Source: http://www.bgr.com/2011/11/09/more-money-being-spent-on-online-music-than-ever-before-gartner-says/
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
More money being spent on online music than ever before, Gartner says
More money is being spent purchasing music online than ever before according to a new report from Gartner.�The firm’s data suggests that consumer spending on online music will reach $6.3 billion this year, up from $5.9 billion in 2010. “As consumers opt for connected devices ? media tablets, smartphones and connected media players ? across world regions, their desire for access to and consumption of music and content is growing as well,” Gartner research vice president Mike McGuire said. “The primary stakeholders in the music industry are facing wrenching changes and a somewhat uncertain future. However, the next four to five years portend solid growth.” Read on for more. Subscription services will account for $532.1 million in end-user spending this
Profanity doesn't work
I was perusing the Interwebs yesterday and stumbled on a new article from Zach Holman called Don't Give Your Users Shit Work. I was a little taken aback by the swear word in the title. I clicked around Zach's site, and found his Talks area and clicked on A Documentation Talk and the second slide dropped the F-bomb. Wow, really? I said to myself, is this how to connect with someone who is trying to learn about a technology? I was surprised to find swearing to up front and center on Zach's blog.
Is swearing in technology conference presentations appropriate? When did this start being OK? Swearing has always been a part of popular culture and certainly always been a part of technology and technology people. However, in my experience swearing has been more often an after work bonding activity, if at all. It's hanging with fellow coders in a pub after a long day's debugging. It wasn't a part of presentations and certainly not welcome in the boardroom.
I propose that David Heinemeier Hanson popularized swearing unapologetically, or at least brought it out in the open at large keynotes and presentations. David says:
...I?ve used profanity to great effect is at conferences where you feel you know the audience enough to loosen your tie and want to create a mental dog ear for an idea. Of all the presentations I?ve given, I?ve generally had the most positive feedback from the ones that carried enough passion to warrant profanity and it?s been very effective in making people remember key ideas.
As with any tool, it can certainly be misused and applied to the wrong audience. But you can cut yourself with a great steak knife too. Use profanity with care and in the right context and it can be f***ing amazing.
He rightfully notes that it's a tool used with care and isn't appropriate for all instances, but from what I've seen of DHHs talks as well as in pursuing Zach's (who is a lovely chap, by the way), it appears they believe it's a good tool more often than not.
Perhaps it's generational or cultural, but more and more a lot of new under-30 web techies drop the F-bomb and swear liberally in their presentations and slides. Is this the way young web technologists do business now?
I believe that having S*** and F*** in your conference slides or titles doesn't make you cool or professional, or a better coder. It makes you look crass. When is it appropriate and why is it appropriate when other things aren't?
A few years back there was a controversy when some sexually suggestive pictures were used at a popular technology conference in a database presentation. From Martin Fowler:
The main lines of the debate are familiar. Various people, not all women, lay the charge that the images and general tone was offensive. Such material makes women feel degraded and alienated. This kind of presentation would not be tolerated at most professional events.
Defenders of the presenter point out that the slides were humorous and no offense was intended.
Clearly everyone agrees that sexism has no place in technology presentations. They agreed before this incident and many re-declared their support for sexism-free presentations after.
However, many top presenters don't agree that words that are evocative of sex and feces are in fact not appropriate. They would argue these two words have transcended their original meaning and are now well-used as punctuation or that the F-word is useful as nine different parts of speech. Both of these arguments are demonstrably true, but there's so many other words to use. Is the linguistic usefulness of the F-word too tantalizing to give up? Martin mentions DDH using his own words:
David Heinemeier Hansson is happy to proclaim himself as an R rated individual and is happy to consign "professional" to the same pit to which he cast "enterprise".
I personally don't put the word professional in the same overused category as "enterprise." Professionalism is well understood, in my opinion and usual not up for debate. Perhaps swearing is appropriate on a golf course where the Sales Suits make deals, but it's not appropriate in business meetings, earnings calls, or technology presentations.
There's hundreds of thousands of perfectly cromulent words to use that aren't the Seven Dirty Words. Or even just the two words that evoke scatology or copulation. At least use some colorful metaphors or create a new turn of phrase. Shakespeare managed, thou frothy tickle-brained popinjay. Zounds.
However, I do recognize that swearing, or specifically the choice to swear in a public forum is stylistic. I wouldn't presume to ascribe intelligence or lack thereof based solely on swearing. To DHH and Zach Holman's credit, their swearing in presentations is a conscious and calculated choice.
Zach says, via Twitter:
I love words. And those words evoke a lot of emotion. I want presentations to be emotional. I want a story to be told...it's certainly a stylistic choice I've made (and connected with). I actually am fine with offending or alienating a few. Because I believe it lets me connect deeper with others.
And this last point is where Zach and I differ. While I'm known to swear in person occasionally, I don't swear on this blog or in presentations. In fact, when I did swear in a recent "off the record" podcast, many found it out of character and off-putting.
Swearing in presentations or as a part of your public persona might be attractive to some technologists who admire your "passion" or "zeal" but there's no doubt that many others will find that kind of unnecessary coarseness turn off.
It's worth noting that DHH is Danish and it's been my experience all over the world that it's primarily Americans that are the most easily offended by the use of our own swear words. You'll often hear the F-bomb on even teenage television shows in many European countries and their movies are almost never censored for language.
Swearing in presentations isn't unique to DHH or Zach, and it's not unique to one technology or another. I'm just using them as an example. Both are reasonable and logical guys, so they both realize this is a difference in a opinion and not a personal attach. In fact, Rob Conery and are working on getting both fellows on the show to talk about Swearing, Connecting with your Audience and Professionalism sometime soon.
My question is, do swear words add as much as they subtract? Do they increase your impact while decreasing your potential audience? I believe that swearing decreases your reach and offers little benefit in return. Swearing is guaranteed to reduce the size of your potential audience.
As I've said before:
"Being generally pleasant and helpful isn't sugarcoating, it's being pleasant and helpful."
I appreciate and respect that profanity in presentations is a deliberate choice. You're cultivating a personal brand.
However, you take no chances of offending by not swearing, but you guarantee to offend someone if you do.
Better if it's a focused style, a conscious choice and all part of your master plan but it's not for me. I choose to blog, speak and teach without swearing. My message is clearer without these words.
� 2011 Scott Hanselman. All rights reserved.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ScottHanselman/~3/lTWdDC4CYB8/ProfanityDoesntWork.aspx
Kobo to be acquired by Japanese e-commerce giant for $315 million
Kobo, purveyor of eReaders and eBook software across a variety of platforms, announced on Tuesday that it will be acquired by Japan-based Rakuten.�Rakuten will purchase 100% of outstanding shares of of Kobo for $315 million in cash. Based in Toronto, Ontario, Kobo was spun off of Canadian retailer Indigo in late 2009, and the company has struggled to compete against the likes of Amazon and Barnes & Noble in the eBook space.�”We are very excited about this next step,” said Rakuten CEO Hiroshi Mikitani in a statement.�”Kobo provides one of the world?s most communal eBook reading experiences with its innovative integration of social media, such as Facebook and Twitter; while Rakuten offers Kobo unparalleled opportunities to extend its reach through
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheBoyGeniusReport/~3/eShOQwKwTm4/
ASIMO goes autonomous: Honda robot divorces operator
Honda’s ASIMO robot has been given a new round of upgrades, slimming down and gaining the ability to autonomously monitor and interact with its environment, out of the control of a human operator. Advanced balancing – including quick reactions when ASIMO senses it’s falling – together with an array of sensors that track physical objects [...]
Source: http://feeds.slashgear.com/~r/slashgear/~3/1pbLaOKBSp4/
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Cricket offers global local numbers for $10 per month
There are plenty of ways to call up your personal diaspora on the cheap, but why should it always be you who initiates? So-called "global local" numbers have been around for a while, but now Cricket has decided to offer them as a straightforward $10 per month option to its customers. You get a local number in any one of 40 countries, which your peeps can ring at their local rate and which gets forwarded to your US cell. Mexican numbers are half-price and you'll find full details in the PR after the break. It's local, it's global, it's glocal -- say it often enough and together we'll make it a word. Meanwhile, we're still waiting on Google Voice to take over the planet.
Continue reading Cricket offers global local numbers for $10 per month
Cricket offers global local numbers for $10 per month originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Nov 2011 09:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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We're Sending Germs to Mars [Space]
Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/VnWeaThIqyI/were-sending-germs-to-mars
Facebook Acquires Team Behind HTML5 App Platform Strobe; SproutCore Lives On
Facebook has apparently completed yet another small acquisition, snapping up HTML5 app distribution platform company Strobe. In a blog post, Strobe founder (and creator of open source JavaScript framework SproutCore) Charles Jolley says the Strobe service will continue to exist in its current beta form. SproutCore will live on as an independent project, he adds.
Vidyo Bringing Video Conferencing to the Cloud
With the Virtualized VidyoRouter, Vidyo is making video conferencing available via public, private and hybrid cloud environments. - Vidyo is
bringing its video-collaboration technology to the cloud.
Vidyo
officials on Nov. 8 unveiled the Virtualized VidyoRouter, an all-software
version of its Vidyo Router appliance that can be run on virtual machines from
the likes of VMware and be deployed in hybrid, private or public clou...
bringing its video-collaboration technology to the cloud.
Vidyo
officials on Nov. 8 unveiled the Virtualized VidyoRouter, an all-software
version of its Vidyo Router appliance that can be run on virtual machines from
the likes of VMware and be deployed in hybrid, private or public clou...
Source: http://feeds.ziffdavisenterprise.com/~r/RSS/tech/~3/kxtd9RX4508/
T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus with HSPA+ drops Nov 16
T-Mobile USA has added another Android tablet to its line-up, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus complete with HSPA+ connectivity. The 7-inch 1024 x 600 slate packs a dual-core 1.2GHz processor running Android 3.2 Honeycomb and Samsung’s own TouchWiz UI modifications, as well as twin cameras. On the back there’s a 3-megapixel camera good for [...]
Source: http://feeds.slashgear.com/~r/slashgear/~3/TUtXOxXVcgQ/
Step Aside, Tablets - the Ultrabooks Are Coming
The industry joke on the early MacBook Airs was that even though they had decent Intel processors, they stepped down in performance in order to keep from burning up. What was kind of funny was that Lenovo, which had a similar product in market with a slower processor but running at full speed (so it was actually faster), got dinged -- and Apple didn't.
New List of Small Business Events
Every two weeks we put together a list of key events for small businesses and entrepreneurs. The following Small Business Events Guide contains worthwhile events for those wanting to grow their businesses:
******
Recession Proof Sales Training Seminar
November 7, 2011, Woodridge, Ontario
Recession proof your career with this sales training seminar. You will learn how to increase sales, effective communication, customer retention, marketing strategies and how to attract new customers. Location: Paramount Conference and EventRead More
Panasonic launches rugged Toughpad tablets, calls all others toys
Is the world ready for extreme tablets that can take a licking and keep on ticking? Panasonic is betting on it.
The company officially announced its Toughpad lineup of rugged tablets today, the 10-inch A1 and 7-inch B1, which are …
Source: http://feeds.venturebeat.com/~r/Venturebeat/~3/P7roGp6hcNc/
Monday, November 7, 2011
Intel Itching To Work With Google?s Ice Cream Sandwich
Intel hasn't been able to make much of a dent in the smartphone or tablet markets, but they're not about to give up just yet. ComputerWorld reports that Intel is working to make Ice Cream Sandwich-powered devices a part of their future. The mobile space represents a huge opportunity for Intel, which is made all the more maddening because they've never really been able to crack it. Less than a handful of Intel-powered Android tabs ever saw the light of day, and most (like the Cisco Cius, which ran Froyo of all things) were geared heavily toward enterprise use. Source: http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/04/intel-itching-to-work-with-googles-ice-cream-sandwich/
Cloudflare?s Matthew Prince On The Challenges Of China?s Internet Restrictions
With over 12% of Internet users (approximately 125 million unique monthly visitors) passing through his network since its launch at TechCrunch Disrupt SF in September, Matthew Prince�--�CEO of website protection service Cloudflare�-- might know a thing or two about the Internet. Therefore we took some time to chat with him on camera during our recent trip to Beijing, when a bus conversation about how exactly China's Internet censorship worked (like, why were we able to access Facebook and Twitter on our phones' 3G networks but not via the web?) got way too interesting to limit to just our small group.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/5rQ7wXaGsBE/
Siri And The iPhone?s Physical Keyboard
The backlash was inevitable. Siri has had a bit of an image problem this past week.�Just like all technology propelled by the tailwinds of hype, it hit the inevitable wall of tech punditry. This magically turned the stream of largely positive stories into a river of negative stories under the guise of things like: "the voice of reason" or the "wake up call". It's the oldest trick in the book and it never fails to generate massive pageview energy. It happens 100 percent of the time. But it's important not to lose sight of the bigger picture. First of all, the downtime issue is a total red herring. Yes, Siri has been wonky on and off for the past few days. God forbid that a service explicitly labeled as "beta" behave like a service still in beta. I understand that this is a bit of a tough concept to understand since companies like Google leave software in beta for the better part of a decade, thus castrating the term. But look no further than how rarely Apple actually labels something as "beta". They basically never do it. They only do it when they expect a service to be less than spectacular 100 percent of the time.Source: http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/05/that-iphone-keyboard-is-still-coming/
The $249 Nook Tablet : Like the Nook Color, but built for HD media
‘Tis the season of cheap tablets. Today Barnes & Noble announced its Kindle Fire competitor, simply called the Nook Tablet.
The company announced the $249 tablet today at a press event at its Union Square store in New York City, …
Source: http://feeds.venturebeat.com/~r/Venturebeat/~3/ICgK1b-pp2o/
Apple captures 52% of phone industry profits with just 4.2% of the market
Even though Android is handily winning the mobile market share battle, Apple is still trouncing everyone else when it comes to actually making money from its phones.
In the last quarter, Apple snapped up 52 percent of total handset industry …
Source: http://feeds.venturebeat.com/~r/Venturebeat/~3/Slo934oIras/
Getting NaNoWriMo Done: How to Write a Novel in 30 Days
Get comfortable...you're going to be spending a lot of time here.
With November 1st almost upon us, NaNoWriMo is set to begin. There are plenty of tools to help budding novelists achieve the goal of 50,000 words in 30 days, but what about the reasons behind committing to such a daunting task in the first place? Surely, many of those taking on the challenge have other priorities that they have to deal with ? myself included ? so adding on the pressure of pushing through those commitments and the occasional bout of writer?s block is going to take herculean effort, right?
Well, yes?and no.
Just as there are many people who have yet to give NaNoWriMo a try, there are many who have ? and have met the challenge while maintaining a modicum of their regular lives (and sanity) in the process. There are those who have taken on the challenge and have fell by the wayside again, myself included), but there are things you can do to keep you on track to finally typing ?The End? at the end of your rapidly-created opus. Here are a few tips to keep your momentum while you?re writing your novel and how to ensure you don?t let the other things in your life slide while doing so.
Set Up Rituals While Writing
As a daily writer already, I?ve put in place rituals that draw me to the keyboard in a way that breeds productivity. Each and every day that I work (Sunday through Thursday), I do the following first thing in the morning before starting my writing:
- Wash my face. This wakes me up and provides a fresh start to the day.
- Make my Aeropress coffee. Sure, it isn?t as automated as using a pre-set drip coffeemaker, but the coffee is so much better, from a fresh grind of beans to the rich aroma to the exquisite taste. It?s my morning treat.
- Make an egg and cheese sandwich. Fried egg, slice of cheese, cracked pepper. All on an English muffin. Simply made, simply eaten. I?ve got my protein to start the day and a few carbs in there to boot.
- Walk my daughter to school. Except for Sundays, I?ll load up my son in the stroller and the kids and I head out the door at 8:30 am. The air further wakes me up and it gives me time to connect with them before I sequester myself away for the better part of the day. It also allows for contemplative time on the walk home, which is a great way to get into flow.
- Read my RSS Feeds. When I get home, I finish my coffee over some of the best writing on the web. It puts me in the right mindset and gives me time to warm up a bit in the process. Besides, a good writer takes time to read.
Then I walk to my working area, shut the door, go to my standing desk and start making the clackity-clackity sound.
Take Breaks
Even though you?ve got a lot of writing to do, be sure to take plenty of breaks. Vary them up a bit, some short and some long. If you?re in a state of ?flow?, then wait until you come out of it and step away from the computer. Go for a walk, grab a snack ? whatever. Just get clear by getting clear of the writing space. You?re in this for the long haul, so rest stops are important along the way.
Don?t read during these breaks, either. It?ll just serve to draw you back out of your break that much faster. Do something that doesn?t involve consuming anything that has words related to it. Eating is good, exercise is better. Refresh yourself so that you can tackle the novel recharged when your break is done.
Check In Frequently
Make sure you keep tabs on what?s going on at the challenge?s website. Revise your word count ? even look for locals who might want to do a write-in or simply take a break with you. The NaNoWriMo website has badges for you to put on your personal website (or Facebook if you prefer), offers helpful tips on how to get through the next 30 days and offers a ton of other resources for you to look over. By checking in on the site, you?re actively participating in the entire process of the challenge, not just the writing itself. It?s not just a challenge that you?re involved in, it?s a whole community of people with an aspirations just like yours: to write a novel.
Keep. On. Writing.
?Feed a cold, starve a fever.?
Think of your writing as a cold, keep on going. You’ll get hot and the words will start to flow out of your fingers. Think of editing as a fever. Starve it.
Do not edit during the 30 days. Don?t even try it. It will steer you away from the actual writing process, which is crucial if you want to get the novel done in the time allowed. NaNoWriMo is about creation, not curation. Save the editing for later…otherwise you won?t have much to edit at all.
Schedule Time Blocks
If you have a job that keeps you busy through the better part of the day, be sure to schedule time to work on your novel. The only way you?ll be able to get that novel finished is by scheduling blocks of time that you dedicate solely to working on it. And you need to commit to those blocks.
Be realistic about what you can and can?t do when it comes to scheduling your time. You may wind up with some days where you cannot take time out to write, and other days you?ll set aside time crank out more words to make up for those days that you just can?t. Know your limits and write within them.
Epilogue
NaNoWriMo is frenetic. It is challenging. It is somewhat unreasonable. But it also a heck of a lot of fun.
With the right tools in place and the right strategies in place going into November, you?ve got a great shot at getting through NaNoWriMo with a completed novel in your hands.
And that?s “The End” that we?re all looking for when we do it.
Mike Vardy is an independent writer, speaker, podcaster and "productivity pundit" who also dishes the goods at Vardy.me. You can follow him daily on Twitter, listen to him weekly on ProductiVardy, and read more from him eventually at Eventualism.
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