The Direct Marketing Association has announced it will merge its Email Marketing Council with the Email Experience Council in an effort to strengthen the multichannel marketing environment.

“As email continues to expand and become an ever-larger part of the marketing mix, DMA is committed to educating businesses and nonprofit organizations about how they can most effectively and responsibly leverage this vital communications channel,” said DMA Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Dr. Ramesh Lakshmi-Ratan.
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This house is the result of two artists Dan Havel and Dean Ruck’s work before it was about to be demolished. The house in Houston looks almost like it’s been speared and has a tunnel large enough to fit a person from the front to the rear.

more images..

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The Urbis museum in Manchester is hosting a debate this coming Tuesday (July 17th, 7pm) to discuss the congetion charges that are planned for the city.

Motorists who work in Manchester will face at least two congestion charge zones and pay up to £5 a day.

Backing Greater Manchester’s plans are pubs, clubs and hoteliers, several businesses, environmental groups and voluntary organisations.

But ranged against it are Trafford Centre owners Peel Holdings, several other businesses, the Road Haulage Association and a number of motoring groups.

The event is being organised by the MEN and Channel M.

YUSCANO is a nify little tool that allows you to almost ‘channel surf’ youtube for your searches. Rather than trawl long lists of clips, this site will play as many clips as you like, for as long as you like, just like you’re channel hopping on the remote control.

It’s taken a few days but the first unlocked iPhones are appearing in the UK.

Yesterday, The Register reported a UK firm was successfully unlocking the iphone to work within the UK and soon plan to release their software for around $50.

John McLaughlin, founder of Uniquephones, told IDG that his software engineers were working “around the clock” in order to bypass Apple’s restriction that ties activation of the iPhone to signing up to a two-year contract with AT&T.

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A parody of the Mac vs. PC commercials with South Park characters.

The growth in demand for email marketing continues to be a key trend in the market. We estimate that UK businesses spent £178m on email marketing during 2006 – an increase of 20% over 2005. (reported by E-Consultancy) Continue Reading »

Speculation was rife this week that O2 was about to sign a deal for UK distribution of the hypefest which is the Apple iPhone, though on Monday it seemed that Vodafone would be getting the deal, and prior to that those in the know were saying Carphone Warehouse was a dead cert.

Make no mistake; Apple will be talking to all those people, as well as the other operators, and indeed anyone who will listen to their pitch that previous business models are dead, and the iPhone represents the future. Continue Reading »

In an early sign that perhaps the debut of Apple‘s (NASDAQ: AAPL) much-anticipated iPhone might not have been as big of a hit as it was cracked up to be, sales of the phone on eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) have been disappointing for the entrepreneurs who waited in long lines hoping to cash in on the hype. Many sellers are breaking even or even losing money on their attempts to sell the phone on eBay.

But maybe this is actually a good sign. Overwhelming demand leading to huge windfalls for resellers would indicate that Apple was unprepared — After all, Apple gains nothing when its products are resold at huge mark-ups on the secondary market. According to the New York Times:

Demand for the phone was remarkably strong in the first days. Analysts estimate that Apple and AT&T stores have sold around 500,000 phones so far. One analyst ventured a guess as high as 700,000. But Apple appears to have anticipated demand and contracted with manufacturers in Asia to build far more. Apple has said it expects to sell as many as 10 million phones by the end of 2008.

Of course, the adequate supply at the retail level may rob Apple of the hype element of phones being resold on eBay.

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Johnny Vegas doesn’t so much climb the property ladder as walk under it in this site-specific solo comedy at the Manchester International Festival. Vegas plays Jeffrey Parkin, who’s showing us around his three-bedroom Chorley semi with a view to making a sale. Purr as Parkin flaunts the pan rack, inspired by the Humber Bridge. Coo at his root-wood coffee table. Then blanche as his beer-bellied Sarah Beeny act crumbles, revealing structural flaws in the property-is-God value system. Interiors (co-created with Stewart Lee) is less Location, Location, Location, more Depression, Depression, Depression. Continue Reading »