It seems brands are struggling under the burden of social networking and the pseudo-power it has put back in the hands of the consumer. They will sit in their boardrooms with Marketing Execs, Creative Directors and MBAs... fully qualified and educated people coming up with great ideas. They will unleash these business-savvy and creative campaigns on the world, but then they will run scampering to the hills when a small, usually uneducated, vocal minority start bleating on Facebook.

STOP IT!
Stick to your guns!

Fritolay recently ran into the same cyber-bullies as the Woolworth's Christian magazine debacle. They recalled biodegradable chip packets because people complained about how noisy they were??? WTF? Sometimes brands need to grow some LOGICAL balls and stand by their decisions. Just because some vocal muppets on an SM platform complain DOES NOT MEAN ALL YOUR CUSTOMERS WILL BOYCOTT YOUR ASS! 
Read the full story HERE.

"Fools talk, cowards are silent, wise men listen."

Let the fools talk. It's the Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory. It's like brands and the people that manage them online are bloody n00bs to the Interwebz. If the person managing your social media has never been a moderator, or at least a heavy user on forums or IRC before, then they will be terrified little babies when faced with interwebz douchelords. I've seen a thousand of these loud-mouthed fuckwits in my time and they are just bullies (In fact I may even be one of them lol). Stand up to them - use logic and reason - and they will succumb. Unfortunately, the squeaky wheel always gets the oil. 

You get gadgets and then you get GADGETS. How about a wi-fi connected quadricopter that you can control with your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad (apparently Blackberry, Windows Mobile and Android are coming too) with 2 onboard video cameras... AND you can battle with a friend? Hmmmm, how about that? CHECK IT OUT: http://ardrone.parrot.com/parrot-ar-drone/usa/ This gets a massive ^^5)( from me. That's a Double High Five Chest Bump and I'll add in a BOOYAAA!


Check this battle vid: 



If they add in a microphone/speaker function for yelling out shit like "WOOF!" when hovering over the family cat, then this will be one of the ultimate gadgets... okay, wait, if it fetched a beer from the fridge too then I'd marry it.

I commented on Imiel's blog recently, but thought it would make a nice post anyway. I'd love to hear your thoughts too, so please comment.

Here's Imiel's blogpost titled "When two mature persons are in love – by OSHO"

And here's my response: "Dude, I love it... but I also disagree to some extent. I understand true love and giving without asking for anything in return. Selfless love is definitely a higher state of being and we should aspire to it, but it is rare (mother and child is the most perfect example though). Relationships and humans are MUCH more complex than being able to simply say LOVE without asking for anything in return. A relationship is not entirely about love. Love is the supreme bond, but a relationship requires a lot more than love. Friendship, companionship, affection, trust, truth and lies, sex, parenting, values, life philosophies, morals, intellectual stimulation, conversation, work and play, music, spirituality/religion/beliefs, passion, silence, happiness, sadness, compliments, arguments, personality... it goes on. 


One does not have a relationship purely based on love. You may give love selflessly, but what if they want more than love... what if you want more than love. Is love enough? I don't think so. Love is fueled by all these things, but it is not the sum of the parts. You can love someone as much as you want, selflessly, without expecting anything in return, but you still feel longing, or you still have needs that must be met. If not met, love will wither and die. And I don't think it fully relies on maturity either. No one is "mature", we're all learning and changing all the time. The trick is to align all of the stuff I've mentioned with someone else, grow and learn together, be together... love is sometimes placed on a pedestal. What is love after all? How do you define love? Is it worship? Is that too much? Is it absolute? Is that too much? What is too much love and what is too little? Is it a need, a lust, a passion? To me, love is companionship... a life partner, someone that complements your being. It will not be perfect, nor without passion and even hatred at times, but when you think about it, you love that person because of who they are and who you are because they are with you, and moreso, you love BOTH OF YOU together. 


Maybe I'm not enlightened enough, but giving love selflessly has lead me into trouble before. It is abused. A mature love is one where your needs and wants are also met and you're clever enough to know when they aren't. If your needs and wants and love are not met, then how can you possibly GIVE SELFLESS LOVE, because you will need that love for yourself. You can only give love once you love yourself entirely, then you give it as a gift, not expecting anything back, but it's just stupid to be in a relationship where you are the one giving and the other is taking. It's not healthy for you. As the post says though... two mature people. But as I say "mature" people are rare, if not non-existent. Humans are not and never will be perfect and wholly capable of selfless love (mother and child excluded). It's a continuous dynamic battle of give and take... and balance is what we should seek, not 100% giving. Seek to give, but also seek to receive. The world usually balances out and if you do give, you'll find that you do receive... and I won't feel guilty that I require reciprocal love. There ya go though, maybe I'm just not enlightened enough, but I truly feel that the recipe I have come to through my lessons is working quite well. I give... A LOT, it's in my nature, but it's not free. I don't expect a credit/debit style of payment at all, but I do expect my own personal needs and wants and passions to be met too. I simply can not give love otherwise. Love is a precious thing and I don't believe you should give it away freely. Love, like trust, must be earned. IMHO."

Listening to Kieno Kammies on 702 and they are discussing Jealousy in Relationships. Here's my response:

Trust must be earned and not freely given! Until you earn my trust I refuse to trust you. I don't think this is an illogical nor emotional decision. Earn my trust and Keep my trust, then you have free reign. Break my trust and I will never trust you. I have 'To thine own self be true' tattooed on my chest because the minute you lie to anyone, you are lying to yourself and therefore you can't give people your trust until you know that they are being true to themselves... otherwise EVERYTHING is a lie. And everyone loses.

"This above all: to thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man." - William Shakespeare - Hamlet. Polonius' advice to his son Laertes.

I live by absolute, brutal, honest truth with myself, so deception cuts close to the bone. When you are a true and honest person, and you live your life like an open book - heart on your sleeve and all that - you expose yourself to fallible humanity. And we are all fallible.

It's a tough road to walk, but in the end, truth and trust are intricately linked.

Last quote: "If you are speaking the truth; you don't have to remember anything." - Mark Twain.

If all of humanity could just start being true to themselves... I'll leave you with that.