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September 10th, 2009 by Speed Budapest (Matt)

Fury over Mein Führer

Without a doubt the fastest way to generate masses of publicity is to do something or say something that is a bit weird or controversial.

Pop stars like Madonna and Michael Jackson have known for decades that controversy sells.  Why else would you choose to adopt a chimpanzee, bear a bleeding stigmata in a pop video or deny reports that you are a hermaphrodite.

Even politicians, such as David Cameron are getting in on the act. In a recent radio interview he commented that “Too many twits might make a twat”

But can you go to far in the quest for publicity? AIDS awareness campaigners in Germany may have done just that. The campaigners have launched an advertising campaign featuring mass-murders such as Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin and Saddam Hussein having sex.

The shocking  ‘Aids is a mass murderer’ campaign has not only been criticised for featuring these tyrants in such sordid scenarios, but also for stigmatising those suffering with HIV and AIDS.

Perhaps this was one idea that should have been dropped at the brainstorm stage?

April 3rd, 2009 by Speed Budapest (Matt)

The 60 sec tech bulletin

A brief look at three tech news stories that have grabbed our attention this week.

The World Wide Wait

Just 20 per cent of the world’s broadband users are enjoying connection speeds of 5Mbps or more according to research by internet performance firm Akamai. The report revealed that the average global broadband connection speed is a sluggish 1.5Mbps. (Techwatch)

Auf Wiedersehen Pet Shop Boys

YouTube has removed thousands of music videos in Germany, after a contract between YouTube’s parent company, Google, and Germany’s royalties’ collector, GEMA, expired this week. The move comes just weeks after the video site blocked all music videos to users in the UK. (FT Tech Blog)

A Second Life for Second Life?

The makers of Second Life, have brought in new leadership in an attempt to make real money from the virtual world. The company’s ambitious new CEO, Mark Kingdon, hopes to dramatically incease Second Life’s active userbase from 640,000 users to 6 million. (The Guardian)