TrainStorm ~ RSS

NSFW: ‘Tis Pity We Called Her A Whore – And Other Ineffectual Digital Apologies

» Tue, 16 Mar 2010 03:44:02 +0000

hooker

Having now written two books about my failures in work, life and love, I think I'm qualified to say that the only difference between a memoirist and a prostitute is timing. A prostitute sells sex for money - that money being payable either immediately before or immediately after the act. A memoirist also receives money for having sex - but our payment comes via a publisher, months or years later, once we've recounted the amusing or titillating details in print. In the final analysis, really, we're all whores. And yet, in terms of public perception, the distinction of payment and timing is vital. Actual prostitutes are - generally speaking - looked down on by society: labels like 'whore' and 'hooker' being, almost without exception, used pejoratively. Memoirists, on the other hand, tend to be reasonably well regarded, not least by themselves. For that reason, accidentally calling a hooker a memoirist is unlikely to cause offense, but accidentally call a memoirist a hooker and... hoo boy...

Magento Scores $22.5 Million For Open Source E-commerce Platform Play

» Mon, 15 Mar 2010 23:47:16 +0000

According to a regulatory filing, LA-based Magento Commerce, which develops an open source e-commerce software suite, has recently received a $22.5 million capital injection in an equity funding round. Magento was originally a product developed and marketed by Varien, a 9-year old company that also delivers e-commerce business consulting and other services, but has now effectively been incorporated as a stand-alone venture. It's unclear whether the financing of Magento comes from Varien, or if the latter company's existing and / or other investors have stepped in to provide funding. Either way, the company says it concerns 'fresh' cash.

PayPal Launches Revamped iPhone App, Teams With Bump For Phone-Tapping Money Transfers

» Mon, 15 Mar 2010 23:20:59 +0000

PayPal has just launched an upgraded iPhone application that adds new features and includes a facelift that's meant to help instill a greater sense of security. And it also brings with it big news for Bump Technologies, the startup that lets you exchange information simply by tapping smartphones together: Bump is now prominently featured in the PayPal iPhone application as a quick way to initiate transactions. You can download the free app here. PayPal has offered a free application for the iPhone ever since the App Store launched in mid-2008, and it has gradually been improving over time. Today's release brings a handful of significant new features. First, it now allows you to send a money request to your contacts (it's essentially a bill). Second, you can now withdraw money out of your PayPal account and deposit it into your bank account. And there's the Bump integration, which allows you to exchange money simply by tapping two iPhones together and entering the amount of the transaction — finally, an easy way to collect money from those friends who always seem to be out of cash.

SEC Filing Shows CoTweet Sold For At Least $8.1 Million

» Mon, 15 Mar 2010 22:21:01 +0000

When CoTweet sold to ExactTarget a couple weeks ago, the acquisition price was not disclosed. But an SEC filing put out today suggests that ExactTweet paid at least $8.1 million in stock for CoTweet. That is the value of "securities offered . . . as partial consideration in connection with a merger," meaning there was likely a cash portion as well. While this isn't a huge sum, it's not a terrible return for an initial investment of $1.1 million. CoTweet helps businesses manage multiple Twitter accounts and use it more effectively as marketing channel. The CoTweet acquisition is now being pointed to as an example of how businesses can be built on top of Twitter. So now we know how much the stock portion of the deal was worth.

Justin.TV Turns To Law Professor Eric Goldman As It Battles Live Video Piracy

» Mon, 15 Mar 2010 21:45:40 +0000

Before livestreaming video networks like Justin.TV can become attractive to advertisers, they need to deal with their piracy issues. It's the same thing YouTube had to go through, except with live video streams. Like YouTube, Justin.tv complies with DMCA takedown notices and is developing digital fingerprinting technology to identify copyrighted video on its network automatically. It also invites copyright owners to police the site directly. Despite these measures, a casual perusal of the most popular streams on Justin.tv is filled with pirated streams of professional sports, TV shows, and movies. Right now, for instance, you can watch King of Queens or CNN International, taken straight from TV. The company finds itself increasingly under fire for copyright issues. To help it deal with these issues, Justin.tv now has a new adviser, Eric Goldman, the director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clare University and a highly-respected Internet law blogger. Unlike Justin.TV's very-expensive lawyers at Wilson Sonsini, Goldman will be less constrained in speaking publicly on behalf of the company about these issues. Goldman is an expert on how copyright law is applied to user-generated content. But in many ways live video on the Web is a new beast.

Wait, Did Ev Williams Just Interview Umair Haque? Weird.

» Mon, 15 Mar 2010 21:01:42 +0000

a10

When SXSW sets up its festival, you have to assume they want the best and most engaging keynotes possible. If the public reaction to Umair Haque's interview of Twitter co-founder Ev Williams is any indication, they failed. Badly. I wish I could take credit for the title here, but it is all Mike Monteiro, appropriately, by way of Twitter. Below, find a sampling of some of the other best tweets about the keynote. As someone who was in the audience, all seem pretty accurate.

Join Charlie Rose, Ron Conway, Jack Dorsey And Lots Of Others At TechCrunch Disrupt

» Mon, 15 Mar 2010 20:27:07 +0000

We are just starting to announce the first speakers at the upcoming TechCrunch Disrupt conference in New York City on May 24 - 26. TechCrunch Disrupt is a three-day, single-track conference and startup competition to immerse you in the debate about what’s changing in media and technology right now, what’s causing it and what we need to do about it to survive and thrive in real time. Join 2,000 or so of your closest friends to talk about what's most important in the collision of technology and media. Half of the event is a March Madness style startup competition. We're sorting through hundreds of applications to find the most interesting startups launching this Spring. You'll see live on stage demos, rapid fire Q&A sessions with expert judges from a variety of backgrounds (product, finance, team building, leadership and more) and highlights from behind the scenes mentoring sessions. The other half of the event will put leading experts from around the world on stage to talk about the stuff that matters most in technology and media. A few of the speakers and experts are listed below. Keep an eye on the Disrupt Blog and Speaker list for more updates.

Twitter’s New “At Anywhere” Platform Allows For Deeper Integration Into Third Party Sites

» Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:13:56 +0000

During his keynote at SXSW this afternoon (live blog here), Twitter CEO Evan Williams just announced a new "At Anywhere" platform, which allows websites to more deeply integrate the service into their sites. The idea is to offer a more seamless experience to Twitter users navigating third party sites like the Huffington Post and the New York Times, giving them Twitter content without forcing them to jump off the page they're currently viewing. The details on the new platform are still scant, but this is Twitter's answer to Facebook Connect, which we reported on back in January.

Among the features:

When you browse a site that uses @anywhere, people and brands that have Twitter accounts will be highlighted with a hyperlink. Mousing over that hyperlink will show a small box (a "hovercard") containing their Twitter information, including their most recent tweet (in effect it means you don't have to click over to Twitter's homepage to see their Twitter profile)

SXSWi 2010: Q&A with Gowalla Co-founder/CEO Josh Williams – Pt 1

SXSW Interactive 2010

Ev Williams: Twitter’s First Principle, “Be A Force For Good”

ev_williams

Twitter's upcoming ad platform

Update

Below find my live notes (paraphrased):

Hitwise says Facebook Most Popular U.S. Site

Dear AT&T, Whatever You’re Doing AT SXSW, Do It In San Francisco

Screen shot 2010-03-15 at 11.07.43 AM

despite my concerns

Microsoft Employees Leave The Windows Phone 7 Team…To Make Windows Phone 7 Apps

for

Seesmic Launches App For Windows Phone; Rolls Out New Silverlight-Powered Desktop Client

desktop client,

BlackBerry app,

brand friendly Twitter client

Windows desktop client.

The Davos (Or Is It Arrington?) Curse – People I Interviewed Are Getting Fired

MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta

Ning CEO Gina Bianchini

Mobile Ad Network Mobclix Releases iPad SDK

Quattro Wireless (Apple),

tremendous opportunity

Live Blog: MOG Is Bringing Its Impressive Music Service To iPhone And Android

Groupon Directors Establish $100 Million Fund To Invest In The Midwest

Vittana Applies The Kiva Model To Help Finance Education In Developing Countries

Gina Bianchini Replaced As Ning CEO By COO Jason Rosenthal

Jason Rosenthal

Microsoft, aQuantive Veterans Set Out To Build “Intelligent” Ad Serving Platform

acquisition by aQuantive

acquired by Microsoft

Tim Bray Throws His Hat Into The Android Ring Because He Hates The iPhone

offensive against Android

The Lab Vs. The Real World: Product Testing Is Hard

Haven't found that software glitch, Toyota? Keep trying

Fandango Begins Rolling Out Mobile Tickets That Let Moviegoers Go Paperless

The Bounty Hunter

LoKast’s Proximity Based Mobile App Takes Content Sharing To A New Level

geolocation wars