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Instagram may close down as Facebook launches Instagram killer

Thu, 24 May 2012 21:43:00 -0400

Could this be a sign that we are nearing the end of our beloved Instagram? Today Facebook launched their own Instagram-esque mobile photo sharing app, with photo filters and social tied directly into Facebook. The conundrum is that Facebook just acquired Instagram last month for $1 billion. What gives?

Well for starters, Facebook is a photo-centric social network, so they are simply trying accentuate photos on the platform going forward using mobile, since mobile is the future. Additionally, this keeps users integrated into a native Facebook app, vs. using another app client to feed into Facebook and keeps you locked into Facebook. Also, since a lot of Facebook users don’t use Instagram, the reach is less with only using Instagram, and the reach is greater by opening up a photo app directly towards existing Facebook users, which is nearing one billion globally.

But with all that said, why would Facebook basically create another app identical to Instagram, especially since they paid an enormous amount of money to acquire them? The points I made above are valid, but with Instagram integrating it deeply into Facebook is all that is really needed, and it seems unnecessary to create direct competition with it unless the long term goal is to sunset Instagram and migrate all users over to Facebook.

From my initial use of the new Facebook Camera app, it’s not even close to the quality that comes with Instagram. To be frank, the filters suck and the UX isn’t even on par with Instagram. Facebook Camera does have it’s advantages though, with batch photo uploads being the main one. And to add some insult to injury, the Facebook app is placing high on the creepy level.

In using the app, the only way to access your Camera Roll on iOS is to allow Facebook full access to your location. You have to, or you cannot use your Camera Roll at all. The reason behind this is so that Facebook can further tie it’s platform into location based functions, such as targeted advertising. Sneaky.

Code from Kazaa is resurrected in nefarious scheme to block pirated content

Thu, 24 May 2012 15:57:00 -0400

Who remembers Kazaa? It was only a few years ago that Kazaa and Napster were running the Internet with peer-to-peer file sharing networks. Then things got crazy as the RIAA and others cracked down on file sharing networks, and life changed for all of us. Now the same people who helped create and share pirated content, are working on software that will block it, and the way it will be done might get you upset and thinking this has bullshit written all over it.

Global File Registry which is a subsidiary of Kazaa, has new software that is using Kazaa code that was part of the original file sharing network, to filter user search results from seeing pirated content. The basic concept is that someone can search for content (music, movies) on the Internet, let’s say using Google. Google may return a lot of results, and some may point you to pirated content. The new software will block those results, and then replace them with legitimate content.

The way that Global File Registry will be able to do this, and mind you they are already doing it in several countries already, is by working with Internet Service Providers (ISPs). When someone is using the Internet, they have to have a company provide the Internet to them - this could be a Verizon or a Comcast. By working with the ISPs, who will license this software, the ISPs will be the one filtering and replacing this content. You will never have a chance of getting pirated content, because it will be replaced before you have a chance to see it.

It Gets Worse
The new software is two-fold. It will not only block content, but it will replace search advertisements with their own. Let’s say we are using Google again to search, and a Google ad comes up on the search results page. Say goodbye, as that ad would be replaced with the ISP’s ad, in turn making their pockets fatter. Nice huh.

With the new software, you won’t have to worry about laws like SOPA because it’s being done through the ISP’s. Sounds familiar, right? Is it me or are ISP’s becoming too powerful? Not to mention this goes against everything that is Network Neutrality.

In an interview with Global File Registry, they break it down like this

[…] a database of Truenames identifying information is combined with the existing content-filtering capability of firewalls to intercept links to infringing content being returned in search results. The software, which is embedded in the ISP’s firewall, then modifies the data to remove and replace the link. ISPs already have equipment that can identify ‘bad data’, We’re only asking the machinery that operates the Internet to do one more thing after it identifies bad data—and that is to convert it to a positive response.

Star Wars watercolor paintings by Terry Cook

Thu, 24 May 2012 13:29:53 -0400

Terry Cook is an artist who really captured the essence of all our favorites Star Wars characters in her Star Wars watercolor paintings, shared by Rebel Squadrons on Google+. My favorite of them all is the C-3PO and R2-D2 painting. What is yours?

Track Mark Zuckerberg's billions, and see how he makes out post-IPO

Wed, 23 May 2012 13:35:00 -0400

After the Facebook IPO, Mark Zuckerberg instantly became a billionaire many times over. Although, the FB stock isn’t doing as well as most would have liked. It started out with an IPO price of $38 a share, which made Zuck worth $19.14 billion. At the opening public price, it went up to $42 but has since bottomed out a bit, down as low as $30.94 and at $31.65 as of this writing.

The price of the shares is directly affecting Zuck’s pockets, although even with a low share value he is still worth billions. Tracking his wealth may seem silly, but it’s what the Internets want - so the WSJ provided this neat wealth-o-meter that tells you just how much Zuck is currently worth at any given time.

New tech claims to make your dreams a reality

Tue, 22 May 2012 16:43:34 -0400

In the movie Vanilla Sky starring Tom Cruise (pictured inset), Cruise’s character suffers an accident leaving his face deformed. To cope, he signs up for a futuristic program that does cryonic suspension placing people in a lucid dream state, meaning, their minds are are in a controlled dream which feels like reality. New technology called Remee claims to be able to do something similar; allowing people to control their dreams.

Remee, which is a project on Kickstarter, is essentially a comfortable sleeping mask that can be customized so you can control your dreams, to be whatever you want them to be. The best part is that mask using blinking lights during your deepest REM sleep, will be able to trick your brain into thinking the dream is lucid, or real life. Think of it like the lights are sending instructions to your brain with morse code on what to dream. So in your dream, you will think it’s really happening, that is until you wake up.

There are probably hundreds of uses for being able to control your dreams, and the fact that you would be able to actually control your dreams with a mask seems unfathomable. Of course there is lots more to Remee than blinking lights. On the Kickstarter project page, the description on how it works is as follows:

In default mode, Remee targets long chunks of REM sleep towards the end of the sleep period. Before bed, turn Remee on, fine tune the brightness of the lights (if needed) and then go to sleep. Remee will wait for an initial long delay, usually 4-5 hours, until you’re in the heart of the heavy REM stages, before initializing light patterns. After the initial long delay Remee will display light patterns for 15-20 seconds with a second shorter delay, default at 15 minutes, between each signal. During non-REM sleep the lights are unlikely to effect you, but if you’re in REM sleep the lights will bleed into your dreams, presenting a perfect chance to become lucid.

Suffice to say, this is really an exciting breakthrough in the human mind and dreams. Hopefully nothing will go wrong in your dream and have to call “tech support!”

The unequivocal solution to obesity

Mon, 21 May 2012 14:18:00 -0400

For most of us, we live a sedentary lifestyle, behind computers and keyboards sitting most of the day. With junk food at our fingertips and lack of exercise, obesity is only becoming a bigger and bigger issue, literally. So thank God that someone asked these questions. Now we just need this to become a reality.

Welcome to the world's first Wikipedia Town

Mon, 21 May 2012 13:52:57 -0400

Over the weekend, the small Welsh town of Monmouth became the very first town in the world to be a “Wikipedia Town”. Visitors to “Monmouthpedia” will be presented with QR bar codes to scan, all over the town, which will take them to the town’s Wikipedia page.

Scanning the QR codes strategically placed all over town will enable visitors to learn more about the town in locations such as landmarks, and learn about artifacts, statues and other interesting historical information about the town. Red Orbit says the Monmouthpedia page was created by citizens of the town, universities, businesses and volunteers, which documents the town’s entire existence digitally on Wikipedia.

Below is an infographic from the Monmouth Wikipedia page, which lists some interesting facts about the project and town. To learn even more about this project, please read the Monmouthpedia press-website.

Bugatti vs. Lamborghini vs. McLaren, who will be the winner?

Fri, 18 May 2012 16:02:12 -0400

Head 2 Head took a million dollars worth of sports cars and put them to the test against each other. A Bugatti vs. Lamborghini vs. McLaren vs. Lexus, which car would be the fastest? Clearly any car fanatic would say the Bugatti Veyron, well frankly because it’s the fastest street car in the world. Or is it? Maybe a the Lamborghini Aventador muscles up enough horsepower to beat the Bugatti in a quarter mile? Let’s find out.

Let the races begin: $FB stock begins trading on the open market

Fri, 18 May 2012 11:36:00 -0400

After an amazing setup yesterday for the Facebook IPO and a $104 billion company valuation, and this morning with Mark Zuckerberg ringing the NASDAQ bell from Menlo Park California (pictured inset), the Facebook stock (FB) has officially began trading on the open market.

If you are investing in Facebook, please let me know in the comments. I would be interested to see how the stock does over time from an investors stand point. Some, like Warren Buffet, don’t think the stock is worth it’s value which will begin trading at $38 per share and will likely go up right after it begins trading publicly - but maybe the stock is worth it? I only wish I invested in Google years ago. So maybe I should get some FB stock?

Below is a snapshot of FB stock trading in real-time on NASDAQ via CNBC.

UPDATE: The stock opened at just over $42 per share as shown above, and the FB stock traded 82 million shares within the first 30 seconds!

Update: Facebook's IPO brings in a valuation of $104 billion

Thu, 17 May 2012 17:28:31 -0400

As expected, Facebook completed it’s Initial Public Offering today raising a staggering $16 billion, bringing the total valuation of the uber social network to $104 billion, which makes it one of the biggest IPO’s filed ever.

The NY Times, who broke the news a few minutes ago says investors are paying $38 a share for the offering and the social network’s market value is higher than those of McDonald’s, Citigroup, Amazon.com and all but a handful of other American companies.

It’s certainly an amazing day for Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg, who has come a long way in being triumphant in the social world demolishing all competitors, and raising the bar to new levels. If you want to see how the Facebook IPO numbers stack up, check out this infographic by MBA online and answer the question: Is the Facebook IPO really all that it is cracked up to be?

Google's new search results will focus on facts, using the Knowledge Graph

Thu, 17 May 2012 15:22:00 -0400

Google announced an exciting new change coming to the search engine which will bring tons of factual results to the forefront of Google searches. The new search feature is called the Knowledge Graph, which will tap into database facts to present relevant snippets of information based on your searches.

Similar to what Facebook calls the Social Graph, which is a graph of friend connections, Google now will have the Knowledge Graph, which will be a graph of knowledge, or what they call object connections. Think of each keyword search as an object, for example you might search for “Matt Groening” from the Simpsons TV show. Previously, you would get link results to pages with information on Matt Groening, but now, a Knowledge Panel will appear on the right side of the screen with facts about this search result, including related results like Bart Simpson, Lisa Simpson and more information including a summary of “Matt Groening”.

Should Wikipedia have something to worry about?
With these new factual “knowledge” results, is Wikipedia even going to be necessary to go to when the results are right there on the search results page? Danny Sullivan from Search Engine Land goes over in detail the new Knowledge Graph, saying that it pulls data from Wikipedia to their own Google database to populate the results. Google also pulls data into their database from Freebase, and other publicly-available sources such as the CIA World Factbook.

Wikipedia cites it’s sources in it’s pages, but according to Sullivan the Knowledge Graph will not. This could have an adverse effect on Wikipedia, where users won’t have to go from a Google search result to Wikipedia to find what they are looking for because they will have the answers right there. However, it would be good to point out that these Knowledge Panels are snippets of information from what I can tell, and for research that requires a deeper and thorough search, you would still go to Wikipedia.

Google says they are in the process from moving from search engine, to a knowledge engine. And with the Knowledge Graph, it’s the first step to a more intelligent search on the web. The Knowledge Graph is being released globally in the coming days, so if you don’t see it yet, it will happen soon.

By the numbers: A look at Facebook's IPO (infographic)

Thu, 17 May 2012 13:31:00 -0400

Facebook’s highly talked about and now famous IPO is going to happen at any moment now. At a valuation at $100 billion and counting, it will be one of the biggest IPO’s to date, three times larger than Starbucks. Is it all that it’s cracked up to be though? Warren Buffet doesn’t think that it is. MBA Online did an infographic on the IPO numbers and included some interesting facts worth checking out.

Uh oh, a porn company is suing Tumblr for $5 million

Thu, 17 May 2012 11:22:00 -0400

Anyone that uses Tumblr knows that there is a certain level of porn in your stream. Of course you have the choice to follow these users that post it or not, but sometimes it just happens. Or you could go hard, and check out the Tumblr porn tag search for loads of pornography (NSFW). It’s mostly spam, but again, many legit users post porn to the social blogging site and in a new lawsuit from the Perfect 10 porn company, they aren’t happy about the copyright infringements and are suing Tumblr for a lot of money.

In the lawsuit by the adult publisher, they make it very clear that all the pornographic content posted to Tumblr that comes from Perfect 10 is a clear case of copyright infringement and also goes on to say that there is a “rampant and unremedied uploading, display and distribution of Perfect 10′s copyrighted photographs.” Perfect 10 also says they have issued several DMCA take down notices to Tumblr, who has “turned a blind eye” to the situation, and completely ignored their requests.

This doesn’t look good for Tumblr, as if Perfect 10 wins the lawsuit, it would require Tumblr to not only pay Perfect 10 $5 million in damages, but would also have to remove all the content, and also adhere to DMCA take down notices and copyright laws. This would require Tumblr to build a better system to handle such needs, that I don’t think is currently in place.

The official complaint is embedded below, provided by Mashable.

Good or bad idea: Implanted magnets under skin for strapless iPod Nano

Wed, 16 May 2012 17:03:40 -0400

Body piercer Dave Hurban thought it would be an interesting idea to mesh body modification and technology. He decided to use an iPod Nano, with the idea of not having a wrist strap as used on a more conventional wrist-watch version of the iPod.

Hurban thought, why not have the iPod connected to my wrist using only magnets? His idea was conceived, and born in the video below, where he does all the body modification. By the way, if you don’t like blood, it might be hard to watch since towards the end it gets a bit, let’s say, uncomfortable.

via Time

How to auto-publish your Google+ posts to Twitter, Facebook and Myspace

Wed, 16 May 2012 16:13:50 -0400

If you use multiple social networks, and are trying to incorporate your Google+ posts automatically to other platforms like Twitter, Facebook or even Myspace, you can do it. Sit back and relax, as you post from Google+ and let it auto-feed to your other networks with this new super easy solution.

The solution comes in the form of RSS, from a post by Mike Elgan on Computer World. Mike was one of the first to jump head first into Google+ when they launched, asking his blog, Facebook and Twitter followers to Circle him on Google+. He is an anamoly, because majority of users are still are on Facebook, Twitter and even some are on Myspace still, and many do not exlclusivly publish from Google+.

If you are like me and want to integrate your Google+ posts to your other social networks, here are the steps you will want to take to make it happen. It’s not that difficult in retrospect. If you have problems, let me know if the comments.

Getting started
You will need a Feedburner (RSS Feed generator, which is owned by Google) account, it’s free. Once you have a Feedburner account, go to this Google+ feed generator site: http://pluss.aiiane.com

Login, it’s safe, and authenticate who you are and you will be provided with an RSS feed for your Google+ account. Currently, Google+ doesn’t have an RSS feed option, so you have to do it this way for now. It will look like this after you authenticate:

After creating a URL that is compatible with RSS, go to your Feedburner account and paste the new RSS feed URL (show above /atom/) to where it says: Burn a feed right this instant

Continue on, and follow the prompts and it will say Congratulations, your feed is now live. Then click on “Skip directly to feed management”. Here is where you can create a feed into Twitter, Facebook and Myspace using the Feedburner RSS feed you just created.

Auto-feed Google+ posts into Twitter
You will want to click on the Publicize tab within Feedburner and then on the left click on Socilize, as shown below. You can adjust additional information, such as title only, add words to the tweets, etc. Then click Activate at the bottom of this page below. After this step, you are now set up to auto-feed your Google+ posts directly into Twitter.

Auto-feed Google+ posts to Facebook
You can use the RSS Graffiti app on Facebook, which will utilize the Feedburner RSS feed you created above. To do it, search for RSS Graffiti on Facebook, as shown below.

Select and authorize the app, it’s safe. Then you will need to fill out the details including the Google+ RSS feed URL (show above /atom/) you created in Feedburner, entering it in the app creating an auto-feed to Facebook. Once you do this, you are done and updates will soon begin to post to Facebook from Google+.

Auto-feed posts to Myspace
It won’t be the same as the Facebook sync to Google+ since Myspace doesn’t support RSS feeds. However, Myspace does have Facebook sync, and adding a sync from Facebook to Myspace will work when your RSS Graffiti Google+ posts show up as shown above. To create the Facebook to Myspace sync, simply go to your Myspace account settings and click on 3rd party sync and configure the sync there.

With this one time setup, you can publish to all four platforms with ease. If you are on Google+, add me to your Circle.

Google improves and promotes search with A Google A Day game on Google+

Tue, 15 May 2012 17:26:00 -0400

Google created a new game on it’s social network called A Google A Day, which is a daily search puzzle that is solved using nothing but Google Search to find the answers. It’s a clever way to get users to challenge themselves, and also improve your Google Search skills by learning the best ways to use the search engine.

The premise is easy. First you have to be on Google+ to use it, which is Google’s social network. Once you start up the app, you are presented with a question, which you have to answer by finding it through the Google Search.

There are different topics of questions and answers: Science, Arts & Literature, History, Pop Culture and Geography. All have different point values. In playing the game, it’s actually quite a bit of fun. You can also challenge your Google+ friends, which the game comes with a Leader Board to keep the competition going.

There’s no doubt that Google will be data mining this game to help serve better search results. Similar to when Google used to have the Google Image Labeler game, which was a competitive game that you would enter in image keywords, which helped Google improve their image search results.

Here is a snapshot after getting a right answer, and also the My Stats page:

If you’re on Google+, add me to your Circle!

17 artistic and talented Avengers illustrations

Tue, 15 May 2012 16:02:00 -0400

I saw the Avengers last weekend and the movie was amazing, and has the box office results to prove it. The Avengers are breaking all kinds of records. To date, they have already made $1 billion globally. So, it’s no wonder that the Avengers comic illustrations are coming out of the woodwork, with some real gems. Here are a few I hand picked from Deviant Art that show some real talent and ability.

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Now this is how you wake up a three year old

Tue, 15 May 2012 12:04:37 -0400

Anyone who has woken up a sleeping toddler or baby for that fact, knows it can potentially be a nightmare waiting to happen, with loads of crankiness and teary eyes to follow. This is the first time I have seen a toddler wake up, and not only be fine, but playing the air drums like a champ during mid-sleep! What a cute video. I hope this kid grows up to play drums for some famous band one day.

Google Report: Search results should be protected by the First Amendment

Mon, 14 May 2012 16:56:46 -0400

In a recent report by Eugene Volokh, which was commissioned by Google, he claims that Google Search results deserve the same free speech rights as articles that appear in newspapers and news websites, for example the New York Times.

In the report, embedded below, which the Atlantic Wire reviewed, says the weight, placement, and even omission of search results says that search engines deserve freedom of speech, which is covered in the First Amendment. Volokh’s research makes for a strong argument for search engines, like Google, which is extremely beneficial to them in regards to anti-trust claims that have been brought before them in the past, and likely to happen in the future.

Covered by free speech, Google, Bing, Yahoo! and others would be open to serve up search results with their own subjective data without breaking anti-trust laws. Here are the three reasons that Volokh says search engine results should be covered under the First Amendment:

First, they sometimes convey information that the search engine company has itself prepared or compiled (such as information about places appearing in Google Places). Second, they direct users to material created by others, by referencing the titles of Web pages that the search engines judge to be most responsive to the query, coupled with short excerpts from each page. Such reporting about others’ speech is itself constitutionally protected speech.

Third, and most valuably, search engines select and sort the results in a way that is aimed at giving users what the search engine companies see as the most helpful and useful information. (That is how each search engine company tries to keep users coming back to it rather than to its competitors.) This selection and sorting is a mix of science and art: It uses sophisticated computerized algorithms, but those algorithms themselves inherently incorporate the search engine company engineers’ judgments about what material users are most likely to find responsive to their queries.

The last part, which I emphasized, and as Volokh said is the most valuable, is saying it’s an editorial judgement call, made through the Google Search algorithm created by engineers, therefor qualifying the results to be covered by free speech. Very interesting to say the least. What are your thoughts?

view on Scribd

Watch 100 balloons get popped with a laser pointer

Mon, 14 May 2012 13:21:25 -0400

High-powered laser pointers can cause a lot of harm if you don’t know what your doing, or if you’re being malicious. Think of those news reports where people would aim laser pointers at pilots in an airplane. They are very powerful, and Wicked Lasers makes the S3 Krypton laser pointer, which actually has a range of up to 85 miles.

With that said, in a video posted to YouTube by WorldScott, he lines up 100 balloons and takes the S3 Krypton laser and points it through a magnifying glass, and then pops each balloon one by one. It gets slow towards the end, but eventually he pops them all, and claims to have set an all new world record.

via Technabob