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29 Aug 2010 21:39

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Tech: We hate Shane Dawson and his money-milking Youtube clips

  • $315,429 made by that stupid prick
  • YouTube’s model is broken. Here’s why. A kid like Shane Dawson can prime the pump of YouTube’s model and make clips that are the unfunniest things you’ve ever seen. We couldn’t even make it though the first minute of this piece of crap here. This guy isn’t the only insane YouTube moneymaker out there, either. All of these guys brand the heck of of themselves, and some of them are pretty unfunny for the most part. We don’t understand their appeal at all.
  • The annoying orange This video, which is minorly charming, got approximately 29 million views since its October launch. Since then, its creator has made $288,375 from YouTube and has a TV deal in the works.
  • Ray William JohnsonThis guy is something of a low-rent Tosh.0, who basically re-appropriates viral clips for his own brash commentary and quick edits. Funnier than Shane Dawson, he made $278,048 from YouTube.
  • Philip DeFrancoAs overly-popular YouTube figures go, this guy is better than most. In this clip, he make fun of his long-windedness using that Radiohead cover from “The Social Network” trailer. He made $181,706. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

29 Aug 2010 21:10

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Tech: Did YouTube break its featured videos formula for some reason?

  • Half of the top eight videos are videos that have something to do with a single YouTube celebrity – Shane Dawson. Great if you’re a fan of Shane Dawson, awful if you’re just about anyone else. Why is this? Well, YouTube changed its formula recently, so now it’s not done by hand. This makes no sense. Before, it encouraged the discovery of new videos. Now, we get Shaytards. And Fail Blog. And Shane Dawson. All of which, in our opinion, completely suck and aren’t nearly as good as that random stuff that used to bubble up. In other words, established entities win over actual viral content. Way to not understand your user base, guys. We know you’re owned by Google, YouTube, but get your humans back. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Aug 2010 11:27

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Tech: YouTube marks Hurricane Katrina’s fifth anniversary perfectly

  • Today is the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s landfall. Many sites have been covering this anniversary of the tragedy in their own ways, but our favorite thus far is YouTube’s treatment of the disaster. This is the first major event that happened on their watch, and the videos here reflect a tragedy that is very much of this generation. It even created a poorly-timed meme. Great job putting this together, guys. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Aug 2010 23:12

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Tech: Will Cheezburger Network’s Ben Huh tweeted Reddit offer work?

Condé Nast, I’m publicly offering to buy Reddit.: This was an email I sent to one of our sites, The Daily What: Hi… http://bit.ly/9keWv1Sat Aug 28 00:44:56 via twitterfeedbenhuh
benhuh

  • What happened? Reddit wanted to accept ads in favor of California’s pot-legalizing Prop. 19, which owner Condé Nast said was a big no-no. So they offered to run the ads for free.
  • A tweeted offer Not long after, Cheezburger Network CEO Ben Huh made an unsolicited offer to buy the business from Condé Nast. And he tweeted it. That’s postmodern.
  • Why that may be bad Ben Huh severely underpays his workers for work that requires a college education. We already covered it in detail. We don’t need to say anything else. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Aug 2010 21:40

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Tech: Patent troll: Paul Allen is a jerk who hasn’t been relevant in 20 years

  • Why do patents exist? Apparently so a multi-billionaire can choose to be a jerk and sue the entire Internet over obvious ideas he isn’t even using. Paul Allen, who’s giving away most of his fortune to charity anyway, is the head of Interval Licensing, which appears to be a patent-trolling firm based around patents that an old company of his, Interval Research Corp., created in the ’90s but never used. Now he’s suing Google, Facebook, eBay, Apple, Yahoo, Netflix and Youtube over what seem to be obvious patents. Our patent system is pretty much the worst thing ever, it’s being used to screw people over on obvious technologies, and it’s getting worse. If you really thought these patents were so bad, Paul, why did you choose not to sue Microsoft, which you own a stake in, or Amazon? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

26 Aug 2010 20:27

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Tech: Diaspora to launch September 15th, crush under its own hype

  • We are spending a good chunk of time concentrating on building clear, contextual sharing. That means an intuitive way for users to decide, and not notice deciding, what content goes to their coworkers and what goes to their drinking buddies.
  • The dudes from the Diaspora project • Giving an end-of-Summer update on their well-funded project. While some of the more technical things won’t make the launch, they plan to have a working version ready to go by September 15, which means we get do decide then whether or not these guys are full of crap or actually have the goods. To celebrate, we’re going to set our Facebook settings to the loosest available. We don’t need it anymore; we have the goodness that is Diaspora. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

26 Aug 2010 12:56

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Tech: Facebook thinks you shouldn’t use “-book” in your company’s name

  • We’ve been sitting here scratching our heads for the last couple of days. We’re trying to understand how Facebook, a multibillion-dollar company, feels this small enterprise in Chicago is any type of threat.
  • Teachbook managing director Greg Shrader • In disbelief that Facebook would bother to sue its company. Facebook, which is 84 percent owned by some guy who sells wood pellets, is suing the teaching management resource company because that’s what Facebook does. Any sympathy about the 84 percent lawsuit or the coke-stained movie just went out the window, kids. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

25 Aug 2010 21:59

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Tech: Notewire: Because you need to take notes, and paper sucks

  • Need to take some notes? Check out this new tool by friend of the site Jeff Greco. A combination webapp and bookmarklet, it allows you to take notes anywhere and pull them right up on your mobile phone. A neat little trick that might save you some time. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

24 Aug 2010 11:07

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Tech: Loyola University scientists make a HIV research breakthrough

  • great! Loyola University researchers pinpointed the key elements of a protein, TRIM5a, that destroys HIV in monkeys. With a $225,000 microscope. Give them a raise!
  • … but More research needs to be done to figure out how to make the protein do the same thing for humans. Get back to work, you bums! Monkeys aren’t people. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Aug 2010 10:04

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Tech: Apple decides to play Big Brother with new anti-jailbreak patent

  • good Apple has created and applied to patent a new technology to allow them to detect unauthorized iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad uses.
  • badThose unauthorized uses include jailbreaking, unlocking and removing a SIM card. Because Apple doesn’t like these (still legal) things.
  • worseThe methods of detecting an unauthorized user include creepy voice and heartbeat detection. It’s like 1984 all over again. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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