Welcome to Alex LOGIC

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Alex LOGIC consulting services to the Rescue!

In the past few months, I have shared...
  • flaws regarding Canon's Image Browser software upgrade for Snow Leopard with Canon's corporate office,
  • a stat counting idea to Blog Tracker, (which was enthusiastically incorporated by Blog Tracker into their design and I thank them as the upgrade then benefited all blog tracker users including myself),
  • that KNBC streamline their page loading by not using high resolution images that were only displaying at a thumbnail size but slowing down the loading time for other portions of their web page,
  • with an online news station that their Moveable type software had a significant software glitch that resulted in cross over accessibility from one blogging account to other blogging accounts.
One neat result of doing this type of "consulting" was learning that M.T.E. means Middle Technology Evaluation. Perhaps I am an M.T.E.C, a Middle Technology Evaluation Consultant.

I don't bring this stuff up to be a braggart. I have come to realize that it is possible to do for others and come away with nothing in return simply because that is sometimes how the world works. Corporations generally don't ask their employees to give external credit even if a thank you is appropriate.
If you have a history of being a helpful person, you don't have to scream it out, but don't be shy about keeping a record of it somewhere, especially if you have helped a business or a corporation.
Eventually, you may require help yourself and if nobody has heard about you or what you are about, you may end up feeling like you were unfairly treated in life when the reality was you kept quiet about the good things you did for others.
Although I truly believe in the more you do for others, the more you get back, the internet does not necessarily work that way. Keep track of what you do that you believe to be righteous, because nobody else will.
One subset of being creative is noticing what works, and what doesn't, when attempting to use the internet tools being provided by others. Discovering four internet functions that could be improved and sharing those observations with M.T.E. (middleware technology evaluation) is one way I give back.

If you are planning on creating or broadcasting a commercial and want an objective, outsiders point of view about your commercial, contact Alessandro Machi about his consulting services at...

info at alexlogic.com

You can also view more
commercial critiques
by Alessandro Machi at

Friday, March 12, 2010

First it was Sour Patch Kids Bicycle Commercial, now its Vh1 One hit wonders number one songs.

This is now the second time in a week I am identifying a successful television production that has no simultaneous internet presence. First it was the Sour Patch Kids Bicycle television commercial, now it is VH1's one hit wonders, number one songs, 2010.

There is a VH1, one hit wonder, top one hundred show from 2009, but those are comprised of one hit wonder songs that were popular, but did not necessarily reach number one.

VH1 has come up with a clever variation on the one hit wonder theme. This one is a television special about one hit wonders that made it all the way to number one. For me it is definitely a revisit down memory lane. I find the show so emotive I kind of wish they could have used these songs in some kind of a back to the future movie.

Ironically, Hot Tub the movie is coming out in a couple of weeks and that movie goes back to the future so to speak and uses 80's music. Maybe someone could write a script about going back in time and they realize that all of these one hit wonders are not going to have their songs released because of a huge contract given to one of the biggest stars around. Either all these artists get their one hit of fame, or none of them do and the biggest star on the planet just gets a bit bigger.

Ok, now go write it. (ha ha). Ok, I'll even contribute the ending. It's 10 years later and the big star, who our back to the future star was able to quell and let all of these other performers get their one number one hit, is now involved in a life threatening situation and in an ironic twist of fate, all the of one hit wonders who have moved on to other non music industry careers help save the celebrity just because of the work they now do.


If you are planning on creating or broadcasting a commercial and want an objective, outsiders point of view about your commercial, contact Alessandro Machi about his consulting services at...


info at alexlogic.com

You can also view more
commercial critiques
by Alessandro Machi at

The Shin Soo Choo Solution. Solving how to keep Shin Soo Choo playing baseball in America uninterrupted by his South Korean military duty requirement.

I am a fan of major league baseball and a Shin Soo Choo fan. I also believe there is a solution to keep Shin Soo Choo playing baseball with the Cleveland Indians without forcing Mr. Choo to serve two years of military duty in South Korea before he reaches the age of 30.

A huge part of my media consulting services is offering ideas that solve problems. My solution should make every side happy in the ongoing drama involving Shin Soo Choo and whether Mr. Choo can continue to play baseball in america, without having to stop for two years to fulfill his military service requirement in South Korea.

In this instance, payment for my consulting services would not enough. I would need to know that if my solution works, that Shin Soo Choo and the Cleveland Indians can agree on a long term deal as well.

If I sold my solution to Choo's agent, Scott Boras, and Mr. Boras successfully used the idea to allow Mr. Choo to keep playing major league baseball uninterrupted, Mr. Boras could also use the success of the idea to extract millions more money from the Cleveland Indians.

As a fan of the game, a fan of Shin Soo Choo, and a fan of smaller market teams holding on to their talent, that would not be an acceptable outcome for me. Mr. Choo should be rewarded for being a fine major league baseball player, but right now Mr. Choo's future is clouded.
If no solution is reached, Mr. Choo's value could plummet if he returns to serve two years of military service in South Korea. What is needed is a measured, reasonable response by all parties that in kind benefits everybody, and I believe I have that solution.




If you are planning on creating or broadcasting a commercial and want an objective, outsiders point of view about your commercial, contact Alessandro Machi about his consulting services at...

info at alexlogic.com

You can also view more
commercial critiques
by Alessandro Machi at

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Tough Times lead to local innovations, Semi Trucks that serve as Parked Billboards.

Click on Image to Enlarge.

At first glance, it's just an 18 wheeler parked at an angle. Well, that wasn't the real first glance. The image above is a strategically shot camera angle that shows the 18 wheeler in just the right perspective so that it just looks like an innocently parked 18 wheeler.

But it is not just an innocent looking 18 wheeler parked at an odd angle for no reason. There is actually a very important reason this innocent looking 18 wheeler is parked at an odd angle.

Click on Image to Enlarge.

At second glance, which was actually the first glance while I was driving and what motivated me to stop and shoot these photos, this innocent looking 18 wheeler actually has two huge, colorful sides that double as billboards.

Notice how both cars driving by in the picture below have their brake lights on. They have their brake lights on because they have slowed down to look at the side of the truck that has now become a temporary billboard.

Click on Image to Enlarge.

What is even more striking is everything around the billboard has a neutral color tone to it. The color from the billboard just pops off side of the truck. And when magic hour hits, the image jumps out that much more.

As spectacular and visually enhancing as the placement of the truck and the billboard found on both of its flanks is, one flaw is the cars have already driven by the supermarket parking space just as this sign comes into view. Most cars probably won't turn around and go back, at least not the first time they see the billboard. But by the third or fourth drive by, they might.

This is what enterprising businesses do in tough times, they figure out ways to stretch a dollar. This is also what I do, I notice these kinds of things.


If you are planning on creating or broadcasting a commercial and want an objective, outsiders point of view about your commercial, contact Alessandro Machi about his consulting services at...


info at alexlogic.com

You can also view more
commercial critiques
by Alessandro Machi at

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Facebook to the rescue, Betty White on Saturday Night Live! What about Abe Vigoda?

Alex LOGIC is an Abe Vigoda and Betty White fan. When the facebook page for Betty White on Saturday Night Live appeared, I joined, and had already written three articles in support of Abe Vigoda, and then Betty White, as being hot properties.
Congratulations to the facebook group for pushing Betty White over the top, and congratulations to Saturday Night for taking notice.


If you are planning on creating or broadcasting a commercial and want an objective, outsiders point of view about your commercial, contact Alessandro Machi about his consulting services at...


info at alexlogic.com

You can also view more
commercial critiques
by Alessandro Machi at

Monday, March 8, 2010

OLD SPICE "I'm on a horse" commercial bringing down the house.

The man your man could smell like.
Wieden and Kennedy of "Just do it" Nike fame have struck gold again with this Old Spice "mansterpiece". Isaiah Mustafa stars in the commercial and is a former NFL football player.

As engaging and classically trained this over the top performance is, there are many other aspects to this commercial that make this commercial one of my all time favorites.
You can also check out "the making of" the Old Spice commercial with Leo LaPorte in the above youtube clip. Do you think the entire commercial was made in one take, or was it done with CGI? Leo Laporte interviews the ad agency executives in charge to find out.


If you are planning on creating or broadcasting a commercial and want an objective, outsiders point of view about your commercial, contact Alessandro Machi about his consulting services at...

info at alexlogic.com

You can also view more
commercial critiques
by Alessandro Machi at

Sunday, March 7, 2010

You can check out the actors who walked the red carpet at the Eastman Kodak


If you are planning on creating or broadcasting a commercial and want an objective, outsiders point of view about your commercial, contact Alessandro Machi about his consulting services at...

info at alexlogic.com

You can also view more
commercial critiques
by Alessandro Machi at

Missing the Buzz, Sour Patch Kids Bicycle commercial is hilarious, but not available on the net.

If I were the commercials consultant for the sour patch kids commercials, I would suggest putting the sour patch kids bicycle commercial on the internet right away. Truly an opportunity is being lost by the sour patch kids to create free internet buzz for what is a wacky commercial that immediately gets your attention and holds it, and makes you laugh as well.
(Edit update - March 17, 2010) The Sour Patch Bike Commercial can now be found on YouTube - Now that I can review it, I am shocked to see it is only a 15 second commercial, wow, that just makes the commercial even more amazing).

How good is the Sour Patch Kids bike commercial? I don't even think I was paying attention the first time I saw the sour patch kids bicycle commercial. The Sour Patch Kids Bicycle commercial not only grabbed my attention, it allowed me to reconstruct the first few seconds of the commercial simply because of the way the rest of the commercial was put together.
Some of us liked the sour patch kids bicycle commercial so much we went on the internet to watch it again, but were unable to find it. You can click here to go to the sour patch kids commercial web page but as of March 07, 2010 the sour patch kids bicycle commercial is not up yet.

If you are planning on creating or broadcasting a commercial and want an objective, outsiders point of view about your commercial, contact Alessandro Machi about his consulting services at...
info at alexlogic.com
You can also view more
commercial critiques
by Alessandro Machi at

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Are Advertisers focusing on the young too much and ignoring the older crowd?

There are some interesting articles floating around about who the super bowl commercial advertisers were marketing to. Focusing the commercials on the younger audience may be a mistake for several reasons.

In terms of spendable income, the 49 and over crowd has more than double the spending capital as those under 49. Does it make sense to focus so much attention on the younger crowd when many have learned how to digitally copy stuff for free?

Does it make sense to make a cool, but gross commercial that will not interest the older crowd, but will make the younger crowd laugh for a moment in between beer belches? Can the older people be the clever ones once in a while?

Has the youth wave gone too far? To be on American Idol, you have to be 28 years old or younger. Yet Mr. Pants on the Ground started a sensation, and he looks a tad older than 28 years old. (there is a 30 sec commercial before the video starts).

How about an American Elder show, or American Middlin. What could be more meaningful than discovering a mid 40's or mid 50's (or older) singer who gave up their career so they could raise a family or just be a responsible bread winner? Would it be so awful if a message that you can have a hit record later in life be such a bad message to send?

Saturday Night Live is usually hosted by younger people, what about Betty White and Abe Vigoda Co-hosting a show? I bet the ratings would spike beyond Saturday Night Live's wildest expectations. There's even a facebook group dedicated to getting Betty White to host Saturday Night Live.

How about a reality TV show starring Jack LaLanne and his wife Elaine? Of course such a show would be fascinating. Mr. LaLanne is an inspiration to people 70 years younger than his 90 plus years, what is wrong with Hollywood? Who are these experts that are too afraid to go for the old?

I guess they're the same people that went with Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton because Barack Obama was a younger candidate, and that has cost of us all dearly. When will we learn?

If you are planning on creating or broadcasting a commercial and want an objective, outsiders point of view about your commercial, contact Alessandro Machi about his consulting services at...

info at alexlogic.com

You can also view more
commercial critiques
by Alessandro Machi at

Monday, March 1, 2010

Copyright Abuse by Copyright Holders goes unnoticed by Judges, Lawyers and Congress.

I have complete empathy for copyright holders. However, there is one area where copyright holders unfairly bully consumers and it involves the point of purchase.

If a copyright holder truly objects to a PAYING CUSTOMER using the copyright holder's music over a home video montage, a wedding day photo montage, a 75th birthday party video, and so on, the copyright holder's products should all be labeled with a "no further use allowed" sticker at the time of purchase.

It is completely deceptive to sell a copyrighted product without visibly letting the purchaser know they will not have the right to reuse the purchased product in what most people would consider "fair use". The significance of a "further use allowed", versus a "no further use allowed" advisement at the time of sale is profound. A newer, lesser known copyright holder may decide to allow their purchasers to reuse their music for certain not for profit applications. A consumer may choose to support the copyright holder that has decided to be reasonable about fair use.

The level of copyright flexibility is likely to create competition between copyright holders and how they interpret fair use. Perhaps I would prefer to purchase a song knowing I can use it for a not for profit family album video.

What we have now is millions upon millions of copies of recordings being sold with a furtive ill will awaiting the unsuspecting purchaser. An unjust system of copyright presently exists in which customers are being shortchanged by copyright owners who don't reveal their lack of fair use but will then wield an unfair advantage over the unsuspecting customer for the life of the copyrighted product.
A perfect example of copyright hypocrisy is Foo Fighters. Foo Fighters happily accepted money from hundreds of thousands of conservative fans who have bought their music, but when John McCain attempted to use a Foo Fighter song for his 2008 campaign, Foo Fighters heavily objected. It would not surprise me that even if McCain had offered to pay for the music Foo Fighters would have objected. I would also surmise that if Barack Obama had wanted to use the same music, Foo Fighters probably would not have objected, and there in lies the problem.
It is the height of copyright hypocrisy to accept money from conservative customers without fair warning when the band despises their conservative customers' political beliefs.

However, if the band foo fighters wants to put an advisement on their copyrighted product at the point of sale that states the music cannot be used for political purposes, or cannot be used for conservative political purposes, then they are being truthful at the time of the purchase. The consumer can then CHOOSE whether or not to purchase the music based on FAIR ADVISEMENT.

This consumer point of purchase copyright issue MUST be dealth with sooner rather than later. Unfortunately, nobody is standing up for the consumer in this matter, so all we ever read about is how the big studios sue anybody who violates their copyright.

If you are planning on creating or broadcasting a commercial and want an objective, outsiders point of view about your commercial, contact Alessandro Machi about his consulting services at...

info at alexlogic.com

You can also view more
commercial critiques
by Alessandro Machi at

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Pumping up page hit stats by forcing viewers to repeatedly sign in hurts everybody in the long run.

One of the biggest problems the internet faces is most users want everything for free.

While this is not a problem for the user, it is a problem for the content providers. The problem is so bad that even questionable ads are allowed to run. One time I had to contact consumer affairs dot com and notify them that they were running an ad that required people to answer a survey and then receive a free product or service, but then at the end of the survey the reader is forced to click on a link before they can get the free advertised product or service.

The survey actually tried to rationalize this click or else instruction by politely explaining that it was only fair to at least visit the link since the link was responsible for the free product or service that was being offered. Unfortunately, the "click on the link or get nothing" disclosure was being made at the end of the survey, not the beginning, and that in my book makes it unethical.

Consumer affairs dot com apparently agreed with me since I the ad disappeared just a day or two after I contacted them. Just another example of a "free consumer watchdog consult" on my part.

Not only are advertisers anxious for a return on their advertising dollars, so are the websites that provide the ad space. There was a recent makeover on a sports site I regularly visit and I think it is causing deceptive and elevated unique viewer totals as a result.

Basically, the site requires me to exit and go to the main page every few hours and re enter my login information! In the course of a 24 hour time span, I might be required to re log in anywhere from 3-5 times!

This begs the question, Just ow is the website counting each of my re-enters?

It is my opinion that the website is either treating each of my visits as a new visit. However, just how valuable is an annoyed viewer? It annoyes me that I am required to re enter my ID info and password in such short time increments. Not only does the constant re-entering and logging in waste time, but then I have to go through at least 3 different internal page links to get back to where I was.

If the site is claiming 1.2 million visitors a month, but the reality is the number is actually 400,000 unique visitors a month who are before forced to log in every few hours, the website is actually devaluing the strength of their site to advertisers by over estimating users. If the site is actually getting 1.2 million visitors a month but several million more page hits because of all the additional pages the viewer must traverse to get back to where they were, then all of those views should not be considered quality views.

One way or another, forcing people to "go back and re enter through the front door" is creating false numbers somewhere in the data. The problem with pumping up hit totals is that it will dilute the number of quality hits or revenue that the ads generate. Statistical hit elevation is like the government printing up all the money they want even though the actual products and services that are available don't increase.

A smart advertiser that keeps track of all their advertising results may quickly notice that the sites that falsely elevate their hit numbers produce less quality leads per hit than other sites that are more accurate in their tallies.

Unfortunately, creatives who made internet ads could be have their reputation damaged by sites that claim more hits than reality because it makes the ad look like it is not getting an acceptable result.

The more pressure there is to deceive, the more we will all pay a greater price in the end.

If you are planning on creating or broadcasting a commercial and want an objective, outsiders point of view about your commercial, contact Alessandro Machi about his consulting services at...

info at alexlogic.com

You can also view more
commercial critiques
by Alessandro Machi at

Saturday, February 27, 2010

How the Internet unnecessarily sucks up bandwidth and wastes energy as a result.

The drive to offer more and more advertising products and services via the internet is incessant. However, the drive to increase bandwidth requirements quicky becomes a burden as page loading times increase for the average computer user.

I find it unfortunate that the basics from the 80's and 90's seem forgotten by so called I.T. experts. Internet ads are causing the world wide web to grind to a halt. This is to some degree avoidable.

One way to reduce internet bandwidth waste is to evaluate a web page's loading time on a computer that is a few years old. This concept has been around for a long time but seems forgotten nowadays. In other words, the very fast computer a web designer uses to create a page or an ad should not then become the computer that evaluates how the computer actually plays the ad on the internet!

Years ago cheap mono audio speakers were a part of many sound studios. The idea was to compare how well a mixed soundtrack could be heard onvery expensive sound studio speakers, and on a cheap cheap mono speaker as well.

If a sound mix could clearly be heard on both sets of speakers, the mix could be considered a technical success. I wonder if this tried and true analog way of trouble shooting is a forgotten art nowadays in the internet world.

I'm not just suggesting that audio be evaluated the old fashioned way, I am also referring to how many different computers does a web designer actually check their work on before they consider the work completed?

While it makes sense to create internet advertisements on the fastest computer available, it is nothing more than a slash and burn mindset if the end product is then not evaluated on an "average" computer that could be anywhere from two to five years in age.
I recently troubleshooted a problem I encountered on a well known website and then contacted the news station who put me in touch with their MT programmers, who agreed with my assessment. I noticed that an autoload feature which was loading photos onto a very small window within the web page itself (represented by the two windows on the right side of the image above), was causing the video I was trying to view on the bottom of that same page to freeze up. (the image of the gentleman, which is possibly off center because of the SD / HD aspect ratio differences.)

I correctly deduced that even though the photos were maybe double the size of a small thumbnail, hi resolution files with a memory killing appetite were being used to fill the thumbnail spaces. The obvious solution would be to create memory efficient JPG's instead of hi resolution files, especially if the image of the photos remains small. I relayed this information to the MT department and the tech department agreed with me. (I guess we can call that a free consultation on my part).

I credit the site with having the class to let me to speak to someone who in turn actually put me in touch with a human being, that in and of itself is a miracle these days and in my opinion is the most important aspect of this story.

I am being detailed in my explaination because if I don't point out my contributions towards solving problems, nobody else will.

Now, the million dollar question becomes, who pays whom to reduce each and every photo to a more efficient jpg size? No matter how streamlined the conversion from a high resolution file to a jpg is, it still takes time and labor to do the conversions. Jpg's are generally the last step in the digital still image editing process otherwise designers would have even more work to do trying to photoshop or color correct an overly compressed jpg file. Plus, anytime labor added value is applied to imagery, it is logical to do it to the biggest file version, then jpg afterwards.

Instead, it may be deemed an extra step in the budget chain to create jpg's because that effort will most likely go unnoticed and unappreciated. Unfortunately, each and every visitor to that website has to consume needless additional ram to view tiny thumbnail pictures, which just ties up internet bandwidth and can even interfere with the playing of video on the same site. All because high rez still image files needed to be converted to more efficient jpg's.

Since my call in middle of January, changes have been made. The boxes on the right no longer have the ram wasting hi rez photos automatically loading, and for the first time, I was able to play the video at the bottom of the image with no problems, which is why you can now see it in the image provided above!

If you are planning on creating or broadcasting a commercial and want an objective, outsiders point of view about your commercial, contact Alessandro Machi about his consulting services at...

info at alexlogic.com

You can also view more
commercial critiques
by Alessandro Machi at

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Happy Feb. 24 Birthday, Abe Vigoda! Betty White might be your ticket to a Saturday Night Live Gig.

I hope Abe Vigoda lives to be at least a hundred, and I hope he gets many more acting gigs. Happy Birthday Abe! Feb. 24th, who cares what year it was. Here is a previous story the Alex Logic Blog wrote about Abe and his snickers super bowl commercial appearance.



If you are planning on creating or broadcasting a commercial and want an objective, outsiders point of view about your commercial, contact Alessandro Machi about his consulting services at...

info at alexlogic.com

You can also view more
commercial critiques
by Alessandro Machi at

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Do it Yourself photo and video production software, learning the basics just got harder.

As I was watching the 2010 Winter Olympics on NBC, I saw a flurry (no pun intended) of commercials for coming soon movie releases. I was shocked to see that every promo had computer generated animated characters mixed in with the real ones.

In the past couple of years I've truly come to appreciate the reruns of the television show Seinfeld. The combination of everyday topics, biting but thematic dialogue with virtually no filler thrown in, and no special effects, has real staying power. The music riffs don't hurt either.

As I compared the power of Seinfeld re runs with new wave filmmaking technology that is ultra heavy on computer digital software "innovations", I began thinking of three classic but not that well known films from the 80's. The 80's seemed to have been a rest stop between the high drama, police pursuit, mafia maneuvering, sci fi 70's, and the buddy movies, action packed, sequel driven films of the 90's.

Three of my favorite 1980'ish films include Breaking Away, The Stuntman, and Diner, which came out in 1979, 1980, and 1982 respectively. While all three films could nowadays be labeled as "white bread" films because the casts were virtually 100% caucasian, the actual characters and plot lines of the movies can cross over and become enjoyable for any ethnicity to experience.

But more to the point, those three movies had NO digital effects of any kind. While the Stuntman had creative, by the book stunt effects mixed in throughout, all three films relied on people being people, having thoughts and ideas and thankfully acting out those thoughts and desires for us to experience.

It seems to me that the more we embrace digital technology in our own lives, the less we embrace the actual ground we stand on. As we become more aware of what our friends or acquaintances are doing via digital means, we seem to becoming less aware of where we actually are. Where we are has become less important than where we wish were digitally, and the films being made now seem to be reflecting that same sentiment.

Yet I wonder, as we learn to escape deeper within a digital existence, how come our movies don't counteract that by being less escapist? Aren't movies supposed to contradict our own existence? As our own existence is invaded by all things digital, why don't the movies become more like they were in 80's?

I feel like we are experiencing digital inbreeding, the more our lives become digital, the more we are force fed digitalized movies inbred with creatures we would probably never actually invite to the dinner table.

While movies are supposed to be "escapist" to a certain extent, I would suggest renting the movies Breaking Away, The Stuntman, and Diner, and reminding yourself how great plain movies can be. All I ask is if you rent these movies, please consider not being interrupted by cell phone calls unless they are related to the health and welfare of the person calling, and don't look at your watch thinking of what you will be doing 90 minutes later.

I hope that avatar type films become a partial part of the filmmaking landscape rather than the norm. I fear that Hollywood has been swept up trying to keep the higher paid digital effects companies employed and in keeping true to that employment paradigm are making movies that require gizmodial creature sweeteners to supplement basic story telling techniques.

How does this relate to "do it yourself photo and video production software?" Don't be fooled by digital technology that claims to make the art of creativity "easier" or all encompassing. At the heart of most worthwhile stories are stories worth telling.

If the do it yourself photo or video production technology you are learning consumes all of your energy just to master, you have been led astray by technology that is indeed to good to be true.

If you are planning on creating or broadcasting a commercial and want an objective, outsiders point of view about your commercial, contact Alessandro Machi about his consulting services at...

info at alexlogic.com

You can also view more
commercial critiques
by Alessandro Machi at

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