Two videos to end your day: A Tauranga toy cow goes to the edge of space, riding a balloon capsule from the Nevada desert (some kind of PR malarky for a local ISP, see RAW DATA below).
And a new ad from Nokia, promoting its Lumia 920 running Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 software. It has some amusing digs at Apple and Samsung. Neither can complain. Apple invented the humerous IT attack ad with its Mac guy/PC guy series, while Samsung scored with its ad mocking people in an iPhone queue. Worth a look.
RAW DATA: EOL press release
Tauranga and Western Bay achieve a world first, with images and video from the edge of space.
Thanks to the ingenuity of local Bay of Plenty IT company Enternet Online (EOL), the Bay of Plenty has taken its brand to the edge of space, on the sleeves of a toy mascot cow. The incredible first images and video of the space expedition have now been recovered and show the ascent of the balloon capsule and EVA high over the Nevada Desert to the edge of space and back down to earth again.
Enternet Online’s Managing Director Terry Coles says the footage is exciting to watch and fairly dramatic at times due to the remote landing of the capsule deep in Death Valley.
“The images of EVA our toy mascot cow, resplendent with Tauranga City Mayor Stuart Crosby’s lapel pin and Western Bay of Plenty Mayor Ross Paterson’s badge are incredible. We have quite literally shone sunlight on the Bay at the very edge of space and that’s a first! But due to the remote landing of the capsule after it descended back to earth the recovery team, led by expedition leader Dr Tony Phillips of spaceweather.com, had possibly their most challenging recovery to date.”
To reach EVA and the crucial data the recovery team, that included some students from nearby Bishop High School, had to go over a 6000 foot ridge of mountains in a remote corner of Death Valley national park. A GPS locator pinpointed EVA’s exact whereabouts in the infamous Playa Racetrack where rocks up to 50kg move on their own, often travelling over a km. The team have to get in and out in daylight as temperatures drop from as high as +50c during the day to -10c at night.
“On Friday around 11.30am we received word they had located EVA and the data. Even then they weren’t sure the video and images would be retrievable given the temperature extremes in Death Valley. But luck was on our side and today we received the video and images.” Says Terry Coles.
Assisting with EVA’s job in representing the Bay of Plenty has been Tourism Bay of Plenty General Manager Rhys Arrowsmith who says it’s an exciting project to be a part of.
“EOL has engineered an amazing opportunity to promote the Bay to a global audience. Being part of World Earth Day makes it all the more appropriate – given the Bay of Plenty is one of the most beautiful parts of one of the best countries in the world to live.”
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Tauranga cow on edge of space, Nokia's fun attack ad
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