Foresquare-type startups? Robert Scoble at TechCrunch Disrupt

John Doerr with Charlie Rose 

New York, NY - Tunerfish.com is up as the "For Show Launch" company as this blog post is written at TechCrunch Disrupt. Zennie62's trip to TechCrunch is sponsored by Christine Smith Associates, Inc., the Premier Female Contractor in NYC.

TechCrunch Disrupt is a wonderful, dizzying array of people, companies, tech, and ideas. We're in a huge office space that was once used as a Merill Lynch Trading facility. TechCrunch Editor Michael Arrington made the point that the space and what it's now used for is an example of the kind of "third wave" of tech change that the World is facing - even if it doesn't know it.

The idea of TechCrunch Disrupt is to bring together media, tech, and advertising industry representatives. So far, the idea is working very well. It even produces controversy: Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz, let loose with an F-bomb and an S-bomb, in the former case telling Michael Arrington to F-off.

But Carol Bartz and Yahoo! aside, for a moment, the interesting aspect of TechCrunch Disrupt are the sheer number of "Geo-based" social networks along the lines of Foursquare. That's what I talked with tech blogger Robert Scoble about in the video.

If you're not familiar with Foursquare, it's a mobile based software application that allows you to essentially tell the world (that's on Foursquare) where you are, be it a restaurant, an airport, or a football game. You can also locate other users at the same location or other places.

There are some really interesting startups that are variations on that theme. One of them, DeHood is designed for you to report, say, a crime being committed in your neighborhood in real time.

So as much as the buzz here is about Facebook, and something called "Zuckerberg's law of information" (after Facebook Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg's determination that the rate of information flow between people has doubled in something like five years), the real interest is not in the next Facebook, but in the next Foursquare.

So far, Arringon's interviewed TV interview legend Charlie Rose, who in turn had a great talk with Venture Capitalist John Doerr. Doerr reported that Zynga, the startup famous for the Farmville game, is the fastest growing company his firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers has ever funded, and that includes Google.

Stay tuned.

BP: Big Profits & Big Pollution

According to Reuters, BP has just announced they haven't been sure how much oil they were siphoning off from the leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico.  You might think it was an easy thing for BP employees to do, just look into the collection container and measure, right?  Well, it might seem easy to you, but BP's folks on-site were apparently just guessing.

BP said on Monday the oil collected by the mile-long siphon tube was at times as low as 1,360 barrels of oil per day in the six days to May 23 with the tube capturing an average 2,010 barrels per day in the time period.

The average figure is less than half the 5,000 barrels per day the company estimates is leaking into the sea and comes after it said it was managing to siphon off around 5,000 barrels per day a few days ago.

Of course, some experts have made significantly higher estimates for the size of the leak than BP provided, too. That's not surprising, BP has a profit motive, not a truth motive.

You know what is surprising, though? It got hard to find this story on the Reuters website, almost immediately. It's amazing BP can't even get the measurement where they're collecting some of the oil. You don't think Reuters is under pressure from BP or investors, do you?

Meanwhile, comparisons to the impact of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster are growing almost as fast as the pressure on the Obama administration to act. BP may have created jobs, but few who have seen the massive and spreading disaster think their response has been adequate, and we all know it will fall to the government not only to hold BP accountable, but ultimately to clean up the mess, too.

Thomas Hayes is an entrepreneur, journalist, political staffer, and photographer who contributes regularly to a host of web sites on topics ranging from economics and politics to culture and community.

Zennie62 now in New York for TechCrunch Disrupt, by Christine Smith Contractors

New York, NY - As I write this blog post it's 12:43 AM EST (OK, it's supposed to be EDT, but it's really dark outside, OK. It's not daylight. Now, it refers to Daylight Savings Time, but this blogger thinks the whole deal is stupid.)

Onward.

Zennie62's trip is sponsored by Christine Smith Associates, Inc., the Premier Female Contractor in NYC. But frankly it's a miracle of God that Zennie62, uh, me, is here.

The whole deal started at 7:32 AM EST which used to be a late start, but is now an early one. Too early. After making sure the house in Georgia was secure, we headed to Atlanta-Hartsfield Airport and I ended up waiting and being bumped from flight after United Airlines flight.

Veterans to this space know this blogger flies standby and at times winds up with some cool seat assignments. Take this video on Sandra Bullock and Jesse James:



This time this blogger was at the ATL Airport from 11 to 5 PM and finally got on a plane to Chicago. I was worried that I would get into New York at something like 4 am, but no. Once at O'Hare, the departure screen reported the New York LaGuardia flight was delayed. I got in at 6:04 and it was to leave at 6:29. So hauling ass was in order; arrived at gate B5 in record time for a guy who needs to drop 12 pounds.

OK, 15 pounds.

Would you believe the agent got me on that damn flight? Can you say 'blessed?' So, after a Super Shuttle Tour of Manhattan that I have to say was really cool and with an equally cool driver named Mario, I'm blogging to you.

TechCrunch Disrupt is in the morning. I can't sleep, so I'm drinking a vodka and lemon to wipe me out; it's only half-working. Well, maybe 60 percent.

Closing thoughts.

New York City at night is beautiful. Period. Atlanta's more diverse, "modern", and fun than I'd thought, and I came to that conclusion after my Flying Biscuit Breakfast of Saturday. I now really like Atlanta, and I have to say blacks and whites mix better there than in the San Francisco / Oakland Bay Area. United Airlines' merger with Continental should make for better service out of Atlanta. Those small Brazilian planes have to go!

Stay tuned.

SoHo Journal Teflon Mike DOB Violations - Suzannah B. Troy

SoHo Journal has a banner up top  for SoHoPolitics.com  that states, "read what other publications and media won’t report".  Right now there are a bunch of blog postings on Goldman Sachs and also St. Vincent’s.  You may want to check the postings out.

I keep returning to Stieg Larsson’s book “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” but the real title is “The Men Who Hate Women” and the focus is misogyny, corruption from government to the Financial Sector.  I’ll get back  to the books and films based on Larsson’s trilogy plus one in a moment.

Soho Journal picked up my newest YouTube on NYC politics featuring Teflon Mike Bloomberg, pension fund scandals  and Dept. of Building Violators. 

My YouTube on mayor Mike Bloomberg, Teflon Mike hits on corruption and a citizen that want to fight dirty landlords with  a data base.    this guy wants to make a database of landlords with DOB violations and sell them to banks to discourage the banks from giving them loans.  

Guess who has a complete data base on all violators including landlords, developers and contractors but DOB, (the dept. of building) and ECB (environmental control board)?

Answer: The City of New York!   Yes, the City has an impressive Data Base that Google might envy and for all we know Google may be “ eavesdropping” or should I say “spying”   since Google is  the “mega-Terabytes --Tree of knowledge”.  I picked “Terabytes because it sounds like “terror bites” but Google just recently apologized for peeking into people’s personal communications so what is to stop Google from helping it’s self to any information from City gov.  to  helping power brokers...like, um,  Mike Bloomberg, teflon Mike?  Mike and Google. Just a frightening thought and an aside and now back to NYC and data bases.

The City of New York has powerful data bases and an ordinary citizen came up with the idea of making his own data base of landlord violators to try and help shut them down but in theory isn’t that the job of the City of New York?

Why is it the City of New York refuses to shut down violators if they are landlords, contractors and developers?   I am told their violations combined -- DOB and ECB maybe close to a billion dollars....I was told this off the record by activists and that the city doesn’t collect the mega-millions owed and refuses to shut them down.  

Shutting down landlords, developers and contractors is bad for business... Hey, they have to earn a living but the peoples’ rights they violate and force to live in squalor or displace them through harassment and shady legal means that the law and very  deep pockets  make hiring thugs unnecessary is just fine.   In NYC, often those with the deep pockets win.

The people can expect to be ticketed up to their eyeballs for every kind of parking violation imaginable.  One friend told me her neighbor was screaming about get a parking ticket in Queens for parking in a legal spot.

The City of New York is suppose to serve the people of this great City but it seems to serve the people that violate and  exploit this great city.

p.s Watch  Bloomberg's goat may sing like a bird + Stieg Larsson's 4th book triology +1

I was writing about the fourth book and posted this before The New York Times Magazine came out with their article today on Stieg Larsson but reading the article it sounds like Larsson’s father, brother and a best friend are men that hate women.  They treat Larsson’s life partner, Eva Gabrielsson,  like Lisabeth Sander.  I have a question.  Why is the fourth book on her computer?

I am glad the book is on her computer.

And also it is amazing to me that Mike Bloomberg is Teflon Mike.  For me for too long it has been like watching “Being There” but is a NYC horror film and the Peter Sellars character, Chauncey Gardiner  is above average intelligence Teflon Mike...as far as I am concerned he stole a third term.  The tsunami of community crushing development on old New York’s infrastructure a Bloomberg horror show, mass displacement and making deals and promises with Unions and community groups, the pension fund scandals including his personal friend and money manager Steve Rattner and so much more that just doesn’t seem to stick to Teflon Mike, at least not yet....

Tila Tequila heads to rehab -- by Nikky Raney

TMZ, Gossip Cop, NY Daily News, and an assortment of other sites have reported that Tila Tequila will be on the next season of VH1's Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew. As of right now there is not a definite cast, but if they are able to get a cast together this show will be filmed.

"I am not involved at all with the casting but checked with VH1and apparently production for CR4 is on track... rumors inaccurate." -- DR. DREW

I was surprised to find that Tila Tequila had not posted this herself. On her gossip blog every other post is either a photo of her, a diary entry of her, some "exclusive" news about her, posts about her haters (an entire entry dedicated to Livejournal gossip blog OH NO THEY DIDN'T), Lindsay Lohan or some "news" that she stole from other blogs which in turn leads to photos of her.

She recently reported that Simon Cowell was leaving American Idol in one of her "exclusive" blog entries. Unfortunately for Miss Tila, the rest of us have known that since January (that's 5 months ago).

The irony of this all is that every couple of posts Tila will write her personal and heartfelt letters of hope and advice to Lindsay Lohan. Tila explains that Lindsay needs to get real help, and these letters make it sound like Tila was once Lindsay's best friend, but I have not witnessed anything that would prove Lindsay has ever acknowledged TIla's existence.

She continues to post these "celebrity gossip blog entries" of her letters to Lindsay. These include:

Open Letter to Lindsay Lohan from Miss TIla:

"I know we can have a lot of fun together and regardless of what this bullshit media keeps saying about you, I got your back girlfriend!! FUCK THE STUPID MEDIA AND LEAVE LINDSAY ALONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hit me up Lindz. I got your back and I know that we are all rooting for you. ok? We want the old Lindsay back and I KNOW I can help you get that back! You just need to cut off all these fucktards who are USING you without you knowing! Trust me, I am older than you and I have been there and done that! So anyway, have your people call my people….lol…. love ya girl! THIS IS THE LINDSAY WE WANT BACK!!!!!!!!!! I CAN HELP YOU! CALL ME! MUAH!"

followed by this post

"Anyway if you were smart, you’d hit me up. So Holla at me girl, but do it fast cuz in a few weeks, I have to leave cuz I have to start Filming my own TV show soon that will be airing sometime this year!!!! You see? People always said that “MY 15 MINUTES OF FAME ARE OVER” yet, I am still here, and will be here until the end of time!!!!!!!!!!! POW! Holla at me girl!"

followed by this post

"I guess just be prepared to imagine what life is going to be like in Prison, but hey, at least you get free rent and free meals. Oh and how could I forget? Year long Lesbian sex!!!! SOund good to you Lindz??? ANyway whatever, I’m over talking about Lindz. Get help. That’s it. Enough. God Bless you Child."

followed by her most recent post

"So Lindsay, you just lost a HUGE supporter, not like you care because these days you don’t seem to care about anything. Also the fact the you’re only what, 22 or 23 years old and already all the bloating and the wrinkles are already showing! You look more like a haggard washed up 30 year old when you’re so young!!"

What I don't understand is why does Tila include a photo of herself at the end of every post? And why is she claiming to be running a "celebrity gossip blog" when it's really just "Tila's personal diary."

Tila has been reporting about her new TV show, but how come she has decided to leave this out? She even reports that "Piggy Perez" has "personally" invited her to an event, but Perez hasn't even mentioned her on his blog since Casey's death.

The comments continue to flutter, and Tila posts a voodoo doll that a "hater" made of her. The negative comments are still the ones that get the most thumbs up, and there are many comments that advise Tila to go to rehab. Maybe Tila has finally taken these comments to heart.

I am sure that the Tila Army will show their support soon enough. Maybe they are waiting for a big moment to come and "BAM BAM BOOM POW" and hit us all up with their support.

Until then, I am continuing to check her site for the sole purpose of seeing whether or not she has finally posted the "juicy celebrity gossip" that she bragged to us all about. The secrets that she been excited to release and put all the celebs who were rude to her "on blast."

Although I love reporting about the future of journalism, and my reporting interests are mainly hard news, political, justice, etc. I do enjoy the guilty pleasure celebrity/entertainment blogging that I do for this site.

I would just like it to be known that although I am being critical, I always try to stay as objective as possible. I would like to keep my credibility as a journalist and blogger, so let it be known I always cite the source that I obtained my information from & will make sure to let it be known when it's my opinion.

Post written by Nikky Raney

from The Future of Journalism

with any comments, concerns, suggests don't hesitate to e-mail me at nikkyraney@nikkyraney.com

Feel free to follow me on twitter, I always follow back.

NOTE: I am not a "Tila Hater." I am not trying to bash Tila. I am only reporting/blogging the facts in which I include links to show where I obtained the information from.

UPDATE: Tila has posted about Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew:

" JUST JOIN ME ON “CELEBRITY REHAB” SO YOU CAN GET BACK INTO THE STUDIO AND GIVE US MORE OF YOUR GREAT MUSIC! HOW ABOUT IT? I WILL CALL DR. DREW TOMORROW AND REFERR YOU TO HIM. I WOULD TOALLY BE YOUR SUPPORT! HOWEVER UF LINDSAY WAS THERE, I THINK I MAY HAVE TO SLAP HER A FEW TIMES BACK INTO REALITY!!! BITCH YOU ARE WORSE OFF THEN ME!! AT LEAST I STILL GET PAID, BUT YOUR ASS PRANCES AROUND, GETTING BOO’D ALL OVER THE COUNTRY, STEAL HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS WORTH OF JEWLRY! GEEZ GIRL….YOU ARE TOTALLY BEYOND TRAIN WRECK?? WHAT’S WORST THAN A “TRAIN WRECK?” a train wreck that has illusions of grandeur and is an elitist! Girl please. I once was one of your biggest supporters, but now seeing the way you behave and talk as though you’re on coke 24/7…. uh oh…. please I change my mind DR. Drew. DO NOT LET LINDSAY LOHAN GO ON THE SHOW BECAUSE IF SHE DID, I WOULD TOTALLY LOSE MY PATIENCE WITH THAT BROIKE, DRUG ADDICT ELITIST AND STRAIGHT KNOCK THAT BITCH OUT!!!! GOD SHE JUST IS SO PATHETIC TO ME NOW. EVEN I HAVE MORE MONEY THAN SHE DOES… HOW SAD."

It's not just Arizona, my friends.

What if I told you there are elected officials in Tennessee who react to hearing people speaking Spanish by thinking they're probably an illegal immigrant?




Springfield, TN City Council Alderman Ken Cherry wants to ban all Hispanics from Springfield's parks because "If they're speaking Spanish, I tend to think they are illegal." That's far from his most extreme position, though.

Thomas Hayes is an entrepreneur, journalist, political staffer, and photographer who contributes regularly to a host of web sites on topics ranging from economics and politics to culture and community.

The Real Housewives of New York's Ramona Singer's interior design fight

Ramona Singer

The Real Housewives of New York's' Ramona Singer's got a problem with her interior design contractor.

The NY Daily News, reports that Interior Designer Rona Landman says she reportedly "redecorated some of "The Real Housewives of New York's" Ramona Singer's upper East Side pad — is sick and tired of not getting credit (or enough dough, for that matter)" to quote the publication.

But what some is, is at issue. Moreover, Ramona Singer says she paid Rona Landman around $20,000 and has the invoices to prove it. Frankly that much for the Upper East Side is not a lot of money, especially when contracts can be as much as a million dollars.

Ramona Singer said she wanted to help Rona Landman because her work's terrific. Frankly, Singer should have called Christine Smith Associates (CSA), the premier female interior designer and contractor in New York in this blogger's biased view. CSA is sponsoring the Zennie62 coverage of Tech Crunch Disrupt.

But Ramona Singer can take care of that when she returns to New York; according to The Blackbook, Singer's in Africa with the nonprofit Africa Foundation. Both are seeing the new homes built in an undisclosed part of Africa.

Stay tuned.

Los Angeles Events: Academy (AMPAS) has Monday and Wednesday events

The AMPAS Building

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) isn't known for just the Academy Awards, AMPAS has a number of events on a weekly basis and this week is no exception.

On Monday, May 24th at 7:30 PM at The Samuel Goldwyn Theater at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills, AMPAS continues the series "Oscar Noir: 1940s Writing Nominees from Hollywood's Dark Side," with the 1944 feature Laura.

Laura, a film starring Gene Tierney, was about a police detective who falls in love with the woman whose murder he's investigating. It will be introduced by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Scott Frank (Out of Sight, Minority Report).

Laura earned five Academy Award nominations, including Actor in a Supporting Role (Clifton Webb), Black - and - White Art Direction (Lyle Wheeler, Leland Fuller; Interior Decoration: Thomas Little) and Directing (Otto Preminger), and took home the Oscar for Black - and - White Cinematography (Joseph LaShelle).

Here's the trailer from Laura:



Tickets for Laura are $5, $3 for Academy Members and students with an ID. The Samuel Goldwyn Theater is at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills, CA.

On Wednesday, May 26, at 7 p.m, AMPAS has Oscar nominees The Conscience of Nhem En and Standard Operating Procedure showing as part of its' 28th annual "Contemporary Documentaries" series at the Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood.

Admission to all screenings in the series is free.

For more information, call (310) 247-3600 or visit www.oscars.org.

Celtics and Lakers? get ready because Orlando Magic look bad

As I'm writing this blog post, The Boston Celtics are hammering the Orlando Magic 66 to 43 in the 3rd quarter, which means the Celtics are up 23 points.

The Boston Celtics are already ahead two games to none, and part of the reason is that the Orlando Magic just don't look like they want the game.

The Boston Celtics probably feel that they were counted out this year; no one gave them a chance. They're correct about that. Indeed, it even looked like the Cleveland Cavaliers were going to end the Celtics playoff run until someone told the Cavs they could actually beat the Celtics, then they collapsed.

On this, the day of the 30th Anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back, it looks like The Force is with the Boston Celtics. But can they sustain it against the Los Angeles Lakers? Personally, while the Lakers should be the favorite, The Boston Celtics will give them a run for their playoff money.

Google celebrates Pac Man 30th anniversary with icon game: follow-up

Atlanta, GA - Yesterday, Google altered its icon that graces the front of its search page with an online "Google" version of the famous Pac-Man game to celebrate Pac-Man's 30th Anniversary. This blogger made a video-blog of an attempt (well, OK, several attempts) to play the game in the most obvious way: by using the cursor on the screen that's connected to the Apple Mac Book's track pad. This video below:

For reasons that are not logical to this one, it did not work well. In the YouTube video, many video viewers were commenting again and again "use the arrow keys." That was less obvious given my Internet-based orientation, which says that because the game's online and in my face, I should be able to use my cursor. Right?

Well, most commenters were ready with a correction, but a handful were downright psychotic about it, calling me racist names. I banned them - well, OK, not all of them because as a YouTube Partner those comments actually wind up adding to my income from Google. So someone's mental illness can actually work in my favor! Still, the comments were hot and heavy, but I maintain the logical approach is to be able to use the cursor.

The ribbing about my cursor logic went to a higher level this morning during breakfast with my friend Hanna at Atlanta's Flying Biscuit Restaurant at 1655 McClelland. To take an aside for a plug, It was my first time there and in the Candler Park Area of Atlanta, and I loved both. I highly recommend ordering the Smoked Salmon Scramble and the pancakes! (I like putting steak sauce on the grits!)

But I digress.

When I told Hanna about the video and the Pac-Man game, and my approach, she immediately said "Use the arrow keys!" OK, I got the message but then she added some butter to it. "Come on. You're an idiot if you can't figure that out." So the argument was on like Donkey Kong; I restated my point that on an Internet game, one expects to be able to use the cursor to control it, if it's well designed.

And to hammer home my point, I asked our waiter if he saw the game and what controls he used. "The cursor," was his response.

Well, a high-five was given for that answer. But Hanna was having none of our joy: "You're both idiots!," she fired back.

That was one time being an idiot was a cool thing.

I'm not sure if Google intended to cause exchanges like that, but really they should have made the cursor easier to use.

Rock the Casbah!

Anna Chlumsky gets PR for My Girl; don't forget In The Loop

Hollywood's PR Machine is cranked at full force to promote Actress Anna Chlumsky for the DVD release of 1991's My Girl, hailed as Chlumsky's breakout child star roll. In the movie she plays "Vada Sultenfuss" who's what has been described as the "most adorable hypochondriac ever."

My Girl's about the coming of age of a little girl and stars Dan Aykroyd, Jamie Lee Curtis, Macaulay Culkin, in addition to an 11-year-old Anna Chlumsky. Here's a scene from My Girl where Culkin is kissed by Clumsky in a way that can only be called adorable:

Now, Anna Chlumsky's 30 years old and while she's getting massive publicity over the 2010 re-release of My Girl, what's lost is her great role in the British political satire and 2009 Seattle Film Festival Opening Gala Movie In The Loop.

Here Anna Chlumsky, now back into acting after working as a fact checker for Zagat and other jobs because she thought her calling was elsewhere, plays an assistant Liza Weld, for which Anna got a lot of critical acclaim.

Below, Anna talks with Warren Etheredge (who has the camera on himself way too much of the time) about In The Loop at SIFF in 2009:



While My Girl is good, you should see In The Loop, too.

New York interior designer, contractor Christine Smith Associates and Zennie62

Christine Smith Associates

This week promises to be a great one in the history of this blog space as Zennie62 travels to New York City for TechCrunch Disrupt.

The trip is sponsored by New York interior designer and contractor Christine Smith Associates, the premier female contractor and designer in New York City.

Christine Smith Associates is well known among New York's most successful movers and shakers and corporations for excellent interior work on finished spaces, kitchens, bedrooms and closets, and bathrooms.

In 2008, The New York Post Page six took note of Christine Smith Associates' work, when Cindy Adams wrote:

GUYS are around hauling demolition, filling dump trucks, wearing black T-shirts that read "Christine Smith." So who's Christine Smith? A stunning, skinny, befurred, 6-foot blonde with silver buckles on her jeans and waist-length hair. And why's anyone hauling fixtures wearing her shirts? She's this season's contractor du jour. Looking like a model, this lady is demolishing johns, pulling out sinks, building walls and redoing kitchens all over the Upper East Side.

Zennie62 is proud to be associated with and have the prestigious Christine Smith Associates firm as TechCrunch Disrupt trip sponsor, and looks forward to bringing an exciting week to the readers of this space.