The Adams Family’s pet hand makes me smile. The hand in the new Office Depot commercials makes me cringe.

Why?

I think it is because Thing was portrayed as a dog; friendly, always getting involved with wild shenanigans, and helping out when the Family was in a bind. The audience developed a relationship with the character even though Thing never said a word.

The Office Depot hand is just freakish. It represents a crazy productive employee helper. It pops out of the box like it was invited to the party and people smile.

Something is just off. It doesn’t work for me.

The new 5th generation Apple iPod with video is a sweet little machine. However, if you are like me and purchased the smaller, flash-drive based iPod Nano we are stuck with a videoless device.

Until I figured out a little iTrick.

My company does a lot of video and motion graphics in Macromedia Flash. A technique in Flash is to keyframe consecutive photographs to give the illusion of motion or video. I used this on HotDogWear.com to show a package of hot dogs flipping over.

I was constantly needing to show prospective clients small samples of our motion work so I utilized the same principle on my iPod:

1. Open Quicktime. You may need the full QuicktimePro.
2. Open the video you would like to play.
3. Select Export.
4. Create a new folder on your desktop and give it an applicable name.
5. Select “Movie to Image Sequence”
6. Click “Options” and select a frame rate of 6 frames per second (the higher the frame rate, the greater the number of images).
7. Save to your new folder.
8. Put the new folder onto your Nano as you would any other collection of photos.
9. On your Nano, go to the new folder and rotate your finger around your clickwheel.

Yeah, I know…no audio….You could always load an mp3 onto your iPod an try to sync it up but that would be pretty high maintenance.

Think of it as a digital flipbook. A novelty of sorts.

~ David Tisdale

Poor, Poor Krispy Kreme. They have come upon hard times. But didn’t someone think it was weird that a doughnut company was trading for $60 a share? I mean c’mon. Even Dunkin’ Donuts, the sellers of horrible room temperature doughnuts, figured out you can’t make a living on doughnuts alone…you have to partner with an ice cream company.

There is nothing like a Krispy Kreme doughnut. It is a dream product. Perfection in it’s industry. Many people don’t realize that the Carolina-born treat has evolved into a multi-cultural phenomenon. Over here in the U.S., the once pristine Krispy Kreme brand has been damaged by corporate scandals, and lawsuits from their franchisees. But, overseas, there is a new customer base in the that doesn’t care about any of the internal workings of a company that makes damn good pastries.

The U.K. is a big fan of the neighborhood bread and pastry venue. With places like Greggs and Pret-a-Manger
(now owned by McDonalds) on every corner, Krispy Kreme has the potential to expand as far as Starbucks with the brits.

The interesting thing about the whole Krispy Kreme enterprise overseas is that their doughnuts are perceived as delicacies…a “specialty shop” of sorts. A Krispy Kreme location over there would be like a Godiva Chocolateers or Haggen Daas location over here. High-end Shopping Malls, busy pedestrian centers, etc. Londoners so much more active than Americans they never worry about sitting on their rumps too long and adding another love handle…which is a big reason for the Krispy Kreme U.S. decline. Damn Atkins diet.

I am interested to see how the company progresses in coming years and if the overseas market compensates Krispy Kreme’s stateside shortcomings. The stock is trading at $4.95 at the time of the entry. Click here
to check it now.