Sydney Air??? wtf??

Number 1 difference about Australia/New York? the air in Australia feels nice!!! I dont know how to freaking explain this but basically from the moment we walked out at Mascot i can feel the air on my skin and it feels soft and luxurious.


I'm guessing its related to moisture content or something similar but after 3 days here it still feels nice and its freaking me out worrying what is in the air particles in New York???


I know that NY has dust and grime etc, you can see on the day before our cleaner comes every fortnight that the apartment has dust etc but it's just weird how nice this air feels, more than just moisture it feels soft like a shirt with/without fabric softner.

Spotify payments

This is interesting, spotify is paying $0.00029 to an artist for each stream
eg. 3500 plays equals the same as selling it on iTunes

http://derekwebb.tumblr.com/post/13503899950/giving-it-away-how-free-music-makes-more-than-sense

Whats really interesting is that the artist feels that giving it away for free and getting an email address is more valuable (eg a ReverbNation model) actually makes them more money.
eg. upselling CD's or tour tickets or band shirts etc.

What are you thoughts? as a Spotify user would you give away your email address to help out artists you listen to?


Cheers,
Dean

Statues have lawyers?

Wow and i think the USA is lawsuit happy. How do statues have lawyers?

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/defamation-trial-opens-over-venus-cover-20111130-1o5jo.html
The Focus weekly's publisher and 12 journalists have been charged with defamation and insulting a national symbol.
Judges on Tuesday rejected bids to dismiss the defamation charges
Focus enraged many in Greece with its February 2010 cover that showed the iconic Venus de Milo statue, draped in a Greek flag, making the lewd gesture next to the headline "Cheats in the European family".

Mazda implement capacitor based brake energy capture

http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/26/mazdas-i-eloop-does-regenerative-braking-with-capacitors-instea

Fantastic idea this should have been implemented ages ago. Wasted "braking energy" is a resource that should be used in ALL trains, cars etc and is currently way underutilised.

QR code ..."Articles" ... and why they suck

lol, the more prevelant QR codes become here in the USA the more popular it is to be seen writing articles dissing QR codes. At least this one skipped the "cuecat references" but in every otherway it's a fail.

http://uk.queryclick.com/seo-news/qr-codes-and-why-they-suck/

This article should be titled "Why QR codes suck" BUT.....they make great linkbait.

You know the funny part about reading the comments is they are the same arguments that advertising/marketing dinosaurs were saying about the "Internet" when it first popped up into the mainstream in the 90's.

The Internet...nobody know what to do?
The Internet...I need technology to connect
The Internet...its a bit disappointing

What a fail. Alex Cowles i think you should get out of marketing and stick with DJ'ing.

Hey Americans WAKE UP!! You're all being lied to

Bah Bah, wake up America. If this doesnt snap you out of it nothing will.

Below is the Dec 5th 2011 edition of Time magazine....around the world. Notice what you are being lied to about?

What a joke.

Interesting idea from an innovative ISP

Interesting idea here from Internode (isp) - http://blog.internode.on.net/2011/11/23/exclusive-live-concert-video-gorgeous-festival though feels like recycling of “AOL exclusive content”.


We don’t have freedom of choice when it comes to residential ISP service here in the USA but if you did…..
1/ Would exclusive content convince you to change?
2/ What exclusive content would convince you to change?

Was the Helio mobile phone tie-up with Spike/UFC a good idea and why wasn’t that enough to keep them alive ?(well alive longer than 2 years before being eaten by Virgin Mobile)

Whilst maybe creating your own content like the Netflix "Arrested Development" deal might be a bad idea the licensing of known content can be done cheaply, is this a good idea to “differentiate” yourself in the market?

 
Cheers,
Dean

Joe Lieberman decides maybe free speech isn't a good idea after all

http://www.tgdaily.com/business-and-law-brief/59848-lieberman-wants-more-censorship-of-google-blogs
US Senator Joe Lieberman is calling on Google to censor more content on its blog platform. Why?


Well, Lieberman apparently believes that censorship of anti-West and violent jihadist content will keep people from wanting to attack America. At least that’s what it sounds like when you read the senator's formal letter to Google CEO Larry Page - asking Mountain View to censor content on its blogs






lol free speech is great until it doesn't say what you want it to say huh Joe.....


Don't worry i'm sure you wont mind if another country (how do you feel about china maybe?) helps support activists inside the USA with tactical/finanical/technical support to continue the spread of free speech.

Ideals are a bitch when they come back and bite you on the ass. If a few countries did the things to the USA that they do elsewhere Americans would be screaming blue murder.

BloggingHeads.tv

What do people thing about Bloggingheads.TV on the NY Times?
http://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/11/23/opinion/100000001189233/bloggingheads-making-college-cheaper.html

Got traction/potential?

How would you change it/improve it?

What topics would you like to see discussed?


Cheers,
Dean

Time Warner cable WiFi network coverage

Time Warner Cable Mobile Network Coverage

Lol so much for Time Warner making big announcements about "blanketing" Manhattan with Wifi....who are you kidding? looks like they hung a couple of access points on the window sill and made a product announcement.

http://www.timewarnercable.com/nynj/learn/hso/wifi/

GolfClap timewarner...outstanding job.....


Cheers,
Dean

Corporate "Twitter" user names

Have you like me noticed more and more people are using "personal" twitter accounts when posting publicly on behalf of their company?

If you build a fan base on these semi-"corporate" twitter addresses or personal? Are Twitter name rights the new "rolodex" ownership issue.

When you leave the company for greener pastures is there going to be blowback about taking your userbase with you to your next role, or is there the assumtion that this account is dead/renamed for your replacement?

Surely it makes more sense to enforce "branded" names eg @CNN_Anderson or @CNN_LarryKing etc


Cheers,
Dean

Eyes and your brain V's evil advertising creatives

Focus on the red dot below for 10 seconds.
Then look onto a white wall/table and blink fast and repeatedly.


yep....everyone sees it. eyes really are quite trickable.....now the cool part is that your eyes and bain are closely linked......think about that for a moment, now tell me why some creative advertising campaigns work better than others.


I'm sure there would be some colour combinations that work better for recall than others.

Any particular campaigns pop into your mind?


Cheers,
Dean
Thanks Leon for this tip.

Worlds smallest V12 engine

Fantastic, i dont care who you are you have to appreciate that.

Netflix to bring back 'Arrested Development'

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2011/11/netflix-to-bring-back-arrested-development.html
Netflix has made another big programming move, striking a deal to bring back from the dead the critically acclaimed Fox series "Arrested Development."

The quirky ensemble show, which lasted only three seasons but won an Emmy Award for best comedy, followed the antics of the morally challenged Bluth family. The series, whose stars included Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, Michael Cera and Portia de Rossi, was cancelled five years ago, it continued to find new fans via DVDs and reruns.

The show is expected to return with new episodes in the first half of 2013. The entire cast is expected to return, a person close to the project said. There has also been talk of making an "Arrested Development" movie as well, but so far no definite plan for that has emerged. There is no word yet as to how many episodes Netflix will order.




Question of the day....do these upstarts really have the ability to make a profit in the "tv content making" business?


Isnt there a skill/art to what works?

Is it just a customer acquisition model (exclusive content) or is netflix really going to be able to derive a profit from content production? what do you think?


Cheers,
Dean

J. Edgar

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1616195

Firstly without doubt the best acting i have ever seen done by Leonardo DiCaprio.

Secondly whoever is responsible for the makeup in the film has won the academy award this year for their work in this film, i was speechless at not only how flawless "old hoover" looked but also "young hoover".

Jodies only complaint about the film was Clint Eastwood concentrated too much on the love story aspect between Hoover and Tolsyn. In reality there could have been another entirely different movie about how amazingly skilled Hoover was at a managerial level, building a governmental agency from nothing and getting the resources out of congress that he needed (by hook and or crook).

Now for the fucktards in the audience that giggled at the gay scenes, FFS!! this is 2011 and you live in NY, not Hicksville Arkansas. Get a grip already OR go stick to shootem up explosion films. Its people like you that make me realise owning my home theatre projection system makes sense and i should just be happy with watching films 6 months after cinema release.

Naomi Watts brought a smile to my face at the end, solid as a rock like always.

You should run to see this film not walk, highly recomend it as you'll never see a better performance from DiCaprio ever.

Cheers,
Dean

Brooklyn heights film set

I just noticed Olivia Wilde is shooting a film down the street from us this week.

Do you think it would be uncool to call her "13" if i get to see her in person? :)

The Longest Week a film starring Jason Bateman and Olivia Wilde will be shooting on Henry Street (between Cranberry and Pineapple)

According to Variety the story, “centers on Conrad Valmont, affluent and aimless, who lives a life of leisure in his parents’ prestigious Manhattan hotel. In the span of one week, he finds himself evicted, disinherited and in love.”

http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/33161

Google+ introduces brand pages.....snoozeville

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/07/google-plus-pages-unveiled-google-welcomes-brands_n_1080148.html
Google+ is finally welcoming brands, five months after the launch of the social networking service and four months after it unceremoniously booted businesses from the site.


Announcement = snoozeville.

What functionality are they going to offer not already available elsewhere?

Reading the article further details that they have screwed up permissions without the ability to transfer tells me google pages for brands isn't a high priority for google and "time should be spent elsewhere".
 
At first, whoever creates the page initially will also be the page administrator. No one else will be able to admin that page after them, at first. Nor can that page be transferred to someone else.

 
Get back to me when you are serious google.

Cheers,
Dean

Zone Alarm is now bloatware

Zone Alarm is now " bloatware ",they took a perfectly good product and ruined it.

Since Checkpoint purchased it a few years ago they have ruined this security app with useless junk features. I've been able to accept it up to now but with the latest installation they

1/ Installed a toolbar into my browser
2/ modified my homepage to a "searchconduit" link.

Very disappointed at their attitudes and I'm uninstalling it forever. This is such a shame.


Cheers,
Dean

VentureShift

This photo from #Ventureshift http://yfrog.com/gyfrrkgj is bi-polar, @1obennet is claiming 100m in first fund @msuster is claiming the world is ending.

Either way was surprised at the lack of twitter backchannel on #VentureShift hashtag during the panels and surprised at the lack of questions about the Access To Capital act currently before congress.




Oren (who I don’t know) was talking to people at the event about his new VC fund he started 2 weeks ago which is raising $100m for tech ventures.

Cant comment on if it's true or not or more importantly what terms he is offering startups this funding.

What was really interesting at the event was how different peoples opinions were, some people were saying tech funding at the moment is hot and there is a lot of cash around (and upside for that cash) and others saying 2012 is going to be bubble 2.0 and every angel they know is going to lose their shirt in the next 2-3 years.

What i do know is there are 2 types of people in the world....those who talk about writing cheques for seed rounds and those that actually do. Unless you are writing me a cheque for http://www.livefanchat.com/ then i'm going to take what you say with a grain of salt.

Cheers,
Dean

QR codes being done right

Finally QR codes being done right!!!

IF ever there was a cool use for QR codes (not just practical), this might just be it. JCPenney’s new “Who’s Your Santa” campaign has a QR code extension for 2011, where everyone who buys a gift for Xmas will receive a unique QR code Gift Tag or “Santa Tag” as they are calling them… http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/jcpenney-voice-message-qr-code-santa-gift-tags



Cheers,
Dean Collins
www.Cognation.net/QR

http://Hypothes.is

Hypothesis (http://hypothes.is/) is a remake of  "The Third Voice" with additional functionality (Haha at video 3.10 = Nothing is new)

I wonder how many newbies actually remember "The Third Voice" and what a big deal it was.


Cheers,
Dean

Aco1

I dont know what the heck this is but it is interesting
- http://amber-carpa-onramp.weebly.com/leaving-upham.html
eg think war of the worlds audio track but with some neat music interludes.

Way cool way to blow away a few hours while working.

Friday music - Ukulele Anthem by Amanda Palmer

I love this woman in ways that cant be expressed in any way but with a ukulele :)


Download it for free along with lyrics (donation suggested) and bring a smile to your face anytime you get blue - http://music.amandapalmer.net/track/ukulele-anthem

Happy Friday everyone.


Cheers,
Dean
P.S. never heard of Amanda Palmer before...go here now - http://blog.collins.net.pr/2011/07/amanda-palmer.html

Entrepreneur Access to Capital Act - lesser of $10,000, and 10% of the investor’s annual income

$5m is a fairly significant chunk to build almost most startups

http://rossdawsonblog.com/weblog/archives/2011/11/latest-equity-crowdfunding-coming-shortly-congress-offers-bipartisan-support.html

Wonder how long this is likely to take to pass through congress.

What do you think? could this radically change NY startup scene? I wonder if this applies to "startup funds" eg a collective formed to "fund" other startups.

Could we see a "kickstarter" fund soon or a "General Assembly Series 1" seed fund.

Captcha breaking

The most interesting thing in this report is http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/01/researchers-flood-facebook-with-bots-collect-250gb-of-user-data


- “Charge $1 per 1,000 successfully-broken CAPTCHAs,”

So if a captcha takes 5secs to read and enter the average person can make $5.70 per day doing nothing but captcha breaking?

5 secs per captcha
12 per 60 secs
720 per 60 mins
5760 per 8 hour day


Surely they have to be being paid more than that for data entry right?

Cheers,
Dean

American school lunches

holy cow, when i think of what we used to eat for lunch as kids it was positively gourmet.

check out this photo stream it was what someone ate for school lunches for a year.
- http://www.flickr.com/photos/fedupwithlunch/6049763138/in/photostream/

Made me want to barf after just one months food. I cant believe this is for kids let alone prisoners.

No way i would raise kids here in NY if this is what they were served.


Cheers,
Dean

NYC Chalk graffiti

Someone doing chalk graffiti in NYC has a real talent to expose their soul.

Spend 10 mins viewing these, your heart will appreciate it,
- http://www.flickr.com/photos/nycpalimpsestproject/show/with/6296013907

- http://nycpalimpsestproject.blogspot.com/


Cheers,
Dean

Apple TV blocking Hulu Plus

You mean proprietary didn't die off with Jobs....what a surprise.


http://www.tgdaily.com/consumer-electronics-brief/59371-report-apple-tv-selfishly-blocking-hulu-plus
It's being reported that a Hulu Plus app has been primed and ready to go on Apple TV for a month, but Apple is worried that people would actually use it.
According to sources cited by 9to5mac.com, Apple is concerned that bringing the Hulu Plus app to its set-top box hardware would pose a big threat to its own proprietary iTunes video streaming

Words of advice from Bill Gates

Spoken like someone who has thought long and hard about the responsibility of having lots of money.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/technologybrierdudleysblog/2016626758_bill_gates_on_being_the_top_1.html

We want more....where is the Mint for Twitter?

I was forwarded a link for http://twtrland.com/ which is yet another automated twitter analytics tool.
eg http://twtrland.com/profile/deancollins

And although it showed me the following people have interacted with my tweets among other things, it left me wanting for more, where is the http://www.mint.com/ of Twitter? what is it about Mint that captures me and brings me back to look at the updated details month after this but i couldn't be bothered even adding Twtrland to my browsers favorites?

What are we missing? or is it just the subject matter of Mint that makes it sticky?