What’s new? Not much. I’m still a Creative Tech at RAPP and I still do stuff for the sake of doing stuff… which leads me to my next point, Style & Creativity.

It came down quicker than it went up. I initially took it down the wrong route, like leading a horse to gasoline. It was supposed to be community driven and content rich, and I had a few great people helping me out and getting involved in the website, but I personally didn’t have a great deal of time to develop it, take care of it and populate it with great content.

So what now?

The previous WordPress driven website with a Premium Theme that I bought for about $13 has all been deleted and I’ve gone back to basics with HTML and CSS. A site built from nothing but an idea and Text Wrangler, (I recommend it, it’s a phenomenal tool) to write the code in.

It’s a lot more simple with one proposition: To talk to interesting people, and film it. These could be talks, stories, shared ideas… anything that leads to a spark of inspiration.

The idea is to produce original content, relevant to stylish and creative industries. So I figured, it doesn’t depend on me constantly searching online for good content, when Im literally making it myself. And because of the nature of the website, only one or two updates a month are needed, as long as the content is fulfilling.

If you’re still reading, here’s a link (which you can also click by finding the asterisk at the bottom of the S&C website) to view the website in it’s beta phase. As I develop the site locally on my laptop and whenever I have the functionality of certain pages working how I want them to, I’ll upload ‘em.

As for people, if you have any suggestions for people to talk to, let me know.

And lastly, I’m putting together a new CV. Not because I’m looking for a new job, but because I’ve had a kick-ass idea. Hopefully it’ll be the longest CV ever – more on that at a later date though when I get my ass in gear and actually do it.

Busy busy busy.

Also, I have an article published on the GRT Awards website, here.

I was watching The Rugrats on Netflix in bed, as you do. Suddenly, I was overcome with fascination by Chucky’s t-shirt.

It must have been a high dose of nostalgia copulating with the geek neurons in my brain, but I just kept thinking that I really want that as the background for my computer.

I made it, and as I was, my mind started to drift into thinking how cool the full set of characters would be as minimalist wallpapers.

Just updated my Facebook timeline to something a little better – it’s only temporary though as I want one with a better, brighter photo, but the camera concept will still be the same, just put together better.

Here’s the original ‘Scamp’ – if you can call it that.

I sent a photo I took into the local paper a few months ago, and the other day I get a call telling me I’m going to be published. Sweet.

I’m now on the lookout for new bedrooms, new people and new cuddly toys to add to this, quite frankly, disturbing set so if you’re interested in having your photograph taking in your bedroom with your favourite cuddly toy – let me know.

This is another video I made of my niece and nephew. I’m starting to accidentally document the growth of them, but hey, when they’re older they are going to love this stuff!

Nevertheless – Style & Creativity is a new project focused more on… yup, Style and Creativity. It’s got a wider contributor base than my old site, as it was only me. But after reaching out to contributors through Twitter and such like, it’s seeing a new level of community driven content that just wasn’t the case with The Cheese Grater no matter how hard I tried to push it. People just didn’t ‘get’ the old site.

It’s still early days (I haven’t even settled on a logo for it yet), but you can visit and register to it over on http://styleandcreativity.com

This is a sponsored post from Honda, but just so you know, I turn down a lot of advertising requests, but this seemed relevant. Honda has outdone themselves with the use of their YouTube page, featuring various sections, all interactive and very cool, no wonder Honda’s campaign is the work of W+K. It’s called ‘Follow Happy’ and it highlights their way of working, but more importantly, their muse. When Honda is in doubt, happiness is their guide. After all, the pursuit of happiness is the reason anyone does anything.

I did have to do some digging around to actually Follow Happy, but after hunting around it was quite cool to play around with the campaign as a whole (the ‘Experiment’ tab on the YouTube page is quite fun, and a good use of pop-up windows)

Anyway, check out their YouTube page (it’s dope), which starts you off on a journey of happiness with the use of a dog and your computer’s microphone, so make sure to allow access.

A copywriter friend of mine set up his new blog, Copyshyter. It’s the only link that comes up on Google when you search for it.

Not anymore. Sorry Stephen. Megalulz

My moustache made the news on the front page of The Huffington Post (UK) is my hairy upper lip. In case you read this a bit too late, here is a link to the post. If you’d like to sponsor me (please do, I’ve had none at the time of writing this post) then you can! Visit mobro.co/marcusmichaels

Your trackpad is protected from smashes, scratches and stains. When you’re on your laptop, no one but you can see your screen.

Imagine the possibilites, you sick and twisted freaks.

I had the Capdase Roamer Privacy Guard Screen and the Power Support Trackpad Protector, both graciously sent over by GearZap.com for my 11″ MacBook Air (they offer MacBook Pro Accessories too).

I’ll start with my thoughts on the Capdase Roamer Privacy Guard; The idea is that you put this special screen in front of your laptop screen and it allows only the people viewing it direct on (e.g. you) to see it, so if people are next to you, they’ll have a hard time seeing what you’re looking at. It’s great if you’re into watching porn on the bus.

The idea of this privacy screen is great, it lets you get on with what you’ve got to do, at work, at home or commuting, dealing with maybe confidential documents or browsing around on Facebook. It has two sides, one is a matt finish (great if you’re outside to avoid sun glare), the other side is glossy, which is great for being glossy. The only downside of the screen is that while it’s on, it adds a weird fuzz to the screen as you can see below. It’s a small sacrifice for the added privacy, but it’s still by no means an ideal working situation.

In the pack, it includes, amongst the screen cleaners, two (x2) methods of attaching this screen to your laptop. The first way with with double sided tape that you put on the screen and then stick it to your laptop. This would be the ideal method, it’s removable, clean and you don’t see the stickers. It’s very slick. If you’re on a 13″, 15″ or 17″ MacBook and in the market for laptop privacy screens you could easily have this on all the time without really noticing it’s there.

However, I’m on the 11″ MacBook Air. This means that unless I want to stick the protector direct onto my screen (not the protective glass like the Pro models), I have to use the clips. They’re pretty ugly, especially on a slick aluminium MacBook, you don’t want these little clips there all of the time.

The privacy screen is the exact size of the recessed screen so you can place it on and it fits flush with the surrounding metal casing. Instead of the clips, I used the double sided tape (supplied) and folded it around the edge a couple of times so instead of having the clips, It hold itself in place. This works pretty well and it means I can have just the screen on me without worrying about attaching it. And it looks good.

Should you get one? If you live in a crowded home, work on your commute or have a nosey boss then it might be a good idea. It’s ont of those things that you won’t use all the time, but you’ll be glad you’ve got it when you need it.

Now – I also got sent the Power Support Trackpad Protector. What is it? It’s a little bit of square shaped film that you put over your trackpad to stop it getting smashed, scratched or stained.

You can see from the photo above that it fits flush and is near invisible. You get others that are transparent, but you can tell they’re there. This one you hardly notice at all.

You get two of them in a pack, one more than you actually need because if you mess up (and get bubbles or trap dust) it easily peels off without the corners crumpling allowing for re-placement. It is very good quality and thicker than the usual tat you pick up off eBay. It doesn’t leave bubbles and when in use it feels really nice on your fingertips.

I personally didn’t feel I needed trackpad protection, it’s always overlooked when in the market for keeping your equipment as close to new as possible, and after having it on there for a couple of weeks, it’s turned out to be a more than welcome addition. If you’ve got MacBook screen protectors already, it makes sense to protect the trackpad too.

On my way home from work, I passed the Apple store. Long story short, I bought an iPad 2 – I did think “but I’ve got an 11inch air, it seems kind of redundant” which in some sense is true.

I ended up buying it because I’ve always wanted one and after having a brief fling with the 1st generation of iPad, I thought the we’re enough pros over cons, to name a few; it can act as a second monitor to dual screen with my MacBook, it’s got 32gb so is the perfect place to store my visual portfolio, and the new one isn’t being announced for at least another 4-5 months (hopefully).

That aside, the main reason I thought I’d take the plunge is because of the new iCloud service. One example is that I have the full iWork suite on my phone, laptop and now iPad which all sync together making work really easy to just do for a bit, no matter what device I’m on.

I didn’t but a case because as with everything, there is better and cheaper (or better and the same price) online.

In other news, I’ve started a new website called Style & Creativity which I’m going to properly launch when the theme is tweaked to perfection and I’ve got my first introduction post up, but if you visit the link, you’ll see it’s still not quite there (unless you’re reading this from the future).

The great people over at GearZap.com (sellers of macbook air sleeves and laptop cases) kindly sent over the ColcaSac Hanakapiai Case for my new Macbook Air (11 inch).

In return, I’m writing about what I think of this product.

Before I start, please forgive me that I forgot to take off the badge before taking pictures. Don’t expect a badge to be over the logo if you buy one.

The first thing I noticed when I pulled it out of the jiffy bag, was that it was encased in this amazing envelope that gave a really distinct feel to the product I was about to receive. I continued to pull out the actual case from within the envelope, and I was surprised at how soft it was. To look at, it look as though it will feel like a potato sack but alas, it’s as soft as a pillow, but then I opened it up… Waoh. The inside of the case felt amazing. Like fisting a cloud. A super soft cloud, that, if big enough, I would definitely sleep in it every night. But as it happens, only my laptop is subject to the privilege.

The case is handmade, which is obvious from the quality of how well made it is. When the laptop is in it, it doesn’t sit symmetrically, and the flap doesn’t sit down dead centre when it’s closed, but that adds to the charm of a product like this. If it wasn’t handmade you could mistake it for a bad batch that went through the machine at an odd angle, not overly noticeable, but noticeable nonetheless. Though as it stands, it’s imperfections are what make it a unique and ownable case for a symmetry perfect laptop.

I use this case daily on my commute to, from and at work. The velcro fastener allows for quick access, nice if I need to whip it out on the train quickly. It’s also very floppy (if that’s the right word), when the laptop isn’t in it, so it fits pretty much anywhere when not in use.

I can’t actually fault the case, though my main concern is that it’s probably not going to help a lot if you drop your laptop while it’s in the case. It’s great for protecting it against light knocks and from things scratching it, so it’s the perfect ‘in bag’ bag. It’s also very slim because of this, which I like.

The front pocket on the case was obviously designed for the American version of the MacBook Air’s charger, but us brits have the three prong plug which, unlike the america one, is wider than the actual charging unit… but still, it fits well and doesn’t feel like it’ll fall out easily – though I’d hate to think what would happen if I knocked the charger while it was in the case against my laptop, so I don’t actually put it in there that often.

BONUS FACT: It’s made from hemp (please don’t try and smoke it), nature’s strongest natural fibre and because of it’s natural roots, it’s very friendly to the environment, if you’re into that.