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SXSW 2010: Media Armageddon: What happens when the New York Times dies?
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Editorial, Features, Internet,
This is a session wrap-up from SXSW 2010. To start the session, a question was asked by the moderators to the audience “If the times ceased to exist, how would you feel?” Only a few hands in an audience of 500 said that would be disappointed. Only several more were indifferent, but a vast majority would be upset if the media giant no longer created their content in print or online.
Those on the panel were:
- David Carr, a writer from the NY Times.
- Amy Langfield, travel and events site New Yorkology a blog on what is going on in New York.
- Marcus Moulitsas of the Daily Kos a blog site with thousands of writers.
- Greg Beato writer for a magazine called Reason
- Henry Copeland the moderator who is with BlogAds
Gawker is believed to be marching towards the Times in regard to a quality of content creation by adding reporters. With Nick Denton running it, a former reporter himself, it is believed by the panel to be pushing towards a spin as a quality web newspaper. Gawker Media has been pushing content out quicker than traditional media outlets. Blogs typically do not spend the time fact checking, do not create a back story, and create quick and concise content with few details, with the benefit of these being published in an extremely timely manner.
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Gallery: SXSW 2010: Media Armageddon: What happens when the New York Times dies?
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The rumor at SXSW is that attendance for Interactive badges is up by 40% from last year, which is pretty amazing when you consider that the 2009 attendance was 10,741. So the amount of people decending on Austin, TX to see the next Twitter or Foursquare make an appearance is around 15,000. It’s crazy to think that Foursquare just debuted last year and now it is the most talked about product so far at this year’s event (granted, things are just getting started.) Speaking of Foursquare, we’ll be covering their SXSW news, as well as that of what we consider to be their main competitor, Gowalla, in the next few days.
It also looks like some of the big names we’ve seen in the past are back in 2010 to take part in the festivities. I saw that Pepsi, Microsoft and Aol were still building their booths this morning.
Braden Young is covering SxSW 2010 for Gear Live. You can follow him on Twitter at @bradeny. Hit him with a tweet if there are any events or sessions you’d like him to hit up and cover!
Gallery: SxSW 2010: Austin is now the Thunderdome
Editorial: It’s time to raise the Xbox Live friend limit
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Editorial, Features, Home Entertainment, Microsoft, Music, Video Games,
Okay, I’ve had enough of the Xbox Live friend limit that Microsoft has imposed on us for far too long. I think this has gone on long enough, and I’m really not seeing a good reason for it. As many Xbox Live gamers know, the current limit on friends you can have is set to 100. The thing is, in the age of social networks like Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and all the others, we are now used to connecting with many people in our social graph across many different services.
Now, all that said, there is still one more very annoying piece to this puzzle. Did you know that the Zune Social and Xbox Live share one common friends list? In other words, if you currently have 100 Xbox Live friends, and you go out and buy a Zune, and want to connect with people who also have Zune’s (but don’t necessarily play games,) you are out of luck. You’ll have to remove someone from your Xbox Live friend list to add someone else. This is, in two words, absolutely ridiculous. I get wanting to share the Zune and Xbox ecosystem, but to shoot yourself in the foot like this is just puzzling. I personally have at least 15 people that I would like to add as friends on the Zune Social, but I can’t, because my Xbox Live list is maxed out.
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Gallery: Editorial: It’s time to raise the Xbox Live friend limit
Woman Charged Heavily for Downloads
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Editorial, Internet, Music,
Back in October of 2007, Jammie Thomas-Rasset was charged with copyright infringement of 24 songs and decided to fight the Recording Industry Association of America and Capitol Records instead of settling. But now a jury has decided that she is guilty and must pay 1.92 million dollars, which comes out to about $80,000 per tune. While it is possible that the RIAA may still settle for less, Ms. Thomas-Rasset is only the first of 20,000 that may be brought to court and is certainly being used to tell us all that her action was a no-no bigtime.
Read More 
| Mashable
Gallery: Woman Charged Heavily for Downloads
Five technology trends that will define 2009
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Editorial, Features, GPS, HDTV, Home Entertainment, Software,
This is a guest post by LaptopLogic - head over to them to find laptop reviews, laptop news and search their database for the best top rated laptops.
We are nearing the end of the first quarter of 2009, and we think that based on what we’ve seen happen already this year, combined with some announcements of things to come, that we can start to make sense of what 2009 will look like when we look back on it. For instance, we think consumers will see a number of technological advancements in the devices they buy—the laptops, media players, gaming systems, and televisions. That’s always the case. However, we think there are a handful of trends that will dominate the consumer technology market, and we thought we’d take a look at five of them here. Let’s get started:
GPS Everything
It seems that mobile phones and GPS can’t be kept apart these days. With the release of Apple’s wildly successful iPhone 3G, GPS has become a standard feature on many of today’s advanced mobile devices.
While GPS used to be reserved for geeky standalone gadgets, like that of a Garmin or Tom Tom, being able to locate yourself wirelessly is now firmly in the realm of cell phones. And that’s just the start. Expect to see GPS penetrating a greater number of tech devices in 2009.
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Gallery: Five technology trends that will define 2009
Office Depot Deceptive Sales?
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Corporate News, Editorial, PC / Laptop,
Laptop Magazine reported that there may have been deceptive sales practices at some Office Depots. It started when they went to buy a Gateway laptop and the salesperson first tried to convince them not to purchase it, then tried to get them to buy tech services to go with it. Some comments came in that seemingly verified that behavior in others. The comments drew so much attention that the company issued a statement saying that they don’t condone the practice and are reviewing the situation.
If you have ever been subject to high pressure from associates trying to get you to purchase something in addition to the product, like an extended warranty, you have to know that in certain retail outlets this is where a commission comes in. It us sort of like a McDonald’s employee being forced to ask if you want fries with your Big Mac, but without the extra pay.
Read More | Laptop Magazine
Gallery: Office Depot Deceptive Sales?
Electronic Traffic Signs Hacked
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Editorial, Mods / Hacks, Transportation,
We were surprised when we learned that electronic road signs are easily hackable. This is because the usually locked access panel is often left unprotected. Even more surprising is that the site iHacked tells you exactly how it is done with step by step instructions. They then caution,
*** WARNING - YOU SHOULD NEVER TAMPER WITH THESE SIGNS ***
Hmm. Isn’t that a bit like posting details on how to build a bomb and then saying that it is for informational use only?
Read More | iHacked
Gallery: Electronic Traffic Signs Hacked
China Limits Internet Usage, Cites Porn and Obscene Content
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Editorial, Google, Internet,
China has decided to cut back on their country’s Internet access to porn and obscene content by blacklisting 19 portals and sites. Included in that list are Netease, Baidu and Google. The deputy director of the State Council Information Office, Cai Mingzhao, said “Immediate action is needed to purify the Internet environment.”
Supposedly the Chinese Google has links to porn sites and although China’s Internet Illegal Information Reporting Center asked them to take them off, nothing was done. A spokesperson there said, “Google is neither the owner of those Web sites and porn nor does it spread (that) information intentionally.” We figure if someone wants to find that sort of content, there is always a way.
Read More | CNN
Gallery: China Limits Internet Usage, Cites Porn and Obscene Content
Psion Asks Companies Not to Use “Netbook”
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Corporate News, Editorial, PC / Laptop,
So much turmoil over such a small thing, literally. Psion owns the trademark to the Netbook, a device they actually created and later discontinued. But it seems as if they would like to make sure that no one else uses the name. jk on the run first found about the dilemma, and seems to be in contact with their “people” who want to make their intentions perfectly clear. They have sent out letters to retailers and manufacturers who are using the term in their products. We were thinking they should be flattered by all the fuss, but what do you think? And what term should be, as they call it, a “legitimate generic?” Mini-book? Notebook-minus? Should we stage a protest or hold a contest?
Read More | jk On The Run
Gallery: Psion Asks Companies Not to Use “Netbook”
Last day to enter our Gears of War 2 prize package!
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Announcements, Editorial, Portable Audio / Video, Video Games,
Hey, if you haven’t already entered our Gears of War 2 Zune and Game giveaway, what are you waiting for? Today is the last day that we are accepting entries into that particular contest, so if you want in, you’d better head on over to the entry page for the rules. Seriously, entering is quick and easy, and you can walk away with a few hundred dollars worth of Gears of War 2 memorabilia (including a Limited Edition Gears of War 2 Zune!). Nothing to lose, everything to gain kind of thing.
Read More | Gears of War 2 giveaway contest
Gallery: Last day to enter our Gears of War 2 prize package!
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