Duke University recently digitised DMB&B’s archive of work from the 50s and 60s, making it available to download,  free, from iTunes.

For inspiration, research or pure amusement, the collection covers a range of brands from baby food to beer, beauty products to banks.

Start here or go straight to the iTunes store and search under “Adviews”.

Hands up who knows what these are:

Did you get it? They’re little absorbent cones that go over a baby boy’s bits when changing his nappy. Obvious isn’t it…

The Pee-pee Teepee for the Sprinkling WeeWee (I’m not making this up) is seemingly a roaring success in the USA as several friends over there have tried to convince me of their merit (do American boys pee on their mothers more than English ones I wonder). They come in a mind-bogglingly unnecessary array of patterns including camouflage and Santa hats for those joyful Christmas nappy changes. It doesn’t happen often but I’m very nearly speechless.

Apparently they make “the perfect addition to any baby shower gift”. Cheeky.

And so it is with my shiny new mobile broadband thingy. Brilliant in any number of stationary locations, it just can’t handle being on the move. Specifically, it disconnected itself more than 20 times on a recent 2 hour train journey from Manchester to London. Yet another example of me and technology not getting along. I can’t decide if my expectations are too high but perhaps a better solution would be for the train operators to install their own broadband and let them sort out the bridge and tunnel problem.

My mother’s house that is. Technological advancements beyond 1999 are seemingly not welcome or understood. Perhaps this is how the golden years begin, with the gentle closing of a door…

Anyway, myself and the boy are visiting and my mother’s internet connection has done me in. She’s on dial-up (people born in the 90s may want to look that up in an encyclopedia). I’d assumed they’d pulled the plug on those accounts ages ago but having tried to use it to book a flight and a train ticket I now know there’s money to be made still. It took me over an hour to find and book the best train journey and about half an hour to book the flight. After that, I spent ten minutes swearing and called up a friendly communications company and ordered mobile broadband which arrived today. Relief.

Setting it up all went wonderfully well, straight out of the box and all that malarkey. And while I’ve probably just committed myself for a year to something that will be faster and cheaper next week, it’s worth it to keep me sane.

It’s not that I automatically hate Microsoft – what would be the point and anyway they’ve created a lot of stuff that I use every day and probably a lot more besides that I take for granted. Given the choice though I’d rather never have to touch a non-Mac computer again (if only so I didn’t have to look so stupid asking people how to Apple Z on a PC).

I do wish that somebody (and why not Bill Gates?) would give Apple some competition before they get too complacent or self-congratulatory and money grubbing about their work – am I over sensitive or does the world really need so many different versions of the iPod? Whatever your thoughts, healthy competition is always a good thing so I watched Bill Gates’ interview with the BBC this morning with some hope.

The keyboard and mouse are history and touchscreen is here he said. Uhuh Bill, go ahead. Lookee here at this touchtable! The future will be touch-tastic! Well, yes… The problem with it is that it has all the glamour and excitement of a Newsnight election special. You know, the ones where Peter Snow waves his arms excitedly in front of a blue screen while entertaining, but ultimately always forgettable, techie stuff appears as if by magic. (The exception to this would be Jeremy Vine copying a hologram of Ming Campbell breakdancing to defeat, which may even be the image I conjure up on my deathbed decades from now.)

[youtube Rh3UlZcRQrY]

And that, I suppose, sums up where Microsoft get it wrong. With all of their money and fantastic brains to play with, you’d hope that their vision of the near future would be more uplifting, inspiring and memorable than a hologram of a former leader of the Liberal Democrats. Hey ho.

For people who like doing things in public that are normally done in darkened rooms behind closed doors, there is now Secret Cinema. A surprise film screened in unusual and unexpected venues, Secret Cinema launched this month in London with a preview of Gus Van Sant’s Paranoid Park. 300 people braved the damp and cold of London Bridge’s railway arches to see it, though I think I’ll wait for a fairer season.

Secret Cinema isn’t exactly a secret (appearing in an array of newspapers and magazines) and it may not be a new idea, but it’s more professionally organised than the guerilla rooftop screenings of the 90s and there is something so very social about al fresco cinema. Sign up here and have your picnic basket, friends/sweetheart and cushions at the ready for future dates.