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Thoughtpick: A unique perspective of the Web and social media...
A unique perspective of the Web and social media...

February 13, 2010

The Olympics Block Social Media (Or Not Really)

Rule 49 of the Olympic Charter says: “Only those persons accredited as media may act as journalists, reporters or in any other media capacity.”

Ambiguous, you might say, and Olympic stars agree.

American skier Lindsey Vonn tweeted, “Because of the Olympic rules (blackout period) I will not be able to post any updates from now until march 3rd. Sorry, it bums me out too!”

Meanwhile, speedskater Nick Pearson also tweeted that “Due to Olympic regulations I can no longer post pics on Twitter through the Olympics.” Too bad.

message

Vonn's Twitter Message

Messgage

Pearson's Twitter Message

Complete social media black-out, you say? Oh, Olympic Committee, it’s 2010, and the time for transparency is here.

[read full article >>]

Filed under: Web News — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Roba @ 9:30 pm

January 28, 2010

Will the iPad Change Social Media?

We’ve all heard it now. The most over-hyped non-product in history of the world is finally a product.

It even has a name. It’s not the “iSlate” nor the “Apple Tablet” that people have been using for a while, it’s actually called the iPad (naturally, #iTampon was a trending topic on Twitter soon after).

The gorgeous Apple iPad

The gorgeous Apple iPad

While many people are disappointed, saying that the iPad is nothing more than an over-sized iTouch, I personally believe that it will be game-changing. Maybe this particular release won’t knock us off our heels, but eventually, with the proper support, a large list of applications, and a little mind-set change from the consumer side, this device is going to be the iPod of “handheld companions“.

Let me explain…

[read full article >>]

Filed under: Future of the Web — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Roba @ 4:06 pm

January 15, 2010

Google StreetView: Virtually Stealing Adspace

Google patent for the ads

Google patent for the ads

Google was just granted the patent above, which is leading internet observers to believe that Google will soon introduce ad-retailing on outdated billboards in Google Street View.

Basically, if a banner owner feels like the ad showing is totally out of date, he would be able to update the spot with a different ad, just like on a real billboard.  According to the patent, it will also work with posters in shop windows and theatres, and Google seems to be planning to also sell space for “unclaimed” spots–potentially leaving the spots free for rival services to advertise on a competitor’s business.

500x_googlebillboard

Okay, it probably won't look exactly like this...

What Does This Mean For Online Advertising?

With banner blindness going stronger than ever, advertisers and ad-sellers must come up with new ways to make use of the online community to generate advertising money.

Advertising in virtual worlds like Second Life became very popular several years back, but soon proved to be a fad. Meanwhile, contextual advertising like Adsense is still growing strong.

[read full article >>]

Filed under: Web News — Tags: , , , , , , , , , — Roba @ 5:35 pm

January 6, 2010

Chrome Commercial: Taking Technology Out of Technology

This is a very nice video created by BBH for the Chrome browser, demonstrating the benefits of Google Chrome.

Every thing in this video is done by hand, an amusing feat for the Internet giant that thrives on technology. Even the music is played by a harpist live on set. Google, famous for its lack of design, is finally getting visually interesting.

What do you think? Do you like this ad? Would it make you move to Chrome? Does the strategy of moving away from 3D creations and jargon-filled techtalk work for products that serve our technological needs? Especially something as niche as a web-browser that does not exactly reflect on a lifestyle choice, as say, an iPhone would.

Via BBHLabs.

Filed under: Offbeat — Tags: , , , , , , — Roba @ 9:00 pm

January 1, 2010

Happy New Year – From Thoughtpick Team

Goodbye 2009!

Goodbye 2009!

The Thoughtpick team would like to extend their greetings and wishes for a happy 2010 to all of you tweeple, bloggers, Facebook lovers, Mixxers, Diggers, Redditors and other faithful social media users :)We hope this year will bring you more love, smiles, knowledge and new unique experiences!

We’d like to thank you for being loyal readers and followers to our blog and main contributors to the success we have managed to achieve up until now.

In return, and for 2010, we promise to bring you more and more:

  1. Great web & social media news: to enrich your knowledge base.
  2. Fun & humor-loaded posts: to brighten up your days.
  3. Hacks & workarounds: to help you be in charge of your web usage.
  4. Controversial picks: to engage you in our thoughts about social media and its use.
  5. Research-based topics: to share all that we learn from the web with you!

Stay tuned with us and see if we fulfill our promise to you :)

Kindly except our warmest regards,

The Toughtpick Team.

Filed under: ThoughtPick News — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Beirut @ 5:18 pm

December 15, 2009

Verizon CEO: “Technology Will Make Hulu Irrelevant” [video]

“The companies that continues to innovate will be able to extend their brand and their business model longer than the people who don’t innovate“. Ivan Seidenberg, Verizon CEO

Hulu connects the physical world with the digital world yet through certain, often less than simple steps. Therefore, and logically speaking, Hulu is bound to become obsolete in a few years because there definitely will be other technologies which will certainly provide even simpler and more innovative grounds to allowing for a more integrated connection between our world and what’s on the web.

Verizon’s CEO refers to the Sixth Sense concept, which was introduced to the world a few months ago. According to him, concepts like these will render other available technologies useless in a few years, and I totally agree: who needs to sit at home to watch the news when it can be streamed at any time and place and projected on to a wall?

Finally and to wrap up this post, I’d like to ask you a few questions: Have you ever used Hulu? Do you agree that it will soon vanish? What other technologies do you know of and which have the ability to take over our world in a few years?

Filed under: Future of the Web — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , — Beirut @ 10:00 pm

December 8, 2009

Nokia Musings: The mobile phone that can be whatever you want it to be! [video]

The other day I was reading a post about the Nanotech Europe report of 2009 and how developments in the field of nano-technologies have been coming along in Europe. After reading the post I couldn’t help but remember a gem of a design concept that was released by Nokia last year and I wanted to share it with you.

Nokia has always been a leader and innovator in the field of communications and this video gives us a glimpse at what Nokia thinks the future will look like. They explore different applications and uses that nano-technology will have in the field of communications and some of the benefits of being able to achieve the dream of nano computing and how it will effect the way we communicate and interact with reality.

This concept design is called Morph, and as the name implies it’s the mobile phone that will be whatever you want it to be.

Nokia Musings: The Future is Nano

Filed under: Future of the Web — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , — M. Bamieh @ 9:28 pm

December 3, 2009

How the Internet Enables Intimacy [video talk from TED]

In my previous post, I shared a piece of research that supports the notion that internet users not only have a larger and more diverse group of people whom they confide in, but they tend to be more active in the public sphere. Along the same chain of thought, below is an interesting talk by Stefana Broadbent discussing her research and findings about how technology and the internet in specific help foster intimacy. It is really taken for granted how easier nowadays it is to stay in touch with our loved ones when we are millions of miles away from them, helping us to maintain strong relationships with those who care about even when we are far away. In turn our ability to commute and communicate helps us go further away from our “homes” in the pursuit for a better life.

Stefana Broadbent on TED about Intimacy

Hope you enjoyed the talk as much as I did. What program is your choice for staying in touch with your loved ones? Skype, MSN, Gtalk…? Do you agree with Broadbent’s findings? Lets us hear you thoughts.

Filed under: Deductions and Realizations — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — M. Bamieh @ 9:00 pm

November 10, 2009

The Self-Destructing Worm: Crawling into an iPhone Near You!

Within a few days of publishing an article entitled “The iPhone is the worst phone in the world“, the iPhone self-destructing worm came into play. Is Flora Graham clairvoyant? Or is it just that the iPhone is simply going downhill just like any other ex super-hyped, highly-priced technological device about to hit the gutter?

Around 8 months from posting her article: How I learned to stop worrying and love the iPhone, Flora Graham brutally attacks the iPhone in terms of dropping calls, data gaps, poor overall design, relatively short battery life and so on. I am curious here: What brought about this hate after what seemed to be a deeply entrenched “love” relationship built on trust and respect for the phone’s features and the tools it provides?

Ikee iPhone Wallpaper

Ikee iPhone Wallpaper

Personally, I never was interested in buying an iPhone; the Blackberry was more appealing to me due to its highly facilitated and flexible access to e-mails. However, I keep up with the latest technology news and reviews and have never yet, up until the past week, come across such negative reviews about the iPhone then all of a sudden, boom, the iPhone’s fairly good reputation starts heading down hill!

“The 21-year-old hacker, Ashley Towns, has written a worm – a type of self-replicating computer program similar to a virus, that changes the iPhone’s wallpaper to show a picture of 80’s pop singer Rick Astley and displays the message “ikee is never going to give you up“.”

It makes you wonder, doesn’t it, to what extent are we really safe with technology? And how long can we depend on our phones and even computers to keep our information intact and safe from hacks, spam and / or theft?

Looking forward to reading your thoughts down below :)

Filed under: Web News — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Beirut @ 8:47 pm

October 27, 2009

“The Future Internet: Service Web 3.0″ [video]

“Information is a source of learning. But unless it is organized, processed, and available to the right people in a format for decision making, it is a burden, not a benefit.” William Pollard. I agree and I’m sure that most of you do as well!

Take a look at the following video; my analysis will follow right after.

After viewing the video and reading the quote above , I am only inclined to think about the following issues with rather serious concerns and heavy hesitations: Is it wise to push for information to be handled solely by machines speaking to each other with minimum human interference? What is the degree to which privacy is compromised when utilizing semantic technologies? And do we have enough backup capacities to secure information in case of electricity cuts or natural disasters?

What do you think?

Filed under: Future of the Web — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , — Beirut @ 6:56 pm
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