Vote For Your Favorite Super Bowl Commercial

2010 February 7
by kegill

If you’re like me and prefer the commercials over the game, YouTube’s “adblitz” channel may be your savior today. YouTube promises to publish Super Bowl commercials “the minute they air on Feb 7th.” And to entice you to visit the channel, after the game is over you can vote for your favorite(s) — until Valentine’s Day. Then on 18 February, the winning ad will be featured on the YouTube home page.

What To Do If Your Twitter Account Is Hacked

2010 February 7
by kegill

It sounds like there is another Twitter hack making its way ’round today. If you think your account has been hacked — for example, you see unexpected Tweets from your account — then this is what you should do:

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White House Makes Questionable Copyright Claim On Government Photos

2010 February 6
by kegill

Let me preface this post by reminding folks that IANAL (I am not a lawyer).

Obama and LaHood

Example of White House Flickr Photo

The U.S. government policy on photographs and copyright is pretty straightfoward: photos produced by federal employees as part of their job responsibilities are “not subject to copyright in the United States and there are no U.S. copyright restrictions on reproduction, derivative works, distribution, performance, or display of the work.”

Why, then, is the Obama White House asserting that no one but “news organizations” can use its Flickr photos? Why is it asserting that manipulation is prohibited? Why is it asserting that photos may not be used in “commercial or political materials, advertisements, emails, products, promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement of the President, the First Family, or the White House”?

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Your Phone Gets Smarter With Siri

2010 February 4
by kegill

The buzz this week from Silicon Valley is Siri Assistant (iTunes – not yet findable on my iPhone via AppStore*). Slogan: You Ask. Siri Does.

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Thoughts On Engadget, Anonymity and Community

2010 February 4
by kegill

This is written in response to a post Paolo Mottola made on FlipTheMedia: Online Media Democracy Is Still Under Construction, or Why Engadget Had To Flip The Switch On Comments
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Wasted Energy: A Reminder About Targeted E-Mail

2010 February 3
tags:
by kegill

12:25 pm – update In Comments

I’m not a musician, but Talenthouse.com found my University webform and used it to send me an email asking me to audition for the Vienna Symphony Orchestra.This unsolicited “email” serves as a reminder about mass-mailing in an age of niche markets.

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Body Image, Femininity and Health

2010 February 1
by kegill

The number one cause of death for women in the U.S. is heart disease; cancer is number two, with lung cancer being the leading cause. So why is it that the thought of breast cancer scares the beejesus out of us? It’s not even on the top 10 list.

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How To Report The News

2010 January 29
by kegill

Funny but sad (in a way). From @CharltonBrooker via Brian M. Westbrook (@bmw)

The iPad: A Consumption Device

2010 January 28
by kegill

My first reaction to the iPhone, as I “consumed” the uStream feed, was this:

Netbook is on “production” side of equation, #ipad is on “consumption” side. It’s a content consumption device. On steroids.

It’s more than 12 hours later, I’ve taught a class where we talked a bit about the iPad in terms of technology evolution/adoption, and I remain firmly fixed in the “it’s a consumption product” camp. But I wanted to take a few minutes and look back at the naysayers in 2007, when Apple launched the iPhone.

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Digital Information: Business Models In Flux

2010 January 27
by kegill

Would you pay $5 a week ($260 a year) to subscribe to the online edition of your local newspaper … if the print+digital edition were only $3.98 a week or $1.50 for Sunday? Right, I thought not. You’re not alone. According to the New York Observeronly 35 people have ordered the pricy subscription-only plate on the Newsday menu.

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