Archive for August, 2009

A pictographic way to explain more about Twitter…. if it was only made up of 100 users.

Get all the stats here

Rapper Jay-Z held a news conference today (August 31) to formally announce the “Answer The Call” charity concert that will take place at Madison Square Garden on September 11th 2009. Tickets are $50 and ALL proceeds go to New York Police and Fire Widows’ and Children’s Benefit Fund. 

Jay-Z will also release his much anticipated album “Blueprint 3″ on the same day. 

Read more about what made him decide to hold the concert on 9/11, here: Jay-Z Benefit Concert

Quicksilver and NYC skate shop Autum teamed up to host a unique popup store with an indoor mini-ramp. Skateboarding themed events were held in the space during this past week including an art show and will come to a close with a jam-style skate contest on Saturday evening before the shop closes. The space was open to the public daily and the skate ramp will be donated to an NYC park or school at the end of the event.

Source: psfk.com

WiFi on steroids?

Now that the FCC has opened empty TV channels to wireless networking, Microsoft Research wants to replicate the success of WiFi—but with 1km connection distances and much greater bandwidth. Welcome to WhiteFi.

Check out the full article here: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/08/wifi-on-steroids-first-whitefi-devices-hit-testing-stage.ars

Wikipedia, the user-written encyclopedia that’s built an empire on the ideal that “today’s Internet is governed by the idea that crowds of people can create the news, share information and collaborate on online projects”, decided to add a layer of oversight to its system.

The popular encyclopedia, which has drawn criticism for inaccuracies, says it will try assigning editors to some of its entries. These trusted volunteers likely would have to approve public edits before they’re published to English-language stories about living people.

Some see the move as a shift away from Wikipedia’s core values and a sign that crowds of people aren’t able to produce a usable and accurate body of information.

Others see the change as a sign that these communities of online volunteers are getting more complex and they may need more rules.

Since Wikipedia was founded in 2001, a number of sites have popped up employing its basic philosophy that users can control the content of the Web.

What do you think? Should Wiki monitor submissions?

Source: cnn.com

A new campaign from Frito-Lay and the National Football League is encouraging households to demonstrate their gridiron game-day devotion and prove that they are, in fact, the NFL’s “most fanatical family.” And the sponsoring brands are prepared to reward that enthusiasm with a trip for six to Miami to enjoy Super Bowl XLIV from a VIP suite in Dolphin Stadium.

The “Calling All Families” promotion is asking entrants to submit a photo of their families and/or friends in full-on football mode—decked out in NFL gear, or demonstrating their best game faces, or just in position around the tube with snack supplies at the ready.

Entrants can upload their original, unretouched photo to a microsite athttp://CallingAllFamilies.com after registering with their e-mail address, their NFL team of choice and their favorite Frito-Lay snack.

Source: Promo Xtra

At a press event hosted by the New York Public Library, Sony put their recently announced Reader hardware on display and provided an overview of its recent announcements. But the event was more than simply a recap of past announcements. The library location provided context for a program, run through Sony’s e-book store, which will allow users to identify their local public library borrow books through its site. There is also new hardware: by the holidays, Sony plans on having a 3G-enabled Reader with a tall seven-inch screen.

Sony is taking the opposite approach from Amazon, focusing on selling hardware that can display content from just about anywhere.

That “anywhere” will apparently include libraries. According to Sony’s Haber, the new version of its online book store will allow users to enter their ZIP code and determine whether the local library offers electronic versions of its books. These books can be downloaded, at which point they’ll have a 21-day expiration date—no late fees, as Haber was happy to point out. The New York Public Library’s representative announced that his organization would be taking part in the service. That’s a rather significant announcement, given that he said that the NYPL’s website was the second-most visited online library, behind only the Library of Congress.

The new library software will have both Mac and PC versions, opening up the software to a wider audience. It’s supposed to be available immediately, but neither of the software updates—the updated e-book store with library finder or the 3.0 version of the desktop library management software—were available as we prepared this story.

Source: Ars Technica

With the new season of Dexter just around the corner, what better way to get fans excited then with a new slew of promotional items. Capitalizing on Dexter’s obsession with keeping a record of all his victims, via a catalog of slides with a drop of blood from each kill, Showtime has created this nifty coaster set which resembles his collection. I know this is one promo item I just have to have while I count down to Season 4 premiering on September 27th!

Source: Cherryflava.com

Ford is promoting the new 2010 Mustang with a microsite at FordVehicles.com that lets prospective buyers customize the car. The customizer, at fordVehicles.com/the2010mustang, lets as many as four people work together to choose accessories, colors, decals and the like. The automaker is touting the site with Web ads on major portal sites like Yahoo.com. Ford says the site, which launched last week, has had 52,000 cars built, with more than 16,000 of those saved into the site gallery. And more than 30 forums and blogs have been spawned from it.

Source: Marketing Daily 

Procter & Gamble’s Pampers brand uses digital media to chronicle the birth of parents via a Web series called A Parent Is Born. The show launches today and focuses on Suzie and Steve Barston, Los Angeles residents anticipating their first child. The 12 Webisodes examine various aspects of the parenting journey. At one point, Steve wears a “pregnancy simulator” for a day so he can better appreciate what it’s like to have a child. Another segment follows Steve and Suzie as they sign up for a “labor class.” The series also includes candid moments where Suzie admits to hormonal changes (”I do find myself snapping at him more.”) and Steve laughingly notes: “It’s nuts!”

Pampers, P&G’s largest global brand, rarely does digital advertising on this scale, much less take a reality approach, but the move is part of the diaper giant’s goal to connect with millennial moms while moving ad dollars from TV to online media. 

The Webisodes will run on Pampers.com, YouTube and DirecTV On Demand, and TLC will also promote the show, Kraus said. MommyCast, a weekly radio/podcast series, will interview the Barstons on what life is like after their son Leo was born.

Source: Adweek