An upcoming article in April’s Journal of Consumer Research will present recent research from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and the University of Waterloo, Canada that claims that exposure to images of corporate brands can effect how people think and work. The team conducted an experiment in which 341 university students completed what they believed was a visual acuity task, during which either the Apple or IBM logo was flashed so quickly that they were unaware they had been exposed to the brand logo. The participants then completed a task designed to evaluate how creative they were, listing all of the uses for a brick that they could imagine beyond building a wall. People who were exposed to the Apple logo generated significantly more unusual uses for the brick compared with those who were primed with the IBM logo, the researchers said. In addition, the unusual uses the Apple-primed participants generated were rated as more creative by independent judges. “This is the first clear evidence that subliminal brand exposures can cause people to act in very specific ways,” said Gráinne Fitzsimons. “We’ve performed tests where we’ve offered people $100 to tell us what logo was being flashed on screen, and none of them could do it. But even this imperceptible exposure is enough to spark changes in behavior.” Other than their defined brand personalities, the researchers argue there is not anything unusual about Apple and IBM that causes this effect. The team conducted a follow-up experiment using the Disney and E! Channel brands, and found that participants primed with the Disney Channel logo subsequently behaved much more honestly than those who saw the E! Channel logos. The researchers are quick to point out how this could be applied to both the advertising end of things by concentrating more on product placement than direct ad bombardment but also on how consumers could turn around and use established corporate logos to their advantage. “If you know you need to perform well on some task, say something athletic, you may want to surround yourself with images and brand logos that represent success in athletics,” Gráinne Fitzsimons said. In essence using the complex informational structure of a corporate logo to assist in creating a mental state streamlined for whatever activity you’re engaged in. Again from Wikipedia: A sigil (pronounced /’sɪdʒ.ɪl/ or /’sɪg.ɪl/; pl. sigilia or sigils) is a symbol created for a specific magical purpose. A sigil is usually made up of a complex combination of several specific symbols or geometric figures each with a specific meaning or intent. The term sigil derives from the Latin sigilum meaning “seal,” though it may also be related to the Hebrew סגולה (segulah meaning “word, action or item of spiritual effect”). The old Norse binding rune is an example of the idea. A sigil may have an abstract, pictorial or semi-abstract form. Allow me my moment on the soapbox, please: Not all technologies for hacking and influencing the brain are brand new developments. Many of them have been around for a while under funny names; however as advertising becomes more of a science in and of itself, more and more of these old technologies with funny names are going to show back up as useful techniques for worldchanging under new names, and generally in the service of organizations that have a very clear image of what they want to world to be like. Or, as Grant Morrison once said: Because Coca-Cola have got the secret, these people know what we’re talking about here because what you do is you create a sigil, Coca-Cola is a sigil, the McDonalds ‘M’ is a sigil, these people are basically turning the world in to themselves using sigils. And if we don’t reverse that process and turn the world in to us using sigils, we’re going to be living in fucking McDonalds! Magic is accessible to everyone, the means of altering reality is accessible to everyone, and when everyone starts doing it we’re going to see our desire manifest on a gigantic scale. Me? I think it’s pretty Grinder to try and find these technologies for mindhacking that are out there and available to everyone. It’s obvious that the PR firms and corporations who have yet to provide safe automobiles, cheap medicine and clean water much less jet packs and flying cars are using these tools — no matter what they call them.

			Apple world's most innovative company Apple is the most innovative company in the world, Google second, report explains Jonny Evans Apple is the world's most innovative company, with Google a close second, according to BusinessWeek. The magazine has released its list of the 25 most innovative companies, which features Apple, Google and Toyota in first, second and third place, respectively. The list is based on companies who have developed the kind of corporate culture that values creative people despite economic concerns; it also praises companies that retain their independence when it comes to forming corporate strategy and who foster diversification in their business. Innovation is key to success. Apple CEO Steve Jobs recently once again explained his company strategy once again will be to innovate its way through recession. Speaking to BusinessWeek, Google CEO (and Apple board member) Eric Schmidt said the same thing. Strong companies understand this, and during a recession, they invest. And they get pummeled for it: `How could you do this? You're arrogant. The world is falling apart.'" Results were compiled by the Boston Consulting Group from recommendations made by executives.

			O2 UK offers mobile broadband deal Access internet using 3G, WiFi, GPRS, EDGE and HSDPA for £20/month Jonny Evans O2 UK has introduced O2 Mobile Broadband, a service which offers customers internet access through 7,500 WiFi hotspots across the UK. The service, which means users can visit any location offering WiFi connectivity through The Cloud network costs from £20 per month.

			Doubts arise over Mac Clone's legitimacy Confusion as to nature of claimed clone maker Jim Dalrymple, Macworld.com Just days after announcing plans to sell a $399 computer capable of running Mac OS X, a Miami company had already temporarily shuttered its online store while changing its physical address multiple times. The online store for Psystar, which is offering an OS X-compatible product it bills as Open Computer, was down for a good part of Wednesday. A note on the company's site cited an inability to process credit card purchases as the reason for the closure. As this story was posted Wednesday evening, Psystar's online store had reopened. But that was just one twist in the increasing convoluted saga of the company that hopes to sell a Mac clone in apparent challenge to Apple's end user license agreement for OS X 10.5. Readers of Gizmodo, checked on the physical address listed for Psystar on the company's site - a challenging task since that address listing has changed three times over the last few days. The first address for Psystar led readers to a residential neighborhood, while the second was for a packing supply company where representatives of the packing company had never heard of Psystar. Since Gizmodo's initial report, the address listed on Psystar's site had changed a third time to an address about ten miles from Miami International Airport. Psystar entered the limelight Monday when it announced plans to sell OS X-equipped hardware for "less than a fourth" of the cost of a high-end Mac. The basic configuration offered by the company features a 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 Processor, 2GB of RAM, and an integrated Intel GMA 950 graphics processor. Apple has remained silent on Psystar's efforts, though the license agreement for OS X forbids users from installing or running the operating system on "any non-Apple-labeled computer" or enabling others to do so." A Psystar representative vowed to challenge that license agreement in an interview with InformationWeek.

			Fox, Paramount sell new films through iTunes Fox, Paramount and Disney now offer new release films for purchase through iTunes US Jonny Evans Twentieth Century Fox and Paramount have joined Disney to offer new release films for purchase through iTunes in the US. It's a major step because Disney was, until now, the only major studio to offer its new releases in this way. Fox began offering Juno for purchase earlier this week on the same day it shipped the movie to retailers. Paramount meanwhile is offering Beowulf for purchase (this shipped on DVD in February in the US). A Fox representative told Variety it’s "likely" the studio will offer more new releases for sale in the future, while Paramount is currently only “experimenting” with selling new release films on iTunes, according to a studio spokesperson. Fox was the first studio to offer a digital copy feature that enables purchasers to legitimately transfer films from Blu-ray discs to Apple devices; Lionsgate has since followed suit.

			UK House Prices Widget About UK House Prices Widget Keep in touch with house price trends in your area. The widget gives average house prices broken down by property type in the location you select. It also indicates both the monthly and annual change in average prices. You can also display data by region or for all of England and Wales. Details are automatically updated each month based on actual sales.

			Hi Will I am still loving your podcast.  Knowing your love of Widgets I thought that you might enjoy this one. http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/justforfun/eyes2homeriswatchingyou.html Yours in fun. The forum cat.

			Hey Will, I'm enjoying now BritishMac064 Pronouciation of proost: The way you pronounced 'proost' in #64 is not correct: The 'double-o' in proost is pronounced like the single 'o' in the English word *o*ld PROOST again! Fred

			Hi Will Good to hear you back on the airwaves. I think I must have missed the reason for you now living in a caravan although I do remember you mentioning something about a Non-disclosure agreement. Are the two connected? Are you conducting hush-hush experiments for Apple at a secret location in the West Country. I think we should be told. I have a quick question which I'm throwing your way because I know you do a lot of audio work on your Mac. I have a couple of mic/headsets that I plug into the line-in socket on my MacBook Pro, which is running Leopard, but neither will produce audio input from the microphone. I've changed the settings in System Preferences to "line-in" but to no avail. However, if I plug my guitar into the same socket, the audio input is picked up. I called Apple support and they mumbled something about installing Tiger on an external drive and trying that, but that seems a bit long-winded. They also mentioned something about the difference between an analogue and a digital cable but I think they didn't know what they were talking about at that stage and I'm bloody sure that I didn't. Can you shed any light? Should I be able to plug any mic into the line-on socket on a MacBook Pro and get the audio working? I've searched the forums and the best I can find is some mention of the difference between a line-in and a mic-in socket, one needing additional power to work. Confused? I am. If you have time to point me in the right direction I'd be eternally grateful. Indeed, I'll offer you my wifi connection if you're ever in Basingstoke and want to park outside and download your e-mails ;o) Lastly, the pub featured on the "Mac and Mouse" part of your web site is, as I'm sure you know, the Square and Compass at Worth Matravers. Arguably the very best pub in the world, I am sure you will agree. I'll be down there this weekend so if you're in the area and fancy a pint of Guinness... Cheers! Gavin

			Another cracking podcast, I think the Tony Hart program I remember was Vision On, and it was an early program that had a deaf hand signer! We always substituted what was being said with and sorry we can't return your pictures as we've burnt them! lolz Bad aren't we! Say hi to the Ducks Gazmaz

			Dear Will, With the iPhone SDK now announced, I wonder if there are any volunteer developers looking for a worthwhile iPhone project? I am a big fan of a Windows-based game called "Slay" written by Sean O'Conner. Sean's game has simple graphics but is one of the most addictive and fun games I have played. It is turned based, with many levels, involving knights, castles and so on. I would love to have it on my iPhone. I have been in email contact with Sean and he has expressed an interest in porting it over to the iPhone but is concerned that he he does not have experience of programming on the Mac or the iPhone. I wonder if there is a programmer out there who would be willing to help him? I could put you in touch. Here is a link to Sean O'Conner's website: http://www.windowsgames.co.uk/ With best regards, Tom "long-time British-Mac listener"

			Will, No, thank you for a superb podcast, always irreverent and funny yet interesting and informative at the same time. In fact my mother had the good fortune to listen to your last episode yesterday, while I had the misfortune of ferrying her to Milton Keynes. Her only response was “who is this strange man that keeps playing all these weird jingles? You do listen to some rubbish.”, which just goes to prove that most people have no taste. Keep up the good work. Regards, Mike

			Hi Will, Hopefully your caravan survived the gales! My ISP has kindly let me know that they have upgraded my account free of charge to 8MB from 2MB - whoopee! But, as I explained to their highly excited representative who was trying to sell me a phone package as well, my house is still as far away from the local exchange as it was before the upgrade and I therefore receive half-a-meg and still pay the full price. Anyway, what this is all leading to is I remember you saying you were going to get hooked up to a mobile broadband service and I was hoping you would be able to let us know how it went, especially attaching it to the Mac. I have a mate who lives in a neighbouring village who has the same problem with broadband (he has a really powerful quad-core Dell PC and he reckons the street lights in his village dip when he switches it on)  and he has checked the coverage for our villages and it should mean we receive pretty good mobile speeds, especially in comparison to the half-a-meg. Thanks for a great podcast and it is good to see you back. Regards Murray

			Flanders and Swann

			The British duo "Flanders and Swann" were the actor and singer Michael Flanders (1922–1975) and the composer, pianist and linguist Donald Swann (1923–1994)

			Mike Cook Alec Clifton Taylor next week