Get Out Of My .Biz

Our badass new tv! (Taken with instagram)

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:01:03 -0800

Our badass new tv! (Taken with instagram)

"What she and her colleagues found out was that [the number of mentions of a TV show in social media]..."

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:37:53 -0800

“What she and her colleagues found out was that [the number of mentions of a TV show in social media] was not a good predictor of popularity. Volume was more of a trailing indicator than a leading indicator. But Dispersion, or what Dina calls Entropy, turned out to be a very reliable leading indicator of popularity of a TV show. The wider and broader the discussion of the TV show went within online social media, the more likely the show was to become popular.”

- So the take away is that the more people talk about the different facets of a show in social media, the more popular the show will be.

As opposed to real life, where the more people talk about the different facets of a show in social media, the more popular the show will be.

A VC: Dispersion and Entropy In Social Media

The wider and broader the discussion of the TV show went within online social media, the more likely the show was to become popular.

(via tedr)

The sad face of a woman forced to send her new toy off to get...

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:39:09 -0800

The sad face of a woman forced to send her new toy off to get resized.

"The cries from the media blaming Apple for the conditions at Foxconn are getting out of hand...."

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:53:51 -0800

“The cries from the media blaming Apple for the conditions at Foxconn are getting out of hand. Blaming Apple solely for the problems at the factory is like blaming one car-maker for greenhouse gasses. It doesn’t make sense. There are many companies and many factors that make Foxconn what it is. Does Apple have a responsibility to the workers are Foxconn? Absolutely. However, I believe that Apple is doing more than any other company out there. They publish reports of audits and also detail things like what it’s doing to rid its products of dangerous chemicals. What are the other companies doing that even compares to Apple’s progress? We don’t really know, because nobody bothers to find out.”

- This is disingenuous at best. After more than a few days of talking about the astronomical profits that Apple hit in Q4, and then comparing it to everyone else, The Loop turns around and put them on equal footing when it comes to corporate responsibility? If they are making the most money from Foxconn’s exploitative practices, do they not bear more responsibility than most?

As The Loop has also pointed out many times, Apple products are copied every day. Do they not think that as industry leader that if they made a decisive statement, others would copy this as well?

I’m not saying that I disagree with The Loop. Exploitative Labor is something every single consumer embrases and endorses every time they purchase a product, especially a tech product. It’s up to all of us. But praising a company on one hand for doing everything right, and then saying they’re an easy target when criticism comes seems, as I said, disingenuous at best.

Apple’s an easy target, but you can’t blame them for Foxconn

Totally unnecessary soundtrack for an app demo video of the...

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:20:44 -0800

Totally unnecessary soundtrack for an app demo video of the day.

CollageShop Android Application from SilkenMermaid (by silkenmermaid)

"A much narrower lesson of Kodak’s bankruptcy: that the tech industry and Wall Street’s infatuation..."

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:16:09 -0800

“A much narrower lesson of Kodak’s bankruptcy: that the tech industry and Wall Street’s infatuation with companies’ patent portfolios might finally be coming back to earth. It’s not that intellectual property no longer matters, or won’t continue to factor into companies’ strategies for product development or mergers and acquisitions. But the gold rush is over.”

- “Alright everybody, show’s over, back to innovating.”

A Bankrupt Kodak Signals A Patent Bubble Burst | Epicenter | Wired.com

"The IPO market is dying,” he said. “You see companies achieving robust valuations on the private..."

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:53:19 -0800

“The IPO market is dying,” he said. “You see companies achieving robust valuations on the private market but being treated poorly when they go public. Often there are factors like the credit crisis or the situation in Europe affecting the markets. It’s the reasons entrepreneurs like myself never want to go public.”

- One of these is useful information, and the other a dishonest way to get page views:

Financial Media: Due to a number of forces, IPOs are becoming less attractive as a way to make a splash, or raise capital.

Tech Media: IPOS ARE DEAD!@!#!@$@!%

joshsternberg:

Barry Silbert, CEO of SecondMarket, discussing the ‘death of IPOs.’

Click through to Venture Beat’s coverage of this ‘private breakfast thrown by Bloomberg Markets’ where Sibert spoke.

New single serving Tumblr: Ugly Google TV remotes. As Drew has...

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 14:59:00 -0800

New single serving Tumblr: Ugly Google TV remotes.

As Drew has pointed out a number of times, what is the deal with these things?

The above photo is from Sony’s new box, so I guess they deserve some kudos for improving upon this thing:

But it’s not like anyone else is doing that much better. Here’s Vizio’s attempt:

So many buttons! There’s not enough minutes in the day to push all those buttons!

With this model, Logitech went with the old, “Uh, I don’t know, put it in a clamshell,” design ethic that ruled cellphones in the 90’s. According to Wired, Logitech says it chose a this layout so anyone can just pick up and use it without going through a “learning curve.” Call me a whippersnapper, but if you know what Google TV is, you can handle a new UI interface with less buttons. Even if my Grandmother did pick up a Google TV, she’s not going to call me and ask questions like, “Does this thing have a num lock? I want to push the num lock.”

On Google TV’s own website, they push the idea that “Your phone is your remote.”

That’s great! No buttons and I already know the interface! Of course, they have to ship the unit with a dedicated remote, but there has to be a price point where it becomes feasible to ship a Google TV box with a stripped down, Android version of an iPod touch.

(via [CES 2012] Sony Introduces Google TV Set-Top Box, Blu-Ray Player)

"I say to you that the VCR is to the American film producer and the American public as the Boston..."

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 10:44:48 -0800

“I say to you that the VCR is to the American film producer and the American public as the Boston strangler is to the woman home alone.”

- I say to you that comparing VCRs to the Boston Stranglers is as dangerous to your movement’s credibility as DC sniper was to people who lived in DC.

Jack Valenti Testimony at 1982 House Hearing on Home Recording of Copyrighted Works

"I feel that way too. More than most, probably. I’m forever wanting something new. Something..."

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:07:48 -0800

“I feel that way too. More than most, probably. I’m forever wanting something new. Something I’ve never seen before, that no one else has. Something that will be both an extension and expression of my person. Something that will take me away from the world I actually live in and let me immerse myself in another. Something that will let me see more details, take better pictures, do more at once, work smarter, run faster, live longer. Maybe I’ve even made you feel that way too. A sad cavalcade of fat men with roll-aboard luggage rushes past, looking at their phones as they walk, blocking my way.”

- Blah, blah, blah. That’s so deep. Two years ago it was e-readers, last year it was 3D-TVs, this year it’s, “CES sucks.” So many jaded writers acting like they don’t know that conferences are for talking and selling, not blowing your mind.

Fever Dream of a Guilt-Ridden Gadget Reporter

Daily Deals…now in adult form! 2 for 1 dildos, 20% off cum...

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 13:36:00 -0800

Daily Deals…now in adult form! 2 for 1 dildos, 20% off cum shots, BOGO rim jobs for all! Check them out for yourself at www.adultdealsdaily.com

BOGO rim jobs is officially a euphemism for group deals. “Today’s BOGO rim job was for that trendy restaurant. Let’s go!”

-saturdaynightlive: Really, Radar Online? You can’t believe it?...

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 12:13:14 -0800

-saturdaynightlive:

Really, Radar Online? You can’t believe it? I think you’re being a little disigenuous here.

"While most startups are focused on allowing users to share information as frictionless as possible,..."

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:29:21 -0800

“While most startups are focused on allowing users to share information as frictionless as possible, Neko.io is taking the opposite approach. The new service by Meontrust Inc. allows users to post on their friends’ walls, blogs, and anywhere else in a scrambled web link. To be able to read the link, you need to be “friends” with the Neko.io user who originally posted the link, and have a Neko.io account of your own. Clicking on the link takes you to the Neko.io website where it unscrambles the link— allowing you to communicate with your friends in a public forum, but still limit your privacy to a much smaller audience. In this sense, it’s a much more “frictional” way of sharing, but allows you to still use the services where your friends are already present.”

- In the “I mean, I get it…” news category, Neko.io is a way to post secrets to a public form. Sounds plausible.

Neko.io Adds Private Sharing Layer To Social Media

The hostess that’s great (Taken with instagram)

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 21:08:29 -0800

The hostess that’s great (Taken with instagram)

Mouth To Mouth Marketing

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 16:08:38 -0800

I discovered the app Blip.Me on an Android Blog. Blip.Me is voice texting, similar to HeyTell, but dead simple and fun to use. I didn’t have any other friend using, so I told my girlfriend about it. As she has AT&T in the city, we can never call each other, and within days Blip.Me became our dominant digital communication tool. As we began using Blip.Me in public, people started asking us what we were doing. “Why are you telling your phone, ‘I love you?’” Within weeks we were responsible for 4, then 8, and now 12 new Blip.Me users, as well as however many people they get to use it.

But what’s interesting is that all of these instances were happening offline in meatspace. I couldn’t get anyone to use Blip.Me when I tweeted about it, or sent a text message. Only when seeing the app in use could I convert someone.

Since everything has become ‘word of mouth’, I’m ‘brieving ‘offline word of mouth marketing’ to ‘Mouth to Mouth Marketing’. It’s what we all did before the Internet, and now it’s got a catchy term you can use.

The good headphone stuff is nonsense, I was able to get the...

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 10:53:43 -0800

The good headphone stuff is nonsense, I was able to get the experience with some crappy ear buds. That said, it’s probably better with nice headphones.

hamburglr:

First, go grab some headphones. The best ones you’ve got. If the best ones you’ve got are these suckers (or something similar), you should really go buy new ones, but use the best you’ve got for right now.

Take a break from whatever you’re doing for 2 minutes and listen, but just listen to the whole thing, even if you have to multi-task.

Headphones on? Ok. Good.

Now, press play.

“Upular (3D Audio Version)” - Pogo

caterpillarcowboy: likesandlaunch: Social Media: Evolving From...

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 04:00:05 -0800

caterpillarcowboy:

likesandlaunch:

Social Media: Evolving From Long Form To Push Button
In the evolution of social media over the last decade, the trend has been a move from long form content, which has high friction of participation (both on the production and consumption side) to ever lower requirements placed on a user to participate in a conversation.

(via Elad Blog: How Pinterest Will Transform the Web in 2012: Social Content Curation As The Next Big Thing)

If I were tumblr I’d be so insulted by this article. Pinterest is del.icio.us with pictures. Tumblr is community and expression in a way that is genuinely unique on the internet, at a scale that is completely unmatched. Articles like this are one more reason I have so much disdain for most Silicon Valley trend bloggers.

"Also referred to as “spillage” in the industry, TowerGroup found that through 2008,..."

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 04:00:00 -0800

“Also referred to as “spillage” in the industry, TowerGroup found that through 2008, expired cards had the highest channel for lost consumer value, accounting for 52 percent of spillage, followed by fees. Fees, such as a $1 service charge for inquiring about your balance, caused an estimated 39 percent in spillage. Misplaced cards contributed 9 percent of total lost value.”

- The Unused Value in Gift Cards is Shrinking - ABC News

"Is it possible that actual human beings respond to a barrage of vagina jokes with such gusto? And if..."

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 17:20:05 -0800

“Is it possible that actual human beings respond to a barrage of vagina jokes with such gusto? And if so, why is it that a 59-year-old Hollywood sound engineer named John Bickelhaupt is so busy this fall?”

- This is a great article about laugh tracks.

Coincidentally, there’s a very interesting, and very sad, story about the history of professional laughers, or people who get paid to sit in on sitcoms and laugh on queue. After two armed men broke into her house and brutally raped her and a friend, Fran Drescher did not feel comfortable letting strangers onto the set of The Nanny. The producers called a casting director to hire people to do the laughing on set. Now a full on profession, professional laughers are responsible for some of the most recognized laughs on television.

Also on the subject of laughing, I wrote a just okay article about the health benefits of laughing in college called ‘Laughing To Live.’

The Return of the Sitcom Laugh Track — New York Magazine

"We’re comfortable buying apps from third parties. Curated, third-party app stores made their..."

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 15:10:06 -0800

“We’re comfortable buying apps from third parties. Curated, third-party app stores made their presence felt this year: Amazon opened its limited Appstore of Android apps for its Kindle products, and GetJar had more than 350,000 apps available for all major platforms, saw more than 2 billion downloads total — and it grabbed some impressive exclusives.”

- Huge ups to my employer, GetJar for having a monster Q4, a very promising 2012, and hiring me full time as of today.

By the numbers: Mobile apps in 2011 — Tech News and Analysis