de.tech.ting

Big Brother to the rescue: Google helped Twitter fend off attacks

Posted by andreaitis on August 12, 2009

Verrrry eeenteresting.

Twitter cofounder Biz Stone will appear on the Tavis Smiley show tomorrow night. About 45 seconds into a preview clip from the interview, Biz says that during the most recent denial-of-service attacks on Twitter, the startup learned a lot about how to deal with such attacks in the future by working “with folks from Google.”

via Google Helped Twitter Deal With Attacks (GOOG)

[youtubevid id=”iRQ3CP0LNZQ”]

There’s been much speculation to date about a Google-Twitter union. That will only increase now that Facebook is aligned with Friendfeed.   Was Google simply showing  cyber-citizen goodwill by helping Twitter fight off the DoS attack, or is this a hint at what’s to come?

Either way, you might want to brush up on ‘It’s a Small World After All.’  And replace ‘Small’ with ‘Google.’

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

Text messaging makes children and journalists more impulsive

Posted by andreaitis on August 11, 2009

text girl

Image by uberculture via Flickr

Okay, I added the journalist part but according to a new study, the rest is true.   Using mobile phones can change how your brain works.   How many journalists do you know who do NOT use mobile phones?  You can see the logic already.

This new research is rising up from down under.  Researchers at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia studied the mobile phone use of children between 11 and 14 and their ability to carry out a series of computer tests.   They found text messaging and predictive text messaging lead children to behave impulsively and make mistakes.

When researchers studied the way in which the children handled IQ-type tests they found that increased mobile phone use appears to change the way their brains work.

Prof Abramson, an epidemiologist at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, said: “The kids who used their phones a lot were faster on some of the tests, but were less accurate.

“We suspect that using mobile phones a lot, particularly tools like predictive texts for SMS, is training them to be fast but inaccurate.

via Mobile phone text messaging is making children more impulsive, claim researchers – Telegraph

Fast but inaccurate.  Hello, Alessandra Stanley?  To quote the New York Times’ Clark Hoyt quoting Alessandra Stanley in response to her very own Walter Cronkite Seven Errors Saga:

Stanley said she was writing another article on deadline at the same time and hurriedly produced the appraisal, sending it to her editor with the intention of fact-checking it later. She never did.

“This is my fault,” she said. “There are no excuses.”

In her haste, she said, she looked up the dates for two big stories that Cronkite covered — the assassination of Martin Luther King and the moment Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon — and copied them incorrectly. She wrote that Cronkite stormed the beaches on D-Day when he actually covered the invasion from a B-17 bomber. She never meant that literally, she said. “I didn’t reread it carefully enough to see people would think he was on the sands of Omaha Beach.”

The Public Editor – How Did This Happen? – Op-Ed – NYTimes.com

Alessandra Stanley behaved impulsively and made mistakes.   I’m betting she not only uses a mobile phone, but has also done some text messaging.  I don’t know this for a fact, but you can see how the new study may explain recent journalistic errors.   Now she can change her response: It’s not my fault! There is an excuse!  We can put the blame right where it belongs: on technology and science.

This is your brain.   This is your brain on mobile phone.

I’d research all this a bit further but I’ve got to text, twitter and check Facebook right now.

Posted in technology | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 5 Comments »

What do user-generated porn sites and Rupert Murdoch have in common?

Posted by andreaitis on August 6, 2009

originally posted to Flickr at http://www.flic...

Image via Wikipedia

Free-to-fee.

Repeat three times and click your heels:  Free-to-fee.  Free-to-fee.  Free-to-fee.  

That’s what user-generated porn sites and Rupert Murdoch have in common.  They both want to start charging for content that up to now has been free to consumers online.  Murdoch made a bold declaration yesterday, emphatically stating that he would start charging users to access all of his news websites by the end of next summer.

Can’t be any clearer:
1. Charging for ALL of his news websites
2. By end of next summer

Stung by a collapse in advertising revenue as the recession shredded Fleet Street’s traditional business model, Murdoch declared that the era of a free-for-all in online news was over.

“Quality journalism is not cheap,” said Murdoch. “The digital revolution has opened many new and inexpensive distribution channels but it has not made content free. We intend to charge for all our news websites.”

Rupert Murdoch plans charge for all news websites by next summer | Media | The Guardian

Turns out the user-generated porn industry is struggling with the exact same issue.   Traffic is high.  Revenues are low.  Content is free. Long-term viability is in question.   Perhaps it’s not much of a surprise that they’re reaching the same conclusion.

“Tube sites”–adult content Web sites that mimic YouTube in hosting everything from professionally made videos to user-generated clips–have quickly risen in popularity since they came onto the scene a few years ago, and rank among the highest traffic-getters globally. Some, like Youporn and Pornhub, attract more views than the Web sites of The New York Times or Apple ( AAPL – news – people ). But like YouTube and other video-sharing sites, tube porn sites have struggled with profitability and piracy.

“Tube sites have become part of the adult landscape now,” says Steven Hirsch, co-chairman of prominent adult movie studio Vivid Entertainment.  “But when all of this adult content is free, how do we get people to go from free to pay? ”

via The Challenge Of User-Generated Porn – Forbes.com

I don’t think anyone anticipated the intersection of porn and news in quite this way.   Although, knowing Murdoch, perhaps it’s to be expected.   We should’ve seen it coming in the fine print of his British tabloid The Sun.
See for yourself.  It’s all laid bare on The Sun’s Page 3.

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

Charles Manson disciple Lynette 'Squeaky' Fromme to be released from prison

Posted by andreaitis on August 5, 2009

Lynette Fromme

Lynette 'Squeaky' Fromme; Image via Wikipedia

According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Lynette ‘Squeaky’ Fromme will be released on parole on August 16 after 34 years behind bars.

Fromme was not just a devoted follower of cult leader Charles Manson, she also attempted to assassinate  President Ford in 1975.

For those who need a crimes-of-the-century refresher, members of the ‘Manson Family’ burst into a Beverly Hills home and  killed actress Sharon Tate and four others on August 9th, 1969.  Tate, the wife of director Roman Polanski,  was 8 1/2 months pregnant at the time.

I remember writing to Lynette Fromme when I worked at Fox Television’s news magazine A Current Affair, trying to secure a prison interview.  And yes, those were the days when you typed a letter on paper, before you had to distinguish the kind of mail you were sending.   She never agreed but we did get an interview  with another Manson disciple, Fromme’s friend and former roommate Sandra Good.

Legendary tabloid reporter Steve Dunleavy told the story with one-of-a-kind style and flair.

Sandra Good, 1989, Part 1

[youtubevid id=”XR_k6NG6qRE”]

Sandra Good, 1989, Part 2

[youtubevid id=”UCn4cn8ncL4″]

Good served a 15 year prison term for death threats against more than 170 business executives.  She remained a loyal Charles Manson supporter during her prison term and for years after, even creating a pro-Manson website.  The website went offline in 2001, and so did Sandra Good.  With Lynette ‘Squeaky’ Fromme’s imminent release, we’ll see if Sandra Good can stay hidden for long.

Posted in U.S. | Tagged: , , , , , | 1 Comment »

More to Love: Gettin' biggy with it

Posted by andreaitis on August 5, 2009

Fox’s new big-boned bachelor show More to Love happened to be on TV tonight while I was doing some work.  And I happened to not change the channel.   Which explains why – after a full hour of  big love – I sat in a state of perplexment, a new word I just created for this very situation.  You see, my involuntary post-show analysis includes observations that I may or may not share because they may or may not cross some line that may or may not exist.  What to make of a show with this self-proclaimed premise:

Luke Conley is a 26-year-old former college football offensive lineman who stands 6’3″ and weighs over 300 pounds. He’s a successful sub-contractor and real estate investor who has his sights set on building a long-lasting relationship. Luke’s ideal woman is intelligent, passionate, down-to-earth, full-figured and comfortable in her own skin.

This eligible guy will have the chance to find the woman of his dreams when 20 voluptuous ladies vie for his heart.

I needed a baseline, some way to gauge whether my reaction was within limits.  So I turned to the natural stream of conscience: Twitter.

big-twitter-1-8-4-2009-10-48-27-pmbig-twitter-2-8-4-2009-10-49-08-pmbig-twitter-2-a-8-4-2009-10-50-58-pmbig-twitter-2-b-8-4-2009-10-51-44-pmbig-twitter-2-c-8-4-2009-10-53-15-pmbig-twitter-2-d-8-4-2009-10-54-05-pmbig-twitter-3-8-4-2009-10-46-17-pm

These twitter messages pretty much sum up my reaction at any given moment during tonight’s episode.   I did, however, have a couple of additional points along with some puntastic song titles bouncing around in my head.  Suffer along with me for a moment, please.

Big Girls Don’t Cry.  Except when they do.  A lot.
As you might have picked up above, these girls aren’t just crying a river.  It’s practically a monsoon.   They all say they want someone to love them for who they are inside.  Ironically, they’ll get their wish.  When size doesn’t matter, it all comes down to what’s inside.  Luke’s definitely got a variety pack here.

[youtubevid id=”XflZ7qoWFQg”]

Hunka Hunka Burning Love.  Or Luke-warm Love.
He’s dorky, our Luke.  He favors expressions like Bring it on! and, uh, steak.  That’s what I learned about him.   I half-expected…okay, half-wished Luke would break into a rousing chorus of  “Fat bottomed girls you make the rockin’ world go round.”   That didn’t happen, but he did manage to have a LOT of the women admit on camera that he was perfect and they were already falling in love with him after meeting him twice in large group settings.

Pay close attention to the video below.  Not hard to miss the Big Guy, but as a special bonus you might notice host Emme is wearing flip flops.  Flip flops!  Perez Hilton, you can have that one for free.

[youtubevid id=”_xdiKxnQY7Y”]

Some girls are bigger than others.  This one is not.
I only remember one woman’s name, Christian.  She had a really nice smile.   I seem to have created nicknames for the others as I watched:  the Catty One, the Punk Rocker, the Aggressive One, the Blonde One…you get the idea.  This video features Luke and the Blonde One, who seems to be on the less big side.  Size aside, watch their interaction and tell me if you don’t think “ick.”

[youtubevid id=”KoTu2RL7Njw”]

Love Shrinks.  And stinks.
Twenty women, one man.   Same basic premise as The Bachelor, but somehow very different.  Emotions are raw and right at the surface on day one.  The women are extremely honest, clearly putting a lifetime of hopes on this opportunity, this 26 year old guy.   I can hear Oprah now, telling them they must first love themselves.  Every rejection will be that much more painful — and there will be 19 of them. Nineteen women desperate for love will not find it with Luke.

I hope they’ll be cushioned when they fall.

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

Would you pay $22,500 to download a song?

Posted by andreaitis on July 31, 2009

Image representing Kazaa as depicted in CrunchBase

Image via CrunchBase

That’s how much Joel Tenenbaum has to pay for the 30 songs he illegally downloaded and shared over the KaZaA peer-to-peer network.

After a brief deliberation, a federal jury has ruled that PhD student Joel Tenenbaum willfully infringed on the record labels’ copyrights, awarding them $675,000 in damages, $22,500 for each of the 30 songs in question.  The figure is closer to the $222,000 award in the first Jammie Thomas-Rasset trial than the $1.92 million figure from the second trial.

The verdict came down at late Friday afternoon after less than three hours of deliberation.

via Oy Tenenbaum! RIAA wins $675,000 – Ars Technica

Image representing RIAA, Recording Industry As...

Image via CrunchBase

On the stand, the 25 year old Tenenbaum admitted to everything, even lying during a previous deposition.  Was honesty the best policy?  The award could have been much more, though it’s hefty enough that Tenenbaum will have to file for bankruptcy if it stands.  And there are other cases waiting in the wings, with approximately 18,000 individuals targeted by the labels.  Tenenbaum is the second to  go to trial, and the second to lose.  That means 18,000 people are feeling pretty nervous right now.

We’ve seen Radiohead and other artists find new ways to market their music.  Is the RIAA taking the right approach here?  Is $22,500 a song too high a price to pay?

Posted in technology | Tagged: , , , | 7 Comments »

One billion reasons not to use Internet Explorer

Posted by andreaitis on July 30, 2009

Mozilla Firefox

Image via Wikipedia

On Friday Firefox is expected to  hit a huge milestone:  one billion browser downloads.  One billion! Say it like Dr. Evil for full effect.   That doesn’t mean one billion people are using Firefox.  Still, it’s a remarkable number when you consider the first release was just five years ago.

Mozilla has a Web site and a Twitter feed where people can keep track of the total. On Thursday afternoon, the feed showed more than 999,180,000 downloads, with about 15 more happening each second.

Mozilla said initially that it expected to hit the billion mark some time over the weekend. An hour later, as the news trickled out and the pace of downloads increased, Mozilla revised its estimate to Friday. An enthusiast Web site with a “Firefox Download Guesstimator” predicts it will reach a billion on Friday at noon GMT.

via Firefox to Hit 1 Billion Downloads Friday – PC World

Let’s put this in perspective.   The one billion number includes all Firefox browser versions since 2004.   The United States Census Bureau estimates the Earth’s population at 6.7 billion.  If we assume people have downloaded 4 versions (with upgrades and all), that means approximately 268 million  people are using Firefox.

Here’s the math:

1 billion divided by 4 divided by 6.7 billion = (rounding up)  4% or 268 million

Now, it’s no secret that I harbor some petulant dislike for Internet Explorer.  It’s the Nicolas Cage of browsers for me:  ever-present but never really delivering what I expect or need and never quite meshing with everything around it.   So you’ll understand if I mark this  Billion Browser Bash as a special occasion.  Hey, I’m sure there will be refreshments and you can bet Firefox will pick up the tabs.

Hah.  Refresh-ments.  Tabs.  Get it?   Internet Explorer wouldn’t even attempt that kind of browser humor.  Okay, I can see how that might be one point in their favor so i’ll just uninstall my pun plugin now…

Posted in technology | Tagged: , , , | 3 Comments »

Walter Cronkite as viral video

Posted by andreaitis on July 17, 2009

Would Walter Cronkite have imagined an afterlife on YouTube?  For those too old to forget and those too young to remember, this is how Walter Cronkite lives on:

Announcing JFK’s death

[youtubevid id=”2K8Q3cqGs7I”]

Reporting on the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King

[youtubevid id=”cmOBbxgxKvo”]

Reflecting on the Lunar Landing

[youtubevid id=”HwaA-hbvYF8&feature=fvst”]

Finally, Walter Cronkite on What’s My Line

[youtubevid id=”c6_RHxArgp8″]

A news conscience, ever present.  He will be missed.

Posted in Cronkite, U.S. | Tagged: , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Trendsetter Lindsay Lohan introduces 'legal defense via Twitter'

Posted by andreaitis on July 8, 2009

Speak album cover

Image via Wikipedia

So much news is getting lost with the wall-to-wall coverage of Michael Jackson: his death, the autopsy, the memorial service, the cost of the memorial service…

While all that’s been going on, turns out Lindsay Lohan a) created and launched a tanning spray called Sevin Nyne and 2) is being sued over the fake-tan formula.  Who knew?!

The facts, according to Perez Hilton:

The tanning mist that LOLhan launched this summer, co-developed with Lorit Simon, a Las Vegas celebrity air-brusher, was supposedly stolen from chemist Jennifer Sunday.

In January, Simon signed a confidentiality agreement with Sunday’s company, White Wave International Labs, as the two had been negotiating over samples of the tanning mist, but could never agree on a price.

“The next thing we know, Lorit Simon and Lindsay Lohan are partnering and Ms. Lohan is taking credit for developing this formula, which she indeed had no role in,” said Sunday’s attorney.

via Lohan Sued Again!!!! – perezhilton.com

Lindsay and her business partner Lorit are being sued for alleged breach of contract, theft of trade secrets, civil conspiracy, intentional interference with contractual relations and deceptive and unfair trade practices.

Sounds pretty serious, right?  I’d certainly expect a team of celebrity legal eagles to fly in for this one.  But – little did we know – Lindsay Lohan is apparently an actress, singer, model and…defense attorney.

She  responded to the accusations without legal representation.  In 138 characters.  On Twitter.

lindsay-lohan-twitter-msg

Quick, someone get Judge Wapner a Twitter account and we can resolve this on the TweetDeck Court.

Posted in Entertainment, technology | Tagged: , , , , | 3 Comments »

What's worse: IE8 or commercials for IE8?

Posted by andreaitis on June 30, 2009

It’s really a toss-up.  An infuriatingly aggravating toss-up.  You see, Internet Explorer is known for its suckage.   If you google “internet explorer sucks” you’ll get the following results:

Why IE Sucks, a site all about the ways in which, y’know, IE sucks.  In case you’re not clear on that, just check the tagline: Internet Explorer sucks ass.  Need reasons? Read on, reader, read on.

IE Sucks•Info, which calls Internet Explorer “the dumb browser” and boldly declares:  Internet Explorer sucks so much, we won’t stop this internet explorer sucks campaign.

IE Death March, encouraging companies to stop supporting IE6 – especially since there are now three versions of IE to support:  IE6, IE7 and IE8.  This site includes a list of things you can’t do in IE6, and things younger than IE6: It came out a few weeks before the Twin Towers fell. It came out before the Nintendo GameCube. It came out before the first iPod.

Beloved, it is not.

So what does Microsoft do?  Let’s see….fix IE to address legit and long-standing techie complaints or spend lots of money creating an oxymoronic ‘viral’ marketing campaign.   Hmm.

Trailing a series of failed and questionable commercials, Microsoft has launched an experimental new advertising campaign. Can Superman, puke jokes, and lolcats make IE cool again?

The new campaign features actor Dean Cain (former Superman from TV’s Lois and Clark) in a series of mock-PSAs, advertising the launch of Internet Explorer 8. Produced by Indiana-based ad agency Bradley and Montgomery, the commercials try hard to be funny in spots like S.H.Y.N.E.S.S. (“Sharing Heavily Yet Not Enough Sharing Still”) poking fun at web users who over-share lolcats, while going for the gross-out factor in O.M.G.I.G.P. (“Oh My God I’m Gonna Puke”) featuring a woman who’s accidently seen her partner’s obscene browser history.

Microsoft’s strange new ads for Internet Explorer – idsgn.org

Well, the campaign launched a couple of weeks ago and is now making the rounds.  The commercial strategy seems to be so-bad-they’re-good.  Except, they’re just so bad.

[youtubevid id=JyQolo0Xdqw]

Chuckling yet?  Try this one:

[youtubevid id=2aA_PEltVTw]

But wait, there’s more:

[youtubevid id=QjUzzxAKs20]

Funnybone still intact?  Last one:

[youtubevid id=8-9Mjm-Hohc]

Hello, Microsoft? You are not 30 Rock or The Office.  And we don’t want you to be.  We just want a browser that works. I appreciate that you’ve partnered with Feeding America to make a donation when someone downloads IE8.  But even they’re not promoting Internet Explorer on their homepage anymore.  I couldn’t find it anywhere prominent on the site and I looked.  Twice.

Oh, Microsoft, I know you launched an official IE8 site specifically to lure us down the path.  But ZDNet’s Adrian Kingsley Hughes had a pretty strong rebuttal. And your tagline for this campaign: Browse Better.  Browse Better?!?  Stop with the unfunny video nonsense and fix it so we can browse better.

In the meantime, for everyone else, if you really want to browse better I suggest you try Firefox, Safari or Chrome.

Posted in technology | Tagged: , , , , , | 6 Comments »