Artist gets $ 200 million 

David Choe, the artist that painted murals will now get $ 200 million for his effort to beautify the Facebook walls. Cleverly he chose stock options over dollars after completing his painting.

Sarah Lacy on Zuckberberg’s plan

Zuckerberg didn’t just wait. He obsessively learned what being a CEO was about. He surrounded himself by people who had strengths he didn’t and absorbed from them like a sponge. Unlike nearly every other Internet wunderkind who came before him, he didn’t hire the grown-up to run the company. He became the grown-up to run the company.

There are a lot of reasons Larry Page envies Mark Zuckerberg these days. But the pre-IPO Page would most definitely envy his ability to hold onto the reins, experience and age be damned.

How Facebook makes it money – Mashable.

Revenue from Zynga games contribute 12% of Facebook’s bottom line. Facebook said it made $3.71 billion last year, so almost $500 million of that came from Zynga, which includes both users buying virtual goods and services within the games via Facebook Payments as well as “direct advertising” that Zynga bought. Facebook also pointed out that Zynga’s worth even more to Facebook than the numbers say, since the users playing games mean more pages get served to those users, and in turn more ads.

If you ever wondered if an advertiser can reach the entirety of Facebook’s audience, the answer is it can. Apparently Paramount did so with its advertising purchase to promote Transformers: Dark of the Moon last summer. Facebook said the studio was able to reach 65 million users in a single day.

Stephen: As one of the few guys who have been able to make the jump to full-time, what’s your advice to those who want to do it one day?

Shawn: There isn’t any one path to becoming a full-time blogger. The two things that seem to have worked for me are consistency and diversity.

The first, consistency, is in regard to showing up every day to write for the site. I ran the site as a hobby for nearly 4 years before taking it full time, and during those years I built a reputation of consistently showing up.

And that is where the second thing comes in to play: diversity. This isn’t so much about blogging as it is about common business sense. Writing your own site as your full-time job means you are also a small business owner. And so diversifying your income streams is important.

And, though I didn’t mention it earlier, there is a third issue you need to settle. It’s passion; or drive. Being a full-time blogger is difficult and tiring. There are more and more folks who, thanks to the wonders of the Internet, have been able to step into the world of self-publishing. But just because it’s possible doesn’t mean it’s right for you. I would advise anyone considering this occupation to deeply ponder if it’s something they are willing to pour themselves into. It is exciting and rewarding, but at times it is also very lonely (as all writing often is).

The good news is that there is no better time to go for it than now. The Internet favors the indie writers and self publishers. The tools and the opportunities have never been more available. All it takes is the determination to work your butt off and the willingness to take big scary risks.

 

Good artists copy, Great artists Steal.

No more is it truer than in the Tech industry. Especially the ones with rapidly changing landscapes. Social Gaming is one of them.

(Disclaimer:- I work with one of these gaming companies. Views expressed here are my own and have nothing to do with the company).

We have seen it time and again. Coke then Pepsi. You had the iPhone, then the poor imitation of Android. But in gaming it’s a different scenario. You have an idea and then some people who move with it. The product in social gaming is differentiated not by idea, but by playability, accessibility and scale.

This is what Zynga exemplifies. While it’s debatable whether Zynga comes across with a clean slate or not, you can’t argue with the success of their underlying games and strategy. I think it’s a good guerilla tactic to follow. Look for improving execution not on owning the idea.

In Mark Pincus’ letter to his employees,

Google didn’t create the first search engine. Apple didn’t create the first mp3 player or tablet. And, Facebook didn’t create the first social network. But these companies have evolved products and categories in revolutionary ways. They are all internet treasures because they all have specific and broad missions to change the world.

We don’t need to be first to market. We need to be the best in market. There are genres that we’re going to enter because we know our players are interested in them and because we want and need to be where players are. We evolve genres by making games free, social, accessible and highest quality.

As I’ve said, our strategy since the beginning has been to develop the best game – most fun and most social – for every category of play. We are rarely first since most categories in games go back decades, but we aim to be the best.

 

Do you know how to do a 100 things?

I didn’t. When I started working in photography as Chase’s assistant, I was a blank slate. I like to think I still am. Many of these skills have become obsolete. Others did not even exist when I started. Knowing how to do everything is not the goal. Knowing that you can learn is everything.

- Chase Jarvis Blog

Most of us when we start out don’t know half a dozen things. We learn on the go. A little bit of intelligence and a lot of perseverance is all that is needed to get the job done. That last bolded line is key to everything in life.

I want them Fireballs.

I always wondered how this was done when I saw the guys hold the note to light. I knew about tip 1, I just verified trying the others.

1.     The notes that have Mahatma Gandhi on their front, also have a watermark of Mr. Gandhi on the left side, in the white space.

2.     Look for a green line running through the note vertically, to the left of Mr. Gandhi’s picture. This line is the “security thread,” and when you hold it against the light it will read “RBI”, Bharat (in Hindi) and 1000 (or 500).

3.     The bank note’s value is hidden in two places. On the left side of both the 500- and 1000-rupee note, you’ll see an outline of a flower. When you tilt the note, this flower will show you the respective denomination. There is also a  large blank space on the left, where the denomination is written vertically. To see it, you’ll have to hold it against the light.

The Game of Thrones differs in the sense it cuts out the irrelevant but doesn’t tweak the storyline. Here’s the season 2 art direction trailer.

The guys are just hilarious (and some are quite bad) but some of them are amazingly good.

I think one of the best renditions is by Shankar Tucker which is a mashup.

eSports =Electronic Sports.

A cause I believe in for the last 7 years of my life is now undergoing a ground swell. Many months back, on Kickstarter, a cause was started to record the behind the scenes event for Starcraft 2. A look at the community shaping up and the direction forward. It involved many interviews with people behind the scenes at the MLG events across the USA and now they have returned with their new trailer for the IPL. Another awesome event  and fantastic editing.

They showed us a teaser trailer today with their IPL documentary.

I love these guys, you should support StarNation on Facebook. And show some groupie love by visiting  their website.

This was their first trailer in case you haven’t seen it yet.