Ian On The Red Dot

Awesome prank.

via: kottke

From the about page of the group ‘Improv Everywhere‘ that pulled this prank off.

We’re out to prove that a prank doesn’t have to involve humiliation or embarrassment; it can simply be about making someone laugh, smile, or stop to notice the world around them.

How it all began:

In August of 2001, I went out to a West Village bar with my college buddies Brandon Arnold and Jon Karpinos. On a whim we decided to pull a prank where I would pose as musician Ben Folds. Three hours later, “Ben Folds” was drinking on the house surrounded by women and his “two big fans” were thrown out of the bar for “stealing Ben Folds’ wallet”. I had always been a prankster, but this experience enlightened me as to how far a prank could be taken. As an actor new to the city, I discovered I could create my own theatre rather than waiting around for someone to give me stage time. I got tired of telling the story to friends, so I typed it up and put it on the web. Improv Everywhere was born.

From: http://www.collegehumor.com/about

CollegeHumor.com was founded in 1999 by two high school friends from Baltimore, Maryland who went to different colleges as a way to share all of the pictures, videos, and links their friends would IM and e-mail each other. Now it’s a lot bigger.

If something’s funny on the Internet, it’s either on here or linked from here. Basically, we’ve got a ton of crap. We also have a writing staff of people that are so funny, they’re not allowed to attend funerals! For more info on CH, please read our FAQ.

I enjoy reading the about pages of companies and sites that I like or find really interesting. Nuffnang is one of those companies with a story that resonates with me. Reading the blog of one of the founders makes the story even more compelling. In any case, I’ve decided to start collecting these stories from the about pages of various sites and companies.

From: http://www.nuffnang.com.my/about-us

A Tiny Seed is planted.

In late may of 2006, 2 university students, Timothy Tiah and Cheo Ming Shen sat having a bento box lunch in London.

Exams were looming, but as with all the conversations between these two greenhorns, the topic was enterprise.

Having both experienced entrepeneurship during their student years, they were like over eager bunnies, ready to unleash their ideas on their home markets of Malaysia and Singapore.

It was in this cosy restaurant that the seeds of Nuffnang.com were planted.
What tree?

The decision was made to start a business, but what business?

Timothy then, had a deep rooted passion in the recent phenomenon of blogging. Having gathered an admirable following of readers with a blog he started with a friend, he lamented over how there was a dearth of relevant and lucrative advertising dollars.

Asia would soon have it’s very own blog advertising community.
Nurturing growth

Months of planning went into Nuffnang.com

And on the business plan, a modest target of 300 bloggers within 3 months had been set.

Even with those targets, there were skeptics, not least the two initiators.

Nuffnang.com.my was launched on 27th Feb 2007 and within the first 3 days, had signed up 300 bloggers. Nuffnang.com.sg was to follow suit 2 months later on the 30th of April.

Today, there are 13,000 bloggers in both countries, and Nuffnang has received publicity from all corners, having been featured on mainstream newspapers like The Star Malaysia, and The Straits Times Singapore.

Thousands of bloggers have been served ads by numerous bluechip companies, such as Nike, Citibank, Nokia, F&N, Walls, AirAsia, Honda, and many more.

More importantly, the community in Nuffnang has flourished, and it has truly become a focal point for bloggers in Malaysia and Singapore. Our bloggers call themselves Nuffnangers, an organic development that we are proudest of.

The best is yet to be.