On thinking about all the things that happened in 2014, I just went back through my Twitter feed (@harrysharman) to find 10 of the things that really inspired, fascinated or just amused me last year:
10) What happens when a bunch of men write a tampon commercial? This is a highly amusing parody. http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/what-happens-when-bunch-men-write-your-tampon-commercials-162045
9) Follow the penguins. This augmented reality app gives you walking directions by getting you to follow the penguins. http://www.psfk.com/2013/10/penguin-gps-navigation-app.html?utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=Twitter#!9vSq4
8) This awareness campaign to stop 39,000 underage girls being forced into marriage, through the creation of Thea the 12 year old child bride and her wedding planning blog, went viral over night. A clever and powerful campaign. http://www.plan-norge.no/english
7) No matter where you stand on Kim Kardashian’s curvature and it’s breaking of the Internet, the memes that came out of it show how incredibly creative the Internet can be! http://mashable.com/2014/11/12/kim-kardashian-butt-photoshops/
6) No 2014 list should be without the fact we landed on a comet! Seriously, we landed on a comet 317 million miles from home! http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/11/12/science/space/rosetta-philae-comet-landing.html
5) I read a LOT of things, but this was probably the most surprisingly fascinating read throughout 2014. This article explains how truly intimate passwords are, and how one of the worlds largest financial services firms had to recover the passwords of 658 workers who died in the September 11 attacks. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/19/magazine/the-secret-life-of-passwords.html
4) The Serial podcast, if you haven’t heard, has been called ‘a masterclass in investigative journalism’. The 9 part podcast made headlines when it had over 1 million downloads in its first week (highly unusual for a podcast, which are generally for niche audiences). Following the murder of an American school girl and the conviction of her supposed killer, the story line is as gripping as it is engaging. http://serialpodcast.org/
3) Brain-to-brain communication = amazing science! Published in August 2014, a number of French scientists showed that they could transfer thoughts between brains over 5000 miles, showing that Brain-to-brain communication is possible. http://www.iflscience.com/brain/direct-brain-brain-communication-used-humans
2) On the back of the terrible cafe siege in Sydney, there was a fear that there might be a backlash for normal Muslims in the city. After a racist train passenger was removed by police, he was shouted down by angry commuters coming to the defence of the young Muslim woman who was being abused, and the hashtag #illridewithyou was coined, and became viral. Out of something terrible, some good comes and restores ones faith in humanity. http://www.thedrum.com/news/2014/12/16/illridewithyou-goes-viral-australians-express-solidarity-muslims-twitter-wake-caf
1) In my opinion, the most inspired idea of 2014 has to be Pharrell’s Song of the year ‘Happy’, done in the worlds first 24 hour music video. The concept is simple, the song is played back to back for 24 hours, and it follows a different person dancing and moving to the song. Each person gets their 3 minutes of fame, then it moves to the next one. Pharrell himself pops up throughout the 24 hours, each time confirming that he is the coolest man alive. Considering it is a 24 hour video, the 11 million views on the website say how engaging the concept is. Www.24hoursofhappy.com
