8 March 2010

Today’s Tabbloid
PERSONAL NEWS FOR craig.kirchoff@gmail.com

WEB NEWS

Iron Man 2 Trailer Hits

YouTube [Mashable]
MAR 08, 2010 03:47A.M.

WEB NEWS

Tumblr Hits Major Milestones,

Plans to Start Generating
Revenue [Mashable]
MAR 08, 2010 03:17A.M.

It’s here: the biggest action movie for gadget geeks, Iron Man, returns
with a sequel, and you can see just how high-tech it’ll all be in the Iron
Man 2 trailer, now available on YouTube.

Besides a long-haired, electric whip-wielding Mickey Rourke, the movie

features more iron man suits than you could ever desire, and you get to
see most of them ripped apart to shreds. Yes, this thing is destined for
success. Check out the trailer below.

Tags: Iron Man 2, video, youtube

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR craig.kirchoff@gmail.com 8 March 2010

Tumblr arguably stands in the middle, between blogging and

microblogging), an area traditionally devoid of revenue.

Tumblr, one of the simplest blogging platforms around, is doing really

well. Situated between Wordpress, which requires a bit more effort to
create and organize content, and Twitter, which requires almost no effort Tags: blog, blogging, tumblr
but also doesn’t offer many features, Tumblr is the perfect tool for users
who want to have a blog with photos, videos, and other content
embedded, but simply hasn’t got the time or the will to struggle with a
complex blogging platform.

How is this working out for them? Well, according to the neat
infographic which they’ve sent us (see below), their traffic and user base
is growing fast, and they’ve recently hit some major milestones.

Compared to Twitter, Tumblr is still a small dot on the radar, but it’s
definitely growing fast enough to make an impact. The Tumblr team isn’t
slacking on the features, either; they recently added the option to add
static pages to your blog, as well as dead simple, direct video uploads.

Last but not least, Tumblr plans to launch two revenue generating
features next month. Details are scarce (all we know is they’ll be powered
by the widget, pictured below, but with constant talk of Twitter’s revenue
generating plans (which are still completely open to interpretation), it’ll
be interesting to see how Tumblr plans to tackle the issue. Its success (or
lack thereof) might pave the way for microblogging networks (although

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR craig.kirchoff@gmail.com 8 March 2010

WEB NEWS Valley. According to one site, the Russian investors involved are seeking
to “break the American hegemony in cyberspace - an ambitious plan,
Chatroulette Creator Coming to particularly as the United States is home to many of the market leaders
in the Internet economy.
America? [Read Write Web]
MAR 08, 2010 12:00A.M. “The combined value of Google, Microsoft and Facebook amounts to
roughly $500 billion, or about a third of the Russian economy’s annual
output. So if Russia - which has more than 50 million Internet users and
boasts one of the fastest-growing markets - hopes to catch up, then it will
need to keep talents like Ternovskiy at home.”

The Russian investors who have contacted Ternovskiy also invest in

Facebook and Zynga; clearly, they have an eye for social virality and
profit and see a great deal of potential in Chatroulette. But Ternovskiy, a
longtime hacker, dreams of founding a Silicon Valley startup of his own.

Will this young man reinforce the American idiom of Silicon Valley by
relocating his seemingly overnight success to the Bay Area? Or will he
prove that the startup economy is truly becoming global by accepting
Russian financing and remaining in north Moscow?

It seems the 17-year-old truant who created Chatroulette has applied for
A more interesting question: Can Ternovskiy sustain this wild success?
a visa.
Or has he simply become lucky with Chatroulette? Let us know your
opinions in the comments.
The youngster, be he lucky or brilliant, has indicated he might want to
transition to the American scene at some time in the near future. With all
Discuss
the media attention he and his service have received and the explosion of
traffic - and monetization potential - on his site, his application further
opens the can of worms we’ve been discussing tonight: Where’s the best
place to raise your startup?

Sponsor

In December 2009, Chatroulette had 500 users. Today, just four months
later, the site sees 1.5 million daily visitors. That statistic alone is enough
to inspire investors to beat down the door of its creator, Russian high
school student Andrey Ternovskiy.

But what’s much more interesting to many is the mechanics of the site
itself. “It’s video 4chan. Unbeatable formula,” said Muhammad Saleem,
considered by many to be an excellent authority on engineering virality.
Others have called it “brilliant,” “the purest form” of the Internet and its
userbase, and “a great way to kill time,” one of the most common uses of
the social web.

I’ve frequently described it as a box of game pieces with no rules. Users

are invited to create any kind of experience they choose given a simple
set of constraints. It’s inherently viral, addictive, imaginative and
essentially human.

Here’s the rub: The site is currently unfinanced and non-commercial.

The site’s creator, a teenaged school kid, has been placed at the crux of
nationalistic, capitalistic and technological debates by being asked to
choose between Russian financing and a yellow brick road to Silicon

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR craig.kirchoff@gmail.com 8 March 2010

WEB NEWS Last year, the State Department asked Twitter to postpone its scheduled
downtime so Iranian protesters could continue to use the service. Digital
U.S. to Allow Export of Web communication technologies like Twitter, Facebook, e-mail and SMS text
messaging were used by Iranians to organize protests and to get
Services to Iran and Cuba information to the American and European media.

[Mashable] After Google threatened to leave China if the country doesn’t ease up its
MAR 07, 2010 11:47P.M. regulation and restrictions on the Internet, U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton gave a speech declaring the administration’s
commitment to the free flow of information on the Internet. This is one
example of that commitment.

We’re curious to know how our readers in the United States and
elsewhere feel about this move. If you’re willing, share your thoughts in
the comments, and participate in our poll: “Is the Internet a fundamental
right?”

Tags: cuba, exports, iran, News, Political, sedan, trade, treasury

department

WEB NEWS

Is the Internet a Fundamental

Right? [POLL]
[Mashable[POLL]]
MAR 07, 2010 10:49P.M.

According to The New York Times, the United States Treasury

Department will tomorrow give Internet services license to export
consumer-aimed services like instant messaging and photo sharing to
countries with which trade has previously been restricted, including
Iran, Cuba and Sudan.

The United States defines these nations as “closed societies” because

their governments sometimes try to restrict the free flow of information
between citizens, however in many cases trade is restricted by the United
States in response to those actions. This new license would allow
U.S.-based Internet companies like Yahoo to export certain services that
can be described as “free mass-market software,” despite trade
sanctions.

The U.S. State Department and members of Congress previously

recommended this move to aid efforts to open up the societies in
question. The value of exporting these tools has already been established.

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR craig.kirchoff@gmail.com
In a study conducted by the BBC World Service, four in five respondents
said they believe web access is a fundamental right. 90% described the
Internet as “a great place to learn,” and 78% considered it a source of
“greater freedom.” A bit more than half said that the Internet should not
be regulated by government at all.
27,000 people form 26 countries were surveyed, and their responses
varied by location. While a large number of people from the United
States, Mexico, Nigeria, and South Korea said the Internet shouldn’t be
regulated, many residents of China, Pakistan and Turkey disagreed; only
16% of Chinese, 12% of Pakistani and 13% of Turkish respondents said
the Internet shouldn’t be regulated.
We’re always curious where our readers stand, especially since this is a
hot issue right now with the recent struggle between Google and China.
Where do you fall on this issue? Take part in the poll below, and feel free
to elaborate in the comments.
Is Internet access a fundamental right?online surveys
Tags: News, Political, poll, rights, web
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8 March 2010
WEB NEWS
Open Thread: When Is The
Valley Worth Moving To? [Read
Write Web]
MAR 07, 2010 10:33P.M.
For many years, I have been famously (or notoriously) anti-Silicon
Valley. There’s nothing wrong with the place in iteself; what I detested
was the snobbish notion that the Valley is the de facto or “best” place to
run a startup or be involved with the tech world.
I’m now forced to eat my words as my hetero life mate and I prepare to
move into a Burlingame apartment conveniently located a few blocks
away from the startup he’s now working at; I have to admit, living in the
Bay Area has been amazing so far, in professional and personal terms.
Still, if I were starting a company, would I move from Omaha or
Nashville or Boulder to come to the Valley? Would you?
Sponsor
UPDATE: It seems the Chatroulette creator is having the same
dilemma. How’s that for unwitting timeliness?
Back when I started the Never Mind the Valley series, I was fascinated by
communities such as Boulder and Los Angeles. The tech scenes are
smaller and more easily navigable, and most people are willing and
excited to collaborate. When contrasting these areas with the SF Bay
Area, NorCal seemed vast, cold, inflated and self-important by
comparison.
For months, I railed, “You don’t have to be in the Valley to have a
successful startup!” Examples of this abound, from Austin’s Gowalla to
L.A.’s Mahalo to the dozens of incubated and accelerated teams in cities
all over the country.
However, on moving to San Francisco, I quickly learned a few of the
benefits of being a startup in the Valley. Everything loves much faster.
You have more access to more capital. The depth, breadth and strength
of the developer pool is unparalleled. Everyone has a fairly public track
record. Yes, it can be an insular and self-aggrandizing little echo
chamber of Mutual Admiration Society nitwits at times, but I’m no
longer saying that the benefits don’t outweigh the cost.
Ah, yes - the cost. Living in the Bay Area is, to employ a common
NorCalism, hella expensive. Salaries are higher, real estate is more scarce
and more spendy, the overall cost of living borders on obscene unless
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR craig.kirchoff@gmail.com
you’re used to, say, Tokyo. But again, perhaps for many startups situated
here, the benefits outweigh the financial costs, as well.
So, I’m left wondering exactly what alchemy makes the benefits worth all
the costs for a startup. I’ve been asked by a few companies about
transitioning from other states and even other countries to the Valley,
and my advice has tended to be a mixed bag lately.
I’m interested to hear from startups living in and outside of Silicon
Valley: When do you think being in SF is worth it, and when is it
wiser to stay put? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
Discuss
WEB NEWS
vivareal
MAR 07, 2010 09:37P.M.
Brazil is sort of a strange country to throw into the “emerging market”
category. It’s not a particularly young country like India or Israel, nor is
it a country like China or Russia that embraced capitalism fairly recently.
Brazil is as old as the US and has had a decently built out infrastructure
of things like roads and phone lines for some time.
Yes, it’s a growing country with a young and stabilizing democracy that
has a long way to go in terms of technology, modernization and bridging
a quality of life between very wealthy and very poor. In that sense, it
shares enough in common with emerging markets that Wall Street, at
least, tosses it in the “BRIC” bucket. Indeed, Wall Street has had a way
6
8 March 2010
bigger crush on Brazil to date than Silicon Valley.
That seems to have had two effects on the startup scene in Sao Paulo.
The first is that there’s a good deal of innovation in the finance space.
Banks in Brazil had to become advanced, many people told me, because
of the runaway inflation that plagued the country for so many years. As
opposed to other huge markets like Mexico, China or India that lagged in
the adoption of checking accounts and other basic services, in Brazil you
had to have your money in the bank, because the value of cash changed
so rapidly. So it’s no surprise more of those there’s-a-better-way spin-
offs have come in finance than, say, Web 2.0 or mobile. (There’s a ton in
agriculture and other sectors outside the cities too, but more on that in a
future post.)
My favorite finance company that I met during my February trip to
Brazil is called Crivo, and it left me wondering if that great wave of
finance innovation might come from our Southern neighbors, not us.
Crivo has developed a way to do lightning-fast, three-second credit
checks. Its servers pull information from a variety of sources, including
all the places you’d expect but but also sources like utility records to
verify an applicant’s address or ensuring that their phone number
doesn’t just go to a payphone. “Even a single piece of information can be
useful in detecting fraud,” says Daniel Turnini, one of Crivo’s founders.
(Pictured above, on the right, with his co-founders.)
There’s nothing like a FICO score in Brazil so, in the past, credit
decisions were made based on negative data and positive data. In other
words you are “good” or “bad” in the bank’s eyes. There’s little record for
positive data in Brazil, because the wealthiest people don’t want how
much they paid for a house or a car in public records. It’s a security issue,
Turnini says. That only leaves negative data.
So if there’s no information about you, it’s assumed you’re a good credit
risk. But miss one payment and you have a “dirty name,” Turini says. It’s
a flawed system. Many good credit risks (indeed I’d bet most people)
have missed a payment before, and it’s a huge assumption to make that
someone with no credit history would be a good borrower. In recent
years there have been banks, insurance companies, and similar
institutions vying to cash in on Brazil’s emerging middle class and
increasingly wealthy upper classes, but had no real way of knowing how
to extend credit.
Sound like great timing? It would have been if Crivo wasn’t started in
1998. Back then, few banks in the US would have been early adopters of
something like this, let alone banks in Brazil. (Ok, most banks in the US
still wouldn’t be.) Nailing that first customer was near impossible. The
founders kept thinking they were on the right track because potential
customers would freak out when they saw how quickly the software
worked, but they’d never quite pull the trigger on a purchase. Always
hoping things would finally click the next year, the founders kept
bootstrapping the company. Finally, it did. Toyota’s Brazilian financial
arm bought their software and used it to rapidly approve people for
loans, beating other car makers who were flooding into the growing
market. The company has been on a sharp growth rate for five years now.
They did roughly $12 million in revenues last year, and expect that to
double in 2010, Turini says. Crivo says it has more than 80 employees
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR craig.kirchoff@gmail.com 8 March 2010

and 100 customers today.
There are clear ripple effects if Crivo does well. More people getting
credit cards helps grow spending and ecommerce, more small businesses
can get loans, and more people who can’t afford to pay in cash can buy
houses – to name just a few advantages. We’ve seen the benefits of
“greenfield markets” when it comes to innovation in telecom and even
physical infrastructure, like roads and trains. Might Brazil be able to
come up with some greenfield solutions for finance? It’s easy to see how
a FICO score could be improved on and, ahem, really easy to make the
argument that way too much credit has been extended in the US in the
last ten years. But while we have a system in place, who is going to upend
the apple cart and force widespread-adoption of a newer, smarter
system? It’s South Korea and telecom all over again.
looking for: He had experience running his family’s business, worked a
stint for a multinational but left because he wanted to do something
vaguely entrepreneurial – although he didn’t know exactly what. I’ve
never been particularly bullish on real estate portals, but if VivaReal does
well, it will be in no small part due to Simon criss-crossing Sao Paulo in
his Fiat extolling the virtues of online listings under the auspices of a
common culture and language.
The problem is—like in China and India—the allure of the multi-national
paycheck and prestige is strong in Brazil. The management expertise
may be there in greater numbers, but convincing someone to take a
gamble on an unproven startup for stock is as hard as it is anywhere in
the emerging world.

And there’s another benefit to an emerging market that plays host to lots
of finance and consulting multinationals. While countries like Israel and
India have gotten a raft of talented coders thanks to US outsourcing,
their own startups struggle when it comes to finding locals with sales and
management expertise. Those jobs are usually kept in the US or done by
transplanted Americans.

And just as Intel, Cisco, Oracle and Google have trained thousands of
engineers in emerging markets, so the big consulting, finance and CPG
companies are training hundreds of potential managers in Brazil.

WEB NEWS

First iPad Commercial Airs

During the Oscars [VIDEO]
Yes, I realize that to many tech entrepreneurs, the idea of a country
amassing an army of middle managers sounds about as appealing as a [Mashable[VIDEO]]
resurrection ship of Cylons. But a lot of the most talented local MAR 07, 2010 09:01P.M.
entrepreneurs, managers and even investors I met in Brazil had spun out
of a year or two in consulting and finance.

An example was Diego Simon of VivaReal (pictured right, working in his

tiny home office), a broad Latin American real estate portal that has
increasingly been focusing on Brazil. Neither of the founders are
Brazilian – or even live in Brazil – so finding someone like Simon was
essential. Entrepreneurs from other South American countries say
selling to Brazil as an outsider is harder for them than selling to China.
That makes Simon exactly the Droid any company like VivaReal is

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR craig.kirchoff@gmail.com 8 March 2010

WEB NEWS

Foursquare iPhone App

Vanishes from App Store Due to
The iPad is breaking out in a very mainstream fashion: an ad for the
Apple device just aired during the Oscars. “Hiccup” [Mashable“Hiccup”]
MAR 07, 2010 08:22P.M.
The ad explains why Apple CEO Steve Jobs was spotted on the red carpet
earlier. We’ve got a screenshot and we’ll post video as soon as it comes in
(update: video added below).

Apple iPad Commercial During the Oscars

[img credit: TheFullM0nty]

Steve Jobs on the Oscars Red Carpet

The iPhone and iPod touch app for the popular location check-in service
Foursquare has temporarily dropped from Apple’s App Store.

The Android and BlackBerry versions are still available, but the iPhone is
by far the most popular platform for Foursquare users. This is just a
temporary technical setback, though. Foursquare tweeted the following.
[img credit: Danurigom]

Tags: Apple iPad, Commercial, ipad, jobs, Oscars, steve jobs, trending

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR craig.kirchoff@gmail.com 8 March 2010

WEB NEWS

The Window Desk [Featured

Workspace]
[LIfehacker[Featured
Workspace]]
MAR 07, 2010 07:00P.M.

Earlier this week, the new 1.6 version of the Foursquare iPhone app was
accidentally added to the App Store before it was ready. The problem was
corrected, but now people who have 1.6 are unable to use the service.
They’re being directed to the app store to download the regular version,
but it’s not there.

Foursquare is in the middle of unveiling new features and deals so these

technical issues could have come at a better time, but it won’t be a major
setback. Don’t worry, Foursquare fans; you can keep looking forward to
the new features in version 1.6 this week.

Update: We’ve heard from Foursquare that the app should be back
tomorrow.

Reviews: Android, BlackBerry Rocks!, Foursquare

While we love a tech-filled geek cave, an elegant workspace with a great
Tags: app store, apple, foursquare, iphone, iPod Touch view makes working a pleasure. Today’s featured workspace has a
beautiful desk, a pleasing environment, and a view of Boston.

Not everyone needs triple monitors or an army of peripherals and being

able to work productively with just a laptop goes a long way towards
having a clear and airy workspace—cable management is, at it’s best after
all, camouflaging something that’s there to appear as if it isn’t.

Lifehacker reader CosmoComet, when he’s commuting and working

from Boston proper several day a week, finds himself working at this
nearly invisible glass and acrylic workspace—he can look right through
his desk to see Beacon Street below. Check out a wider view of the
workspace in the photos below.

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR craig.kirchoff@gmail.com
If you have a workspace of your own to show off, throw the pictures on
your Flickr account and add it to the Lifehacker Workspace Show and
Tell Pool. Include some details about your setup and why it works for
you, and you just might see it featured on the front page of Lifehacker.
The Window Desk [Lifehacker Workspace Show and Tell Pool]
10
8 March 2010
WEB NEWS
jason
MAR 07, 2010 06:33P.M.
In the wake of Apple’s sudden decision to remove nearly all “sexy”
applications from the App Store, we’ve been hearing that the company is
also clamping down on so-called “cookie-cutter” applications — iPhone
apps that are built from templates using one of the many app-building
services available. This would be yet another major change for the App
Store, as it already features thousands of such applications. And, perhaps
more important, quite a few companies have sprung up to facilitate
building iPhone applications. I’ve reached out to Apple to ask if they’d
like to clarify their stance, but given their lack of transparency in the
past, I’m not betting on getting anything definitive. To try to get to the
bottom of the current situation, I spoke with multiple developers (some
of whom wished to remain anonymous) to find out what Apple was
telling them.
Between the developers I spoke to, the consensus was this: Apple doesn’t
appear to be opposed to ‘app generators’ and templates per se, but in the
last month or so it has started cracking down on basic applications that
are little more than RSS feeds or glorified business cards. In short, Apple
doesn’t want people using native applications for things that a basic web
app could accomplish. For some of these services that’s bad news,
because that’s exactly the sort of application they produce; any new
applications they submit are going to get rejected. But all hope isn’t lost
for them, provided they can make their apps more useful.
Unlike the ’sexy’ app ban that took place a few weeks ago, when Apple
gave developers no options to keep their apps on the store, over the last
month the company has been reaching out to at least a few app building
services to suggest what they should be doing.
The founders of Appmakr, which has been used by publications like The
Atlantic to build iPhone applications, say that the process has been quite
positive (though they are quick to clarify that applications built with
their tools are more full-featured than the basic RSS apps described
above). After some suggestions from Apple, the service is integrating new
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR craig.kirchoff@gmail.com 8 March 2010

features like in-app purchases, instant notifications, offline access, and
landscape viewing modes to their app templates. Another developer
mentioned that they might include a tip calculator for restaurant apps.
Appmakr’s hope (and one that I’m sure is shared by other developers) is
that applications generated using their tools will eventually be given an
accelerated path through the App Store’s approval process, because
Apple is familiar and happy with the kind of apps they produce.
However, from what I’ve gathered not everyone is having as much luck
as the Appmakr team. Multiple developers mentioned that they’d heard
of some app vendors that Apple wasn’t being nearly as accommodating
towards — I suspect services offering the most basic templates are
getting hit hardest. That said, the developers I spoke to said that they’d
only heard about Apple blocking newly submitted applications, and that
there wasn’t an indication that Apple is going back and removing all of
the overly-basic apps they can find.
So why is Apple doing this? Here’s what Medialets CEO Eric Litman had
to say, which I think perfectly summarizes the situation.
Overall, this will almost certainly result in a better experience for users
as they have to deal with fewer spammy apps. But, as I wrote when Apple
launched its war on sex apps last month, the policy change may also
scare developers. After effectively sending a message to developers that
basic applications were okay, Apple is again changing its mind. Some
developers may be hesitant to build their businesses around the iPhone,
knowing that at any moment Apple could change its mind and cut off
their only mode of distribution.
Thanks to Robert Strojan for the tip
Photo by Goosmurf
CrunchBase Information
App Store
Information provided by CrunchBase

This is the ongoing balance point between encouraging

innovation and growth on one side and wanting to tightly
control user experience on the other. Apple wants iPhone
apps to be superior to Web experiences because they are
extremely sticky and drive people specifically to buy the
iPhone over competing smartphone platforms. Apps that are
too simple or largely indistinguishable from the Web, other
apps or particularly other apps on other platforms send the
message to end users that the iPhone app ecosystem might
not be particularly special.
WEB NEWS
Now the challenge for Apple is that the app building
platforms are extremely attractive to a wide swath of the Choose the Best Tool for Your
market that would otherwise be reluctant to bear the cost and
complexity of developing an app from scratch. We have Windows-on-OS X Needs
already seen apps from personal bloggers up to major media
brands using some of these platforms, and many of the folks [Virtual Machines]
in that spectrum have content Apple would certainly want in
the App Store. Interestingly, some of those same developers [LIfehacker[Virtual Machines]]
also have fully custom-built apps in the App Store, too. MAR 07, 2010 06:00P.M.

So what are the platforms to do about the recent crackdown

from Apple? There’s really only one choice if they want to
continue to exist on the iPhone: invest in building out
considerably more flexibility into their platforms to allow
each app to differ from the others they build. Integrate more
features and take the time to nail the design and UI elements
to be representative of what Apple wants to see in every app.

For better or worse, Apple will be looking more closely at

apps from the platforms than from individual developers.
AppLoop, the first startup to announce and iPhone-specific
app builder, is already gone. Others will almost certainly
follow.

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR craig.kirchoff@gmail.com 8 March 2010

WEB NEWS

Choose the Best Tool for Your

Windows-on-Mac Needs
[Virtual Machines]
[LIfehacker[Virtual Machines]]
MAR 07, 2010 06:00P.M.

Whether you’ve switched to OS X but still occasionally need Windows,

you want to play Windows-only games, or whatever, Mac users have
several strong options for running Windows. Gizmodo breaks down how
to choose the right tool for the job.

The post examines three popular virtualization tools for the job: VMware
Fusion, Parallels, and VirtualBox (the last is the only free option),
discussing different Windows-on-Mac scenarios and highlighting which
tool is probably best to satisfy those needs. For example:

If You...
• Want to run Windows 7 within OS X, and basically nothing Whether you’ve switched to OS X but still occasionally need Windows,
else? you want to play Windows-only games, or whatever, Mac users have
• Want to run Windows apps as if they’re part of OS X, several strong options for running Windows. Gizmodo breaks down how
visually and behaviorally? to choose the right tool for the job.
• Think a virtual machine should integrate into OS X almost
completely, rather than live inside its own window? The post examines three popular virtualization tools for the job: VMware
• Want to play 3D games in your virtual machine? Fusion, Parallels, and VirtualBox (the last is the only free option),
Then You Should Use… discussing different Windows-on-Mac scenarios and highlighting which
Parallels 5! tool is probably best to satisfy those needs. For example:

The helpful guide details the reasoning behind each recommendation. If If You...
you’ve been interested in running Windows on your Mac but have had • Want to run Windows 7 within OS X, and basically nothing
trouble figuring out which tool would best fit your needs, Gizmodo’s else?
helpful guide is a great resource. • Want to run Windows apps as if they’re part of OS X,
visually and behaviorally?
How To: Run Windows in OS X, the Right Way [Gizmodo] • Think a virtual machine should integrate into OS X almost
completely, rather than live inside its own window?
• Want to play 3D games in your virtual machine?
Then You Should Use…
Parallels 5!

The helpful guide details the reasoning behind each recommendation. If

you’ve been interested in running Windows on your Mac but have had
trouble figuring out which tool would best fit your needs, Gizmodo’s
helpful guide is a great resource.

How To: Run Windows in OS X, the Right Way [Gizmodo]

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR craig.kirchoff@gmail.com 8 March 2010

takes that to the next level. And while the data right now only seems to
go back to last December or so, Foursquare plans to implement it all the
way back to 2003 — yes, 2003.

That’s because before Foursquare, co-founder Dennis Crowley ran a

WEB NEWS similar service called Dodgeball, which Google bought in 2006, and
deadpooled last year. But users were able to import their old Dodgeball
aa data before it went under, so Crowley now hopes to build a full location
MAR 07, 2010 05:48P.M. history social graph going back that far for long-time users.

“We gotta backfill some of the data (easy, but for those who imported
their Dodgeball history before Google took the site down, we can give
you a good idea of the trends around who you’ve been hanging out w/
going back to 2003.) It’s awesome awesome awesome,” Crowley writes
in an email to us.

Something else Crowley is excited about is the potential for the

As has been made abundantly clear to me over the past two weeks, just
about every location-based service is planning big things for the SXSW
festival, which starts later this week in Austin, Texas. A few of the players
have already started rolling out small changes, such as aesthetic
upgrades. But a new, subtle update by Foursquare may have much larger
implications.
visualization of this data. While this location history + friends isn’t yet in
the API, it definitely will be, he notes. Depending on how that data is
shared, that may raise some privacy issues, but Foursquare has made it
clear that they’re well aware and very serious about the issues
surrounding the sharing of location data.
Even on the most basic level, this new layer of location history data
should be interesting to people. It’s great to look back and see not only
where you were on a certain date, but who you were there with. That’s
what social data is all about.

As we noted last week, Foursquare has begun revamping the “history” CrunchBase Information
area of its website. This is likely part of the larger goal to completely
revamp the website itself (which isn’t very useful right now), and this Foursquare
data also ties in to the new Foursquare iPhone app set to launch later
this week. But another update makes the history area show not only Information provided by CrunchBase
where you checked-in, and the category of the venue, but also who you
checked-in with.

Basically, Foursquare has just turned on a new layer to your location

history data. And this layer is very interesting because it goes back in
time to show you who you were with at a certain venue when you were
there.

Now, to be clear, it only shows you the friends you were with — not all
Foursquare users. (But this means that they have that data as well.) Still,
this data paints a clearer picture around your location history and
potentially enriches your social graph. It’s one thing to say you’re
“friends” with someone on a social network, but another to have
checked-in to the same venue at the same time over and over again.
Either you’re torturing yourself, or you really are good friends with that
person.

This is a huge part of location as the bridge between social networking

and actual social activity.

Foursquare has highlighted similar data for a while on the stats page,
showing you who you check-in with most often. But this new history data

13
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR craig.kirchoff@gmail.com
WEB NEWS
Oscars Live Video Stream –
Watch Online [Academy
Awards] [Mashable– Watch
Online [Academy Awards]]
MAR 07, 2010 05:46P.M.
As a result of failed contract negotiations, Disney pulled New York
affiliate ABC7 off of cable company Cablevision’s channel lineup early
this morning, leaving over 3 million people without a channel to watch
the Oscars on tonight unless they tune in over the air.
We’d like to offer those 3 million people the following online viewing
alternatives. These options will also be good extra material for folks who
do have the ability to watch on their TVs.
For the Ceremony: Liveblogs
The live video options on this list won’t cover the Oscars ceremonies;
they’ll just plug you in to what’s going on on the red carpet and
backstage. If you want to follow the awards show itself without turning
14
8 March 2010
on the TV, liveblogs are your best option.
As with the other choices on our list here, these can also be supplements
to over-the-air, cable or satellite TV viewing. Here are a few to choose
from.
The A.V. Club
Associated Content
Entertainment Weekly
Film.com
Greencine
The Red Carpet: The Associated Press/Livestream
We’ve embedded the Associated Press and Livestream’s “AP Live” video
widget above. It will show red carpet coverage, and you can use it to
track and make Twitter and Facebook updates about the Oscars.
You can also watch AP Live at Livestream, Facebook and AT&T
Entertainment.
Oscar.com Facebook Webcast
ABC’s live red carpet show streams stream at Oscar.com from 3:00 to
5:00 PM PT (6:00 to 8:00 PM ET). The stream will be attached to a
Facebook discussion engine, and many of the reporters’ questions will be
pulled from there.
It’s similar to what CNN did with Facebook for President Obama’s
inauguration and the Michael Jackson memorial service.
After the ceremony starts you’ll be given a look backstage, but there
won’t be a live stream of the ceremony itself. You might get an even more
in-depth experience, though. Oscar.com will host a “Thank You Cam” for
award winners who want to say more than they did on stage.
TVGuide.com
TVGuide’s “fashion cam” will probably be minimalistic but it will be
sufficient for seeing all the fantastic clothes the stars will wear as they
walk down the red carpet. We’re not able to embed it here because
TVGuide hasn’t provided a way to do so yet, but we do have the link to
TVGuide’s Oscar video library. We’ll add it as soon as it’s up.
You can also check out TVGuide’s six-part Academy Awards preview
video series.
Twitter
You can use social media to track what’s going on with the Oscars.
“Oscars” is already a trending topic even though it’s several hours before
the show as we’re writing this.
Just watch the stream for that topic and you’ll definitely hear about each
big turn and revelation as it happens. The commentary of the masses
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR craig.kirchoff@gmail.com
should prove interesting too.
[Previous coverage: Oscars Live Video: Watch the Academy Awards
Streaming Online]
Tags: abc, academy awards, backstage, cablevision, disney, live video,
livestream, new york, Oscars, oscars-2010, red carpet
WEB NEWS
ReadWriteStart Weekly Wrapup
[Read Write Web]
MAR 07, 2010 05:30P.M.
Wow! It’s March already? 2010 is chugging along and as we head into
the second week of March its time to look back on the highlights from
this week on ReadWriteStart. In this installment of the Weekly Wrapup
we talk about how startups make use of crowdsourcing, how outsiders
see startup culture, and we even glean some useful lessons from one man
and his dancing. And finally we take a look at South by Southwest for
startups as the even draws nearer.
Sponsor
Are Crowdsourcing and Outsourcing No-Nos For Startups?
Chances are, if you’ve called customer service to enough companies,
you’ve come across a representative who works for a call-center which
15
8 March 2010
has been contracted to handle a comapany’s account. Large corporations
that don’t want to employ their own agents and maintain their own
facilities will often outsource customer service to a third party, which at
times can mean a company in another part of the world. Bangalore, India
was famously portrayed for its role in call-center outsourcing in the
Thomas Friedman book The World Is Flat, servicing many large
American companies. But tools like outsourcing or crowdsourcing are
not always beneficial to every breed of company.
Follow the Hippie: Leadership Lessons Through Dance
When Sigma Partners’ Richard Dale posted a video of a random dancing
guy to his Venture Cyclist blog I was skeptical. I’d seen the original video
sans narration and dismissed it as a strange sociological phenomenon
condensed into a quick three minute clip. Nevertheless, when the same
video is narrated by MuckWork and CDBaby founder Derek Sivers, it
provides some valuable leadership lessons for entrepreneurs.
The Startup Bus: Is This How Outsiders See Startup Culture?
Monday evening I was made aware of a particularly interesting
promotion that will be taking place over the course of two days before
South by Southwest (SXSW). The event, or tour, is called The Startup
Bus, and will challenge 12 participants to create as many tech
startups as possible during a 48 hour bus ride from San Francisco to
SXSW in Austin. The question this event raises in my head is whether
these “beat-the-clock” entrepreneurship experiments are actually healthy
for the broader startup culture.
Never Mind the Valley: Here’s SXSW 2010
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR craig.kirchoff@gmail.com 8 March 2010

to share?

• Any cool ideas for how I can put a retired, 7-year old monitor to
use?

• Has anybody ever tried to use their PC as a bluetooth headset for

their phone, and if so, how’d it work?

• How can I rip subtitles from a DVD?

For all of our startup friends from coast to coast and around the world,
we look forward to seeing you at SXSW Interactive!
WEB NEWS

More and more, we’re seeing good folks creating great products outside
the SF Bay Area, and we love highlighting and showcasing vibrant
“Alice in Wonderland” Has
startup communities in unexpected areas. As it turns out, we’re not the
only ones who have a penchant for non-Valley startups! While you’re in
Record-Breaking Opening
Austin, check out these ten panels, parties and events focusing on
entrepreneurialism outside Silicon Valley.
Weekend [“Mashable” Has
Discuss
Record-Breaking Opening
Weekend]
MAR 07, 2010 05:10P.M.

WEB NEWS

Ask the Commenters Roundup

[Hive Mind] [LIfehacker[Hive
Mind]]
MAR 07, 2010 05:30P.M.

• Any suggestions for how I can quiet down a particularly noisy air
duct?

• How can I repair a few small cracks in my out-of-warranty laptop

monitor?

• How do you manage your overflowing RSS feeds?

• Anyone recommend a really light-weight Mac app to write code?

• What Wireless N router should I buy?

• Anyone have any great podcasts (that are in the vein of Lifehacker)

16
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR craig.kirchoff@gmail.com 8 March 2010

Entertainment Weekly reports that Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland WEB NEWS
drew almost $40 million in box office revenue on Friday, setting the
stage for what will likely have been a $100 million (or more) weekend. Deliver a Better Presentation by
The film will definitely beat the previous record for this weekend of the
year — $70 million, set by 300 in 2006. Reminding Yourself It’s Not
The film is notable as Burton’s first major 3D release. Despite the About You [Mind Hacks]
backlash from filmgoing traditionalists, it looks like 3D is drawing
audiences. (Also notable – some scenes were simply filmed in 2D and [LIfehacker[Mind Hacks]]
converted to 3D later, which some argue is not true 3D.) MAR 07, 2010 05:00P.M.

Last year, James Cameron’s Avatar shattered all previous box office
records to become the highest-earning film of all time by earning nearly
$2 billion. 3D technology was one of Avatar’s biggest draws. Now Alice’s
performance indicates that Avatar’s success wasn’t totally an anomaly
for 3D movies.

Both films were also heavily promoted with social media. Avatar’s
director and stars appeared in a webcast Q&A hosted by Facebook and
MTV. Alice had a similar event which drew 400,000 viewers on
MySpace.

Unlike Avatar, Alice has received mostly lukewarm critical

responses. We’ll have to keep our ears to the ground to see if the
circulation of critics’ negative reviews and mediocre buzz on Twitter,
Facebook and blogs cause a big dip in ticket sales next weekend.

We all give presentations in our work and lives, whether it’s a one-on-
Tags: 3D, Alice in Wonderland, box office, disney, Film, Movies, tim
one meeting with your boss or a lecture to a room full of people.
burton
Psychology Today offers a great guide to giving a successful presentation.

Photo by James Jordan.

I’m presenting a panel at SXSW this year, and the fact is, as is the case
with many people, public speaking still rankles my nerves. Psychology
professor Nancy Darling offers some great suggestions for giving a good
presentation, and reminds us nervous speakers that it’s really not about
us:

There are five main components to pulling together a good

presentation:

1. Choose a goal;

2. Find a storyline that will help the group reach that goal;

3. Develop a series of activities or a method of

presentation that allows you to develop your storyline.
Don’t let your media determine your storyline!

4. Remember that your role is to facilitate the group

reaching its shared goal. This is your primary
responsibility!

5. Remember that it’s not about you. All that matters is

17
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR craig.kirchoff@gmail.com 8 March 2010

the experience of the other people in the room. you were the bride.

It’s easy to get caught up in nerves when you’re giving a presentation, but But let’s admit it: We’re part of the hive mind, and we’re proud of it.
try to remember that the focus of the presentation is really on the Onward to Mountain View!
information you’re trying to get across, not on you. If you’re confident in
your information, let that boost the confidence you’ve got in your
presentation.

Even if you’re not a nervous presenter, I’d recommend giving Darling’s

guide a read through. It’s full of solid suggestions for improving your
presentations.

How to Give a Presentation Part I: It’s Not About You [Psychology

Today]

WEB NEWS
More Noise to Signal.
Getting Away From it All... And
Discuss
Taking it With You [Read Write
Web]
MAR 07, 2010 04:00P.M.

You’ve probably heard that ReadWriteWeb has just announced the 2010
Mobile Summit, which – judging by last fall’s real-time web summit – is
going to be a bang-up event. (With Kaliya Hamlin facilitating, how can it
be otherwise?)

This one’s in honor of the summit... and in honor of all of us for whom
ubiquitous connectivity means you’re never really 100% present in
physical space.

Sponsor

Oh, sure, it has its drawbacks - the car accidents, the walking into
parking meters, the wedding that got called off because you just had to
Twitpic a photo of the moment to your tweeps, which was awkward as

18
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR craig.kirchoff@gmail.com 8 March 2010

WEB NEWS

Tableau Public Brings Your

Boring Data to Life WEB NEWS

[Downloads] Top 10 Twitter Trends This

[LIfehacker[Downloads]] Week [CHART]
MAR 07, 2010 04:00P.M.
[Mashable[CHART]]
Windows only: Tableau Public creates beautiful visualizations from your MAR 07, 2010 03:54P.M.
data and lets you publish them to the web, where uses can interact with
your charts and graphs with live updates.

The video above provides a great overview of how the tool works.
Essentially, you import your data into the desktop Windows application,
then play around with different charts, graphs, or other options until you
find the visualization or visualizations that best fit your data. When
you’re happy with what you’ve put together, you can save the outcome to
the web, which uploads the charts to the Tableau Public servers. From
there you can embed it on any web page YouTube-style), and users can
drill down into the data to their heart’s content.

Here’s an example of Tableau Public in action from a post on the Wall

Street Journal:

Dashboard at 570

Tableau Public is a free download for Windows, and looks like a great
tool to try out next time you’re looking to make your otherwise boring
data come to life. Update: Somehow I managed to miss the fact that
Tableau Public is only free on a trial basis; it’s actual price tag is
extremely hefty. (Though if you’re a student you can get it for as little as
$69.) My apologies for the mix up.
The Twittersphere is in love with Justin Bieber. Once again the young
pop star tops our top 10 Twitter trends chart, even in spite of the
devastating Chile earthquake that also peaked this week as a topic of
Twitter conversations.
The fresh data, which comes courtesy of the folks at What The Trend,
highlights the most popular topics on Twitter. Hashtag memes and
games have been omitted from the chart given the topical nature of the
list.

Tableau Public [via MakeUseOf] In looking at the trending data, common themes are starting to emerge
and even point to three core audiences – teens, television watchers, and
movie goers — turning to Twitter to discuss their favorite subject matter.

19
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR craig.kirchoff@gmail.com
For example, the Jonas Brothers seem to always be a subject of interest,
though certainly not on the same level as Justin Bieber. Could this point
to the teen king reigning supreme in the music industry for the year
ahead?
Also even though the Olympics have come to a close, the games
remained just as much of a hot topic on Twitter with avid discussions
around the gold medal hockey game and popular athletes. What’s
especially surprising, however, is that another big upcoming television
event — The Academy Awards — has yet to capture the attention of the
Twitterati on the same scale.
Looking towards the week ahead we expect to see Bieber continue to fair
well on the chart, Alice in Wonderland to bump up the chart, and the
Oscars to hit with Twitter audiences.
You can check past Twitter trends in our Top Twitter Topics section as
well as read more about this past week’s trends on What The Trend.
Top Twitter Trends This Week 2/28 – 3/5
Rank
Topic
Top Index This Week
Change
Description
#1
Justin Bieber
1 Cheryl Bernard, #TeamUSA, Canadian, Finland 6-1, Shaun White,
1 Thomas, Zach Parise, Russian, Michael J Fox, Simple Plan)
The young Canadian R&B/pop singer is trending these days because his
new song, ‘Never Let You Go’ was released for download on iTunes this
week, as well as a duet with Sean Kingston, an appearance on Jimmy
Kimmel Live. He also had his birthday March 1st. (Subtrends: Justin
Bieber, #HappyBirthdayJustin, Eenie Meenie, Never Let You Go,
#KingstonFollows, #RIPJustinBieber, Cody, #JonasBieberpeace, My
World 2, #justinweloveyou, #CodyIsAScam, Justin’s, #nedabieber,
#bieberblastbaby, #SeanKingston)
#2
Chile
1 #makeawave, #EuropeWantsJonas, Stay, RSCEwl9qQzo)
20
8 March 2010
NEW
There was a 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile on the morning of Feb.
27th. The epicenter was some 70 miles from Concepcion, Chile’s second-
largest city. Tsunami warnings were issued for several countries &
islands in the South Pacific but they have been lifted. (Subtrends: Chile,
Hawaii, Tsunami, #prayfortheworld, Pacific Tsunami, Concepcion,
#hitsunami, USGS, Chilean, Pacific, Australia, Hilo Bay, Hilo, Easter
Island, Earth, Juan Fernandez, , Massive 8, Magnitude Earthquake,
Tsunami Warning, Watching CNN, #Chile, Catastrophe”,
#terremotochile, NYT NEWS ALERT, Pelluhue, Geological Survey, Chile
– Reuters, Peru, Magnitude Quake Hits, California, #quake,
#earthquake, Earthquake, New Zealand)
#3
Follow Friday
1
#FF is a tag for Follow Friday, the meme where users list other
Twitterers to follow. (Subtrends: #FF, #followfriday, Follow Friday)
#4
Olympics
1
The 2010 Winter Olympics from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
ended last Sunday. There was a flurry of Twitter activity around the gold
medal hockey games for both men and women. (Subtrends: #van2010,
Canada, Go Canada Go, USA, Sidney Crosby, Finland, Team USA, Gold,
Apolo Ohno, Ryan Miller, Neil Young, Overtime, U-S-A, Canadians,
Slovakia, NIckelback, Vancouver, Team Canada, Catherine O’Hara,
Finnish, Katherine Reutter, Hockey, K-Os, Dear Goalpost, Luongo, Tim
#5
Jonas Brothers
1
2
Fans of the Jonas Brothers from both Europe and South America wanted
the band to tour there, a fan of theirs died in the Chilean earthquake, and
Joe Jonas and Demi Lovato’s new song “Make a Wave” premiered Radio
Disney. (Subtrends: #JonasBrothersAre, #RIPalejandrajonas, #stay,
#ProudOfYouNickJ, Jonas, Make A Wave, JBSouthAmericaTour,
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR craig.kirchoff@gmail.com 8 March 2010

#6 #10

BBC Galpao 29

1 1

3 NEW

People are tweeting about The BBC Trusts decision to close DAB stations
6music, Asian Network and to cut back on program spending by as much
as 25%. Kristian Digby, host of BBC daytime TV show ‘To Buy or Not To
Buy’, was also found dead at his home. (Subtrends: #SaveBBC6Music,
BBC, Asian Network, #bbcqt, BBC Trust, Mark Thompson, BBC 6M)
A Brazilian band that appears to have sent Twitter direct messages with
links as part of a flawed marketing strategy for a free iPad.
Tags: justin bieber, Top Twitter Topics, twitter

#7

Twitter

Twitter trended due to crossing the 10 Billion tweet mark, users

experiencing frozen timelines, William Shatner playing the dad in a tv
show based on the Twitter account @shitmydadsays, and a @mashable
post about Twitter’s valuation. (Subtrends: #twitterislike, Twitter
Speeding, William Shatner, Twitter Timelines, Twitter Helps Find,
Windows, Support Places, Boosting Student, How Much Are, Phishing
Returns, Successful Twitter, Twitter Location API)

#8

Alice in Wonderland WEB NEWS

4 oscars
MAR 07, 2010 03:41P.M.
4

Tim Burton’s eagerly anticipated movie, Alice in Wonderland, opens in

cinemas worldwide 4th and 5th March, starring Johnny Depp, Helena
Bonham Carter and Anne Hathaway. (Subtrends: Alice, Alice In
Wonderland, Johnny Depp, Wonderland)

#9

Haiti

In the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake, people are tweeting about

various relief efforts. The latest is the song, “Somos El Mundo,” available
on iTunes. (Subtrends: Haiti, Somos El Mundo) Tonight is the 82nd annual Academy Awards. Some people watch the

21
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR craig.kirchoff@gmail.com 8 March 2010

show for the movies. Some watch it for the glamor. And some, watch it to
gamble. And Google is making that easier than ever.

While the show is almost always way too long, one way to get into it is to
have an Oscar pool, where everyone picks who they think will win in each
category. Google has set up a special Google Docs template that allows
you to easily create this pool and send it to all your friends. It’s so simple,
that you can even set it up to be filled out right within an email.

When you send the email to a friend, they’ll be asked to enter their name,
and then simply select who they think will be the winner in each
category. Google has already populated all of this data in the template, so
there’s really nothing more for you to do. When they send this
information back, it will be imported into a Google Spreadsheet, so you
can compare the data from all your friends. You can also see a more
visual “summary” of the data.

Categories such as “Best Short Film (Live Action)” also ensure that this
can be a pretty fun drinking game, as well. You have a few hours til the
show, get picking. WEB NEWS

Put Together a Last-Minute

Oscars Pool with This Google
Docs Template [Fun]
[LIfehacker[Fun]]
MAR 07, 2010 03:00P.M.

CrunchBase Information

Google Docs

Information provided by CrunchBase

Got plans to watch tonight’s Academy Awards with friends but haven’t
had time to make things more interesting with an Oscars pool? The
Official Google Docs Blog’s got you covered with a snazzy Pick the
Winners template. [Google Docs Blog]

22