Monica Yoo » Fun Stuff

Experimenting with Lenses

Monica Yoo — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 20:14:06 +0000

I recently got the 50mm f/1.8 G lens and took it to Discovery Green to test it out.

These were my favorite pictures from the evening.

The 3 A’s of Awesome by Neil Pasricha

Monica Yoo — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 17:59:21 +0000

This TED talk really cheered me up today. I had never heard of Neil Pasricha or his blog, 1000 Awesome Things, but he does an amazing job reminding us of how much we have to be happy and appreciative about.

Definitely flashin’ a big smile right now. =)

Making Pop to Classical

Monica Yoo — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 19:25:06 +0000

Just discovered a classical musical group called Aston. They’re a group of six young members from Sydney Conservatorium of Music that transforms pop music into a classical masterpiece. I love it!

Compare the original to the Aston version.

La Roux – Bulletproof

Kinetic Typography

Monica Yoo — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 01:28:46 +0000

I’ve always been into typography because it’s more than just shapes of the words, it conveys a tone that can’t be expressed by words alone. This why you can express anger by using big and bold font and happiness through curly font. Kinetic typography combines this quality with the storytelling ability of animation that makes it fun and entertaining.

It’s interesting to also note the impact that typography has in branding and identification. The video below shows several examples of this. You’ll be surprised how many brands you can identify just by the typography. See for yourself!

Mobile Mobile

Monica Yoo — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 17:25:05 +0000

I know Christmas season is still several months away, but this interactive project is neat.

Experience Mobile Mobile from James Théophane Jnr on Vimeo.

Losing Your Cell Phone

Monica Yoo — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 15:06:06 +0000

We’ve all experienced the panic that ensues at the realization you can’t find your phone. You know, the feeling you get when you swore your phone was just “right here,” but wasn’t. The infographic below presents some not-so-fun scenarios and factoids about losing your cell phone.

SxSWi – Always A Good Time

Monica Yoo — Fri, 13 May 2011 21:43:23 +0000

Geek Fest

I was pretty psyched when I found out I was going to SxSW this year and so I told a few of my friends about it. The conversation went something like this:

Me: Guess what? I’m going to SxSW!
Friend: Awesome! What bands are you going to see?
Me: Er…no bands. I’m going to the Interactive Festival.
Friend: Interactive? Oh, that’s cool.
Me: Yeah! I hear the founder of SCVNGR is going to speaking! COOL, RIGHT?
Friend: *crickets*

It’s instances like these that remind me that I’m a geek…and I’m ok with that. I went to SxSW Interactive in 2008 and 2009, took a break last year, so I was ready to jump back in the scene.

One of my favorite things about going to SxSW Interactive is the conversations you have there. You can throw out technical terms freely and people won’t think you’re crazy. You can talk about new internet memes and a) they totally know what you’re talking about, b) think you’re awesome and c) they won’t think you’re from a different planet. And you know what else? You can get super excited about a cool app that you just discovered for your phone you can’t live without and people will share your enthusiasm! Nothing makes me happier than going somewhere where you’re in the minority if you don’t have at least 3 electronics strapped to your body. Oh, joy!

Matthew Inman

There were several panels that I sat in on, some better than others, but my two favorite were by Seth Priebatsch, founder of SCVNGR, and Matthew Inman, the man behind The Oatmeal. They each talk about two very different things – Priebatsch’s covered social gaming and human motivation and Inman’s mostly about viral marketing, but they were fascinating nonetheless. If you’re curious at all to know what they talked about, listen to Seth Priebatsch’s and Matthew Inman’s podcasts.

Also, two cool photos from SxSW.

Random guy, me, Matt Cutts and Tara

I went to the most amazing tradeshow booth ever – Chevrolet’s 3-D Photo Station. It was set up to promote I believe their new Cobalt and it was fantastic. Definitely my favorite stop.

As always, I learned a whole lot, met great people and had my fair share of good old fashioned nerd fun.

See ya next year South By!

QR Codes – Funny Looking Squares

Monica Yoo — Fri, 13 May 2011 16:38:38 +0000

QR Codes have been around for a while, but I’m seeing more and more QR codes pop up left and right- in magazine ads, stores and restaurants. Here’s an interesting break down of who’s decoding the mystery behind the funny looking squares.

Music On My Mind

Monica Yoo — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 19:22:13 +0000

New songs I’ve discovered that make me want to dance around. =)

Lykke Li – I Follow You (Magician Remix)

Cut Copy – Lights & Music

Angry Birds Cake. WHAT?!

Monica Yoo — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 18:32:51 +0000

Can I just say that this is one of the coolest things I’ve seen in a long time? What a cool dad! You can even PLAY a real life round of Angry Birds too.