CircleCount helps you better understand Google+

2013-05-21 14:45:59 (23 comments, 8 reshares, 59 +1s)

It has long baffled me how well local TV news has continued to do -- in audience and even trust -- as newspapers have imploded. Well, that could change. At the NJ News Commons #njmedialab , Pew's Amy Mitchell said local TV news is "newly vulnerable" particularly with young audience. 
She also said that up to 40% of local TV "news" is sports, weather, and traffic -- and that those content areas are particularly vulnerable to competition from mobile applications. 
I see opportunity here....

2013-05-18 21:00:20 (195 comments, 133 reshares, 512 +1s)

If you're not watching #Eurovision, you gotta see this act from Romania. If vampires could sing.....

2013-05-18 19:28:25 (24 comments, 2 reshares, 42 +1s)

Those of us outside Europe can watch the kitchefest that is Eurovision 2013 here... 

2013-05-18 19:19:19 (20 comments, 61 reshares, 214 +1s)

Quote of the week: "We should be building great things that don't exist."

Cap off your Friday with +Larry Page's speech and Q&A from the #io13  keynote: 

2013-05-18 19:16:19 (19 comments, 48 reshares, 183 +1s)

This is indeed the best (and funniest) reaction to Google Glass yet.  If you think +Ron Richards needs his own pair, re-share and let +Project Glass know. He gets my vote.

#io13   #GlassExplorers  

2013-05-18 00:09:50 (38 comments, 8 reshares, 370 +1s)

First annual meeting of the All-Google Diet Society of North America.

Good turnout: +Jeff Jarvis and me.

2013-05-17 23:56:52 (5 comments, 4 reshares, 28 +1s)

This week I started releasing a cycle of work that began 14 years ago when I read my first article about "open source journalism." I thought then, and still believe, that the craft of beat reporting would be changed by the discovery that, as Dan Gillmor put it in 1999, "my readers know more than I do." That, plus the frictionless ease by which information and expertise from knowledgable users could flow in would make possible a different kind of beat coverage. 

A lot has happened since I came to that conclusion 14 years ago: The rise of blogging after 2000, which changed the READ ONLY web into Read/Write. The rise of social after 2007, which changed the web into read/writer/share. The routine use of networked methods in journalism, as with finding sources over Twitter or Facebook. 

But we still haven't seen the networked beat emerge in full form yet, and thati... more »

2013-05-17 15:34:06 (76 comments, 8 reshares, 107 +1s)

The future came crashing down on me this week at Google I/O while I stood at a bathroom urinal.

2013-05-16 22:46:47 (53 comments, 23 reshares, 217 +1s)

Mayor Bloomberg wearing Google Glass at Google NYC's 10th year anniversary.

2013-05-16 22:45:52 (18 comments, 15 reshares, 121 +1s)

Revenge of geek girls, no lines on our bathrooms

2013-05-16 17:15:35 (23 comments, 3 reshares, 67 +1s)

At the Google+ fireside chat at #io13. Good question: How does Google want users to see Google+? The answer was at first how + brings benefit to Google in its attempt to bring more relevance to users. The questioner reiterated: But how do you want users to see G+? The answer: as part of their lives.

2013-05-16 16:06:18 (37 comments, 29 reshares, 248 +1s)

Pixels, Pixels, everywhere. #io13

2013-05-16 13:58:15 (25 comments, 1 reshares, 142 +1s)

Woah, this new Google+ really is beautiful. +1 would visit again

2013-05-16 00:32:25 (8 comments, 72 reshares, 163 +1s)

Selling web ads as time not space

I just saw some mind-bending work Chartbeat is about to release about measuring the time users spend exposed to an ad online.

As background, to quote Chartbeat CEO Tony Haile: “Chartbeat monitors activity by checking in with users every second and looking for signals (mouse movement, key strokes, etc) that show they are actively consuming the content in front of them. This means they can measure how long readers spend actively engaged on a page and what parts they’re reading. Because of this Chartbeat knows how long are actively reading while an ad is in view — both for an average user and the cumulative time of all users.” Chartbeat then did some internal research that found high correlation between engaged time exposed and a user’s ability to recall the advertiser’s brand and message. This has many implications:

*Measured th... more »

2013-05-15 22:48:56 (34 comments, 6 reshares, 358 +1s)

+Gina Trapani +Jeff Jarvis and me at Google I/OQ

2013-05-15 19:07:56 (57 comments, 1 reshares, 236 +1s)

I just got the new Google+. 

2013-05-14 22:02:26 (6 comments, 2 reshares, 24 +1s)

Two sets of idiots or venal fools did stupid shit at the IRS and Bloomberg, but I don't think that leads us to grand lessons about the states of technology and humanity -- to wit from David Carr: 

"The absence of friction has led to a culture of transgression. Clearly, if it can be known, it will be known."

And: "How long before data gathering moves from the front of our face — Google Glass — to inside our head? Some people are newly worried that Big Brother is coming and others say he is already here, having taken up residence in the cloud, where he snacks on Big Data as he pleases."

And: "To be seen is also to be under surveillance." Come again? 

And finally: "But best to keep in mind that the most ubiquitous threats to our privacy do not originate in some secret government bunker. In the media, in the general public,in bu... more »

2013-05-14 21:24:58 (36 comments, 14 reshares, 46 +1s)

Ridiculous ruling.

2013-05-14 19:34:21 (3 comments, 5 reshares, 45 +1s)

About 14 years ago, I got a bad cold, and my voice became hoarse.  At the time I didn’t think much about it.  But my voice never fully recovered.  So I went to a doctor and was diagnosed with left vocal cord paralysis.  This is a nerve problem that causes your left vocal cord to not move properly.  Despite extensive examination, the doctors never identified a cause — though there was speculation of virus-based damage from my cold.  It is quite common in cases like these that a definitive cause is not found.

While this condition never really affected me — other than having a slightly weaker voice than normal which some people think sounded a little funny — it naturally raised questions in my mind about my second vocal cord.  But I was told that sequential paralysis of one vocal cord following another is extremely rare.  

Fast forward to last summer, when the same patternrepeated itself... more »

2013-05-14 13:40:52 (6 comments, 2 reshares, 9 +1s)

All this effort over practices that hurt nobody is yet another symptom of the EU's unraveling.  Fiddling about ersatz-privacy issues while the Union burns and its citizens are buried under bureaucratic and economic muck.   

2013-05-13 16:53:17 (155 comments, 39 reshares, 166 +1s)

So much fascinating in this poll:
* Voters trust Hillary Clinton over Congressional GOP re Benghazi. 
* Voters think immigration & gun reform more important than Benghazi. 
* Republicans becoming delusional. 41% of them think Benghazi is the worst political scandal ever; +70% of them say it's worse than Watergate, Teapot Dome, Iran Contra. 
* Of those who says it's the worst scandal ever, however,  39% don't know where Benghazi is!

2013-05-13 16:17:32 (11 comments, 27 reshares, 121 +1s)

Backstory on +Chris Hadfield's epic Space Oddity cover:

http://emmgryner.com/emmbassy/?q=node/861

2013-05-13 16:05:29 (2 comments, 4 reshares, 35 +1s)

Enjoyed my Q&A with Steven Levy, looking forward to Google IO +Steven Levy +Android +Google Chrome 

2013-05-12 23:53:28 (19 comments, 64 reshares, 188 +1s)

David Bowie's Space Oddity is an überepic piece of pop history. Today, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield launched what's maybe this songs most literal interpretation, recorded on board the International Space Station. Well deserved, Ziggy Stardust…

2013-05-12 13:46:35 (36 comments, 31 reshares, 70 +1s)

Newt Gingrich Meets the Smartphone (Annotated Edition)

http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/001030.html

-- Lauren --

2013-05-11 23:19:40 (37 comments, 15 reshares, 48 +1s)

The perfect example of a collision of many things on the Internet today, all of which we talk about in our book   http://www.newdigitalage.com/

1. 3D printing can in principle be used to build a personal weapon hard to detect
2. Plans are uploaded to the Internet and becomes a big story
3. The government asks the information be removed, but as there is no delete button copies are kept on foreign sites
4. The resultant publicity makes the problem worse.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/may/09/3d-printed-guns-plans-state-department

2013-05-11 23:18:53 (29 comments, 71 reshares, 221 +1s)

The many T- Shirts of Sheldon

2013-05-11 23:17:55 (21 comments, 1 reshares, 58 +1s)

Cinema Exec: Movie Theaters Could Possibly Ban Glass

2013-05-10 23:19:18 (11 comments, 35 reshares, 110 +1s)

"We hire for capability and learning ability before we hire for expertise."

People Ops SVP +Laszlo Bock explains our hiring principles in this short clip from +The Economist's Innovation Forum 2013.

Learn more about how we hire on our jobs site: http://goo.gl/LA6WX

2013-05-10 22:13:02 (43 comments, 4 reshares, 79 +1s)

Tried on Glass today. Really difficult with glasses. Such is a product from a company of the young. 

2013-05-10 15:26:14 (17 comments, 2 reshares, 75 +1s)

+Daniel Sieberg of Google comes to CUNY's mobile journalism class and shows off Glass. It's a star!

2013-05-10 13:12:39 (10 comments, 3 reshares, 25 +1s)

I had the best time last night as a juror at Quirky.com's product evaluation. With well-fed employees filling the room, I sat up front with Quirky founder Ben Kaufman, various executives from the company, and an inventor/firefighter (he created a popup cupcake tin). Fourteen ideas -- a dog-washing tub, an adjustable cane, a haptic-response compass/watch -- were presented and defended. Then anyone in the room, panel included, opined. The room voted. Meanwhile, the community, via chat, threw in its views and voted itself on inventions that divided the room. Last night, four inventors were anointed. Not all l their creations will come to market; there are more stages of development to go through. 

I love this company. It makes new things. It supports innovation. It brings more professionalism and reliability than some Kickstarter inventors can deliver. The culture is amazing -- people... more »

2013-05-09 18:14:59 (35 comments, 4 reshares, 45 +1s)

I'm signed up for citibike!

Anyone else signing up? A bit sad that despite having an annual membership, you get charged if your ride goes over 45/minutes at a time. Not so leisurely, but I don't believe that was the intention.

More info here: http://goo.gl/BUpuj

2013-05-09 17:51:02 (130 comments, 545 reshares, 1165 +1s)

Excellent video showing what Google Glass can do and what it's like to wear them.

2013-05-09 17:46:25 (23 comments, 1 reshares, 27 +1s)

Surely we won't call them citibikes. We'll call them Mike's Bikes, right? 
(From Manhattan, where we're waiting for the wheels to arrive. Note that riding through the fresh air exhaust of our city is not cheap. 

2013-05-09 02:35:29 (32 comments, 33 reshares, 81 +1s)

Please tell me this is a Brazilian joke. 

2013-05-08 20:25:37 (13 comments, 1 reshares, 51 +1s)

I'm about to use Google Chat video to go on This Week in Google. (Horray.) Question: I am seeing the video 16:9 on my end but at TWiG they're not. Any way to control  the ratio?

2013-05-07 17:15:24 (40 comments, 8 reshares, 42 +1s)

Scare journalism piece #47238113 about Glass. I've yet to read a single complaint about Glass' potential to "invade your privacy" where you couldn't replace "Glass" with "literally any smartphone" and make the same point.

This reminds me of how the NSA freaked out about Furbies in the late 90s.

2013-05-06 16:20:19 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 41 +1s)

I started a tumblog with funny pictures #throughglass . 

2013-05-05 22:13:42 (5 comments, 15 reshares, 76 +1s)

Heh. #throughglass  found on Twitter. What is this strange alien that came into our store?

2013-05-05 18:46:58 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 29 +1s)

Howard Kurtz screwed up, yes, but he also just showed an admirable example of accountability in apologizing on his CNN show Reliable Sources — saying that as a media critic he should be held to a higher standard of media trust — and then submitting to grilling by David Folkenflik of NPR and Dylan Byers of Politico.

The video is here. http://www.mediaite.com/tv/i-screwed-up-howard-kurtz-gets-grilled-on-controversy-over-his-erroneous-jason-collins-story/

Our first mistake in journalism is to pretend that we don’t make mistakes. That hubris has gone before many a fall. Now, of course, our imperfection is no excuse, no cover to make mistakes. But knowing they will be made, the real question is what we do about them. That is when credibility is truly tested. Kurtz and CNN just set a new example for what to do.

Imagine if Dan Rather of CBS or Judith Miller of The New YorkTimes ... more »

2013-05-05 14:59:01 (25 comments, 10 reshares, 48 +1s)

SNL mocks Glass. Doonesbury mocks Newton. The AP mocks cellphones. Yes, such silly things. 

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/weekend-update-randall-meeks/n36353
http://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/mobile-computing/18/319/1714
http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/gadgets/8514751/Snarky-journos-mocked-the-first-cellphone

2013-05-05 14:08:43 (8 comments, 22 reshares, 60 +1s)

My old boss gave a great commencement speech at University of Michigan today. Good messages in here.

2013-05-04 00:37:06 (26 comments, 3 reshares, 187 +1s)

Our new, new neighbor: a widdle wamb. 

2013-05-03 22:45:30 (56 comments, 9 reshares, 123 +1s)

Here we have Google's +Matt Cutts responding to John Dvorak's allegations that Google was falsely tagging his site as malware due to negative commentary about Google.  In fact, John's site indeed has been contaminated.  I not infrequently get email from people who believe they have been falsely accused by Google of serving malware.  For the record, upon examination, I have never found a single case where Google's malware warnings were incorrect.  Not one. - Lauren

2013-05-03 14:11:38 (5 comments, 1 reshares, 19 +1s)

On Advice

I didn’t know until this week’s Howard Kurtz kerfuffles that I was even listed as a member of the advisory board to his Daily Download. I did indeed give some advice to Kurtz and Lauren Ashburn a few years ago, before the site’s launch, in a half-hour phone call as I headed to JFK one day. I can’t even remember the topic. Since then, I think I was asked one question and emailed an answer. I know nothing more about the site.

The same thing happened to me at Patch. Before it launched, I was asked to come in and give some advice. I was offered remuneration to join the advisory board but refused because I help many hyperlocal ventures — being a believer in the cause — and did not want to be beholden to one. They asked whether they could say I advised them and I said sure, because I had. I found myself prominently displayed as a member of a board of advisers. Iconstantly ... more »

2013-05-03 00:39:19 (18 comments, 13 reshares, 84 +1s)

2013-05-01 14:48:06 (4 comments, 19 reshares, 63 +1s)

Excited about Midsummer Night’s Dreaming?

Billy Shakespeare and his pet pig Francis give you their take on the plot #Dream40

2013-05-01 14:07:29 (7 comments, 4 reshares, 34 +1s)

+Bradley Horowitz imagines some fascinating uses of Glass. Quoting....

"He described a virtual beam of color shooting out from Google Glass, painting whatever is in front of it. Popular things, like the Eiffel Tower or the Mona Lisa, would be bathed in color, from every other Google Glass user who came before you. Less popular things, like random trashcans, would be color-free.
He said he could imagine Google Glass users going on urban safaris, hunting for places that no other Glass user had been before.
Horowitz, who’s in charge of Google’s social products, notably Google+, was quick to say that he didn’t know about specific projects the Glass team was working on, just that the product fascinated him for its big data implications.
He described hundreds of people wearing Google Glass in the same location turning their heads simultaneously, and that registering withGoogle... more »

2013-05-01 13:17:08 (72 comments, 87 reshares, 205 +1s)

And you didn't think a Samsung product announcement could get any worse....