YouTube cofounder Chad Hurley chats up Henry Kissinger [Caption Contest]
YouTube cofounder Chad Hurley imposes on former secretary of state and world famous skirt-chaser Henry Kissinger at the party thrown by Google and Vanity Fair on the closing night of the Republican National Convention. You know how this works — best caption suggested in the comments becomes the new headline. Yesterday's winner was WagCurious for "Apparently everything gets past security these days." (Photo by Rex Sorgatz)
September 5th, 2008
Joost finally abandons desktop app [Online Video]
Online-video startup Joost — whose name we think is Estonian for "trouble" — will cease development of its little-used desktop application and focus exclusively on a long-expected Web-browser plugin. None of which solves Joost's biggest problem: a lack of compelling content. Considering how difficult it was for NBC to convince many to download Microsoft's Silverlight browser plugin for online coverage of the Olympics, it's unlikely that users will flock to download something from an even more obscure company, especially when Adobe is building features similar to Joost's into Flash.
But hey, Joost's plugin adds a social layer and RSS feeds! What, nothing for Facebook or the iPhone?
If you're going to placate disgruntled investors like Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman with technology buzzwords, try to pick something they might have heard of. Cofounder Niklas Zennström might want to stick to yachting, because at least that enterprise is a winner.
September 5th, 2008
Electronic Arts publicity stunt seizes up London traffic [Great Moments In Pr]
As part of Electronic Arts's efforts to promote Mercenaries 2: World in Flames, the video game publisher gave away $35,340 in free gas at a station in a north London neighborhood. The game, set in Venezuela, uses gasoline as a form of currency. However, the scene that developed looked more like Baghdad shortly after the fall of Saddam Hussein, with a line forty cars long and actors in camouflage fatigues trying to placate angry commuters trying to get out of their driveways. In the end, the company ended the giveaway with a little over half the free fuel doled out.
September 5th, 2008
France's "electronic Bastille" sounds a lot like Facebook [Your Privacy Is An Illusion]
The French government plans to create a database called Edvige that will log information about anyone in the country over the age of 13, including whether or not they are "likely to breach public order." The idea is to help crack down on crime, an issue President Nicholas Sarkozy successfully campaigned on. Other information that would be included?
The information that can be collected includes addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, physical appearance, behavioral traits, fiscal and financial records, and details about people who have personal ties with the subject.
Funny, because that's exactly the kind of information most of what Americans willingly share about themselves on social network sites like Facebook.
September 5th, 2008
How does Google compare to Microsoft after ten years? [Earnings]
Google is celebrating its tenth birthday this month — so how is it doing compared to Microsoft, which is a ripe old 33? Microsoft is still the big dog, earning three times the revenue in the last year. But Bill Gates and company had only booked $140 million in revenue by its tenth year. Google employees are also punching above their weight, booking $1 million per head to Team Redmond's $672,000. If Google figures out how to make money on anything besides search advertising, the $99 billion market value differential might evaporate in time for a bar mitvah in Mountain View. [NYT]
September 5th, 2008
Shipping, wages make China less attractive to electronics manufacturers [Offshoring]
Thanks to rising fuel prices and wage inflation in China, it's actually more expensive to manufacture and ship electronics across the Pacific for the American market than it would be to produce them domestically, according to a report from The McKinsey Quarterly. But iPhone assembly plants won't be coming to a depressed rust-belt community near you, because it's cheaper still to produce those electronics in a Mexican maquiladora. Though I hear prison labor is a real bargain, and there's no shortage of that here in the states. [Broadstuff]
September 5th, 2008
Amazon.com's video on demand more "piddling" than "streaming" [Online Video]
While Amazon.com makes no claims as to the quality of video from its new "video on demand" online streaming service being comparable to DVD quality, a measly 1.2 megabit-per-second data rate is still laughable. To put it in perspective, standard-definition DVDs typically run well over 6Mbps (Apple, also risibly, calls the 5Mbps offerings from iTunes "HD," purely based on pixel dimensions and not data depth). And based on your connection speed, Amazon might deliver even less digital resolution. All of this for up to $14.99 to "own" a movie stored wrapped in Adobe's Flash copy protection. Granted, Amazon is hindered by the slow broadband connections typical in American households, but keeping the bitrate low also keeps bandwidth costs down — and margins high.
September 5th, 2008
Google touts charity-race win, ignore injured competitor, charity [Failanthropy]
Team Google, stocked with runners from company outposts across the country, finished third out 147 corporate teams in the Hood to Coast relay race sponsored by Nike. The course takes runners from Mount Hood to the Pacific Ocean through Oregon. Team Yahooligans? They finished 140th. Google proudly touted the efforts of the team on the official corporate blog. Fast, sure, but were the ultracompetitive Googlers good sports?
The post on the blog didn't use the opportunity to solicit support for their fellow runner Chelsee Caskey, an 18-year old from Lincoln High School in Portland, who was the first person to be hit by a car in the 27-year old event's history. Caskey is still in the hospital in serious condition, while the driver of the car was booked for reckless driving and being under the influence of drugs. Donations to help defray her medical costs can be made at any Washington Mutual branch — like the one at Castro and El Camino in Mountain View.
A more curious omission: The team's name does not appear on a list of fundraisers for the American Cancer Society, the chosen beneficiary for team donations. If Google did any good by letting employees run the race, it's not mentioned in the blog post or anywhere else. Way to go, Googlers — you might have nearly won the race, but you managed to lose the point.
September 5th, 2008
Join Tom Siebel and Sarah Palin for lunch [Politics]
John McCain's pick for his running mate, Sarah Palin, will be dropping by the Bay Area for a fundraising lunch hosted by Siebel Systems founder Tom Siebel and his wife Stacey. Don't worry, Republicans won't have to visit San Francisco and be pestered by illegal immigrants, environmentalists, activists judges or Siebel's new cousin-in-law, hunky God-mayor Gavin Newsom — the lunch will be held on Thursday, September 25th at the Siebel's manse in sleepy Woodside. How much will it cost you?
$1,000 gets you a seat, another $1,500 gets you a McCain campaign pin, and if you can roll up $50,000 you get three pictures with the Alaskan governor. Get those donations and RSVPs in by September 22nd in order to reserve your spot at the table. If you want a report from the inside, LiveJournal blogger Jameth is offering sex toys and porn in exchange for donations to send him to the lunch. (Entirely fake image from Hollywood Newsroom)
September 4th, 2008
Michael Moore's latest agitprop will be free at Blip.tv [Online Video]
Slacker Nation, which focuses on chubby doc jock Michael Moore's trip around the country to drum up support among the youngs for "voting," will be distributed online for free. Online video site Blip.tv will be hosting the download in a nice little marketing coup (the fact that Blip.tv cofounder and CEO Mike Hudack loves him some Obama couldn't have hurt in striking that deal). "This is being done entirely as a gift to my fans," Moore said in a prepared statement. Time will tell if it's a gift to the Democratic party — Moore's stunt tactics, like his ramen noodle giveaways featured in the trailer, often galvanize older Republicans who actually do show up to the polls on election day, unlike young Democrats.
September 4th, 2008
Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Gates star in nonsensical new ad campaign [Microsoft]
Long-time Macintosh enthusiast Jerry Seinfeld kicks off the new Microsoft campaign by spotting company cofounder Bill Gates at a fictional discount shoe store. The 90-second spot makes a lot less sense from there. Can't say for certain if this is the spot that Michel Gondry directed, but it certainly has the loopy narrative touches, playful music and one giveaway visual cue: A shot of someone wearing shoes and socks in the shower. It makes no mention of technology until the end, when Seinfeld asks when Microsoft will make an edible computer — and then the audience is treated to Bill Gates adjusting himself in his boxer shorts, hands-free. The whole production says "quirky," not slick or cool, but then Windows Vista is full of maddening quirks.
September 4th, 2008
HiVision to ship $98 MiniNote laptop in October [One Laptop Per Child]
In the race to develop the first mass-producible laptop that costs less than $100 has apparently been won by Chinese company HiVision, which currently offers an adorable, pink, 7" MiniNote for $120 but plans to introduce a model in October that will retail for only $98. Like the Lemote laptop that radical open source guru Richard Stallman uses, it couldn't run Windows if you wanted it to. But it comes with a free installation of Xip, a Linux distribution from China, and runs Firefox. But then Nicholas Negroponte's One Laptop Per Child project decided to go with Windows and with that decision alone the size and cost ballooned. Would be just the thing for running Google's new Chrome browser — that is, if the Chrome browser supported Linux.
September 4th, 2008
Not sure how I found this, but glad I did: http://tinyurl.com/68exw2 Modern fundamentals of editing with old-school flair.
September 4th, 2008
I'm sorry, but when Gov. Sarah Palin pointed out that her husband Todd was a proud member of a steelworker's union, the applause was anemic.
September 3rd, 2008
Sending my best to the kids at TheUptake for braving crossfire and handcuffs to cover demonstrations at the RNC: http://theuptake.org/
August 30th, 2008
My Favorite Cafe of the now
Jackson West posted a photo:
August 30th, 2008
Burn of the moment ago
Jackson West posted a photo:
August 30th, 2008
Le Man
Jackson West posted a photo:
August 30th, 2008
Witty signs of the now
Jackson West posted a photo:
August 30th, 2008
Lovable hippies of the now
Jackson West posted a photo:
August 30th, 2008
Sunset of the now with Ernie and Marcelo
Jackson West posted a photo:
August 30th, 2008
Snowy Plovers of the now
Jackson West posted a photo:
August 30th, 2008
Baker Beach of the now
Jackson West posted a photo:
August 30th, 2008
Stocked up on salami, cheese, bread, fruit, blankets and a kite. Once the drier cycles on my laundry, headed to Baker Beach for Balsa Man.
August 28th, 2008
Noted in Obama's speech: A shout out to recovery culture ("...expecting different results") and a hint that boots may land in Waziristan.
August 28th, 2008
Man, this heat is something else. I am wilting in it. Think I'll be heading to the beach tomorrow. Just has to be cooler on the westside.
August 26th, 2008
Tony Nik's of the now
Jackson West posted a photo:
August 26th, 2008
Oh sweet jebus, the RED camera is everything I expected: http://tinyurl.com/5rbdf7 True slo-mo at 120FPS and stunning color, dynamic range.
August 24th, 2008
Lots of fun in Truckee with all the CampCampers. Gonna miss @mj and @jasonh after they move to Seattle. But hey, CampCamp in WA next summer!
August 20th, 2008
Blue Bottle of the now
Jackson West posted a photo:
