istartedsomething

Clearification, the comical viral video series featuring Demetri Martin at the Institute of Advanced Personhood sponsored by Windows Vista has come to a conclusion recently. Demetri, who originally entered the institute for a psychological condition called “Hyper-Achiever with No Direction and Tendency to Overcomplicate Situations Syndrome” (HAND TOSS) has been a test subject under the self-actualization treatment to become a person.

This is the last, and I think best video is the six-part series.

For the time and effort put in to creating such a project, I think Microsoft made the mistake of severely under-promoting it. However, they’ve tried to reclaim the losses by running a commercial on Comedy Central during Demetri’s Trendspotting tour. Whether or not this any had impact remains to be seen.

I really enjoyed the subtle humor and sarcastic overtone throughout the series, and I think this following scene from the last episode highlights why I enjoyed it.

Hats off to Demetri Martin, comical genius!

Forget what I said last time, Clearification has returned to the state of ‘not making much sense’. Today, the third episode in the six episodes series with Demetri Martin was released, titled “Electric Brain”. The story revolves around a scientific experiment with a brain-analyzing device. Check it out for yourself.

It’s a little bit funny. Not much storyline. Weird, to say the least. A few guest appearances of Windows Vista showcasing Office 2007, Flip 3D, Windows Media Player and Internet Explorer.

In other news, the official website for The Institute for Advanced Personhood has also opened. Feels a little bit like Lost’s alternative reality game, the Hanso Foundation.

There’s a lot of history behind the institute, it’s staff and its beliefs. There’s also a nice little mini-game that explores your psychological traits. According to the test, I’m “one of a kind”.

There has been more Vista scoops posted today on the series of tubes than the last 3 months combined. As we approach judgment day, things are starting to make sense.

Product branding icons

Paul Thurrott (image credit) has posted an image snippet of all the branded products’ icons in Windows Vista, set against the new default Aurora desktop wallpaper. From left to right: Windows Calendar, Windows Meeting Space, Windows DVD Maker, Windows Mail, Windows Media Player, Windows Movie Maker, Windows Photo Gallery. I haven’t seen so much glass in my whole life. But both the DVD Maker and Media Player’s icon seems extremely quirky.

New wallpapers (and real build 5840)

kenipnet (image credit) from the Neowin forums has posted this screenshot of a Vista escrow build with the final wallpapers including the new default Aurora. Comparing the wallpapers inside the betas, new ones visible on the screenshot includes a yellow beach-sunset, a standard landscape view with shrubs rock and sky, and a real aurora. The real aurora looks spectacularly hot.

Vista and Office packaging

Nick White (image credit) from the Windows Vista team blog posted these rendered shots of the packaging cases for Windows Vista and Office 2007. As Robert McLaws also pointed out, I was (nearly) right with my original assumptions for the packaging. Regardless, they’re unique and aesthetically pleasing. Although the Office box-art is considerably better than the Vista one. Like everyone else, we wait for what the Ultimate edition might look like.

Update: Big thanks to Andre Da Costa (image credit), the other Windows Vista editions’ packaging has also been released. Can anyone say, holy freaking super deliciously awesome? Jenny Lam and her team did an amazing job. Funny how Home Basic doesn’t get a prominently visible aurora background.

Windows Vista sounds

James Senior from Microsoft UK has posted a compilation of all the new sounds in Windows Vista from an unidentifiable build. The sounds he demonstrates includes: critical stop, ReadyBoost drive inserted, Windows UAC control prompt, new e-mail notification, low battery alarm, exclamation, Windows start and exit Windows. What you will hear will shock and awe you.

Vista has NOT been RTM-ed

As oppose to what several people has stated in and around enthusiast communities like Neowin, several key Microsoft employees has firmly stated that Vista has not been released to manufacturing. The day might be soon, but is certainly not today, or tomorrow. There’s still a bit more work to do. Build 6000.16384 is real, but it also doesn’t mean RTM. These days, Microsoft doesn’t have to increase the major version number when building, so theoretically, any sub-set of build 6000 (6000.16385, 16386, etc…) can be RTM.

Mysteries yet to solve

However not everything has leaked, there are still many mysteries we have yet to solve, including:

• Ultimate Extras
• Television commercials/posters
• Official theme song (XP was Ray of Light)
• Celebrity endorsements (besides Demetri Martin)
• Anytime Upgrade pricing
• Windows Vista sounds (since James was no help)

It’s not over yet. The party’s just getting started.

Update: Added snippet debunking rumors Vista has been released to manufacturing.

It’s been nearly two weeks since I first reported about Microsoft’s viral marketing campaign for Windows Vista called Clearification. Back then, the relationship between the campaign and Windows Vista was extremely vague and confusing. But now, Clearification has just posted the second installment of the “Demetri Martin finds Clearification” videos. Everything is clearer now.

In the second episode titled “Welcome to the I.A.P.”, we learn more about the organization which Demetri Martin has been institutionalized in. The acronym actually stands for the Institute for Advanced Person, founded “sometime in the past”. The IAP is partly funded by “money we find around” under couch cushions.

But more importantly, this episode demonstrates quite clearly how Windows Vista ties into the story. As I was partly right in my original assumptions, Windows Vista serves as a tool which the IAP uses to aid its people. There were several quite prominent placements of Vista technologies, including:

• The Momento digital picture frame (I just reported yesterday)
• A desktop PC running Windows Vista
• A slideable Tablet PC running Windows Vista
• Aero’s Live Thumbnails
• Wireless network projector

And of course, mentioned in the episode, Microsoft is one of the corporations which fund the IAP, along with International Handles, Indisposable Camera Company and Eric.

The episode almost reminded me of LOST, showing a video describing the origins of the IAP in-place of the Dharma Initiative. The jokes were once again fairly ‘in-your-face’ which didn’t make you laugh out loud, but at least gave you a smirk on your face. I don’t know how Demetri Martin can pull off such a straight face, but he is truly the star.

Here’s some screencaps of the most memorable moments. I want that “person” shirt!

Days away from launch, someone has sent in a tip about the official Windows Vista viral marketing campaign called Clearification. If you loved Demetri Martin in The Daily Show, you’ll love him here. It’s funny, its depressing, its satirical and I don’t know how it relates to Windows Vista.

To get the vibe of Clearification, have a look at this video.

It is no secret Demetri Martin signed up with Microsoft nearly 4 months ago in a multi-staged marketing campaign aimed to improve the image of Windows and Microsoft. So far, Microsoft has sponsored for Demetri’s stand-up tour “These are Jokes”, touring around the States. But Demetri Martin is best known for his “Trendspotting” reports in the Comedy Central show, “The Daily Show”.

As noted by the Seattle Pi, Microsoft and Apple are literally head-to-head when it comes to hiring comedians. On the same show, Apple has already hired John Hodgman as part of its Mac-vs-PC advertising campaigns. Could this be rivalry at its finest?

In the past, Microsoft has officially stated Demetri will the face of a massive multipronged campaign for Windows Vista, and this is it. Whilst it has obvious associations with Microsoft and Windows Vista, it is still unclear how it will tie-in with the bigger Windows Vista marketing campaign. So far, a link and a few audio plugs are all there is between Microsoft and Clearification, which are only links to Microsoft’s official website.

The focus of the website is to show a series of episodic videos about a man with psychological issues who’s been sent to an institution. It is unclear how Windows Vista might tie in to the whole story, but I’m guessing Vista is going to make him less crazy? Or something along those lines of being a normal, productive and sane man.

The tone of the website is very light hearted, with plenty of family-friend jokes and amusing quotes. The artwork is by Michael Gillette. Music by Film School Music. And it even has an RSS feed. There are also options to download each video and quote featured on the website, which will very popular with teenagers who share them like crazy.

A Whois search of the domain reveals clues about when this domain was registered or who (marketing agency) was responsible for the campaign.

Definitely check out all the wackiness that is Clearification for yourself at www.clearification.com.