U.S. beer baron Bud Light has taken its advertising creativity to new heights with an online campaign that puts you in the starring role. The company is offering its Web site users a chance to create a veeper: a virtual version of themselves that takes centre stage in a vignette that the user can share with peers. Through the Web site, users can store a digital photo – of themselves, their cat, dog, etc. – and can then write a script for the veeper to recite. The uncensored script can then be matched to the veeper’s voice, which is provided from several prerecorded options, including a Scottish brogue. Users can also make adjustments to the image so that the lips move in synch with the voice. Users can invite friends to view their veeper via an e-mail message, direct from the site. Users must be 21 and older to use the site. Visit
www.BudLight.com
for details.
Keep your four eyes on your own screen
Strange but true, a company in Japan recently developed a computer monitor that only reveals data to users wearing special eyeglasses. Tokyo-based Lizuka Denki Kogyo said that the system works by getting rid of the light-polarizing filtered screen in normal liquid crystal displays and instead transfers the filter into the lenses of glasses worn by authorized personnel. According to a spokesperson for the company, to others a user would look like someone with sunglasses working in front of a totally white screen. The gadget was developed to help companies keep sensitive information private in public areas. However, some security experts have shunned the concept, saying that that the measure would easily be defeated by anyone able to get a hold of a pair of the glasses. Some experts believe that even plastic 3D glasses could do the trick, because they too work by polarizing light. The screens and glasses are expected to be available at the end of this year, but there is no word on whether the system will be available in Canada.
Greek authorities axe gaming
Using a Game Boy in Greece last month could have landed you a jail sentence or a hefty fine. Greek Law Number 3037, enacted at the end of July, forbade electronic games with electronic mechanisms and software from public and private places, including PC games. According to Greek authorities, the law was introduced to curb illegal gambling in the country after the government found that some arcade parlours had modified electronic games to become gambling centres. Following petitions and legal action from citizens, the Greek government has now pledged that computer games are no longer illegal, provided the games are not used for gambling purposes. The Internet Caf
