If you follow this blog regularly, you already know that I have a thing for ads.

A powerful ad relies on a blend many factors: a compelling message, an original concept, the ability to shoot and cut a film, the capacity to telling a story, originality, conciseness… just to name a few. A powerful ad -- at least to me -- is a form of art on its own.

The ad here below was done by the Anderson M Studio for the Te Kaunihera Pukapuka o Aotearoa (yes, I know… I could have used the English name for it… but would you have clicked the link, then?) who states:

Like no other human activity reading opens up our imagination. It enables us to understand those around us. It allows us to project the future and reach back into the past. Reading can entertain, challenge and educate. We believe that reading can transform people’s lives. Our mission is to inspire more New Zealanders to read more.

In my opinion, the only shortcoming of the ad are its sound effects: too many, too heavy, too loud… (it makes difficult to follow the narrating voice) but other than that, I find the ad to be awesome!

There are some times in life, when one feels the need for new emotions, ideas, inspiration and insights. A book is one great and indispensable source for that but most books will probably require dedicating some hours before one sets foot in the author’s world of ideas.

What if your time is so valuable that all you have was 18 minutes?!

In this case, I go to TED!

A few years ago a colleague of mine introduced me to this website by forwarding the link to the following talk:

Read the rest of this entry »

Social and economical costs of road accidents are huge, even more so in industrialised realities such the USA or the EU.

According to the report linked above, “The socio-economic cost [of road accidents] is estimated to be about 2% of a country’s gross domestic product. For European Union countries alone, this means about €180 billion – twice the Union’s annual budget.”

But the real surprise comes a few lines further down the report: “Reducing the average driving speed by 3 km/h would save [...] €20 billion in crash costs.”. Have difficulties figuring how much money is that? Just think that according to the FAO (The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations) that is about what it takes to eradicate world hunger. Think about it: if Europeans drive 3 km/h slower, we will eradicate world hunger. It seems a good deal to me. Read the rest of this entry »