March 2012
1 post
September 2011
1 post
1 tag
A Visual History of Twitter [INFOGRAPHIC] →
Here’s something to give us pause. Twitter has only been around since 2006 and yet can we imagine the world as it is today without it?
The Social Media Infographics Series is supported by Vocus’ Social Media Strategy Tool, a free, six-step online tool that lets you build a custom social media framework tailored to your organization’s goals. Since its launch in the summer of 2006,...
August 2011
3 posts
3 tags
What HP Should Have Done With WebOS →
I was a Palm Pre user and just loved certain features/aspects of my Pre and Palm products I had before I finally gave up and got an Android phone. It wasn’t because of the UI, however. It was because I wanted more apps.
This link is an impassioned argument for how HP could have done that rather than simply folding like a cheap lawn chair before the Touch was even given a chance to gain...
2 tags
Why the Google-Motorola Deal Is About More Than... →
This takes an interesting POV of the acquisition — that it’s more about patents, Android and GoogleTV distribution than about mobile/smart phones. If that’s the case, then it’s probably a great short-term investment that can be spun off in the future as a non-essential unit.
6 tags
OK Go's interactive music video →
This video uses HTML5 to customize the video with a personal message that is spelled out by the Pilobolus dancers. Leave it to OK Go to yet again create a groundbreaking video.
July 2011
3 posts
3 tags
6 tags
Understanding Millennials' Digital Habits →
MTV released a new study that focuses on the various habits of Millennials in digispace, particularly their use of certain platforms for specific modes of communication. This AdAge piece asks questions that may give some brand marketers pointers in how to interact and engage this generation of digital natives.
5 tags
Chuck Klosterman on why "Breaking Bad" rocks →
Comparing the shifting morality of Breaking Bad with the gray areas of Mad Men, The Sopranos and The Wire, Klosterman decides that Breaking Bad is the best of these Great Shows. I’d like to suggest perhaps Game of Thrones adds another type of morally gray universe into the mix.
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Keith Olbermann's New Current Show: No Ratings But... →
Current has been keeping overall viewer ratings under the radar but a Trendrr Chart from Simon Dumenco compares Olbermann’s Twitter numbers to Rachel Maddow and Piers Morgan for a little light on the subject.
June 2011
2 posts
1 tag
Kinect Hacking
When the Kinect was released in late 2010, it almost immediately began making headlines in the tech world not only as the “fastest selling consumer electronics device,” but as developers and tech geeks began hacking their Microsoft Kinect devices to create either new uses or solve some real-world problems. I recently started reading up on this phenomenon and found myself in a rabbit...
May 2011
1 post
3 tags
Thoughts From Digital Hollywood
Last week, I stopped in at Digital Hollywood to see a few of the panels. Despite the various fancy names given to each panel, there were about 3 of 4 topics that seemed to be important to all the attendees and the panelists. I thought I’d go through some of those topics here and make a few predictions about where these trends may be headed. Now the fun exercise will be to come back in a half...
April 2011
2 posts
3 tags
The YouTube Studio System
The NYTimes featured a story in the business section today about how YouTube is attempting to compete with Netflix and Hulu with higher-quality content. It seems that the audience is finally showing signs of fatigue with amateur viral videos of piano-playing kitties and other 24-hour memes. YouTube recently acquired Next New Networks and is now working with a host of start-up production companies...
4 tags
Data CAN Be Entertainment
Back in 2009, we at MTV thought that there was something compelling about the data that could be compiled from countless Tweets, posts, status updates and blog entries in the Internet universe. What if with clever design and strong visuals, this data could actually become entertainment?
Well, we got really lucky the first year we rolled it out. That was the Video Music Awards of Kanye West vs....
March 2011
2 posts
3 tags
Vevo Rescuing MySpace From Final Death
There was a Mashable piece yesterday about a rumor that probably made MySpace’s day. Since slashing the MySpace workforce by 47% in Jan., News Corp. has been trying to unload the social networking bomb. If these rumblings can be believe, Vevo might just be the knight in shining armor that MySpace has been waiting for. Of course, this still doesn’t give Vevo that important access to TV...
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Facebook As A Digital Distribution Platform?
I wonder how the folks at Netflix are taking this…
Mashable had a quick piece about Warner Bros. now in the business of streaming movies over Facebook. This will really change the nature of those Facebook movie pages that you “like” because now there’s suddenly a level of interaction and ability to engage that didn’t exist before. I wonder if movie studios will still...
February 2011
1 post
5 tags
HuffPo Lawsuit: AOL's Problem Now?
I read an interesting article last month in Vanity Fair about a strange legal entanglement between the Huffington Post founders, Arianna Huffington and Kenneth Lerer, and two Democratic consultants, Peter Daou and James Boyce. Daou and Boyce claim that they came up with the concept of a “Democratic equivalent to the Drudge Report” and it was originally called fourteensixty.com (the...
January 2011
3 posts
2 tags
Tiger Mom Words Of Wisdom
I know there’s been a ton of outrage, annoyance, and all kinds of bile about the Tiger Mom but having been the product of an Asian mom, I have to say, there are nuggets of wisdom hidden in that torture. I should qualify that my mom was and still is, a perfectionist with very high expectations, though perhaps not as extreme as Amy Chua. (I mean, let’s face it, Amy had to go sell some...
3 tags
Breaking Bad Is All Good
I had been hearing about this show forever and just kept neglecting to put it in Tivo. Finally watched the pilot today and it was a great ride. I’m not sure how the show can be sustained over so many seasons when the main character is dying of inoperable lung cancer but I guess there have been other shows with similar challenges. Now I just need to find the other eps. Perhaps there will be a...
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The Screen Addiction Of A 3-Year-Old
About a week and a half ago, my husband and I finally laid down the law and banned our 3 year old daughter from all screen time. Between watching her favorite shows like Dora The Explorer, The Backyardigans, and The Wonderpets and playing all of her apps and games on the iPAD (which was supposed to be the family’s device but she quickly confiscated it and made it hers), she had been racking...
December 2010
1 post
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Nerding Out On A New HBO Show
OK, I know it’s terribly geeky of me but one of my favorite books is being made into a show on HBO called Game of Thrones. It’s premiering this April 2011 and there’s a great behind-the-scenes video that HBO posted on their site for the series. The production quality seems to be about Lord of the Rings level so I’m expecting that this will be a good one. God, I’d...
November 2010
3 posts
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Digital Death: What Will Be The Post-mortem?
Alicia Keys’ Keep A Child Alive campaign has come up with an intriguing way to capitalize on celebrity for a good cause. A number of well-known personalities, such as Lady Gaga, Kim Kardashian, Elijah Wood and Serena Williams are “dying” digital deaths — they will cease to communicate on Twitter, Facebook and other social networking platforms. Their profiles will not be...
3 tags
Digital Natives - Distracted Or Just Dumb?
The NY Times did an interesting piece this past weekend on the millennial generation growing up in a world full of screens and distraction. It’s a debate that has some intriguing arguments on both sides. Like other parents and teachers, I find myself worrying quite a bit about my daughter and the amount of screen time we allow her. She’s only three and she didn’t watch any TV...
3 tags
Coco The Clown
Why oh why wasn’t I thinking proactively when planning Simone’s last birthday party this summer? Look! Conan O’Brien aka Coco the Clown would have been available! :)
The premiere last night was hilarious and Conan’s still got it going on!
October 2010
2 posts
3 tags
Post-modernists Were A-twitter!
I imagine that the Mad Men episode, Blowing Smoke, had all the black turtle-necked denizens of literature classes and Derrida lovers jumping out of their seats last week. I know I had a moment of being transported back in time to Lit 101 class at Yale. The pivotal scene is when Sally, Don Draper’s precocious daughter, rendezvous with the “bad kid” Glen from down the block. As...
2 tags
Signal Booster
Ever since we moved out to LA, we have had terrible Sprint coverage on our cell phones. Without a back-up land line, we have been suffering the horrors of waiting on hold for over 20 minutes only to drop a call or lose the signal when the customer service rep finally picks up!
So last week, we called Sprint to rectify the situation and lo and behold, a signal booster arrives. It’s an ugly,...
September 2010
1 post
8 tags
Last Day In Brooklyn
I’m sitting in our home office surrounded by mountains of boxes and waiting for the movers to get here, while the oven is on “self-clean.” My sitter just left for the day with my daughter, to have one last playdate in Prospect Park. Here’s to all the best parts of living in Brooklyn:
Yummy garlic bagels with lox cream cheese
NY style brick oven pizza
$2.75 Banh mi in...
August 2010
3 posts
1 tag
Moving To L.A.
I’ve been so busy the past week or so with all the coordination that needs to happen for this coast-to-coast move, I haven’t really been able to write anything new. My day is consumed by the little details like comparing movers’ estimates, doing last minute medical/dental appointments and renting out our place in Brooklyn.
But I did find a great program that has been a lifesaver...
4 tags
Walk Score - What's Your Neighborhood's Score?
After our recent trip to Los Angeles, I realized that the song Walking in L.A. is a bit wrong. Yes, it’s true that “nobody walks in L.A.,” because generally speaking, freeways and intersections are not designed to make that a pleasant user experience, and partially because most people’s identities are wrapped up with the type of vehicle they drive. However, there are...
3 tags
Scott Pilgrim Graphic Novels
I’ve been so out of my graphic novels world… I didn’t even realize till recently that the new movie directed by Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead) and starring Michael Cera was based on a series by Bryan Lee O’Malley. Adding one more thing to the reading list. Sigh.
July 2010
5 posts
1 tag
History and Mad Men
The NY Times has created another one of their cool interactive timelines. This one looks at historical events that have been woven into the past 3 seasons of the show Mad Men and then contemplates what milestone moments could be incorporated in Season 4 and beyond. I can’t wait for the season premiere on Sunday!
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Old Spice Guy Takes Viral Video To The Next Level
Yesterday, my husband passed along an interesting tidbit about how the actor in the Old Spice ads, Isaiah Mustafa, had responded to a blog post on The Frisky site about how hot he is in Old Spice’s most recent commercial. Well, it turns out the Old Spice Guy was responding personally to quite a number of comments/posts from some top blogs and taking questions for one day only from fans...
3 tags
The Next Dance Craze... Jollibee Mascot?
It wasn’t enough that Filipino prisoners were dancing to the entire Thriller sequence as part of their incarceration exercise schedule, and that it created a global Internet meme.
Now we’ve got the Jollibee mascot (Jollibee is the McDonald’s of the Philippines) showing his moves, dancing to a medley of Justin Bieber, Ke$ha, MJ & Beyonce at a freaky kid’s birthday...
2 tags
Why Comic Sans should be banished from the world...
Hilarious little bit on Tech Crunch about the owner of the Cavaliers Dan Gilbert posting a nasty letter on the Cavaliers page at NBA.com… in Comic Sans font. Wow!
Of course, when you really want to be taken seriously, you use Comic Sans. Nothing says angry quite like Comic Sans. Or maybe Internet neophyte. :)
For years now, I have made it my personal credo not take anyone seriously who...
3 tags
Anime Eyes
The NYT wrote about this trend supposedly set off by Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance video — young girls & teens are buying circle lenses that are imported from Asia. The circle lenses aren’t approved by the FDA (in fact, the NYT reports that the FDA spokeswoman was asked for a comment and didn’t even know what they are). I guess the Asians weren’t the only ones...
June 2010
2 posts
1 tag
The Death of Twitter?
I was recently at a dinner with some friends bemoaning the fact that Twitter has been having a tough time keeping up with the volume of traffic. We have definitely reached a saturation point… when the car wash/lube place on 4th Ave. in Brooklyn has an LCD sign saying, “Follow us on Twitter,” it’s the beginning of the end. So my friends told me that I should consider posting...
5 tags
WatchMy sizzle reel featuring the award-winning integrated marketing campaigns and branded entertainment programs I created at MTV.