Since it first debuted in the tech world, Open Garden has been experimenting with its mobile mesh-networking app, getting a user’s personal devices to link to together seamlessly and share their Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity. Its end goal, however, was for its app to move beyond personal networks and create vast webs of linked devices all working collectively to find the best and cheapest link to the Internet.
On Monday, Open Garden released version 2.0 of its app, which supports multi-hop Wi-Fi mesh networking and channel bonding. In English that means your PC or Android tablet won’t just link to your smartphone and then to the Internet. Instead, it will also link to your neighbor’s smartphone, which in turn will link to the next smartphone over and so forth. The Open Garden software installed on all of those handsets and PCs will then determine which devices have the best connections to the Internet – be they 3G, 4G, Wi-Fi or Ethernet – and route all traffic through them accordingly.
After more than a year of testing how its app performed more controlled single-hop environment, Open Garden co-founder and CEO Micha Benoliel said that the company is ready to see how its app performs in the more random world of unimpeded crowdsourcing. Open Garden waited until now because it didn’t have the density of users to make large-scale mesh networking feasible.
With about 2 million installs to date, it’s still unlikely that one Open Garden user is going to encounter another at a mall in Omaha. But Benoliel said the platform has scaled enough that users are starting to bump into one another in New York and San Francisco as well as in parts of India.
“We’re started to notice that in San Francisco bytes are being exchanged between users even without multi-hop activated,” Benoliel said. What Open Garden hopes is that communities of users will form to maximize the potential for large-scale crowdsourced networks. For instance, Benoliel said he is working with a farmers’ collective in India to use Open Garden’s software to create vast meshes of thousands of nodes at local markets.
Co-founder Micha Benoliel
Of course by expanding the scope of the network mesh, Open Garden also increases the potential for abuse. Open Garden’s algorithms are designed to spread traffic among multiple connections, favoring cheaper and faster links like Wi-Fi, but there’s always the chance that some users will use others’ connectivity without ever sharing their own.
Benoliel said that due to the nature of Open Garden’s current user base he believes those abusers are still rare, but he acknowledged they will become a growing problem as more people adopt the service. Eventually Open Garden will put controls in place to prevent that kind of freeloading and to help cellular users stay under their caps.
For instance, a user might set a maximum of 100 MB a week to share with Open Garden Community. Or the company might dictate that users can only consume a certain quantity of bandwidth from other people’s connections before being forced to share their own. But Benoliel said Open Garden wants to be careful about placing too many restrictions or creating too much complexity while the community is still young.
“The purpose of those controls is to avoid free-riders,” Benoliel said. “Introducing those controls too early would stop our expansion.”
Today, the U.S. Department of Labor is celebrating its centennial anniversary. For the past 100 years, the Department of Labor has worked to promote and advance the interests of families, workers, job seekers and retirees of the United States. While protecting the dignity of American workers, the Department has ensured workers have received safety protections and fair wages for their work. The Department of Labor is proud of its many important achievements, from providing the framework for the 40-hour work week to allowing parents to take leave for family emergencies. American workers have always been the backbone of our country and as another century stretches ahead, the Department remains committed to ensuring workers have more opportunities to build a better future.
10tons Ltd. has announced the release of their hilarious physics/destruction game: Tennis in the Face. Use your tennis racket to take down an evil energy drink company’s unhealthy beverage racket. This game is available on all the major smartphone platforms and 10tons will be bringing a lot more of their titles over to BlackBerry 10.
Using your killer tennis serve, clear all the enemies off the screen using a limited about of projectiles. The explosiveness of some of the targets combined with a good physics engine and rag doll mechanics make for great fun as you take down security guards, hipster sellouts, and corporate executives.
If you caught SNL last weekend (or have been on the internet, at all, in the past couple of days), you probably heard the short but intoxicating 15 or so seconds of music that Daft Punk teased during a commercial break.
Well, some genius has looped that little tease for 10 hours.
We know that Daft Punk’s new album is slated to launch in May on Columbia Records. For now, enjoy 10 hours of the same (amazing) four bars of music. Because, really, what’s better?
Baily O’Neill, a 12-year-old boy who was bullied and beaten at his Pennsylvania school, has died. He was taken off of life support on Sunday, March 3 – just days after his twelfth birthday.
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, O’Neill was a sixth grader at Darby Township School in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. He was allegedly bullied by classmates, one of whom punched O’Neill in the face, breaking his nose and causing a serious concussion. Soon after, O’Neill began having seizures and was put into a medically induced coma.
Stephen Butz, superintendent for the Southeast Delco School district, has released a statement expressing condolences and assuring the public that the school district is working with authorities to investigate the death.
The statement, in full:
Dear Southeast Delco School Community,
Late yesterday, we were informed about the death of Bailey O’Neill. Bailey was a sixth grade student at Darby Township School. Our school community is deeply saddened by this loss. Our condolences are with Bailey’s family and friends during this very difficult time.
Additional counselors have been made available to assist our students and staff with the emotions around the death of Bailey.
The school district continues to work with local authorities in their investigation into the cause of Bailey’s death.
During this time, our thoughts and prayers are with Bailey’s family and friends.
Stephen D. Butz, Ed.D.
Superintendent
The Inquirer report states that there is video of the bullying incident in which O’Neill was punched. The Delaware County District Attorney’s office is investigating the incident, and an autopsy will reveal more about the cause of O’Neill’s death.
NBC’s Los Angeles-based anti-piracy unit sent out 3.9 million takedown notices for pirated content last year, according to a Wall Street Journal report from Monday. Three years earlier, NBC sent out just 427,000 such notices.
Piracy is exploding, and NBC is barely keeping up fighting back: That’s the message of the story, which details the work of the studio’s anti-piracy unit at length. Here’s the thing about that notion: It runs counter to some of the common narrative we’ve seen with regards to piracy in recent years. Piracy was supposed to be on the decline, we’ve heard time and again, with Netflix and others offering legal alternatives that are simply more convenient.
And there’s been numbers to back this notion up: In 2010, 19.2 percent of all residential U.S. Internet traffic during peak times was caused by P2P file sharing, according to traffic management company Sandvine. In the second half of 2012, that number was down to 12 percent. Netflix traffic, on the other hand, exploded during the same time.
So what’s going on here? Is piracy getting worse, is Netflix winning or is it all just business as usual? The answer probably depends on who you ask, but here are a few points worth considering:
BitTorrent is still growing, just more slowly. Or in the words of Sandvine: “In absolute traffic level, BitTorrent has risen in volume by over 40%, but the application continues to exhibit a steady downward trend in overall traffic share.” That means people are still downloading growing amount of movies and TV shows via BitTorrent, but Netflix and others are just growing faster.
BitTorrent’s not the only game in town anymore. Pirates have been using one-click file hosters and streaming sites hosted in countries with more legal flexibility for some time now, and streaming sites, especially, are starting to play an increasing role for TV show piracy.
The world isn’t flat. Sandvine’s numbers in particular have shown a significant slowdown of file sharing in the U.S., but abroad, things look very different. The existence of release windows has in many countries led to a whole generation of TV viewers who watch U.S. movies and TV shows online, something that was echoed by the WSJ piece:
“Rick Cotton, general counsel of NBCUniversal, who oversees the company’s antipiracy unit, said piracy is a particularly big problem overseas. For example, he said that revenue for its Spanish home-entertainment unit declined 62% between 2009 and 2011, mainly because of piracy, and NBC shut it down.”
Takedowns don’t equal downloads. That’s an important point that was somehow lost in the Wall Street Journal’s story. The number of takedown notices sent out by NBC isn’t exactly the best indicator for actual piracy levels. Sure, one could argue that the growing supply of pirated sources also indicates a growing level of demand for pirated content. However, the fleeting nature of piracy makes it hard to actually quantify any of this, in part because P2P file sharing works without hosted copies of content. It doesn’t really matter whether ten or a thousand sites link to the same torrent, shared by the same number of people — except if you want to send takedowns to all of these sites.
Curious timing, anyone? The WSJ story remarked that studios hardly ever talk about their own anti-piracy efforts, but went on to say that “NBCUniversal gave the Wall Street Journal a rare peek inside the cat-and-mouse game its security team plays with suspected pirates.” Of course, one should note that NBC’s corporate parent Comcast just implemented a six strikes copyright enforcement scheme on its own broadband service last week. In light of that step, the story reads a bit like a plea for sympathy: Look, we had to step up our game because takedowns alone weren’t working!
So what’s the takeaway from this? For one, piracy is obviously alive and well, and it’s still a huge headache for studios like NBC. But Sandvine’s numbers also show that piracy’s growth can be contained, especially in markets with compelling legal alternatives. However, expanding these efforts is hard work that takes time, money and the will to change up some of Hollywood’s rules. Expect many more stories about piracy whack-a-mole in the meantime.
Last week, The Pirate Bay announced that it would be moving to Norway and Spain after some legal trouble in Sweden. Only half of that plan worked, however, as the site was quickly booted out of Norway by a local anti-piracy group. Now the infamous torrent tracker has set up shop in the most unlikely of countries.
The Pirate Bay has been hunted in many countries around the world. Not for illegal activities but being persecuted for beliefs of freedom of information. Today, a new chapter is written in the history of the movement, as well as the history of the internets.
A week ago we could reveal that The Pirate Bay was accessed via Norway and Catalonya. The move was to ensure that these countries and regions will get attention to the issues at hand. Today we can reveal that we have been invited by the leader of the republic of Korea, to fight our battles from their network.
This is truly an ironic situation. We have been fighting for a free world, and our opponents are mostly huge corporations from the United States of America, a place where freedom and freedom of speech is said to be held high. At the same time, companies from that country is chasing a competitor from other countries, bribing police and lawmakers, threatening political parties and physically hunting people from our crew. And to our help comes a government famous in our part of the world for locking people up for their thoughts and forbidding access to information.
We believe that being offered our virtual asylum in Korea is a first step of this country’s changing view of access to information. It’s a country opening up and one thing is sure, they do not care about threats like others do. In that way, TPB and Korea might have a special bond. We will do our best to influence the Korean leaders to also let their own population use our service, and to make sure that we can help improve the situation in any way we can. When someone is reaching out to make things better, it’s also ones duty to grab their hand.
TorrentFreak was able to confirm that The Pirate Bay is indeed being routed through North Korea so at least part of the story is true. It still remains to be seen what kind of arrangement was struck between the two parties though.
Regardless, it’s going to be interesting to see the response from the copyright owners. They have used various derogatory buzzwords to demonize the site before, but they can now say the site loves communism. That will gain it no friends in the U.S. political spectrum, but at least it’s safe from those who wish to shut it down.
Norton has refreshed its entire 2013 security range with the release of Norton Antivirus 2013 v20.3, Norton Internet Security 2013 v20.3 and Norton 360 v20.3. The update should be applied automatically to all existing Norton 2013 users. Version 20.3 is a maintenance release fixing a number of known issues, but also comes with improvements from the previous release, including enhanced Windows 8 compatibility, better overall performance and improvements to Norton Identity Safe.
Highlighted bug fixes include one resolving issues where the Norton program service ccsvchst.exe doesn’t shutdown properly, plus another that led to blue-screen issues when both Norton and Nero products are installed on the same computer. Another corrected issue saw users complain about other products being uninstalled during the Norton installation process leading to junked Windows installations, while problems with key components like AutoProtect and AntiSpyware getting switched off without being resolved by the Fix Now tool have also been fixed.
Users having problems with two instances of AntiSpam running, one of which consuming 100 per cent resources in Task Manager, have also been fixed along with incorrect subscription expired notices.
And once you’ve discovered how powerful and lightweight Norton products are, why not pick up a full year’s license for a bargain price at the Downloadcrew Software Store? You can get Norton AntiVirus 2013 for just $19.99 for one PC, or $24.99 for three PCs — both deals represent a saving of 50 percent on the MSRP. You can save even more by purchasing Norton Internet Security 2013: the one-user version costs $23.99, a saving of 60 per cent on the MSRP, while you can protect your entire home for just $29.99 by purchasing the three-user version, which represents a whopping 63 per cent off the usual MSRP. These licenses last for 365 days after activation, and will entitle you to download and use Norton 2014 products for the remaining part of your subscription when they become available later this year.
In 2013, solar makers are preoccupied with boosting the efficiency of solar cells, or basically using various techniques to increase the amount of sunlight that each solar cell can convert into electricity. That’s because it’s one of the most important ways they have right now to reduce costs in a difficult year for solar manufacturers. The supply of solar cells in the market over the past year is far more than demand and some companies are selling solar cells at a loss.
It’s a particularly important trend for solar maker startups that need a premium product to sell. For example, on Monday morning, venture-backed solar startup Alta Devices announced that it’s reached 30.8 percent efficiency for solar cells that it’s marketing to mobile gadget makers. For comparison’s sake traditional silicon solar cells are closer to 20 percent efficient.
Alta Devices says it has been working with mobile device maker customers that want to extend the battery life of gadgets using embedded Alta solar cells. The six-year-old company — which has raised $120 million from investors like Kleiner Perkins, NEA and Dow Chemical — has been planning on making a fast-charging solar iPad cover by the end of the year that could end the need to plug an iPad into the wall or laptop to charge.
Alta Devices says the 30.8 percent is a world record for its dual junction solar cell made from the materials gallium-arsenide, and previously the company was saying its cells were 28 percent efficient. Check out this article for more details on Alta Device’s solar cell technology and a tour of its pilot factory. Alta says it has been shooting for an eventual efficiency of 38 percent for its cells.
Remember this type of efficiency demonstrates what a company might be able to achieve. But whether a company will ever do so will depend on factors such as how much does it scale up its manufacturing, how much money is it able to raise and how efficiently it is operating factory equipment.
Alta’s solar cells are more expensive than traditional silicon cells, but the company is hoping that niche markets like gadget makers will be willing to pay a premium for the next-gen cells. Alta is also developing solar cells for military applications, which can enable troops and their devices to charge up off-the-grid in combat less frequently.
Startups aren’t the only ones that are focused heavily on solar cell efficiency. First Solar last week announced a world record of 18.7 percent for cells made from the material cadmium-telluride. That’s up from the 17.3 percent cell it touted in July 2011.
SunPower has long touted highly efficient solar cells. And suppliers like DuPont sell materials that big solar companies can use to boost the efficiency of their cells.
President Barack Obama holds a Cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House, March 4, 2013.
(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
President Obama today welcomed two new members to his Cabinet, as he held the 17th Cabinet meeting of his Presidency, and the first in 2013. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, the former White House Chief of Staff and OMB Director, and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, a former Congressman from Nebraska, joined the President and other Cabinet members in the West Wing to discuss the potential impact of the sequester on all the agencies and missions, and ways to minimize the impacts on American families.
But the President made clear that while budget issues are a deep concern, he has confidence in the Cabinet leadership to steer all government agencies in making the best possible decisions to help American families. In his remarks before the meeting, President Obama laid out the other topics that were on his agenda — growing the economy and helping families thrive:
We’re going to have the opportunity to talk about initiatives like early childhood education that can have an enormous impact on our kids and, ultimately, our growth and productivity. We’ll have a chance to hear from Joe and other members of the Cabinet about progress in reducing gun violence in this country.
So one of the things that I’ve instructed not just my White House but every agency is to make sure that, regardless of some of the challenges that they may face because of sequestration, we’re not going to stop working on behalf of the American people to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to continue to grow this economy and improve people’s prospects.
Today is National Grammar Day, a reminder that good grammar is instrumental in conveying ideas with clarity, professionalism, and precision. Even so, the informality of e-mail, texting, and tweeting has crept deep into company communications. It is not uncommon to hear a coworker make a grammatical faux pas such as “There’s new people you should meet.” Even former Yahoo! CEO Jerry Yang was known for ignoring capital letters in his e-mails.
Kyle Wiens, CEO of iFixit, wrote in a blog post for HBR that he refuses to hire people who use poor grammar. He asserted that good grammar is a sign of professional credibility, attention to detail, and learning ability. In the process, he started a nearly 4,000-comment debate (on this website alone) about the audaciousness of his stance. Some people criticized Mr. Wiens for his hiring approach, accusing him of being harsh or even elitist. Ultimately, this was a debate that had no data and reached no conclusion.
In an effort to add evidence to the commenters’ anecdotes, my company, Grammarly, reviewed 100 LinkedIn profiles of native English-speakers in the consumer packaged goods industry. Each professional had worked for no more than three employers over the first 10 years of his or her career. Half were promoted to director level or above within those 10 years, and the other half were not.
Here’s what we found:
Professionals with fewer grammar errors in their profiles achieved higher positions. Those who failed to progress to a director-level position within the first 10 years of their careers made 2.5 times as many grammar mistakes as their director-level colleagues.
Fewer grammar errors correlate with more promotions. Professionals with one to four promotions over their 10-year careers made 45% more grammar errors than those with six to nine promotions in the same time frame.
Fewer grammar errors associate with frequent job changes. Those who remained at the same company for more than 10 years made 20% more grammar mistakes than those who held six jobs in the same period. This could be explained in a couple of ways: People with better grammar may be more ambitious in their search for promising career opportunities, or job-hoppers may simply recheck their résumés between jobs.
Granted, this is a relatively small sample size. We do not know whether the relationship is causal or if good grammar merely correlates with career success. It is also possible that professionals who were promoted to director level started their careers with poor grammar skills. If so, they significantly improved their skills over the past 10 years, and it is unlikely that all their progress occurred after — they became directors. Perhaps follow-up studies can fill these holes in the analysis.
What we can say is that this data set clearly supports the hypothesis that good grammar is a predictor of professional success. The results are not surprising. As Wiens would argue, grammar skills may indicate several valuable traits, such as:
Attention to detail: People who care about their writing demonstrate credibility, professionalism, and accuracy in their work.
Critical thinking: Knowing how to structure a grammatically correct sentence is a sign that you can analyze and explain complex problems.
Intellectual aptitude: If you are a native English-speaker and never learned the difference between “it’s” and “its,” especially given access to Google, an employer might wonder: What else have you failed to learn that might be useful?
Interestingly, there were virtually no spelling mistakes in the 100 LinkedIn profiles we analyzed. This is probably because of the prevalence of spell check, which performs a relatively simple computer recall task. By contrast, grammar analysis is very complex, requiring a deep understanding of the relationships between words. For this reason, grammar provides a better window into a job applicant’s abilities.
Companies looking to hire top talent should consider grammar as one predictor of a candidate’s aptitude and success. Good grammar is simply good business.
Late last month, I wrote about how NUI (natural user interface) technology is Microsoft’s Trojan horse to draw consumers to the company’s latest and upcoming devices. I definitely see a key technology strategy, but is it enough?
Kinect got the attention of many consumers, who were not considering the Xbox, and it sold a ton more consoles. But did Kinect keep consumers interested? How many people actually continue to regularly use the controller? In the same way, if Microsoft integrates deep natural language voice-controlled interfaces and camera-based gesture inputs into its next round of products and services, the company could easily get consumer attention and sell more phones and Surface tablets. That’s not enough. What must Microsoft do to ensure these consumers remain interested in their new devices and services?
What’s Needed Now
I have a few ideas.
1. Market like crazy. Do so in a way that shows benefits. I have a problem with the current Surface commercials, including those for the model running Windows RT. While they appeal to me and I think Microsoft does a great job at airing commercials often, dancing office people and school girls is not enough to convince anyone to spend my money on Surface rather than an iPad.
Samsung and Amazon do a fantastic job at showing why their products are better. Surface marketing needs to be more direct. I’d like to see advertising across all products focus on specific features in comparison to Microsoft’s biggest competitor in that category.
I don’t want to sound all doom and gloom. Microsoft should be applauded for its marketing efforts so far. It’s refreshing to see the large numbers of the commercials (even Outlook.com!) during some of the biggest TV watching times of the year. Marketing this way shows users who have already adopted the product why their purchase was the right one and those who are sitting on the fence why they need to buy already.
2. Open up Xbox gaming. This could be an article all by itself and probably should be. (Editor: Don’t tease us, write it.) Gaming is a big deal and could be the major way Amazon, Google and Apple take the living room from Microsoft. It’s Microsoft’s place to lose anyway. But the company doesn’t have to lose anything — if it opens up gaming/apps platform to all devs. Xbox currently allows indie devs to create Xbox games at $99/yr. Microsoft needs to go further and allow devs to create media apps as well.
Finally, I think it’s time Microsoft turn on pause/resume/play anywhere gaming. Skulls of the Shogun is a great peek into the future of gaming on Microsoft’s platforms — takes advantage of pause/resume across a Windows PC, Phone, Surface and XBOX console. But other platforms already do this. The true nirvana of gaming would be real-time, multi-player, multi-device gaming.
3. Release a smaller Windows tablet. Surface RT and Surface Pro are great devices, and I wholeheartedly agree with Microsoft’s decision to not sell them for $300 or $600, respectively. That would have been a death spiral to the bottom. However, I think Microsoft definitely needs a device or two at the 7-inch screen size and $200 price point. This device should be able to handle gaming and media consumption and allow for content creation.
Why content creation for a device this size? Well, I’m not saying that content creation on small-screen devices is ideal. It’s not. While content creation is possible on small screen devices (I create Word and Excel docs on my Windows Phone quite often), perhaps a more relevant solution is for such a device to be dockable.
Let me explain. Microsoft entering the 7-inch slate space with a Surface RT device would not be enough. To differentiate, the company needs a device that is not only awesome at consuming content but can be docked with a Surface station that allows the user to take advantage of desktop apps like Office. Then you would have a 7-inch device that costs $200 and clearly would be a market differentiator. Who knows, maybe this device could even run a version of Windows 8 Pro.
4. Update apps faster. I don’t have a problem with companies releasing beta products to the masses. Apple did with Siri, and now Microsoft does so with Xbox Music and other apps within Windows 8, but without calling them betas. Considering how abysmal they are to use, they must be beta products. Especially Xbox Music.
If you were a Zune user and subscriber like myself, you know full well the uselessness of Xbox Music right now. But this product launched almost four months ago and has only seen minor bug fixes and performance updates. For Microsoft to compete in this new consumer music space, the company must provide feature updates at a much faster pace. Once-a-year updates is not enough for a company trying to fight its way into the consumer market. Updating Windows once-a-year makes sense. However, updating Xbox Music, Internet Explorer, and other apps once-a-year is simply not going to cut the mustard.
5. Win back developers. Microsoft has lost developers. App development is not happening on Microsoft’s platforms as it should, and this is a problem. How can Microsoft fix it? Copying what Apple and Google are doing is not enough. Microsoft can differentiate app development by enabling developers to write an app one time and allowing that app to run on the phone, PC, tablet, and even the Xbox. I cannot imagine how many developers would jump at the opportunity. Microsoft’s development tools are already some of the easiest to use compared to other platforms, but the mobile device story is quite lacking right now.
A Higher Standard
Microsoft no longer deserves a pass. When you’re the underdog and you make it known that you want to enter the mobile computing fight for the hearts and minds of consumers, you cannot release devices and services that look like you’re merely playing catchup. Either piss or get off the pot. Microsoft has shown that it is capable of producing stellar hardware (Surface), and a rapid update cadence (SkyDrive). Microsoft must leverage this across the entire organization, and consumers deserve to see the results this year.
I personally will no longer give Windows platforms a pass for lack of apps. In fact, Microsoft deserves to be held to a much higher standard than Apple, Google and Amazon. The company has the resources, the money and the smarts to produce stellar devices and services. It’s time for Microsoft to put its money where its mouth is.
Microsoft cannot go through another year releasing me-too products. Windows Phone needs to surpass anything Google and Apple offers from a feature-by-feature comparison, as well as hardware and app development perspective. Xbox needs to establish itself as the media brand for music and video and all other living room entertainment. Windows needs to evolve the world of computing and change the way we interact with devices and access our content.
An OS that allows me to create, and consume, that is married to compelling hardware, is a good start and definitely differentiates Windows 8 on Surface Pro from anything on the market. With Surface Pro and Windows 8, Microsoft may have created a new category of computing called the super-tablet.
I love a good underdog story. And I love rooting for underdogs. But I won’t hold my breath on this one. NUI gets consumers’ attention, but Microsoft needs to execute in other key areas to gain traction in the consumer space. Hopefully the company can pull it off in 2013.
What else do you think Microsoft needs to do besides NUI?
Everyone uses YouTube – but how, exactly, are people engaging with the site? I’ve been wanting to ask a random assortment of users — from creators to mothers to execs to kids — how they consume YouTube since I read the following quote in a New York Times piece about a recent site redesign:
It also said that last year’s redesign would make subscriptions more meaningful, but has since found out that average users still don’t know what subscribing actually does.
I wanted to see how that actually stacked up in the real world. So I asked both established online video experts like Zadi Diaz, YouTube stars like Amy Pham and average users: How exactly do you do YouTube?
Annette Brown, 47, business owner and mother
How often do you go to YouTube.com?
I watch YouTube videos when I’m on Facebook, but other than that I probably go directly to YouTube once a week or so.
When you go to YouTube.com, is it to search for a new video, or is it to browse through your video options?
To search for a new video. During the election if I found a video on Facebook and went to YouTube to watch it, I would usually see similar videos and keep watching but usually I go to a specific video, rate it if I liked it or not and then leave YouTube.
Do you subscribe to any YouTube channels?
No. I thought YouTube was a channel by itself.
What is the one YouTube channel you watch more than any other?
N/A
What’s the most common way you find new online video (on YouTube or elsewhere)?
I find them through Facebook or email.
Matt McLernon, 29, YouTube communications manager
How often do you go to YouTube.com?
About every 5 minutes, by choice. When I’m not on YouTube.com, you can probably find me on the Android app or using the send to TV feature to send videos from my phone to my Google TV.
When you go to YouTube.com, is it to search for a new video, or is it to browse through your video options?
It’s both. At work, I do a ton of searching for videos and channels to look for the awesome people making videos for fun or for a living. At home, I’ll flip through my channel guide and watch anything from folks like Vice, The Gregory Brothers, DevinSupertramp and others on YouTube.
Do you subscribe to any YouTube channels?
About 50. When I first started paying attention to my subscriptions, I found I had a ton that I never watched (hundreds), so I removed a bunch and channels became much more useful. I have a mix based on what I like and how frequent they post – some folks post a lot like NASA or The Laugh Factory, some post about weekly like BadLipReading, and some run in seasons like Video Game High School.
What is the one YouTube channel you watch more than any other?
I flipped through my Watch History and I think it’s Red Bull. They do some of the craziest, most inspiring stuff all within a few minutes, and they’re always trying to push the limit with their next video. I know I’m in for a surprise every time from them, from their Kluge video to their Enduro Chronicles series.
What’s the most common way you find new online video (on YouTube or elsewhere)?
These days it’s through the Social Feed on my guide. It’s a feed just of what my friends are sharing on social networks (G+, Facebook, Twitter). It’s like replacing all those “gotta watch this video” emails you get from friends and parents, with a feed you can easily flip through.
Christina Boland, 24, Director of Operations at Grind Spaces and casual user
How often do you go to YouTube.com?
Probably daily. A lot more when I’m drunk.
When you go to YouTube.com, is it to search for a new video, or is it to browse through your video options?
To search for a video or theme that I’m thinking of already.
Do you subscribe to any YouTube channels?
No.
What is the one YouTube channel you watch more than any other?
Not sure of any channels — I watch a lot of animal videos and a lot of music videos.
What’s the most common way you find new online video (on YouTube or elsewhere)?
Through word of mouth or Facebook.
Zadi Diaz, Head of Content Development, Disney Interactive Entertainment
How often do you go to YouTube.com?
Seems like I’ve had YouTube on an open browser tab since 2005. I check videos several times a day because it’s an important part of my job and because I’m obsessed with this form of entertainment. It’s what I’ve been doing for the past nine years.
When you go to YouTube.com, is it to search for a new video, or is it to browse through your video options?
Both. I do a lot of search through video. YouTube has in many ways taken the place of Google text search when it comes to finding and collecting specific topics of discussion. When I’m on YouTube, I do end up browsing through my subscriptions, especially if the thumbnail and title look engaging.
Do you subscribe to any YouTube channels?
I’m currently subscribed to 157 channels.
What is the one YouTube channel you watch more than any other?
Besides the Disney network of YouTube channels (my favorite is DisneyShows), there are three channels that I keep coming back to: iamOTHER, SoulPancake, and THNKR. I love their smart, positive vibe.
What’s the most common way you find new online video (on YouTube or elsewhere)?
I find videos through sites like Reddit, Buzzfeed, Tubefilter, NewMediaRockStars, and even Kickstarter. I’ll also find new videos through my social feeds on Facebook, Google+, Tumblr, and Twitter. I have a wide network of online friends and colleagues who produce, direct, write, or perform in web shows, so I’ll find new videos through them. And sometimes, I’ll even get a video that I haven’t seen from my mother-in-law via email!
Kristina, 12, student (and my second cousin)
How often do you go to YouTube.com?
At least every day.
When you go to YouTube.com, is it to search for a new video, or is it to browse through your video options?
I normally search for a video.
Do you subscribe to any YouTube channels?
Yes, I do subscribe to many people.
What is the one YouTube channel you watch more than any other?
Um I probably watch Shane Dawson more than anything.
What’s the most common way you find new online video (on YouTube or elsewhere)?
I find out through what YouTube recommends actually.
When you go to YouTube.com, is it to search for a new video, or is it to browse through your video options?
A little of column A, a little of column B. It’s fun to develop a subscription feed. Most people don’t even know what that means, so it’s cool to just be exploring how it could work, which it seems like no one, YouTube included, knows right now.
When I don’t see anything appealing in my feed, I tend to go to my most top pages, and see if they uploaded something I missed. If not, then I’ll just comb the most popular videos of the day. YouTube’s unfortunately made that harder to do in an effort to prove itself in the realm of original/consistent programming.
Do you subscribe to any YouTube channels?
Too many. Again, it’s really just fun to watch how it’s evolving. I subscribe to some I don’t regularly watch just to keep tabs on them.
What is the one YouTube channel you watch more than any other?
I’ve watched every Epic Rap Battles of History, but I’m a little biased as I used to work on them. I’ve been watching Dead Kevin a lot lately. When Fatal Farm releases new content, I’ll watch any and all of that too.
What’s the most common way you find new online video (on YouTube or elsewhere)?
Friends. I watch what people whose taste I trust, post. Outside of that, Facebook in general is a good barometer of what’s actually worth watching. If three people post the same thing, I’ll check it out. Two, it better have a good thumbnail.
Rebecca Lando, 30, Network Director, Nerdist Channel and Creator, Working Class Foodies
How often do you go to YouTube.com?
At least twice daily.
When you go to YouTube.com, is it to search for a new video, or is it to browse through your video options?
Both.
Do you subscribe to any YouTube channels?
Yes; about 25.
What is the one YouTube channel you watch more than any other?
Weekly, I check in every week to see what’s going on in the YouTube world and the type of feedback we get on our content. I try to keep up with what’s working and what the viewers are responding to, in addition to what isn’t.
When you go to YouTube.com, is it to search for a new video, or is it to browse through your video options?
I usually go to Youtube to browse through any new videos that pop up on my radar; sometimes thought I do find myself searching when I’m on the hunt for a specific music video or tutorial!
What is the one YouTube channel you watch more than any other?
The Platform! Although I might be biased in that regard (I check the channel constantly to see what’s working with our audience, and to see if there’s anything I can do to help improve my show).
What’s the most common way you find new online video (on YouTube or elsewhere)?
YouTube, YouTube, YouTube. If you’re looking for new online videos, why go elsewhere but the source?
Final Thoughts
The big thing I observed from doing this survey: The responses from these folk, civilians and industry pros alike, show that social is still a huge part of discovery, even the people who understand the intricacies of the YouTube channel and subscription system.
However, the people actively using YouTube’s advanced features and finding new content through strategies like collaboration aren’t just the YouTube savvy — the youth of today are highly engaged with these methods. The question now becomes for YouTube: Is there a way to get everyone using the site behaving like a 12-year-old?
Want to add your own answers to the survey? Feel free to do so in the comments!
In a statement that can only be seen as a huge win for activists in this arena, the White House just announced that “it’s time to legalize cellphone unlocking.”
“The White House agrees with the 114,000+ of you who believe that consumers should be able to unlock their cell phones without risking criminal or other penalties,” said Senior Advisor for Internet, Innovation, & Privacy David Edelman. “In fact, we believe the same principle should also apply to tablets, which are increasingly similar to smart phones. And if you have paid for your mobile device, and aren’t bound by a service agreement or other obligation, you should be able to use it on another network. It’s common sense, crucial for protecting consumer choice, and important for ensuring we continue to have the vibrant, competitive wireless market that delivers innovative products and solid service to meet consumers’ needs.”
In January, unlocking new cellphones became illegal via a decision from the Library of Congress. In short, they reversed their decision to exempt cellphone unlocking from the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. It’s still legal to unlock phones purchased before January 26th, but doing so on any device purchased after that cutoff mean you could run afoul of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
Edelman goes on to explain that the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) previously made their opinion on the matter known – full support for the concept of cellphone unlocking. But that the NTIA’s recommendation was ultimately rejected by the Library of Congress.
“The rulemaking is a technical, legal proceeding and involves a lengthy public process,” they said.
And although they recognize that “rulemaking serves a very important function, but it was not intended to be a substitute for deliberations of broader public policy,” it doesn’t look like the Library is planning on fast-tracking the will of the people here (and now the White House).
“Clearly the White House and Library of Congress agree that the DMCA exception process is a rigid and imperfect fit for this telecommunications issue, and we want to ensure this particular challenge for mobile competition is solved,” said Edelman, also noting that the White House respects the process performed by the Librarian of establishing and eliminating exceptions – in this case having to do with the DMCA.
Here’s what the White House says about moving forward:
The Obama Administration would support a range of approaches to addressing this issue, including narrow legislative fixes in the telecommunications space that make it clear: neither criminal law nor technological locks should prevent consumers from switching carriers when they are no longer bound by a service agreement or other obligation.
We also believe the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), with its responsibility for promoting mobile competition and innovation, has an important role to play here. FCC Chairman Genachowski today voiced his concern about mobile phone unlocking, and to complement his efforts, NTIA will be formally engaging with the FCC as it addresses this urgent issue.
Casey Anthony, the woman acquitted of the murder of her daughter, Caylee Anthony, in 2011, today arrived at a federal courthouse in Florida to attend a bankruptcy hearing. As soon as she stepped from her car, she was swarmed by cameramen and microphones. Anthony wore large sunglasses and was escorted through the paparazzi by her lawyer, Cheney Mason.
One extremely confrontational reporter can be heard saying, “Did you get away with murder Casey?” and ” Do you think you’d be better off if you pay a price?”
Anthony was arriving at the courthouse for a bankruptcy hearing. She claims debts of almost $800,000, and recently filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. During the hearing, Anthony is expected to be questioned by a bankruptcy trustee and her creditors about her finances. She will also be asked questions about how she has been supporting herself in the past months.
Reports hold that Anthony has not held a job since the murder trial in 2011. During that time she has secluded herself in hiding, only occasionally being glimpsed in online videos. Today was the first time since the trial that she has appeared in public.
Have you ever bought something online and clicked the box that says “accept” without having any idea of what you’re actually accepting? Or maybe you looked at the fine print but it didn’t make any sense.
Or, you sit in an office with a salesperson who has a stack of paperwork for a product you’re financing. They give you a two-minute explanation of what it all means and ask if you have any questions. You say “no” because it’s embarrassing to say that you didn’t understand what they just said. And when they say “sign here” you do it. Congratulations! You’ve just bought an iPad for… $3,600?!!
So, what can servicemembers do when they’re confused at signing time?
If you can’t make heads or tails of a contract, take it to someone who can: your installation Personal Financial Manager or JAG. If the seller doesn’t want to give you a copy of the contract before you sign, that’s a red flag; so is pressure to sign it “right now, while the offer is still available!&rdquo Don’t be afraid to step away and say you want to take time to think the purchase over.
The BlackBerry Keep Moving Project has started today, revealing details of their massive Z10 giveaway. Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile and AT&T customers have a chance to win one of 200 BlackBerry Z10 smartphones per carrier as well a shot at the grand prize: one of 12 pairs of VIP tickets to meet Alicia Keys and attend a concert in London England as well as a pair of BlackBerry Z10s.
Registration begins today with a limit of one entry per person. Registration ends on March 20th with the winners drawn around March 27th. Click on your carrier below to enter the sweepstakes:
Samsung is about to show off a new flagship phone at an event on March 14, and details continue to leak out about the new smartphone. The New York Times’ Brian X. Chen reports today that eye movement-based content scrolling will be among the Galaxy S IV’s features. Chen’s source, a Samsung employee, also says that the emphasis will be on software, not hardware at the upcoming press event.
Samsung’s next smartphone will be able to track a user’s eyes and scroll articles and other types of content based on where they’re focused, the source said, so that if a user was reading a web page and hit the bottom, the device could automatically scroll more content up into view. There’s no guarantee it will be demoed on stage, according to the article, but the Korean company should be showing off more new software features, instead of demoing hardware advancements.
A software-centric approach to an Android flagship device launch is nothing new. HTC showed off its own new flagship device, the One, at an event in NYC last month and the bulk of the presentation focused on Sense 5.0. Android OEMs seem keen to highlight what it is that makes the experience of using their devices fundamentally different from using the Android phones of other makers, a good strategy when each successive generation of devices seem to share more in common than not when it comes to specs and internal components.
The NYT points out that Samsung already has trademarks on “Eye Scroll” technology, as it could be applied to smartphones as well as tablets, cameras and other devices. A trademark in this case might actually be more indicative of product plans than a patent, since it demonstrates at least some intent to actually bring the named product to market.
Eye movement-based scrolling could work well, but only if perfectly executed. If the tech registers too many false positives or disappoints in other regards, it’ll end up being more of an annoyance than a feature, and users will simply turn it off. But if executed properly, it could definitely be a decent differentiating factor. And if Samsung opens up access to scrolling features to third-party apps, that could really help its platform stand apart from others in the Android space. But again, if it’s even a bit touchy in terms of implementation, the eye-tracking tech will likely be more of a forgettable edition than anything with real value, at least for this generation.
Last week, education researcher Sugata Mitra won the first-ever $1 million TED Prize to build his School in the Cloud. Sugata Mitra: Build a School in the CloudPrior to his TED Prize win, Mitra was known for his “Hole in the Wall” experiment. In 1999, Mitra and his colleagues dug a hole in a wall near an urban slum in New Delhi, installed an Internet-connected PC and left it there — while a hidden camera filmed the area. Through the video feed, they observed children from the slum playing around with the computer, teaching themselves how to use it and sharing with others their amazing discoveries.
At TED2013, Mitra invited the world to embrace child-driven learning by setting up Self-Organized Learning Environments (SOLEs) and helping him design a learning lab in India, where children can “embark on intellectual adventures.”
We gave Mitra a call and asked him to reflect on his TED Prize win, dive deeper into his thoughts about learning and share the personal experiences that inspired his passion for igniting curiosity in children across the globe.
Here’s our conversation:
What does winning the TED Prize mean to you?
To me, it is a great symbol of recognition — that my work of the last few decades does have acceptability and is of real interest to the world. I was nervous that my work would get put aside as “out of the box,” a phrase I dislike immensely, and forgotten. I am more confident now, thanks to TED.
How did your upbringing shape your interest in self-directed learning?
I did not know anything about self-directed learning until 1999 when I stumbled upon it because of the Hole in the Wall experiment. I grew up more or less by myself in a big bungalow in Delhi with a large garden that had lots of trees and all sorts of birds, animals and insects. We used to learn together, if that makes any sense.
If you were part of a SOLE as a child, what big question do you imagine you might have asked first?
I think I have always been in a SOLE. I grew up quite alone and used to experiment constantly with my surroundings — trees and animals and birds and myself. There were no computers, so I used to ask questions to nature, and often, she would answer.
What is the first thing you remember learning on your own? Did you enjoy the process?
When I was 4 or so, we used to live in my mother’s house in Calcutta. The morning newspaper was rolled up and tossed into our first-floor balcony by the newspaper man. I was always up very early and used to pick it up and take it to my grandfather. I did not know he was dying from cancer. One day when I went to his room with the paper, it was empty and there were people crying. I went back to the balcony and put the paper back where it had fallen and stood for some time wondering if I should pick it up and try again. I learned you can’t turn back time. I did not enjoy the process, I am afraid.
Some people have misunderstood your strategy as anti-teacher, when in fact you are arguing that teachers have a crucial role to play — just a different one — in this technological age. Who was your favorite teacher and why?
My favorite teacher was Father Lewicki at St. Xavier’s High School. When I was 16, I told him I don’t see why I should believe in God. He said I should read Teilhard de Chardin and decide for myself.
Will child-driven education work differently depending on a child’s culture, gender and access to resources?
Easy access to an unsupervised, publicly visible computer with broadband is critical. But children are impacted differently depending on their reading comprehension, particularly in English. Culture does not matter so much when you are dealing with 8-12-year-olds. Neither does gender.
How has parenting informed your perspective on self-directed learning?
My father did his Ph.D. under Benjamin Bloom in Chicago, in the days of objective-driven and “programmed” learning. He then became one of the first psychoanalysts in India. I think he taught me a lot of things by not telling me to do things — by not teaching and only listening.
I learnt how to listen and that people will tell you everything if you listen and say “hmmm” once in a while. My mother, who was once a student of Rabindranath Tagore, taught me how to do lots of things just by thinking about them.
Your Hole in the Wall experiment inspired Vikas Swarup’s novel Q & A, the book that Slumdog Millionaire is based on. How do you think your TED Prize wish will impact popular culture?
In an age where “knowing” may be obsolete, Homo sapiens will have to reinvent ourselves. The wish, I hope, will be a tiny step in that direction. If children have wings, they will learn how to fly.
Did your experience as a parent impact your views about self-directed learning?
The Hole in the Wall experiment was based on what I had learned from my son when he was 6. It was 1987 and I had bought my first PC, spending nearly a year’s salary at the time. When it arrived, I said to my son, “Don’t even think about it.”
About three days later, I was looking for a file on the DOS system. Every time I typed DIR, all the file names would scroll up too fast for me to read them. As I was trying the third time, a little voice from behind said. “If you type DIR/W/P, it will show up like a page.” I was a bit shocked. “How did you know that?” I asked. “Well, that’s what you did yesterday!” he said. From then on, I let him use the computer.
In a couple of weeks, I was asking my son how to do things that I did not know my computer could do. I wrote a paper suggesting that children can learn to use computers by themselves just by watching each other. It was very badly received. Twelve years later, in 1999, my friend and employer Rajendra Pawar let me do the Hole in the Wall. He had no clue what I was trying to find out. The rest is history.
Athenian Venture Partners said Regi Kunnel has been named the firm’s controller. Kunnel has worked at GE Capital and the Easthill Group. Also at Athenian, Mary Strother was promoted to managing director, investor relations, and Danielle Allison to vice president of operations.
PRESS RELEASE
Athenian Venture Partners Appoints Regi Kunnel Controller 20-Year Financial Professional Joins Firm; Investor Relations and Operations Heads Promoted
ATHENS, Ohio – March 4, 2013 – Athenian Venture Partners, a venture capital firm investing in information technology and healthcare companies, announced today that Regi Kunnel has been named the firm’s controller. Kunnel brings more than 20 years of experience in accounting, finance, operations management and management consulting to the firm. Additionally, Mary Strother was promoted to managing director, investor relations and Danielle Allison to vice president of operations.
Kunnel’s responsibilities include oversight of all financial operations including accounting, tax and financial reporting, as well as financial modeling and analysis. Prior to Athenian, his career spanned appointments with multi-divisional and global organizations, such as GE Capital, and private organizations, including the Easthill Group. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from Drexel University and a MBA from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, PA.
“Regi’s decades of financial management experience across multiple industries will be a great asset to Athenian and our portfolio companies, as will Mary’s and Danielle’s continued leadership in marketing and operations” said Karl Elderkin, founder and managing partner, Athenian Venture Partners. “We welcome Regi to the firm and congratulate Mary and Danielle on their promotions. Together, the three appointments position Athenian, our portfolio companies and limited partners for continued success.”
As Managing Director, Investor Relations, Strother will increase her focus on leading firm initiatives with respect to fundraising, marketing, investor communications and public relations. Having joined the firm in 2007, Strother also works broadly across Athenian’s investment management business, participating in deal sourcing, deal flow, investment screening and the due diligence process. Strother is also involved in the local community, consulting for early stage businesses with patented IP, leading broad go-to-market efforts, as well as seeking and negotiating deal terms with angel investors.
Allison will maintain her core focus on the coordination of quarterly reporting efforts and deal flow tracking, human resources management, events planning and logistical support for the Athenian partners and staff in addition to focusing on fundraising and marketing as part of her increased responsibilities as vice president of operations. She joined Athenian in 2000.
About Athenian Venture Partners
Athenian Venture Partners identifies and cultivates intellectual capital in two of the most dynamic market segments: Information Technology and Healthcare. The Athenian team takes a thoughtful approach to investing, doing the rational work upfront with accountability to both its investors and its portfolio companies. With a presence in California, Massachusetts Ohio and Florida, Athenian Venture Partners spans the most interesting technology and healthcare communities to create new investment opportunities others may miss and deliver proven results for the long term.
After more than a year of testing how its app performed more controlled single-hop environment, Open Garden co-founder and CEO Micha Benoliel said that the company is ready to see how its app performs in the more random world of unimpeded crowdsourcing. Open Garden waited until now because it didn’t have the density of users to make large-scale mesh networking feasible.
Norton has refreshed its entire 2013 security range with the release of 
Last week, education researcher Sugata Mitra won the first-ever $1 million TED Prize to build his 
Sugata Mitra: Build a School in the Cloud
