On Sunday 20th of September 2009 at the Washington Square Park fountain in New York city, The Concept Farm worked with the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) to host a press conference to influence public and political views during Global Climate Week – as a way of supporting the comprehensive global climate agreement in Copenhagen.

Alongside supermodel Gisele Bundchen, Environmental Ambassador for UNEP, The Concept Farm put dozens of kids of all ages in life vests – to symbolize the rising seas – and to provide stopping power for both media and passers-by.

The event was a huge success gathering both US and international media attention.

Interns of The Concept Farm have been promoting awareness of this year’s climate change conference in Copenhagen by wearing life jackets around Manhattan. Be sure to checkout our website (SSCop15.org), and send the petition to President Obama. So if you see people around wearing life jackets, be sure to say hello and ask for a postcard. See you in Copenhagen!

As the Tour de France nears its end, so does the Adventures from the Epic Cycle motion comic. The Concept Farm has developed the cycle-centric series exclusively for Versus, using actual race events as inspiration. Check out Episode 7 and be sure to watch the exciting conclusion of the Tour de France on Versus.

View all Adventures from the Epic Cycle episodes

Director Judd Apatow is no stranger to using viral videos to promote his upcoming films. For Funny People, starring Adam Sandler and Seth Rogan as stand-up comedians, Apatow has upped the ante. To enrich the experience, not only did Apatow create a real concert in LA featuring Sandler and Rogan performing in character, he also created other content (movie clips, stand-up clips) of the actors performing in character. You can see them on their MySpace pages, in YouTube videos and even on NBC.com. The promo of a mock NBC classroom comedy featuring Jason Schwartzman is so dead-on, you can’t help but cringe even when you know it’s fake. A lot of great work has gone into creating this rich, believable back-story.

Here are a few links to get you immersed in the funny:

VIEW George Simmons’ MySpace page

VISIT NBC’s Yo Teach! page

VIEW Raaaaaaaandy’s MySpace page

Scribblenauts, announced at E3 and scheduled to be released in the fall, is a much anticipated game from the small startup 5th Cell. The goal of the game is simple. You’re tasked with reaching a star on each level map, like in Crayon Physics. But instead of drawing ramps and boxes, you write. You can write any noun you think of and the item will materialize on screen to be used as a prop. The items even interact with each other.

Attempts to break the game by entering obscure words have been relatively unsuccessful. 5th Cell had 5 people going through encyclopedias and dictionaries for 6 months. There’s even a few meme cats in the game.  The game is being released for the DS, but it’s interesting to speculate about how it could grow. It could be online and constantly updated with new objects, become multi-player or be adopted for other purposes.

The Taxi and Limousine Commission recently voted in favor of “share-a-cab” pilot programs. 

Select cab drivers will be able to pick up multiple passengers traveling along the same route. Each passenger sharing a ride with a stranger will get at least a 50% discount thanks to new, multi-fare meters. 

Beginning this fall, pick up points will include Grand Central Terminal, Penn Station, Port Authority Bus Terminal, West 57th Street at Eighth Avenue, East 72nd Street at Third Avenue, and West 72nd at Columbus Avenue. Participating cabs will have electronic signs showing the neighborhoods they are traveling through. 

With New Yorkers becoming more environmentally and economically conscious, this new plan may be just what the city needs. A small taxi stand on the Upper East Side has been using this program with $6 fares to Wall Street. With 4 people cramping into each one of these cabs, a set of universal rules has been established. For example, silence is golden - cell phone conversations are absolutely forbidden. The TLC will display an explicit code of conduct in all participating cabs.

The Parisian street artist known as Invader will be having his first solo exhibition at Jonathan Levine Gallery in Chelsea starting at the end of this month, June 27.

The pixelated, 8-bit video game inspired artist from France often works with mosaic tiles to create pieces that often give a nostalgic feeling of those classic games such as Pacman and Space Invaders. Although this is his first time having a solo exhibition in New York, it is definitely not the first time he has displayed his work here. He first invaded New York back in 2000 and since then has come back numerous times to leave his mark on the streets of New York. So far, he has invaded over 40 cities from every inhabitable continent.

The artist’s coming exhibition is titled “Top 10″, which is referring to what he believes is to be the 10 most influential albums of his generation. He then recreated the album artwork of the albums using his style and techniques. He will be showing his usual mosaic pieces but will also be showing how the ability to manipulate a Rubik’s cube serves a greater purpose than to just impressing the ladies. The image of the Clash’s “London Calling” album cover at the top was actually created by manually manipulating a series of Rubik’s cubes until he reached the final image. For an even better idea of what his exhibition show is going to be like, check the video link provided at the bottom.

If you can’t manage visit his exhibition to see his artwork in person, not to worry. Just walk around the streets… and keep your eyes open.

Invader "Top 10Video"

http://www.space-invaders.com/

http://www.jonathanlevinegallery.com/

Click here for video link

Clay Shirky, an NYU professor on the Internet’s effects, explains how the new Twitterific world has revolutionized communication among citizens. From tweets on the Iranian protests to John McCain’s next car, Twitter is quickly becoming the de facto method of individualized mass communication.

If you’d like to watch another TED talk, I very, very highly recommend business expert Joseph Pine’s discussion on the experience desired by the modern consumer.