de.tech.ting

A Load of Twitter — Read It And Tweep

Posted by andreaitis on February 22, 2009

“We are the most narcissistic age ever,” agrees Dr David Lewis, a cognitive neuropsychologist and director of research based at the University of Sussex. “Using Twitter suggests a level of insecurity whereby, unless people recognise you, you cease to exist. It may stave off insecurity in the short term, but it won’t cure it.”

“Receiving a tweet is like a friend whispering something in your ear,” says de Botton. “We all want people to whisper secret messages to us. Children like to play ‘I have a secret to tell you’. It’s great fun, but what they say is often not very important.”

A load of Twitter – Times Online

Whatever.  I’d just like to globally decimate the word ‘tweet’ and replace it with something less tweety.  Who’s with me?

Posted in news, social media, twitter | 1 Comment »

Sometimes Microsoft Is So Silly

Posted by andreaitis on February 22, 2009

I highlighted my favorite quote, just to make sure you don’t miss it.

Microsoft has created a new learning institute aimed at helping researchers learn more about how video games positively influence gamers.

“We want to figure out what’s compelling about the games,” said Microsoft head of gaming research John Nordlinger. “If we can find out how to make the games fun and not make them so violent, that would be ideal.”

DailyTech – Microsoft Creates The Games for Learning Institute Research Lab

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"Hot News" Carries a Chill

Posted by andreaitis on February 22, 2009

I haven’t seen a ton of coverage about this, but maybe it’s because I’m not reading law journals.  Still, it strikes me that this is fundamentally interesting in light of all that’s happening as the journalistic battle fields are invaded by digital forces.  Insert your own Star Wars analogy here.

Southern District of New York Judge Kevin Castel rejected a motion to dismiss a claim brought by the AP against All Headline News Corp. (AHN) for misappropriating AP breaking news and presenting it as the work of its own reporters.

The rulings came in The Associated Press v. All Headline News Corp., 08 Civ. 323, a suit where the AP alleged that defendants W. Jeffrey Brown and Danielle George instructed “poorly paid individuals” at All Headline News to locate breaking news stories from other sources and edit them for use under the All Headline News banner.

Many of the reports allegedly came from the AP, which claimed six specific acts of “free riding” on AP articles and claimed that All Headline News personnel were instructed to remove or alter any identification of the AP as the author or copyright holder.

Castel said the federal common law cause of action for misappropriation of “hot news” was first recognized in 1919 by the U.S. Supreme Court in International News Service v. Associated Press, 248 U.S. 215.

Treating breaking or hot news as the “quasi property” of a news organization, the Supreme Court said that allowing one news agency to steal the work of another would “render all publication profitless, or so little profitable as in effect to cut off the service by rendering the cost prohibitive in comparison with the return.”

Judge Recognizes ‘Hot News’ Issue in Copyright Action by AP Service

Posted in news, technology | Tagged: , , , | 1 Comment »

Steve Jobs, Unplugged

Posted by andreaitis on February 22, 2009

Social media cues and clues, from behavioral patterns…and the breaking of them.

Report: Steve Jobs has logged off

“A friend of mine has for years been one of Steve Jobs’ Internet chat buddies. And as such his chat client has – again for years – shown as Steve came online each day and remained there for hours and hours as you’d expect a Silicon Valley mogul to do. And it’s a trend that continued well past Jobs’ announcement that he was taking a six-month leave of absence to get well. But then Steve started logging-on less and less. And several weeks ago he stopped logging-on at all.” (link)

Report: Steve Jobs has logged off – Apple 2.0

Posted in news, social media, technology | Tagged: , , | 2 Comments »

the return of egg-phobia

Posted by andreaitis on February 21, 2009

quail eggs with bacon

quail eggs with bacon. might as well yell 'fire' or 'shark' or 'marilyn manson.'

i’ve been meaning to post this picture.  actually, i’ve been meaning to update this blog.   but i suppose if i had lots of time to post pictures and update the blog then the startup thing would maybe not be doing so well.

so, here i am, insomniac’d after finishing a draft of the board mtg deck…finally, finally posting this picture.  it’s from december, when we had our first official true/slant festivus lunch.  there were 9 of us, total: 4 on staff, the new guy who was just about to start, and 4 contractors.  in case you want to play along, here’s the invite i sent out:

on thursday, 12/18 please come and dine
at 12:45 — we should be on time
we’ll have tapas and maybe…maybe some wine
(i’m not really sure since we’re on a tight dime)
at Boqueria we’ll be festive and fine
don’t worry, we won’t be speaking in rhyme
but we will celebrate how our lives intertwine
and toast to all things true/slant divine

so off we went to Boqueria for tapas and wine in the afternoon.  of course, we had a surprise quick visit from one of our investors just before the lunch.  that’s always good.  not only are we cutting out in the afternoon, but we’re going to have a pseudo-holiday party.  excellent timing.  we got to show the investors just how we’re managing the startup schedule and the funding.   high5.

anyway, back to the picture.  i don’t like eggs.  not in the i-don’t-mind-them kind of way.  i reaallly do not like them.  so much so that a friend once put a nekked hard-boiled egg on my computer keyboard as a “joke.”   funny it was not.  i still remember the quaking shock and fear when i walked in and saw that slippery slimy smelly shiny e-g-g casually resting on my keyboard.  i’d say i’m exaggerating but i’m not so much.  gloved removal and disinfectant was involved.

so when the quail eggs with bacon were served, we had to capture the moment.  i was very brave and allowed them on the table near me.  and i’m pretty sure the yolks followed my every move.  but i survived.  because that’s what it takes to make it in the startup world.

egg-free updates to come:  union square office one day, the (shoe)box office the next…

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Something to Phone Home About…

Posted by andreaitis on February 19, 2009

I need a new phone.  Actually, I don’t neeeed one.  I just want one.  And it takes me forever to decide which new phone is the right new phone for me. But now I can torment all of you in the process.  I’ve resisted the Blackberry so far, and was considering the Treo Pro….but I might have to reconsider my reconsideration for reconsidering…

Let the casual users have their touch screens; the BlackBerry Curve 8900 is all about the keyboard. This new version of the original T-Mobile BlackBerry Curve has a 3.2-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi connectivity and all the e-mail features that make BlackBerry popular with businesspeople.

blackberry

The four-ounce phone is considerably thinner than the older model. It supports most major e-mail providers and can connect to AOL, Yahoo and Windows Live instant messaging. This model also has GPS functions with turn-by-turn directions and audio and video playback. Research in Motion, its maker, has also improved the screen resolution and improved the interface and browser.

A New BlackBerry Curve Loaded With Features – NYTimes.com

Posted in technology | Tagged: , , | 2 Comments »

Talk About Direct Marketing…Zuckerberg, Exhibit A

Posted by andreaitis on February 18, 2009

It’s this simple: Mark Zuckerberg talks to — and with — his users.  Right or wrong, he confronts the issues head on and sounds…human.  Human, imagine that.  From my perspective, his authenticity works with both consumers and the media.

Facebook Reverses Course, Pulls Terms of Use

Earlier this week, Zuckerberg announced that Facebook had updated its terms of use to clarify that information you share outside of your own profile — like posts written on friends’ Walls, replies to their status updates, or messages you send via the site’s messaging service – will remain on Facebook even if you delete your account.

“We think this is the right way for Facebook to work, and it is consistent with how other services like e-mail work,” Zuckerberg wrote in a Monday blog post.

Some Facebook members were not in agreement.

Zuckerberg promised that the site’s next terms of use will be a “substantial revision from where we are now.” There is now a group – Facebook Bill of Rights and Responsibilities – where Facebook members can add their input on what the terms of use should include.

Facebook Reverses Course, Pulls Terms of Use – News and Analysis by PC Magazine

[poll id=”2″]

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Facebook 'em, Dan-o

Posted by andreaitis on February 17, 2009

Facebook Privacy Change Sparks Federal Complaint

mark zuckerberg facebook

The backlash against Facebook’s updated privacy policies is about to expand. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) is preparing to file a formal complaint with the Federal Trade Commission over the social network’s updated licenses, PC World has learned.

Facebook Privacy Change Sparks Federal Complaint – PC World

Posted in facebook, news, social media | 2 Comments »

Trust, But Verify?

Posted by andreaitis on February 17, 2009

Mark Zuckerberg talking on Facebook (of course) about the change in their terms of use.  He actually calls it a clarification, and I believe it is.  The snippet below stood out for me as I read through Zuckerberg’s post:

In reality, we wouldn’t share your information in a way you wouldn’t want. The trust you place in us as a safe place to share information is the most important part of what makes Facebook work. Our goal is to build great products and to communicate clearly to help people share more information in this trusted environment.

On Facebook, People Own and Control Their Information | Facebook.

So I got to thinking:  Who do I trust more, Facebook or Google?  I’ve put off trying Google Latitude yet just because it’s one more avenue for Google to invade my space.  Yes, yes, I’m inviting Google into my space.  But by now, Google probably knows more about me than my mother (minus that incident sophomore year).  Google sometimes gives me the creeps; Facebook does not.  Maybe it’s because I am largely in control of the information I’m putting into Facebook, so I know what they can pull out.  Not entirely the same with Google.  I feel like there are boundaries around my Facebook experience, and I can go beyond those or not, at my discretion.  I pretty much know what Mark Zuckerberg plans to do, at least at a high level.  Google, on the other hand, seems all about breaking boundaries and connecting information whether I want it connected or not.  Google’s overall intentions are still unknown, a giant galactic vacuum sucking up bits of me from here and there.  And I’m not sure how they’ll piece it all together just yet.

So, we can’t really verify.  Which means it does, in the end, come down to trust.  It all made me think of, well, Ronald Reagan first…but then Elvis Costello:

“You said you’d stand by me in the middle of Chapter Three
But you were up to your old tricks in Chapters Four, Five and Six”

Dare ya to sing along with me.

Posted in facebook, news, social media, technology | Tagged: , , , , | 1 Comment »

The Rebuttal: Lazy Monday

Posted by andreaitis on February 16, 2009

After reading Cristina Everett’s post “Dick in a Box for Sale” I was reminded of one of the counter-raps from the Samberg Series.   Take a walk down short-term memory lane with “Lazy Monday”:

[kaltura-widget wid=”rb29nzqnhs” width=”410″ height=”364″ addpermission=”2″ editpermission=”2″ /]

Posted in technology, video | Tagged: , , | Leave a Comment »