It’s amazing, isn’t it? There are practically no boundaries for visual expression in web development and web design online. Virtually any idea can be illustrated in painful detail with today’s computer graphics programs and the experts who use them.
Hollywood movies now contain more computer animation sequences than ever, and impossible scenarios can be brought to light. In our “bigger, better, faster, more” society, good ideas are beaten to death and capabilities such as the computer graphics are taken to sometimes ludicrous extremes.
And then it reaches a point of overkill wherein it’s not so special anymore. Wherein the point becomes so overstated that to stand out you could simply dress your business up like the old black-and-white “generic” products of the 1980′s.
Sometimes simple is simply better and more effective. And more memorable. Look at Apple’s logo. Or State Farm’s. Simple and memorable.
The picture above is a brilliant example of a simple idea that is simply allowed to breathe. And when you think about it, the idea is simple…the most powerful ideas usually are.
The mind is a powerful device. How are you using your mind when it comes to your website? Are you merely sticking with the tried (tired) and true? Or…are you using your imagination to really communicate with your clients and potential clients? The right web development and web design team can make these ideas shine.
Click on the image above to see the full-size picture and really see what’s going on. Ingenious 
Andy Mull, web programmer at MIND Development and Design, made a stunning discovery yesterday while vacuuming at the MIND headquarters in Lancaster, PA.
“I noticed in the far corner of our meeting area that it looked like the corner of the carpet was a little loose and starting to curl,” Mull explains. ”Out of curiosity, I tugged a little on the corner and it came right up.”
What was revealed was a crudely patched over hole in the floor. The contents of the hole came as a total shock to Mull.
“It was a cooler…big enough to hold a couple six-packs,” he says. “When I opened it, there was all of this dry ice and what looked like a perfectly preserved human brain.”
“Andy brought it right over to us,” says MIND co-founder Chad McComsey. “And it was definitely a brain.”
MIND co-founder David Zimmerman immediately brought the brain to the lab for testing. ”There was no time to waste,” explains Zimmerman. “Someone was missing a brain…and it was under our carpet.”
Preliminary DNA testing of the brain suggests that it belongs to actor Charlie Sheen. Final results won’t be known for about a week.
Sheen was unavailable for comment.
The violent tectonic plate shift that caused major upheaval at MIND web development and web design headquarters nearly a month ago (originally reported on November 17th and updated December 1st) has finally been fixed and business is back to normal on level ground as seen in the image.
“I was actually getting used to it,” says MIND co-founder David Zimmerman. “No matter what Chad and Andy want to believe, it’s a fact that we did our web development and web design work faster while we were facing downhill.”
“It was a passing fancy,” comments MIND programmer Andy Mull. “I liked it, too, for a brief time, but after a while those harnesses started chaffing something awful.”
MIND co-founder Chad McComsey says the final solution came from Zimmerman. “That was a lot of boom-boom-pow two weeks ago,” says McComsey. “It definitely magnified an already complex dilemma. Fortunately, Zim had a genius idea.”
“I realized I would have to take it upon myself to solve the problem,” says Zimmerman. “So I brought in an air hockey table. It’s an older model, so I realized the friction and velocity of the puck combined with the impact of the puck against the paddles could gently agitate the subduction zone, reverse the plate shift and level out the floor of our office.”
“No one could score on me, so there was a lot of impact on the paddles which allowed me to fix the problem that much faster.”
The tectonic plate shift reported two weeks ago that rocked the MIND offices was seemingly repaired and things were apparently back to normal until that all changed around 9am this morning.
“Chad came in this morning all fired up over the lancaster pa web design he’s working on for some ice miners in Greenland,” says MIND Development and Design co-founder David Zimmerman. “He turned on some song with heavy bass that kept saying ‘boom boom pow’ over and over again.”
“It caused the convergent boundary in the middle of the office to reverse itself, so now the other side of the office is on an incline due to the new subduction zone.” adds MIND programmer Andy Mull.
The Black Eyed Peas were unavailable for comment.
MIND co-founder Chad McComsey (pictured over there) maintains a positive attitude, although the situation is taking its toll. “Yeah, I kinda blame myself,” says McComsey “And so do Andy and Zim. But no one told me that syncopated rhythms and active convergent boundaries don’t mix. ”
“Going from a more reclined position to now facing downhill is a huge, uncomfortable change. We hope to get this straightened out soon.”
“I like how he says ‘we’.” Mull adds.
Did you know that most major video game consoles have a number of Social Media features? Within the last 3 years the video gaming industry has developed social technology alongside with their own new technology to provide users with another way to stay connected. The three largest markets for computer and video games are the United States, Japan and the United Kingdom. 60% of all Americans play electronic games of one kind or another. Currently services like Netflix and Last.fm are available for instant movie and music downloads on consoles like the Wii, Playstation 3 and Xbox360. Social Media sites have also made their way to online gaming with features like Facebook and Twitter being available to update other users about your status in the game world as well as the real world. These features connect to your console like they do for your blog… it’s pretty easy and you don’t even need to get out of your seat!
Along with online gaming comes the individual online communities. XBOX uses an online system called LIVE. On XBOX LIVE you are able to connect with 
friends, listen to streaming music, watch streaming video, get gaming news, download updates and game add-ons as well as play games together with a million other users around the world. How does this relate to Social Media? On XBOX LIVE when you fill out your profile information you are able to choose a “Gamer Zone”. A Gamer Zone is how you choose to use your membership or how you play. Zones include “Pro”, “Recreation”, “Family” and “Underground”. Initially these were set up so players could game with other players in the same Zone… avoiding the overly aggressive pros or finding a gaming syndicate on the underground. The Gamer Zone is the first breakdown on the XBOX LIVE Social Community… by simply checking a players zone you are able to get an idea of how they play, why they play and what kind of games they play while online. This is a big step; knowing and understanding your market.
The more revealing way social media is involved with XBOX LIVE is the Reputation or “Rep System”. Beginning on day-one with the first game you play online you are being ranked. Initially your reputation starts out at 3 out of 5 stars, once you play online and with other people your stars can go up or down. Players are able to view other gamers profiles and depending on the time spent in-game with them, players are able to prefer or avoid them. This then positively or negatively effects your reputation… it’s a full social community at work!
When the system works the way it’s supposed to you’ll be able to avoid players you dislike (either due to skill or over the mic communications) and never have to play with them again. Think of those guys as the SPAM of XBOX LIVE, they’re not really there to help, they just wanna mess stuff up. Equally you will be able to play online with your close friends as well as gamers they have deemed worthy to play with. This opens up a whole new social circle for you online and allows your gamer experience to be even better.
So by using what you know in Social Media and how social communities operate online, how would you market yourself or services in this seemingly untouched resource?
