Tag: jojobayvel.joannebayvel’bayvel

How many other things do we miss?

JoJo Bayvel2 Comments

 

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that 1,100 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by, and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace, and stopped for a few seconds, and then hurried up to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping, and continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried, but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally, the mother pushed hard, and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money, but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the most talented musicians in the world. He had just played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, on a violin worth $3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste, and priorities of people. 

The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?”

8 apps to “Instagram” your pics on mobile/PC – no need for an iphone

JoJo Bayvel1 Comment

Since Instagram has yet to offer an Android version of the incredibly popular photo-sharing app, Android users are always on the hunt for decent alternatives. But what about those who have neither an iPhone or an Android phone?

Here is  a list of 8 alternatives to Instagram, most of which you can access from your browser, and use to add cool and interesting effects to your images at the click of a button.

PicYou

With PicYou, the most recently launched of these sites, you can sign up using your Twitter or Facebook account to apply filters to your images, with a choice of eight cool vintage, sepia and grunge-like filters. What’s cool about PicYou is that you can apply the filter to the image with the dimensions as is, or you can add a Polaroid-like frame to the image, just as Instagram does.

If you do choose to use a Polaroid-like frame, PicYou also gives you complete control over which part of the image is cropped. After selecting your filter, you can add a title, tags, and auto-share the image with your connected accounts.

PicYou is also a social network unto itself, where you can follow other users, add images to your favourites (or ‘Like’ them), and leave comments. The site also makes it incredibly easy to share images posted on PicYou pretty much anywhere on the Web.

PicPlz 

While PicPlz is essentially a mobile app, there is no reason you can’t use the site without having access to the app at all. Simply uploading your images through the browser interface gives you access to all of PicPlz’s cool features. Apply one of PicPlz’s 11 filters, add a caption, and share the image with your followers. With PicPlz, you can choose whether or not to share the image across your connected accounts, including Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Tumblr, Posterous, Dropbox and Foursquare.

As with PicYou, the social aspect of PicPlz is just as integral to the site, with the ability to follow other users, add their images to your favourites, and leave comments. An additional feature available in PicPlz is the ability to create collections, so you can keep your own photo library a little bit more organized.

Photoshop

While Photoshop might not be web-based, there’s a one-click solution that makes it easy to apply the exact same filters to your images. Daniel Box put together a set of actions that mimic some of the filters available on Instagram. After applying the filter, you can choose to crop your image, and add a white or black border.

If you want more control over how your final image turns out, the How-To-Geek has put together a guide on how to get the Nashville and Lord Kelvin effects on your images.

Pixlr-o-Matic

Pixlr-o-Matic has a ton of features you can play around with. You can apply one of 25 filters, 31 film effects, and choose from 30 border styles. Upload an image from your computer, or even take an image with your webcam and experiment with the many effects the site has to offer. Once you have the image looking just the way you want it, you can save it to your computer, or save it online to the integrated storage service, imm.io. If you do choose to save it online, there is no way to delete the image from the site.

InstantRetro

You don’t have to sign up to use InstantRetro. You can simply upload your images and work on them straight away. Alternatively, if you want to share your images with your Facebook friends, you can connect your account to InstantRetro. The site is slightly different to the other options listed here. Rather than providing specific filters to apply to your images, you can tweak and adjust certain settings to give your images a vintage look. Once you’re done, you can save the image on the site, but can also choose to keep it private, viewable only to anyone who has the link.

Picnik

The online photo editor, Picnik has a few vintage e

ffects in its arsenal of features, including a 1960s look an

d cross processing, as well as a Holga and Lomo effect. The list of effects that are similar to Instagram isn’t too long, but the site also gives you access to basic photo-editing features includi

ng adjusting exposure, colors and sharpening, so you can

tweak the image  to your heart’s content.

Rollip

Rollip is another site you can use without having to sign up at all. It does things in a bit of a roundabout way, where you choose one of 40 filters, after which you can upload your image to see how it looks. You can then easily share the image on Facebook, or save the image to your computer to share wherever you like.

Tiltshift Maker

One of Instagram’s many effects, which isn’t available in any of the previously listed sites, is the tiltshift effect. If you want to get the tiltshift effect, the aptly named Tiltshift Maker gives you an easy way to get that unique, toy-like look that the tiltshift effect provides. With Tiltshift Maker, after uploading your image you can adjust the settings, widening the scope, and intensifying the blur, after which you can save the image to your computer.

Epic Fail on Nedbank on-line Mail server Homepage…. The Click through does not work.

JoJo Bayvel4 Comments

It is not often that I would pick out or blog about something I find in the digital/on-line marketing and advertising industry.

After all I have worked for a large corporate whose social media etiquette and pages leave much to be desired (something which has given me grey hairs a few years before they should appear.) Believe me I know people have picked up on, gossiped about and used as case studies the failures on this portfolio I ran. Yes, I did as much as I could in 8 months and increased stats, but STILL nothing was up to my standard of work and what I expect from social media and on-line marketing in 2012. One person can only do so much and checking copy and click thru’s when you are busy with strategies and concepts for 30 different products and departments is left to that 25th hour…. the one that doesn’t exist. So of course agencies are hired, for social media, copy writing, media placement, design, SEO, Google Adwords et al. and yet we still have these blunders. To me it is a case the Client Director meeting the client, pitching for the account, attending a few meetings and after awhile handing over to a graduate. Well in the case of digital marketing you can have several qualifications which will help but nothing beats experience and naivety is going to be an issue.

This is all said without malice as there are agencies I have worked with and dealt with who are BRILLIANT. Prezence, MoTribe, Lighthouse Digital, Aqau Online, Puruma, Text 100 and apurimacmedia.

BUT when opening my Yahoo mail and coming across this I was shocked. All click through buttons worked besides the “Get Started” button. For me its not to hard I will explore and try click the entire page… for the non tech savvy generation whom this ad is aimed at? Money down the drain, no ROI and I would love to know the click through rate.

Anyway here is the pic… what would you do if the “Get Started” button didn’t work?

Nedbank yahoo on-line page takeover

Follow me on Twitter @RealJojoBayvel

How to look good when you have a cold or flu this winter….

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Nothing knocks you down and out quite like a bad cold. Just because you don’t feel great, doesn’t mean you can’t look great. Follow these tips from makeup guru Bobbi Brown to look healthy, well and rested.

Double up on moisturizer
Sick skin means a dry, dull complexion. For an instant fix, Brown advises wearing two moisturizers at once. Apply a lightweight hydrating cream first, then layer on a rich balm. We like: Neutrogena Oil-Free Fresh Ultra-Light Moisturizer and Decléor Aromessence Essential Balm. “This combination smoothes and plumps skin, leaving it luminous and fresh,” says Brown. Be sure to down plenty of water— it will keep you and your skin hydrated.

Use concealer to hide a sleepless night
If you were up all night coughing, fake a restful night’s sleep by using a yellow-based concealer to neutralize any redness or darkness under your eyes. We like: Bobbi Brown Cosmetics Creamy Concealer Kit. Use a concealer that is one or two shades lighter than your foundation then layer on a yellow-toned powder on top. If you are porcelain pale, use a white-toned powder—yellow tones look unnatural on super-pale skin.

Stick to the makeup basics
The last thing you want to do when you’re feeling ill is apply a full-on face of makeup. Skip the excess cosmetics and just do the basics. Brown recommends spot-applying foundation to camouflage a red nose and swiping a peachy blush on the apples of your cheeks to fake a healthy flush. Finish off with a quick coat of mascara and a touch of gloss for a healthy and polished look.

Lauren Bosworth Hairstyles

Beryl cook’s wisdom to all you lovely ladies…had to share this one

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When I was in my younger days,
I weighed a few pounds less,
I needn’t hold my tummy in
to wear a belted dress.
But now that I am older,
I’ve set my body free;
There’s comfort of elastic
Where once my waist would be.
Inventor of high-heeled shoes
My feet have not forgiven;
I used to wear a six,
Now I wear a seven.
And how about those blasted tights —
They’re sized by weight, you see,
So how come when I put them on
The crotch is at my knee?
I need to wear these glasses
As the print’s been getting smaller;
And it wasn’t very long ago
I know that I was taller.
Though my hair has turned to grey
and my skin no longer fits,
On the inside, I’m the same old me,
the outside’s changed a bit.


But, on a positive note…
I’ve learned that no matter what happens,
or how bad it seems today, life does go on,
and it will be better tomorrow.

I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way they handle these three things:
a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.

I’ve learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you’ll miss them when they’re gone from your life.


I’ve learned that making a ‘living’ is not the same as making a ‘life.’
I’ve learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.
I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life just being a doormat.
You need to throw something back.
I’ve learned that to decide something with an open heart, you usually make the right decision.
I’ve learned that when I have pain, I don’t have to be one.


I’ve learned that you should reach out and touch someone.
People love a hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.
I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn.
I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.