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10 Sep 2011 13:32

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Biz: Early Web 2.0 site Meetup describes its roots — in September 11, 2001

  • One of the first real sites to take on social media in a tangible way — where it encouraged offline interaction as much as online — was Meetup, which started up nearly a decade ago. The roots? September 11, 2001. Really. “A lot of people were thinking that maybe 9/11 could bring people together in a lasting way,” noted CEO and co-founder Scott Heiferman. “So the idea for Meetup was born: Could we use the internet to get off the internet — and grow local communities?” Nine months later, a site which has proven an important tool for social and political organization went online, turning a negative into a positive — and likely building the roots for many social media sites that came after. A fascinating story. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Oct 2010 10:32

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Tech: Do people simply tire of social sites like Digg, just like TV shows?

  • Starting a company like Digg is less like building a traditional tech company (think Apple or HP) and more like launching a TV show. And perhaps, like TV shows, these companies are ephemeral in nature. People flock in for a while, then get bored and move on.
  • Newsweek scribe Daniel Lyons • Offering an interesting perspective on the decline of Digg, which he suggests may have been as much about the change of its audience as a failure of Digg to keep up. The TV show metaphor is actually a very good one. While not every company will fall prey to changing seasons, Web 2.0 companies are particularly apt to them due to their socially-oriented business models. Lyons suggestion at the end is most telling: “The big lesson of Digg may be simply this: if someone offers you a ridiculous amount of money for a company that wasn’t that hard to build, don’t think twice. Take the money and run.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Mar 2010 21:56

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Biz: Yelp’s defenses of its service get increasingly angry-sounding

  • Their P.R. site, strangely enough, doesn’t allow comments. Recently, local business review site Yelp, while quite popular, has faced criticism over the way it works with the local businesses it indexes, including rumors that the site purposely favors advertisers. Recently, Yelp’s blog has been on the defensive. It culminated today with a tart-tongued post which clearly hadn’t been looked over by a lawyer, because it makes allegations that might annoy those suing the company. (Lawyers want a piece of us ’cause we got some venture capital!) Here’s a sample:
  • February 26: Conspiracy? “The allegations are disappointing, not only because they are false, but because they ignore empirical evidence in favor of conspiracy theories.” source
  • March 1: We’re weird “We’ll be the first to admit that, by conventional standards, Yelp can seem weird. We’re different than other review sites and that can throw people off.” source
  • March 4: Rawr “So it’s no surprise that today another lawyer has filed a virtually identical lawsuit making the same inaccurate claims. (Don’t worry; they’re still not true.)” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Feb 2010 13:11

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U.S.: The military realizes that social media actually a good idea

  • The finally unblocked Twitter, Facebook and so on. About time. For three years, if you used a military computer, you couldn’t access sites like Twitter and Facebook, despite the obvious advantages they offer. No longer. “The purpose of the policy is to recognize that we need to take advantage of these Internet-based capabilities,” said deputy assistant secretary of defense David Wennergren, “These Web 2.0 tools need to be part of what we use.” Even with the possibility of info leaks, we’re glad the military finally changed this policy. It came later than it should’ve. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Feb 2010 21:15

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Politics: We have a tip for Robert Gibbs: Don’t call it “the Twitter”

  • before A while back, our boy Robert Gibbs admitted in an interview that he wasn’t able to use Twitter from the White House, which hurts Obama’s until-then-solid Web 2.0 cred.
  • now Gibbs joined Twitter today as the account @PressSec, and his handle of the service is a little suspect. He called it “the Twitter.” He’s a PR person. Yikes. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

31 Dec 2009 12:08

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Culture: John Mayer thinks we all need a “digital cleanse” to start out 2010

  • Someone is all teched out. And who else isn’t? In a year where Facebook Connect became a constant companion because you just couldn’t remember another password to another site, John Mayer’s convinced that society at large needs a digital cleansing. And who’s to say he’s wrong? He has a pretty good point, guys.
  • The Cleanse John Mayer wants everyone to take a week off of the social Web. “I’ll be defragmenting my mental and psychological hard drive during the first seven days of the new year, and I invite you all to participate.”
  • the details He wants everyone interested to stop using social networking for one week, to only use their cell phones for calls, to only use their laptops for e-mail and to stop visiting celebrity gossip sites, because they rot the mind.
  • will it work? Mayer passed the idea by people – to begin tomorrow and end January 8 – and saw some resistance. “If it is impossible, than my theory is already proven and we’re in big trouble as a society.” Good point. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

10 Jun 2009 12:02

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Offbeat: The English language has a pretty lame millionth word, guys

  • Web 2.0 The millionth word added to the English language, which is just awful and annoying.
  • 14 Number of words added to the language on a daily basis. That’s too many. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

31 Mar 2009 10:47

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Tech: So Google, you have a new venture capital fund. Wanna help us?

  • why? We have a pretty cool, innovative format going on here. We’re not lame like most of those other blogs out there. We have a sense of humor and good taste in music. If this web site’s URL had a girlfriend, it’d be an Asian Design major.
  • how? There are lots of ways you could help us – priority in search results, usage of Gmail and Google Docs – but ultimately, we think the best way would be giving us lots of money, so we could hire a huge staff. Thanks in advance. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 4 Comments • Permalink

23 Jan 2009 18:11

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Tech, World: The Vatican joins the YouTube generation

Pope Benedict XVI is excited but reserved about how new technology lets people interact. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Jan 2009 18:24

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Tech: Need inspiration, bloggers? Time to get Plinky.

  • A service designed to give you ideas. Everyone who’s ever blogged has dealt with it; lazy blogger syndrome. But a startup created by a former Google staffer wants to make it easier for you to avoid it. If you need a couple of ideas, check out the just-launched Plinky, which combines social networking (along the lines of Twitter) and brainstorming (in the form of prompts and answers) for the win. Hopefully you’re not sick of social networking yet. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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