Candy Girl: Japan's Most Popular Artificial Companion

A while back, I blogged the Japanese A.I.Doll artificial companion.



Turns out the Candy Girl artificial companions are more popular in Japan, selling close to a thousand units a year. They've even got a PC game. Check out this oddly hypnotic video to get a better feel for these dolls. On real and artificial women, cute faces and hot bodies make a killer combo.

Oh, and if you don't feel like committing to a particular design, this shop rents them out.

(Via Davecat and Danny Choo.)

Philippine Web IM Startup Makes TechCrunch

Oh great. Now I've got TechCrunch's Marshall Kirkpatrick curious about Philippine Web IM startup Wablet.

Francine Dee's YouTube Channel

Filipina nude model Francine Dee recently opened her own YouTube channel.



Wonder when she'll apply for the Director program.

(Via Asian Sirens.)

BusinesssWeek Diggs Kevin Rose

Digg it.

(Via Steve Rubel.)

Customers Before Curses

Now I know why Level Up's employee bloggers can't relate to their customers in the blogosphere.

They're too busy congratulating themselves and cursing other bloggers.

Laguna Beach Game Uses There Engine

Viacom owns MTV and Xfire, so I'm not surprised they'd pull a TV-game tie-in.



Built on the There engine, Virtual Laguna Beach ties in to the MTV series Laguna Beach.

At first I wondered why they didn't just recreate Laguna Beach inside the existing There gameworld. Then I realized MTV's Laguna Beach is even more different from Earth than There.

"I'm a PC" Guy Explains Net Neutrality

After roasting Ted Stevens, Jon Stewart has John "I'm a PC" Hodgman explain net neutrality.

Filipino Cosplayers Rock Ozine Fest

Filipino cosplayers rock Ozine Fest 2006.



Picture galleries at Pinoy Cosplay.

Net Boosts ToyCon

Looks like Azrael Coladilla has figured out that Filipinos' natural affinity for social media is a boon to local niche event marketing, as he attributes the expansion of ToyCon to the Internet.

Coladilla attributed the increasing size of Toycon to the Internet where collectors find each other through newsgroups, specialty collection sites or through trading websites.

Day of the Longtail

The logic of the Long Tail is hard for top-down marketing suits to swallow, so here's a video that'll explain it a language more of them understand: fear.



They've been attacking markets for decades. It's only a matter of time before markets strike back. The Day of the Longtail is near!

Don't think the Philippines is safe.

Guild Wars Dervish Shotgun Parody!

In response to rumors of godlike powers for the new Guild Wars: Nightfall Dervish, someone made a parody vid of a Dervish -- with Doom weapons.



Seriously though, the Dervish isn't unbeatable, but it's fun to play. Cast-cast-cast-cast-slash-slash-slash-slash-shout. Repeat ad nauseam. Damn, that would make a good cosplay move.



Nevermind that the female Dervish has the smallest boobs in the game.

Tell Compelling Stories

Hey, Mobius, I'm glad to see your AdSense ads still running after your online ad guy Don Jocson left...



...but didn't you kill the unrelatably irrelevant "Dyan's left eye" campaign last year? If you insist on splashing some girl's left eye all over the place, splash a real gamer girl's left eye.

At least a gamer babe would have a compelling story. That's what marketers do: tell compelling stories.

Compelling story: [Gamer Babe X] has been playing games since the SNES. She even cosplays game characters.

Not a compelling story: Dyan Geiger is one of our employees. She's not a gamer at all.