Archive for the ‘technology’ Category
Posted by andreaitis on April 13, 2009
Was the AmazonFail wail heard across the twitterverse the result of a hacker’s prank, a purposeful stunt to call attention to a cause, or a company gaff? The trend of the day seems to be judge first, ask later. You can jump into the fray and follow along as the plot thickens. One thing’s for sure: you can fit a lot of self-righteous rigor into 140 characters. Another thing’s for sure: I bet Amazon’s seeing a pretty nice bump in traffic and (offending) book sales.
Twitter had a big tizzy yesterday over Amazon.com’s supposed censorship of gay and lesbian titles, did you hear? Just one problem: A well-known hacker has come forward and claimed the whole thing was his prank.
The hacker, known as Weev, with whom we’ve had dealings before the “amazonfail” episode, is saying that the whole escapade was the result of his exploitation of a vulnerability in Amazon’s product-rating tools.
Gawker – Why It Makes Sense That a Hacker’s Behind Amazon’s Big Gay Outrage – Amazon.com
Posted in technology | Tagged: Amazon, AmazonFail, Hacker, Twitter | Leave a Comment »
Posted by andreaitis on April 10, 2009
As if Tom Hume wasn’t interesting enough for living with four cats and a badger, the Future Platforms Managing Director also enjoys looking up rude words in the dictionary. Give a guy like that an API and a bout of insomnia, then stand back. Of course, once it gets a studious title like Changing Trends in Obscenity in The Guardian over the Last 1o Years…it’s all legit.
Towards the end of last week, a sleepness night led me to indulge a childish sense of humour with 15 minutes of tomfoolery, the output of which was a graph comparing the decline and fall of various swear-words in the pages of the Guardian over the last decade. In a bid to retain some sense of self-respect, I’ll for now ignore the fact that this graph has achieved a readership that dwarfs anything else I’ve written in my career to date, and focus instead on how I did it.
How to trend swear words in the Guardian | The Guardian Open Platform | guardian.co.uk
What Tom really did – and he recognizes this – is find an easy way to track and analyze trends, in general. He provides the step-by-step instructions so others can try it out. Think of applying something like this to Twitter content, or speeches during an election, or court testimony, or song lyrics, or Britney Spears quotes…
Imagine what we might learn.
Posted in technology | Tagged: API, George Carlin, Guardian, Profanity | Leave a Comment »
Posted by andreaitis on April 9, 2009
It was bound to happen: a business model around a business struggling to find its business model.
Twitter’s whole concept is based on simplicity. Do you really need to hire someone to explain how and what to type in 140 characters?
Some of the best-known names in the London dotcom world are joining forces to cash in on the popularity of Twitter, the rapidly growing social network.
Twitter Partners said that it will help brands, media companies and celebrities to monitor and market themselves on the network, which allows more than 4m users to post 140-character updates to their list of “followers”.
FT.com / Companies / UK companies – Dotcom veterans in Twitter ‘brains trust’
Posted in technology, twitter | Tagged: Twitter, Twitter Partners | Leave a Comment »
Posted by andreaitis on April 6, 2009
Friendfeed has been flying under the radar, lurking in the shadow of Twitter and Facebook. This morning the clouds will part and a new version of Friendfeed will emerge. It was demo’d to bloggers, and reviews and videos of that demo will be available in a few hours. In the meantime, Robert Scoble has already weighed in with a “not so much” reaction. He does, however, have a smart, succinct list of product requirements for Twitter 2012: Filtering, Groups, Messaging and Location.
If something like the Hudson plane crash happens in Twitter 2012, I want to draw a box around New York and tell Twitter “only show me Tweets from inside this box.” To do that Twitter will need more metadata. In this case, location of where Tweets are being sent from (Twitter could easily get that from my iPhone’s GPS or use my Internet provider’s data to get detail on where my location is).
What else might I like in Twitter 2012?
See the list of six must-have Twitter features @ Scobleizer
Here on T/S, we’ve had an ongoing debate over the value of Twitter. Read Scoble’s list and then tell me: would you use that kind of Twitter?
Posted in social media, technology | Tagged: Friendfeed, Scoble, Twitter | Leave a Comment »
Posted by andreaitis on April 5, 2009
Boston University physics grad student Joel Tenenbaum is accused of sharing copyrighted music online, specifically seven tracks on Kazaa. As a result, he is currently being sued by the RIAA. Enter Radiohead, who firmly believe the music industry is not harmed by file-sharing. In fact, they think file-sharing among music fans can help. Talk about a (rock) star witness…
Radiohead, the band that made millions of dollars by giving away their music for free, has very little to complain about when it comes to piracy. On the contrary, in a landmark file-sharing case, Radiohead has responded positively to a request to testify against the RIAA.
Now, in the case of Boston University student Joel Tenenbaum versus the RIAA, Radiohead has indicated that they will testify against the RIAA. Tenenbaum’s troubles started in 2003 when he rejected an offer to settle with the RIAA for $500. After a few more settlement attempts and legal quibbles, the case eventually went to court.
Radiohead to Testify Against the RIAA | TorrentFreak.
Posted in music, technology | Tagged: file sharing, Radiohead, riaa | Leave a Comment »
Posted by andreaitis on April 3, 2009
The headline caught my eye: “Gang of villagers chase away Google car.” Paints quite a picture, huh? But these villagers were from an affluent area north of London. They were not simply aghast at a tacky Google car marring their pristine corner of paradise. They were concerned about invasion of privacy and safety, about creating a detailed treasure map for would-be burglars.
Of course, there’s a difference between what’s legally right and what’s morally right. Assuming Google was on public property, where do we draw the privacy lines?
Google’s ambitious plan to offer a 3-D street level view of communities across three continents hit a snag when angry residents of a UK village blocked the search engine’s camera car from photographing their homes.
“I was upstairs when I spotted the camera car driving down the lane,” resident Paul Jacobs told The Times of London.
“My immediate reaction was anger: How dare anyone take a photograph of my home without my consent? I ran outside to flag the car down and told the driver he was not only invading our privacy but also facilitating crime.
Gang of villagers chase away Google car – CNN.com
Posted in technology | Tagged: Camera, google, google earth, London, Privacy law | Leave a Comment »
Posted by andreaitis on March 31, 2009
Yes, it’s true. A press release went out yesterday with this announcement, and for better or worse Rhode Island is showing us the money: http://twitter.com/RITreasury/
So, which is it: better or worse?
General Treasurer Frank T. Caprio announced today that the Office of the Rhode Island General Treasurer will now be using Twitter to broadcast the State’s daily cash flow on a real-time, daily basis.
Cash flow is a measure of Rhode Island’s financial health. Each day’s publication or “tweet” will highlight the gross revenues and expenditures of the General Fund. “In layman’s terms, what money the state takes in and what money is paid out,” said Caprio.
via RI.gov : Rhode Island Government : Treasurer Caprio’s Office To Utilize Social Networking Tool Twitter To Broadcast Rhode Island’s Daily Cash Flow On A Real-Time Basis.
Posted in technology, twitter | Tagged: Frank Caprio, Rhode Island, Treasury, Twitter | Leave a Comment »
Posted by andreaitis on March 31, 2009
Good, old fashioned use-your-noggin PR still exists. Someone at Palm heard Howard Stern talking about getting a new cellphone, and lickety-split they rang up and offered him a personal preview of the Palm Pre. And, when I say ‘rang up’ I mean called him. On the phone. Tweet that, Twitter.
It’s a very public test case for the Pre and Palm is working the celebrity circuit to get a little iPhone-ish type buzz. The downside: It could also be disastrous if the Pre isn’t easy to use. Let’s face it Stern isn’t exactly as savvy as the Engadget gang.
Palm is getting Stern a demo Pre delivered to his home with a hands-on tutorial and then taking the top secret device away.
via Palm chases biggest mouth (Howard Stern) for Pre word of mouth marketing | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com.
Posted in mobile, technology | Tagged: cell phone, Howard Stern, Palm, Palm Pre | Leave a Comment »
Posted by andreaitis on March 29, 2009
That’s what Nick Cohen suggests in a happenstance companion piece to T/S Nancy Miller’s coverage of a new fund supporting investigative reporting.
The best reason for wanting my colleagues to survive is that serious reporters and broadcasters offer a guarantee that what they say is true. If they stray, their editors impose journalistic standards and insist on objectivity. They may not have the best or fullest story or the most vivid account, but readers should be able to assume their work is reliable, while a blogger’s commitment to objectivity can never be assumed.
via Nick Cohen: Who would you rather trust – the BBC or a blogger? | Comment is free | The Observer.
Specifically, I take issue with this phrase: “…a blogger’s commitment to objectivity can never be assumed.” First of all, commitment to objectivity should never be assumed, period. It suggests objectivity exists, which is a discussion unto itself. But readers should be smart and sensible; they should interpret and question accordingly, whether they’re reading from a newspaper, a mobile phone or a Kindle.
Bloggers as a generalization? That doesn’t fly anymore. Blogging is a platform, like tv, radio and print. It’s been a quick and energetic transition, from blogging infancy to adolescence. Bloggers are no longer simplistically defined. Just ask Andrew Sullivan.
Posted in technology | Tagged: blog, Bloggers, journalism, Objectivity | Leave a Comment »
Posted by andreaitis on March 29, 2009
Now if only Mark Cuban was twittering when he was on Dancing with the Stars…
The NBA has fined Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, the dotcom billionaire, $25,000 for slagging referees on Twitter Friday.
via Shut Up, Twitter: Mouthy Billionaire Mark Cuban Fined for Using Twitter.
Posted in social media, technology, twitter | Tagged: Fine, Mark Cuban, NBA, Twitter | Leave a Comment »
de.tech.ting 