Deep Bench

We actually shared this video/concept a few months ago, but figured it was worth throwing your direction again as we've seen it pop up again a few places. As staunch supporters of creative extremism here at Deep Bench, we love to see someone who was tired of an unsatisfactory product and simply decided to (creatively) do it better.

Definitely a cool concept in general, but evem cooler is that Dominic set out to change things rather than simply go along with something he didn't think was good enough. Innovators change the world, and we tend to support world-changing innovation.

Let us know what you think of Dominic's efforts by leaving a comment below. Know of any other sweet innovations you've seen/read about in the past few days? Tell us about it or drop a link in the comments section or hit us up on Twitter at @deepbench.

Oh, and for the original post on Gajitz.com, click the link here: http://gajitz.com/incredible-concept-bike-folds-down-to-size-of-one-wheel/

Call us crazy, but we thought this was an...interesting...approach to promoting Muscle Milk.

As far as I (Mike) am concerned, I'm not exactly sure if I'm seeing the objectives that led to this video being considered a viable strategy for promoting Muscle Milk. A few references to tight abs and his "Plymouth Rock" of a chest, yes, but I'm not quite seeing the overall connection between Pilgrims, Thanksgiving and Muscle Milk.

That said, it was pretty funny and well done.

What do you think? Am I missing something blatantly obvious or was this video just created for the sake of internet buzz (a la the Skittles website being converted to the Twitter search page for Skittles a few months ago?)

Drop some insight in the comments below. Probably while listening to the video one more time. Just because.

Oh, and we came across the video via this AdGabber post: http://bit.ly/7gHf9M

Not sure where we first came across this, but it's a humorous look at 8 ways to kill creative ideas.

Ideas are important. We could write 12 paragraphs (and possibly books) espousing their importance, but we'll keep it short.

Don't kill your ideas right away, and try to make sure that you recognize these potential idea-killers before the cat gets the mouse. Or the toilet gets the goldfish...or...something.

What do you think? Have you seen other examples of idea-killers that could've been included in this strip? Have you had your ideas killed by an iceberg or guillotine? Do you have tips and advice for the people struggling to keep their ideas away from the Big Bad Wolf's crocodile-shaped teeth?

Share your insight in the comments below and let us know what you think.

CanvasPop lets you upload and print images onto a canvas, which, for those who enjoy digital art but want it displayed on something a little more tangible than a computer monitor or flatscreen TV, could be a big deal.

A rolled 8x10 print costs $30 and a framed one starts at $49 according to the Mashable post, which can be read in full here - http://mashable.com/2009/11/18/canvaspop.

What do you think? Do you see yourself using the CanvasPop service and buying some digital prints on canvas? Can you think of a way it could be done better? Tell us what you think in the comments.

ReadWriteWeb throws out some graphs and stats regarding Twitter client use and which clients "active" users prefer. The full post featuring more explanation and a link to the rest of the Sysomos statistics can be read here - http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/twitter_users_and_the_third_party_clients_they_use.php - and might be worth the read.

You know, if you're interested in the whole "who uses Twitter and how" discussion.

Although the blue looks pretty crowded, it appears the yellow, green, and pinkish-purple sections have plenty of space for a unique logo color.

Of course, if you're a great designer, you might just take a blue logo and make it so good that it blows some of those other boring blues out of the water.

Either way, we thought the creative extremists we hold in such high regard might find this interesting. If you have thoughts/comments, let us know in the comment section below!

Original photo found here on Flickr: http://bit.ly/KKq8W

We love creative extremists at Deep Bench. That said, we certainly wish we would've thought of this first due to its extreme awesomeness.

THAT said, I (@mikebilleter) have neither the Roombas nor the technological know-how to make it happen (though I can't speak for @hughweber on this one...he probably could do it...). Regardless, we're glad somebody did it. From envisioning it to actually making it happen, these guys did an awesome job on this.

Hooray for creativity!

(OH, by the way, here's the link to the full story over at Gizmodo - http://bit.ly/XaFW3)

ReadWriteWeb has a solid recap of Razorfish's third annual FEED survey of "1,000 connected consumers," featuring some highlights of information as well as a link to the full report from Razorfish.

If you're in the social media/social marketing industry, both the recap and the full report are worth your time. You can check out ReadWriteWeb's analysis by using this link: http://bit.ly/3KyN8g

Did any of the numbers surprise you or are they what you expected to see? Is there any information or other charts/graphs you would've liked to see from the report? Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter at @deepbench. We'd love to discuss any/all of those questions with you.

Steve Rubel is one of those guys whose ability to envision potential internet trends is phenomenal (and in our opinion, he doesn't exactly get enough credit for it). While we recognize that they are only predictions, Steve's mix of seeing what's coming AND using the past to support his concepts and ideas makes just about any of his thoughts worth considering.

In this post (which is also an AdAge column this week) discusses two potential paths for that "Facebook" thing we keep hearing about, and his thoughts are worth the read. The full story can be found here.

On that note, what do you think? Is Steve's "Google Scenario" the more likely route for Facebook or is the "AOL Scenario" (cue Wilhelm Scream) the future of Facebook? Share your thoughts in the comments or on Twitter and let us know what you think!

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YouTube

In “United Breaks Guitars,” David Carroll skewers United baggage handlers for breaking his guitar. Mr. Carroll, a Canadian singer-songwriter, says the video has given his modest career a lift.

Although this should be surprising, it somehow is not. United Airlines earned itself some widespread criticism with a song and music video created by singer David Carroll. The song & video were created because United baggage handlers broke his guitar in front of his eyes and proceeded to make every effort to get the issue resolved extremely difficult.

For the most part, a music video with nearly 6,000,000 (that's six million) views bashing your customer service is not considered a thumbs up situation.

Now, if we ran United Airlines, we'd have done two things. 1) Done whatever it takes to improve customer service on all fronts. 2) Make a note to never screw up David Carroll's United experience ever again.

They didn't. They lost his bag. Here's the story in the New York Times: http://bit.ly/4pnnn5

So our deep and valuable insight for the morning is this: don't screw up after you've already screwed up badly enough in the first place. Especially when it's the one guy who pointed out (to millions of people) how badly you screwed up in the first place.

The good news? United's PR team gets a chance to prove it knows what it's doing. We bet they're glad to know they're a necessity and not a commodity in this economy.