Saturday, December 29, 2012

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Intel's Cable TV Service And Set Top Box Will Soon Roll Out City By City Top
Intel TV ControllerIntel is preparing to launch its rumored virtual cable TV service and set top box, and has a plan to overcome licensing hurdles. Rather than roll out nationwide, the launch will happen on a city-by-city basis so Intel has more flexibility in negotiating licensing with reluctant content providers, according to a video industry source. The Intel box may also eliminate a core frustration with DVRs...
 
Facebook's High-Stakes Poker Game Top
GP-fb-pokerEditor's note: Antone Johnson is a startup lawyer specializing in early-stage consumer Internet and location-based businesses. Facebook has been accused of creating a slavish copy of Snapchat. Yet Poke may turn out to be a poster child for why most multi-billion-dollar public companies try not to break things, and as a consequence, are often precluded from moving fast like startups.
 
Michigan Becomes Latest State To Protect Citizens From Employers And Schools Snooping On Private Social Feeds Top
tumblr_lgoz9xfvgW1qa7nyeEmployers and schools in Michigan, the greatest state in the Nation, are now prohibited from asking employees and students for passwords to their personal email and social media accounts. In a win for reasonable privacy and common sense, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder just signed House Bill 5523 into law introduced by state Rep. Aric Nesbitt, R-Lawton. “Cyber security is important to the reinvention of Michigan, and protecting the private internet accounts of residents is a part of that,” Snyder said in a released statement on 12/28/2012. “Potential employees and students should be judged on their skills and abilities, not private online activity.” The bill also protects job and school applicants from having to give out their passwords. Offenders to the new law could be charged with a misdemeanor and charged up to a $1,000 fine. Bills such as these are in response to a troubling trend that surfaced in 2012. Employers and schools were found asking current and prospective employees and students for access to their online accounts. This was often labeled as voluntary but not complying often had negative effects. Earlier this year, the United States House of Representatives failed in an attempt to ratify a Federal ban, paving the way for states to take up the responsibility. California, Delaware, Illinois, and New Jersey have similar laws on the books. But remember, there’s a difference between private and personal, and anything you put online will never be completely private — right, Randi? [image via mittenmade]
 
Gillmor Gang: Slow Poke To China Top
gillmor-gang-test-pattern_excerptThe Gillmor Gang — Robert Scoble, Kevin Marks, Keith Teare, and Steve Gillmor — toast marshmallows around the social campfire as the PostApocalypse prepares to ring in a new year. It's all tweetness and light as @scobleizer sketches out the differences between just plain friends, close friends, and notification friends in the latest Facebook interface. For those of us who are too busy avoiding Downton Abbey spoilers unsuccessfully, the business of tweaking filters has gotten way too complicated for amateurs. Our best hope remains the blending of email, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and the rest into one notification stream multiplexed across our various devices. And in the end, the filter you make is equal to the love you take.
 
Unnatural Acts And The Rise Of Mobile Top
Unnantural acts_legsEditor's note: Keith Teare is General Partner at his incubator Archimedes Labs and CEO of recently funded just.me. He was a co-founder of TechCrunch. As all predatory, or formerly predatory, men and women know, if you're at a party and still by yourself at 2 a.m., and the drinks have been flowing, bad behavior replaces etiquette as the crowd shrinks. That's when desperation to not leave alone kicks in.
 
Trade A Bit Of Facebook Privacy For Free Samsung TecTiles, Flip Covers Top
samsungtectilesThe gift-giving has ended as we head into the new year, but many of us still need to pick up a few things. For example, if you happen to be a new owner of the Galaxy S III or Galaxy Note II, you probably need a few extra NFC-powered TecTiles and perhaps a brand new flip cover. Samsung has announced that it will give away free six TecTiles and a flip cover for every customer that registers their Galaxy S III or Galaxy Note II to Samsung's Owner's Hub on Facebook. That means that you'll be giving Samsung some personal info, like access to your Facebook Timeline, in exchange for the swag.
 
Samsung To Build A Massive R&D Complex In Silicon Valley Top
South Korea SamsungYou might finally start seeing some Android phones out in the wild around Silicon Valley. Samsung Electronics Co. just announced a major expansion of its Silicon Valley operations, which includes a gigantic 1.1M square foot headquarters for Samsung Semiconductor and a 385k square foot facility for Samsung Information Systems America.
 
All Journalism Is Tech Journalism Now Top
navelI am about to commit an act of meta-journalism. I'm sorry. I hate meta-journalism. I unfollowed GigaOm's Mathew Ingram (a fine writer) on Twitter some time ago because I could not muster any more interest in articles about articles and blog posts about blogging. I believe that journalists (like people in most professions) vastly overestimate their own importance, significance, and interestingness. But I suppose if I'm going to go meta, an end-of-the-year post seems an appropriate venue; and for once I have something both meta and relevant to talk about.
 
The Weekly Good: DonorsChoose And "Big Hairy Audacious" Goals To Help Teachers Top
weekly-good41[Note: This is a weekly series. If your company is doing something amazing to help a charitable cause or doing some good in your community, please reach out.] Sometimes, the right people are in the right place at the right time. For DonorsChoose.org, all of this came true. In 2003, Oprah Winfrey mentioned the non-profit on her show, calling it a “revolutionary charity”, and her viewers donated $250k to benefit projects in classrooms around the world. Yes, DonorsChoose.org is all about helping people help teachers, who of course help teach our students. Being a teacher isn’t the easiest job in the world, and for many reasons, it’s difficult to perform all of the tasks that you want to do to teach our youth in the right way. I spoke to DonorsChoose founder, Charles Best, about where the idea came from, what they’ve accomplished thus far, and what we can expect in the future. How did you come up with the idea for DonorsChoose? In 2000, as a New York City public school teacher, I spent a lot of time in the teacher's lunchroom, talking with fellow teachers about the books they wanted their students to read, the art projects they wanted their classroom to do, and the field trips they wanted their students to take. They didn't have the funding to do these things, so I founded DonorsChoose.org out of my classroom. In 2007, DonorsChose.org expanded to serve every public school teacher in the U.S. How do you explain DonorsChoose to people, to grab their attention? With DonorsChoose.org, anyone can give as little as $1 and get the same level of choice, transparency, and feedback that is traditionally reserved for someone who gives millions. We call that citizen philanthropy. Can you provide us with some real stories and stats on what you’ve accomplished thus far? We strongly believe in transparency – that people should be able to see exactly how every dollar is spent. The impact page of our website provide information at the national and state levels about what types of projects are being funded, how many students have been impacted, dollars raised, projects funded and more. Check out the progress we’ve made in helping schools impacted by Hurricane Sandy. What have you done differently that helped your program get off of the ground? We believe teachers know best what their students really need, and we’ve dedicated a lot
 
TigerLogic Acquires Storycode For Up To $7.25M To Bolster How Brands Reach Mobile Users Top
Screen Shot 2012-12-28 at 9.03.18 PMTigerLogic, a company with a market cap of about $56 million that provides data management and app development solutions for enterprises, said it agreed to acquire Portland mobile developer Storycode for up to $7.25 million in cash and stock today. The Irvine-based company says it will integrate Storycode’s technology into its social visualization platform called Postano. Yes, “social visualization” platform is a little vague, but basically Postano lets brands embed widgets with content from social networks on their sites. They also offer an internal dashboard that lets clients monitor what people are saying about them on Twitter or Facebook, and they can also help with creating custom Facebook tabs and apps. Storycode has a mobile app publishing platform that media companies like Thomson Reuters, USA Today, NBC and CBS use to create iPhone and iPad apps. The mobile publishing platform will plug right into TigerLogic’s Postano product. According to an SEC filing, each share of Storycode’s stock will be converted into $6.75 million worth of TigerLogic’s stock. On top of that, a single share of preferred stock in Storycode will get converted into the right to receive $250,000. TigerLogic is also giving Storycode $100,000 in bridge financing and is taking on up to $150,000 in the company’s liabilities. Storycode actually has been through one previous acquisition. It was previously called FreeRange Communications after it spun out of Handmark in 2011. The company changed its name to Storycode last May after acquiring a Portland-based mobile agency.
 
Lawsuit Alleges That Early Pinterest Investor Stole The Idea, Pinterest Says Suit Is 'Baseless' Top
Pinterest_LogoA lawsuit filed yesterday by Theodore F. Schroeder claims that Pinterest investor Brian S. Cohen stole the idea for the social sharing service. The suit, which was first reported in AllThingsD, claims that Schroeder "originated the ideas that led to the popular, ever-growing Pinterest website." It presents a fairly detailed account of the development of a site called Redezvoo.com, and its spinoff, Skoopwire.com. The products were developed by Schroeder and two of his Columbia Law School classmates, who eventually brought on Cohen as the company's chairman and CEO, according to the suit.
 
To Mitigate Any Surge Pricing Surprises, Uber Debuts Sobriety Tests And Fare Estimates For New Year's Eve Top
Uber Blog » The Uber resolution – always a reliable ride!After the communication breakdown over surge pricing last New Year’s Eve, Uber is taking precautions to make sure users are aware of fare increases next week. Surge pricing has become more common now among Uber users but when fares increase dramatically, it catches consumers off guard. So to prevent any surprises. Uber customers will be alerted to the surge pricing multiple which they have to confirm and accept before making any request for a ride. Uber says that when there are extreme spikes in demand on the evening, customers will also have to take Uber's "Surge Sobriety Test." And Uber's Fare Estimator will give all customers the ability to estimate their fare prior to any ride request. Uber warns in a blog post: It's going to be a crazy night and Ubers are going to be pricey, so here are a few pointers to keep in mind. The fare estimate feature will only be available for the iPhone app, unfortunately. And all riders will need to accept the fare multiplier before finalizing a booking. Uber says the average surge multiple will be about 2 times normal prices, during the worst times (12:30 AM until 2:45 AM), but prices during extreme spikes could cost you $100 before time and mileage charge. Uber adds that the most expensive times to take an Uber are 8:30pm – 9:45pm and 12:30am – 2:45am. The best times to take an Uber on NYE are before 7pm, 10pm – 12:10am and 3am on. The company’s CEO and founder Travis Kalanick will also be holding a live chat for any one who has questions about surge pricing on New Year’s Eve. Uber clearly learned its lesson from last year, when users were caught off guard by steep prices caused by surge pricing. For example, one user was charged $75 for a two-minute car ride. With the sobriety test, and fare estimator, the company is giving users all the information they need to decide if a pricey car ride is worth the splurge. The sobriety test is particularly interesting, and I wonder if this will become more widely used in the app. Ride-sharing app SideCar also warned users today of its surge pricing that will take place on New Year’s Eve.
 
There's A Difference Between Private And Personal Top
3916007787_634844b73c_zWhile most of us were enjoying the holidays with our families all over the world, someone who is related to the CEO of Facebook posted a photo of her family to friends, and then some journalist person downloaded it and tweeted it. There's a real difference between something being private and something being personal. And that, as the aforementioned incident highlights, is a notion that a lot of people — including Randi Zuckerberg — have forgotten, online and off. What I mean by this is that just because you post something online, doesn't mean it's meant for public consumption. Yes, this all sounds very conflated, and yes, Facebook privacy controls are about as easy to understand as left-handed scissors for a right-handed person. However, somewhere in this slow news big news cycle, publications started to tell the story that said Facebook CEO’s sister clearly didn’t understand Facebook’s privacy controls. This is simply not true, because the photo wasn’t private, it was personal. Allow me to explain the difference. Private As A Peacock Private: confined to or intended only for the persons immediately concerned; confidential: a private meeting If something is “private” in your mind, it’s probably not a good idea to share it on the Internet…anywhere. I don’t care what types of controls a social network gives you. There’s no such thing as full-on “privacy” on the Internet. Do you know what is private? A good-old-fashioned photo in a scrapbook, passed around one by one at the dinner table during the holidays. If you see someone try to pull out their phone to snap a photo for Instagram purposes, you can say “HEY! That’s private.” This can’t be done on the Internet. Once something is out there, it can be screen-shotted, captured and re-shared just as easily as it was uploaded in the first place. As we learned with Snapchat and Poke, those sexy private photos and videos aren’t really “private” either. I’m not even going to get into the difference between public and private, because I feel like that’s fairly obvious. Privacy is a lost art in humanity these days. We’re so used to sharing every darn thing that happens to us, myself included, that we have lost a sense of self, therefore leaving ourselves open to the shit show that ensued during the boringest news week of the century. No matter what Randi Zuckerberg said after the fact, people
 
OneWed Brings Its Inspirational Wedding Imagery To iPad Top
OneWed ipadIt's been days, possibly even weeks, since we've covered a wedding-focused startup. Let's change that, shall we? OneWed, the company formerly known as Nearlyweds, is now on iPad. The new app quietly arrived just before the holidays, offering a new way for brides-to-be to browse, be inspired by, save and share wedding imagery and ideas.
 
Nook Media Takes $89.5M From Pearson, Says Holiday Sales Fell Below Expectations Top
nookNook Media, the Barnes & Noble subsidiary that handles Nook e-readers and digital content, announced today that education publisher Pearson has invested $89.5 million, giving it a 5 percent stake in the company. Nook Media spun out from Barnes & Noble earlier this. B&N owns 78.2 percent , while Microsoft (which made a big investment aimed at  bringing Nook content to Windows 8 devices) owns 16.8 percent, according to the press release. The deal gives the company a post-money valuation of $1.789 billion.
 
"Bug" Lets People Save Snapchat And Poke Videos, But Why Would Anyone Want To Do That? Top
Screen Shot 2012-12-28 at 11.07.11 AMBuzzfeed has found a "security hole" in an app that is totally not used for sexting, Snapchat, and an app that is also totally not used for sexting, Poke. The two apps totally not used for sexting were found to have been caching videos that have nothing to do with sex as temporary files on the iPhone and other iOS devices.
 
Data Shows Online Buzz About Snapchat Is Skyrocketing After The Launch Of Facebook Poke Top
snapchat facebook topsyImitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, which is nice and all -- but for businesses, flattery doesn't exactly pay the bills. However, when said flattery comes along with massive amounts of new attention from millions of potential new users, a high-profile copycat could actually help more than it hurts. Such may well be the case with ephemeral photo sharing app Snapchat and its newly-launched doppelgänger Facebook Poke.
 
Flying Home? Airport Chatter Brings Airport Info To iPhone, Socializes Travel Top
overview-profile-phonesAirport Chatter, which debuted just in time to take advantage of the busy holiday travel season, is a new mobile application aiming to be the one-stop shop for everything related to air travel, from the time of departure to the time of arrival. The app includes venue profiles for the shops and services inside airports, allowing users to not only discover the hours of operations and other business info, but also post check-ins and reviews. That makes it something like a miniature version of Yelp, specifically designed for airports.
 
I Can Has Funding: Cheezburger Raises $5M From Foundry, Madrona , Softbank For LOLcats, FAIL Blog And Other Memes Top
pet-holdings-incCheezburger, the internet publisher responsible for LOLcats, FAIL Blog, and other memes, has raised $5 million in funding, according to an SEC filing. A spokesperson for the company confirmed the funding, in which existing incestors Foundry Group with Madrona Venture Group, Avalon Ventures, and SoftBank Capital all participated. No new board members were added.
 
Study Claims Online Voter Registration Contributed 'Significantly' To Higher Youth Registration Top
3003337804_c01d490152 (1)California's experiment in fully online voter registration appears to have been a success. "Online registration contributed significantly to an increase in 2012 youth registrants and modestly to overall increases in general registration rates," claims a University of California, Davis, study of the 2012 election, which finds that online voting boosted youth registration an entire percent (10.1 percent to 11.1 percent) in its short one-month existence prior to the election [PDF].
 

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