Friday, May 28, 2010
Mike Bloomberg's CityTime the tax payer's Titanic -- Suzannah B. Troy
Thursday, May 27, 2010
50 Cent drops 50 pounds & loses the tattoos By: Nikky Raney
The movie was inspired by 50's friend who died of cancer. I understand that for movie roles stars change their body and do certain things to fit the role, but this just looks so sad. It does not look healthy (I know it isn't supposed to look healthy). 50 says not to worry, "I've been eating, I'll be back in shape in no time!"
I wonder how his fans will react this weekend when he is performing. He goes back on tour TOMORROW, and this news has just broken today. I am sure if he had just started performing without explaining his weight loss there would have been a lot of rumors and tabloid craze over this.
Tony Yayo told MTV News that 50 was very dedicated to his role (we can see that!) Yayo says:
"50 doesn't party, he doesn't drink.... 'Man, he has the three D's: desire, determination and [direction].' "
I think what is more shocking (at least to me) is that he got rid of his tattoos.
“I took ‘em off,” he said. “I’ve been on a few acting projects and they been making me get up… My call time is four hours before the regular acting talent because of the tattoos.”
I always picture 50 Cent has the buff man from "In Da Club" with those big muscles and tattoos. I remember he used to speak of his tattoos and how much they meant to him. It seems sad that he got rid of those tattoos for his career as an actor. I know there are a lot of other actors and actresses who would refuse to get rid of their tattoos. He says that it saved time in the make up chair working on covering up the tattoos.
But at least he didn't get rid of the GIANT "50 Cent" on his back!
Lloyd Banks, from G-Unit, says since he was with 50 so much he didn't notice the drastic change as much as others:
"I was around him everyday, so I didn't see it [the dramatic weight-loss transformation] as much as other people did, but when I seen the pictures, it's affected everything,..He's crazy, it was non-stop working, running 10 miles."
Well, even though 50 is a "rapper-turned-actor" I hope that he will be able to bring back the "rapper" side of him for this weekend's kick off of his tour. I am sure he won't disappoint any of his fans.
(I wonder what Eminem thinks of this!)
Post written by The Future of Journalism's Nikky Raney
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Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Soluto wins TechCrunch Disrupt Startup Battlefield Competition
UPDATE: The winner of the competition is...Soluto, which receives a check for $50,000.
Today's panel has John Borthwick, CEO of betaworks, Ron Conway, Angel Investor at SV Angel, Marrissa Mayer, VP of Google, Samuel Schwartz, EVP of Comcast Interactive and Quincy Smith, Founding Partner of CODE Advisors.
You can watch the livestream for this event now below:
Right now, a startup called Publish2 is up. The idea of Publish2 is to have a news exchange that replaces "the hated Associated Press" according to its CEO Scott Karp. It enables newspapers to install content from any source, from blogs to other news websites, into their print newspapers and websites.
In the questioning, Marrissa Mayer of Google says Publish2 is a good idea that "this is an area that needs to be looked at" as journalism is changing. But she's concerned about reliability and the business model. She's also concerned about distribution of the content.
Ron Conway mentioned Twitter as a competitor and the fact that Twitter itself is breaking news.
UPDATE: Soluto's a software company that promises to " bring an end to the frustrations PC users encounter" by finding the problem in your computer, then using "crowdsourcing" to connect you to a whole community who can help you.
The panel likes the company, but has concerns about privacy; the founders of the company, Tomer Dvir and Ishay Green are explaining that they are not going to collect private data.
UPDATE: Betterment is up next and my personal favorite. The idea of Betterment is to make it easier for people to invest online. Many companies have websites that are just plain hard to use. The founders call Betterment "the replacement for your savings account."
The panel is getting down on the concept of the "simplification" of data on the Betterment website. Personally, I agree with TechCrunch Editor Michael Arrington, who said that there was a bit of looking down on Betterment because it's "cute."
Betterment does need to work on its SEO.
UPDATE: MovieClips, which allows you to make a mashup of videos clips from movies, is up now. MovieClips Richard Raddon presented a set of clips (one that will make your stomach turn). He explains that he has deals with six movie studios, which is how they're able to use the 12,000 clips.
Ron Conway said, "imagine how big YouTube sales would be if you were one of the founders." John Borthwick is skeptical as to how many people will use MovieClips. Plus, he feels that the studio deals can be done by others, not just the founders of Movie Clips, but Conway disagres.
Samuel Schwartz of Comcast Interactive likes MovieClips and wants to talk to Richard Raddon and Zack James about how they can work together. Marrissa Mayer focused on the need for a better search technology system to facilitate clip discovery.
Ujam, the conference favorite, is up. Ujam allows you to make original music from different sounds and instruments. Very simple. Very exciting. Movie Composer Hanz Zimmer is one of their partners.
The panel generally likes Ujam but focused on the problem of monetization. Currently, it's free.
The judges went backstage to decide the winner.
UPDATE: The winner of the competition is...Soluto, which receives a check for $50,000.
Stay tuned for updates.
Jesse James Nightline Ratings High by Suzannah B. Troy
Eric Shoenfeld on TechCrunch Disrupt, Carol Bartz, and Foursquare
New York, NY - (Zennie62's trip to TechCrunch is sponsored by Christine Smith Associates, Inc., the Premier Female Contractor in NYC.) This video discussion with TechCrunch Co-Editor Eric Shoenfeld took place on Monday, and just after Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz was interviewed by TechCrunch Editor Michael Arrington.
In giving an overview of TechCrunch Disrupt, Shoenfeld said that Bartz "is a pretty tough cookie. She can...She gave as well as she gets. We got a few bombs out of her. She kinda came into the lion's den. We've been critical of Yahoo! and Carol, and for her to come into (this) and do really well speaks volumes about her leadership.
On the matter of the impact of "geo-based social networks" like Foursquare, and their explosion, the question has been when will the next "Foursquare" emerge? "There's a lot of buzz around geo-media companies. Foursquare and Gowalla, and Booya are some of the first ones out of the gate. I think it's going to be difficult for a startup today. The question is not what the next Facebook but who's the next Foursquare?...There are already early, early leaders. If you're not in that pack, it's going to be difficult to get into that pack."
Shoenfeld says that TechCrunch Disrupt is a mix of interesting panels in the morning and interviews presenting the different "disruptions" that are present. A disruption, in the industrial context, is another way of describing the "paradigm shifts" famously described in Thomas Kuhn's classic work The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.
A paradigm shift is a dramatic alteration in a process, tradition, or convention. In the case of tech, the growth of the web has been extremely disruptive to the media and entertainment industries, as iTunes, YouTube, and Craigslist (to offer some examples), have caused massive declines in ad revenues to newspapers and radio stations and other traditional forms of media. Thousands of people have lost jobs in the process. Meanwhile new jobs are being created and countries, like India, are now major players in these same industries.
The intent of TechCrunch Disrupt is to explore the anatomy of these disruptions and give a view of what "disruptive" companies are on the horizon. I think it's done that very well. Plus, it's probably the largest single "dump" of people from the San Francisco Bay Area into New York City ever done.
Stay tuned.
What's the most amazing thing about Rand Paul?
Atlas Shrugged:
Rand Paul and
The Crouching Weasel Technique
So, while it may defy logic for primary voters to elevate this guy based solely on the fact his dad's a celebrity and his ability to echo talking points, he may be a flash in the pan. Of course, given that people so often make choices emotionally rather than logically, it's possible he's still in it.
The first rule of politics is "Follow the Money." The second used to be some version of, "Truth is still getting on its shoes while the lie runs on ahead." But the third place entry may be about to overtake second with, "Voters will make strange choices."
It's already a little late to have much influence over which people run for office this year. But if we work together perhaps we can shape the remaining primaries and the November election to at least choose the most effective leaders to hold office rather than simply the person people think would be "fun to drink a beer with."
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.