tucson is 20 degrees cooler than Phoenix. So there.

24
Jun 2010
11:01 AM

Twitter Proof Your Site

Twitter's Fail Whale

As we all know, Twitter goes down very frequently. Twitter has released a useful tool to inform users about outages, planned or otherwise, but this is no help to the many websites that syndicate their Twitter feeds.

Too often the script that is pulling the Twitter feed triggers an error that can take down the entire page. One of the common culprits is the XML parser, such as DOMDocument. When Twitter goes down, all status feeds return the infamous “Fail Whale” HTML. This, of course, does not validate as XML and causes the parser to throw an error.

The best method to deal with this is to wrap all XML parsing in try/catch blocks and cache the Twitter feed. If Twitter goes down, you can display the cached copy of the feed.

This is good advice for anytime you find yourself syndicating a feed.

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21
Jun 2010
06:28 PM

It’s time for @font-face

@font-face

Since the beginning of the web, designers have struggled to use fonts on their sites, but have been limited to using the fonts that come installed with users’ operating systems. This meant that web sites had to use Arial, Times New Roman, or one of a handful of other “web safe” fonts. Of course there are ways around this – including creating graphics using a font, employing Flash to render the font (sIFR), and using proprietary browser-specific font embedding techniques. None of these options are even near perfect.

In 1998, the W3C added the CSS selector @font-face, which allows sites to point the browser to a font file, to the spec for CSS2. It was dropped from CSS2.1, but returned in CSS3. Although it took some time, it is now supported by all current browsers. Recently at Google’s 2010 I/O conference, they announced a free and open font library called Google Font Directory. The significance of this announcement is that Google (arguably the most important company on the web) has thrown their support behind @font-face. It was’t until Google supported xmlHTTPRequest (aka AJAX) that it became widely adopted and I think that this will also be true of @font-face.

The next obstacle to overcome is the licensing of fonts. Although you can use almost any font with @font-face, most fonts do not come with licensing that allows this. This is also why the Google Font Directory is so useful. All of the fonts in their directory are licensed to be used on commercial sites. Another great resource, that Brandon shared with me, is Font Squirrel. They have 633 fonts and counting, all of which have free licenses. They also have some great tools to sample fonts and create your own @font-face kits. From now I hope to see more site’s using great fonts.

It’s time for @font-face!

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02
Jun 2010
01:30 PM

Marketing in the New Economy

There was an advertisement in this month’s Entrepreneur magazine by a self-proclaimed business guru (to remain anonymous) in which he listed the new realities of the post-recession economy. The overall theme of how he framed this new economy is encapsulated in his first point: the purchasing power has returned to the buyer. What an interesting notion; not only the fact that the power has “returned” to the buyer, but the fact that at some point in time the buyer did not have power.

I respectfully disagree with him. The buyer always had the power. Maybe they were in weaker negotiating positions. Maybe they succumb to the allure of abundances a little too often and made unwise purchasing decisions. But they always had a choice, and that choice was shaped through the power of marketing. Whether in an unprecedented economic boom, the Great Recession, or a brave new post-recession world, in the end it is our job as marketers to convince consumers to buy what we are selling, and furthermore, it is our job as a marketers to sell what our customers need.

To say that the power was somehow in our hands, as if consumers were privileged to be purchasing from us, understates the work we do. Buyers always had the power, it is how they exercise that power that has changed.

I may not be a millionaire entrepreneur hocking self-help books in trade magazines, but I’ve got perspective as someone working on the front lines in the battle of consumer perceptions. So here it is, my one simple rule of the new economy: try harder. The only thing that has changed is consumers are spending less. So you have to try harder to convince them to purchase from you. Otherwise, the rules of marketing still apply.

Understanding your consumers needs and convincing them that your product can meet them is, and always will be, the rule of doing business no matter what the state of the economy is. Just be aware, your consumers needs are constantly changing. It is up to you to stay on top of them and to adapt accordingly. The businesses that failed to survive The Great Recession are the businesses that failed to meet the needs of the modern market, plain and simple.

Photo credit: d’n'c on flickr

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26
May 2010
06:21 PM

If we’re this fastidious about Press Kits, imagine our code and design!

The new BrinkMedia Press Kits came in today, so we had our Intern put on the White Gloves to prepare these glossies for shipment to Clients and Friends.

White-gloved Josh in action

26
May 2010
09:09 AM

Top Web Development/Marketing Resources

As a creative agency, in order to remain relevant and produce the highest quality web/interactive work for our clients, it is important we stay up-to-date on what’s going on within the industry. Whether it be the latest technologies that are emerging, the intriguing marketing research being conducted, or the buzz about what the key players are up to, no matter what your job description is, you should be well versed in all facets of interactive media: from planning and designing to developing and testing to advertising and promoting. Here are the resources we use at BrinkMedia.

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Industry Buzz

The importance of knowing what’s going on in the interactive and technology sector is vital for staying ahead of the game and identifying opportunities.

Tech Crunch (www.techcrunch.com)

This is the most popular and comprehensive blog on technology news. Articles include introductions of the latest start-ups and web applications, buzz about major industry players (both companies and individuals), and sometimes special exclusives that only the most powerful tech blog can obtain.

Mashable (www.mashable.com)

There is only one place you need to go to remain up-to-date on everything social media, and that is Mashable. Social media is the fastest growing segment of interactive marketing and arguably the most influential. A creative agency that is not well versed in social media is an agency that is falling behind.

The Next Web (www.thenextweb.com)

What’s going on in the world of web, from more of a business perspective. This blog is stratified into both technical categories and geography, giving you a broader view of what’s going on.

Twitter (www.twitter.com)

Yes, there is actually a use for this social media tool. Tweets are honest glimpses into what people are talking about. Using the right tools (check this article out) you can aggregate the topics that have the world tweeting and leverage that information for further research.

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Design and Development Trends

Sometimes creativity is the number one asset we can offer our clients. Arthur Koestler defined creativity as “[the] result of the intersection of two quite different frames of reference.” By examining design trends and investigating the work of other talented designers and visionaries, we can increase our personal arsenal of reference frames and likewise increase our capacity to be creative.

Smashing Magazine (www.smashingmagazine.com)

Smashing is a more comprehensive design and development e-zine, but we particularly like it as a resource for showcasing creativity.

Inspired Magazine (www.inspiredm.com)

The design inspirations in this blog reach beyond interactive to include film, television, and video games as well. Sometimes different media can provide the inspiration you need to try something truly groundbreaking.

Unmatched Style (www.unmatchedstyle.com)

A great resource for web design inspiration from around the world. This vast database of talent let’s the work speak for its self.

A List Apart (www.alistapart.com)

It is important to look at development trends as well. Understanding topics such as HTML5 and mobile development is pertinent to staying ahead of the game. A List Apart is a well respected e-zine focusing on the latest trends in standards-based HTML, CSS, and primarily front-end related topics such as usability and accessibility.

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Marketing

The primary thing that separates a web development expert from a amateur is a deep understanding of the marketing and business behind the services provided. There is a lot of beneficial marketing research being conducted regarding how users interact with the web in their day to day lives. We use this information for everything from client recommendations, to altering the way we develop, to setting up what skillsets we will be learning and hiring for over time. We subscribe to a simple axiom: know your customer.

eMarketer (www.emarketer.com)

Much of their great content is offered through a paid premium service, but there are many informative free articles as well that summarize the latest research collected. Subscribe to the eMarketer feed or follow their Twitter account to receive all of their free content as it’s published.

Hubspot Inbound Marketing Blog (blog.hubspot.com)

There has been a lot of talk about the concept of inbound marketing lately. Hubspot basically wrote the book on it. If you can look past their frequent product plugs, you can gain a lot of interesting insight from an industry leader via their blog.

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These are just a few of the resources we use on a day-to-day basis. We utilize Twitter and Google Reader to follow many different blogs at once and aggregate the information that is available. We want to hear from you, what web resources do you use?

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05
May 2010
04:11 PM

HTML5, One step closer to a standards-based web

The web is messy.

I am not talking about the mash-up of blogs, social networks, and sites dedicated to your kitten (and yes, she is adorable). What gives the web character is the ability to self publish: to be your own editor, your own designer, or your own reporter. I, for one, promote diversity and creativity.

What I am referring to is what the user does not see, an antiquated markup language that has not evolved with the web. Developers are forced to work around traditional HTML (intended for static web pages) in order to deliver rich media such as video, audio, and 3D renderings. This requires the use of proprietary technologies such as Flash, Silverlight, or Java. Nothing works for everyone. Nothing works consistently.

Because developers are using these proprietary solutions, rich media has yet to be a legitimate member of the semantic web. Using a source such as Flash is like bringing a sack lunch to a restaurant. No matter how common and recognizable the technology, it is still not on the menu. This creates three substantial problems: What if the user does not have the technology? How can we semantically understand the technology (is it a video, audio, perhaps a chat client)? What happens if this proprietary technology is not interoperable with other technologies?

Developers have been concerned with these questions as rich media technologies have grown in popularity along with the web standards movement, specially in the last seven years. It was when WHATWG decided to finally address it, and the W3C took notice, that we finally made progress. Enter HTML5.

Read More »

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23
Apr 2010
01:01 PM

JUST BE.

In the summer of 2009, BRINKMEDIA hopped over to Holland to shoot several promotional spots for The Netherlands Board Of Tourism & Conventions.

In one action-packed week, our crew went to over 100 locations throughout Amsterdam and Rotterdam, all in a tiny Euro Van with a built RED ONE Camera, Magliner and a full set of Primes.

Back home, the team went into post-production and edited two spots – one for the recreational tourist, and the other focusing on the international business travel.

The results, included below, speak for themselves.

Directed by: Danny Vinik
DIT: Jeff Flohr

Holland – Just Be from Brink Media on Vimeo.

Holland – Meetings and Conventions from Brink Media on Vimeo.

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22
Apr 2010
04:37 PM

Brink’s Latest Music Video Production

Corazón De La Realidad – Amparo Sanchez from Brink Media on Vimeo.

Sure, we’re incredible programmers, but did you know Brink also specializes in video production? Check out our latest project, a music video filmed in 2009 in collaboration with Amparo Sanchez and Calexico.

Corazón de la Realidad is the first single off of Tucson-Habana, Amparo Sanchez’s solo album in collaboration with Calexico’s Joey Burns. The video features faded, dusty snapshots of the American Southwest and landscapes of the Mexican Tojalabal. Magnificent trumpet playing by Jacob Valenzuela adds to the video’s melancholic beauty.

Directed by: Danny Vinik & John Silverstone
Edited by: Jim Rundel

15
Apr 2010
05:00 PM

BrinkMedia Gets Inside Healthcare

BrinkMedia’s in the press!

Our redesign of Casa Grande Regional Medical Center’s website is highlighted in Inside Healthcare’s March/April 2010 issue. BrinkMedia’s total rebuild of CGRMC’s site included a user-friendly interface and a custom Content Management System which allows hospital admins to control virtually all elements of the site for up-to-date content. Since the site now acts as the primary resource for current information, it reduces the number of inquiries the hospital handles via phone and email.

Take a look at Casa Grande Regional Medical Center’s new website at casagrandehospital.com.

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15
Apr 2010
10:51 AM

Cross Domain Scripting via Proxy

While working on the recently launched Desert Living Today, a constantly-refreshed tip sheet covering everything cool and newsworthy from around the Phoenix Valley, I ran into a problem.

The client wanted to include a widget that allowed users to sign up for their sister-site, Scoop Factory. Unfortunately the script that handles sign ups at Scoop Factory required POST requests. Using a post request from within DLT would have resulted in an awkward redirect and we didn’t want to send users from the page. Another option could have been using an iframe with the signup form inside, but the POST result would still be uncontrollable.

The perfect solution would be to use AJAX to send the POST request, but unfortunately sending ajax to another domain is forbidden because of the security vulnerability. Once HTML5 is here we will be allowed do this but I needed a solution today.

I found my solution in Ben Alman’s aptly named Simple PHP Proxy. All that is needed is an AJAX POST request to the proxy script passed the url of the external form via a GET variable. Simple.

Checkout the results at Desert Living Today 2/3 the way down the page. Put your email in the box and click “Sign Up” and your email is sent across the internet to Scoop Factory via the magic of Cross Domain Scripting.

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14
Apr 2010
06:11 PM

Magical, Revolutionary, Vanilla.

Since its unveiling, we’ve all known it to be a large iPod touch with little to no added functionality to make it a groundbreaking device. It’s hard for us “tech-types” to really be into something that’s just a larger version of what we’ve already got in our pocket. But, it’s not something to overlook just because it does not posses the power which we geeks crave.

Read More »

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