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Momento Is Perhaps The Perfect Passive Diary App
Nov 29, 4:04AM
To me, one of the most interesting thing about Foursquare is the History tab. It transforms the service from a "where you are" app, into a "where you were" log. In a way, it's sort of like a diary. I wish Twitter was better at this idea as well. Because what I tweeted a year ago says something about how I was feeling, or what I was doing back then. In fact, a lot of the web services we use on a daily basis would be perfect for this type of passive diary writing. And that's exactly what Momento, an iPhone app, makes happen. At its core, Momento is a straightforward diary app. It allows you to easy write "Moments" (diary entries) to express what you are doing or feeling on any given day. It takes the process a step further by allowing you to tag friends (from you iPhone contact list), places, events, and add photos to these entries. But the real killer feature of the app is that it also allows you to import bits of information from a number of services including Twitter, Foursquare, Gowalla, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, Vimeo, Digg, and any RSS feed. The result is a brilliant log of almost everything you're doing online.
Phone SIM Locks: Why Do Carriers Even Bother?
Nov 29, 12:03AM
We've been down this road before: a new iOS version is released that undoes all of the nasty stuff hackers did to the previous version. A week later those same hackers blow out a jailbreak and then a few days later they release a full unlock (the latest iOS unlock is only for 3G and 3GS right now, so iPhone 4 users are stuck for now.) Given that this is pretty much standard procedure, why don't carriers just give up? Sadly, most other phones don't get this sort of white glove treatment. A grey market exists that traffics in phone unlocks for many devices including Blackberries and Nokias. Why? Because someone, somewhere wants to move their phone from country A to country B. The vast majority of phone users will never want to this but there is still plenty of demand. So why not ship without the lock? Well, there are a few possible answers, barring the obvious "Carriers suck."
It's the Community, Stupid!
Nov 28, 9:31PM
Last week's guest on Press:Here was Tim Wu, author of the new book Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires. Wu also wrote this guest post for us about why we should all fear Steve Jobs. In general Wu -- who gets credit for coming up with the term "Net Neutrality" -- has a really important mission whether you agree with him or not: Raising alarm bells that the Internet, like every mass communication medium that has come before, could one day become strangled and controlled by a handful of companies. >From what I've read and from our conversation on and off camera last Thursday, Wu seems to stop short of saying what has happened before on radio, telegram and television will happen with the Internet, saying it could happen. The question, he says, is whether there is something inherently different about the Internet from a technology standpoint that keeps it inevitably open. I think what keeps it from happening is something else: The community around the Internet and the age of modern entrepreneurship in which we live. Unless the FCC totally screws up on Net Neutrality, big Internet companies just don't have the luxury of shutting upstart rivals out. You want to be cynical and say money drives policy in Washington? Fine. There is more money on the side of the Internet being open than the Internet being closed.
Symbian Sputters Towards Open-Source Irrelevancy
Nov 28, 9:03PM
Remember two years ago when Nokia open-sourced the Symbian mobile operating system? The thinking was that cell phone manufacturers who depended on the Symbian OS could help keep it going. But it was already too late. The iPhone's iOS and Android started to take over. Even die-hard Symbian supporters abandoned ship. As the fanboy blogger Symbian Guru explained last summer when he decided to give up on Symbian: I also can't continue to support a mobile operating system platform that continually buries itself into oblivion by focusing on 'openness' while keeping a blind eye towards the obvious improvements that other open platforms have had for several iterations.Now Symbian is delivering itself another blow—this time self-inflicted. The Symbian Foundation, which hosts all the open-source code, big fixes, and documentation for the OS, is shutting down its websites on December 17. The Symbian OS will still technically be open-source, it will just be impractical for many developers to look at it or improve it.
WikiLeaked Diplomatic Cables Confirm China's Politburo Was Behind Google Hacking Incident
Nov 28, 6:59PM
Details about the U.S. State Department cables obtained by WikiLeaks are starting to come out. Although WikiLeaks itself may be under a denial of service attack, it provided several newspapers around the world access to the raw documents it is preparing to release later today. The New York Times just posted it's first article summarizing the contents of the cables and highlighting the most newsworthy ones. Among the 251,287 U.S. diplomatic cables leaked by WikiLeaks, there is one set which deals with the massive computer attack on Google and other companies which was first revealed last January. At that time, Google went public with its contention that the attacks came from the Chinese government, and resulted in Google temporarily pulling out if China. They returned in a more limited way last summer. 
WikiLeaks Reports It Is Under A Denial Of Service Attack
Nov 28, 5:03PM
A lot of people, including many governments, have problems with WikiLeaks, the site dedicated to publishing sensitive and often classified documents. (Read more background on the controversial organization). The site is currently under a distributed denial of service attack, according to a Tweet from the WikiLeaks account. The site seems to be withstanding the attack so far. It is up right now. The DDOS attack comes just as WikiLeaks is preparing to release another set of U.S. government documents—this time diplomatic cables which may prove so embarrassing that the State Department decided to warn foreign governments ahead of their release. 
>From The MAD TechVentures Conference 2010 In Kuala Lumpur: 22 Pitches From Malaysian Startups
Nov 28, 4:54PM
Earlier this month, I attended the MSC Malaysia MAD TechVentures Conference 2010 in Kuala Lumpur, a two-day tech and web industry event organized by local company MAD Incubator and MSC Malaysia. The launch pad was one of the first of its kind in the country whose Internet and mobile population has been growing rapidly in recent years. (TechCrunch contributor Vivek Wadhwa, coincidentally in town, delivered the opening speech.) TechVentures is essentially a platform for Malaysia's startups to demo their services on stage to an audience and a panel of judges, both of whom selected a handful of companies (out of 22) as winners. The nine lucky companies received advertising and marketing prizes valued at a total of 1.5 million Ringgit (US$500,000). Thumbnail sketches of all 22 companies after the break.
>From The Video Vault: Barbie Video Girl
Nov 28, 4:12PM
With holiday shopping season now in full swing, it is time to revisit one of the strangest toys to come out this year. Yes, I am talking about the Barbie Video Girl. Or, as I like to call it, Surveillance Barbie. It is a Barbie doll with a video camera embedded into her chest, a USB port in her back, and batteries in her legs. When Mattel released this $50 Barbie last July, it sparked all sorts of spirited commentary and some entertaining videos. Here are two videos that tell you all you need to know about Barbie Video Girl. The first one, shot by Brandon Bloch, compares it feature-by-feature with a Canon 7D camera. It was widely viewed at the time, but worth another look. The second one is a viewer favorite from the TCTV vault. In it, our own Paul Carr and John Biggs discuss whether or not it is a good idea to give one of these surveillance Barbies to a six-year-old. Biggs tries to treat it like any other gadget until Carr shames him into admitting it should be buried in cement.
Sites With Government Seized Domains Are Moving On, On Twitter
Nov 28, 6:27AM
Last week while everyone was waiting for the COICA bill to move through Congress, the US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agency one upped the Attorney General and seized domain names from a group of over 70 copyright infringing websites. A visit to the blacklisted domains now results in this ominous looking message from Homeland Security.
Gmail Lite: If You Build It Google, We Will Come
Nov 28, 3:10AM
I've seen the future of messaging — it looks a lot like Facebook Messages. More specifically, it looks like the new version of Facebook Messages that the company began rolling out two weeks ago. But I'm not sure that the future is Facebook Messages. At least not for me. Because that's simply not how I have used Facebook and it's too hard to switch my patterns now. And that's why Gmail has a huge opportunity. We need a Gmail Lite. At first, I was underwhelmed by the new Facebook Messages. But that's just because I really hadn't been using Facebook Messages before. I would get a message every now and then, but mostly I would ignore the area. But in the past couple of weeks, probably as the feature gets turned on for more users, I've started to get more messages coming to me this way. And as that has happened, I'm seeing the absolute beauty of the system. Namely, I'm seeing the beauty in its speed.
NSFW: 404 Alcohol Not Found (Or, Social Media is Overrated, but it's Helped me Stay Sober)
Nov 28, 2:42AM
Earlier today, my friend Oli emailed me to say he'd noticed that one of my sites was showing a 404 message. Specifically, he was emailing to congratulate me. According to the site in question - ispauldrinkingagain.com - it has been 404 days since I last drank alcohol. And, for reasons I'll explain in a moment, I owe a large amount of credit for that to the power of social media. Making that admission is slightly awkward, given that on Tuesday you'll be able to watch me take part in a CNNMoney / Webbies debate with Gary Vaynerchuk where I argue in favour of the motion that "social media is overrated". And yet my reason for supporting the motion is simple: despite how much I owe it, social media is overrated.
Those Two LeWeb Tickets Now Include Lodging Thanks To Airbnb. Tell Us Why You Need To Go
Nov 27, 10:35PM
Yesterday, I noted that we were giving away two free tickets to LeWeb '10. But I was quick to point out that while the free tickets, normally priced at around 2,000 euros, are a great deal, you would still have to pay for your own travel to Paris and lodging for the conference, which takes place on December 8 and 9. Well guess what? You can cross lodging off of that list. Airbnb has graciously offered to cover the lodging in Paris for each winner of our ticket giveaway. Each winner would receive a $500 gift card from Airbnb which they could use to find a place to stay in or around Paris during the conference. Airbnb offers some great deals around the city, so you should be able to find something very nice with that money. And that means that if you win, you would only have to pay for your own travel to the conference. Yes, it's a killer deal.
The Myth Of Serendipity
Nov 27, 7:55PM
Editor's note: Henry "Hank" Nothhaft, Jr. is the co-founder and CMO of Trapit, a virtual personal assistant for Web content still in private beta that was incubated out of SRI and the CALO project (as was Siri, the conversational search engine bought by Apple). One of the most interesting concepts to emerge in media and tech lately is that of "serendipity"—showing people what they want even if they didn't ask for it. Despite its seemingly ubiquitous invocation, however, the concept of serendipity remains ill-defined and put forth as some vague panacea for a slew of emerging innovations hoping to attract new users in droves. What is needed is a closer look at what we actually mean when we talk about serendipity. 
The Good Old Days
Nov 27, 6:31PM
Navigating Apple TV and its various peeks into the presumed future has been a valuable waste of time. For $100 plus an HDMI cable I get to sample various media dead ends including NetFlix, iTunes rental, buy, and streaming options, YouTube, and other stuff I can't remember right now. In the past, I would have spent more time testing the work arounds for adding podcasts and ripped music to broaden the choices, but something about the device suggests we're in such a rapid shakeout it might be easier to wait. But for what? Google TV seems caught in little brother mode behind the next loser tablet wave. What ultimate value is there in trading Apple's dead ends for another set of second rate dead ends? The idea that we can replace the aggregate value of the Hollywood studio system with some loose coalition of rag tag revolutionary product ignores the tendency for the avant-garde to go mainstream. At some point, having everything work from one device is the best way of killing any possible interest in what's available.
The Best Of Google Demo Slam
Nov 27, 6:19PM
Back in October, we came across a mysterious site called Google Demo Slam a couple days before it actually launched. It turned out to be a fun site featuring demos of different Google products where you can watch two demos side by side and vote for the best one. Some of the demos are by Google engineers, but anyone can submit their own and vie to become a Google Demo Slam champ. Below are a few of the best demos on the site so far. The first one is four guys pretending to be Mount Rushmore and doing such a good job that they fool Google Goggles into identifying them as the real thing. The second shows two women using Google Translate to get their computer to order Indian food in Hindi. The third one demonstrates how to give yourself a haircut using Google Chat and two computers. And the fourth one recreates a road trip on Route 66 with Google Street View, a couple couches, and a projector. (Videos after the jump).
As Holiday Shoppers Flock To The Web, WatchMouse Tracks Performance Of E-Retailers
Nov 27, 4:45PM
Website monitoring startup WatchMouse is now monitoring the top 100 retail websites for availability around the holiday shopping season. The starup tested retail sites including Apple, Amazon, BestBuy, Borders, Overstock, Walmart and Zappos, for availability and performance during the month leading up to and including Thanksgiving Day, November 25 and Black Friday, November 26. WatchMouse says that 27 of the 100 sites had 100% uptime; 15 came in at 99.99%, and only American Eagle Outfitters, GiltGroupe, Footlocker.com, and Fry's Electronics landed in the "unacceptable" category. American Eagle Outfitters performed the worst during the monitoring period from October 25 - November 26, 2010 with nearly one full day of downtime. 
Google TV Already In Trouble? Sony Offering 25% Off Blu-ray Google TV Units
Nov 27, 3:50PM
Google TV might be in a bit of a pickle if a Best Buy and Sony sale is any indication. The platform launched a few weeks ago with the Logitech Revue and Sony Internet TV. Both are loaded with the same system and so both are suffering the fate of Big Media's blockade. It's a sad story, really. Google TV aimed to bridge the span between subscription-based TV and Internet content, but so far said bridge is still held up by bureaucratic red tape nonsense. Sony seems to be solving one of the platform's biggest deal breakers: the price. Google TV units are crazy expensive. The Logitech Revue launched at $300 and that price is still holding strong even at retailers like Amazon amidst nearly site-wide Black Friday sales. It's the Sony set-top box model that's uncharacteristically on sale right now even though it's less than a month old. This doesn't look so well for Google's living room takeover plans.
UK High Court Ruling Implies Headlines Are Copyright. Not a Good Idea.
Nov 27, 10:43AM
The UK's High Court has ruled that news monitoring agencies will have to pay publishing companies to use their web content, effectively re-classifying headlines as separate literary works subject to copyright. The moves follows a legal battle between the Newspaper Licensing Agency, owned by eight of the UK's largest newspaper groups, and Meltwater, a news monitoring agency. Meltwater plans to appeal against the decision, but if it's upheld, you can expect a wave of more legal actions, claims that links are copyright and the break down of the UK's internet industry. Well done High Court.
LeWeb '10 Nears. Want To Go? Tell Us Why, We're Giving Away Two Tickets
Nov 27, 4:14AM
On December 8 and 9, the LeWeb conference will descend upon the city of Paris for two days of non-stop tech. This year, the event will have a bit more TechCrunch flavor, as several of us are going, and the startup competition has been tweaked a bit to be more like our own TechCrunch Disrupt competition. It should be a great time. But we realize it's also expensive. So organizer Loic Le Meur has given us two tickets to give away to readers. Now, to be clear, these are tickets to the two-day event, they don't include airfare or lodging. But if you're at or around Paris and/or you don't mind paying for travel, this is a killer deal, as each ticket normally goes for about 2,000 euros.
iPad "Pad" Joke Finally Taken Too Far [Video]
Nov 27, 3:34AM
Just like Steve Jobs said we eventually stopped making fun of and just plain got used to the word "pad" in the name of his magical device, no longer thinking of that other thing also called a pad whenever we pass by an Apple store. In fact, we're already debating the hypothetical merits of the iPad 2 and nary an iTampon 2 or similar reference in sight. Until now... Iselle Slome and the ladies of ArthurORMartha have created just about the most ridiculous parody of a computing product I've ever seen ...
Twitter Users Make Snowstorm Map #UKSnow
Nov 27, 1:44AM
Industrious Briton Ben Marsh is turning the epic ten inches of snow forecast in the UK this weekend into a way to bring his fellow citizens together. On his site UKSnow, users who tweet about the weather in realtime can now have their location coordinates and snow descriptions plotted on a map, as well as streaming in a sidebar. Many are including photos (like the one above) for an even richer experience.
OMG/JK: Mistletoe, AirPlay, And Other Forms Of Near Field Communication
Nov 27, 12:23AM
It's Black Friday, which means that many of you woke up this morning at the crack of dawn, shrugged off your Thanksgiving food comas, and made your way to the dreary parking lots of electronic stores across the country. Right about now, you're probably just waking up from your recovery nap — and there's nothing better to get your sluggish mind back on track than this week's episode of OMG/JK. This week, we talk about The Daily, an iPad-only newspaper from News Corp that will reportedly be launching soon. We also discuss the latest iOS software release, which adds a slew of features to the iPad just in time for the holidays, including the aptly-named AirPlay. 
Ask a VC: Why David Hornik Invests Close to Home and the Dumbest Deal in the Valley (TCTV)
Nov 26, 11:14PM
Ten years ago, most VCs refused to invest outside of Silicon Valley. Now, most of them have funds in Israel, Europe, India or China-- and lately many of those Chinese funds are outperforming the US counterparts. But August Capital is still sticking with the kind of local venture capital that built this industry, and David Hornik explains why in this week's episode of Ask a VC. But, Portland? Yeah he'd invest in a Portland company and answers a reader question about what the local ecosystem needs to do to get his and other venture capitalists' attention. Hornik also (sort of) answers one of the best reader questions I've gotten in a while: What's the dumbest investment he's seen recently in Silicon Valley? (Hint.)
Vader Waves Hand. "There Is No iPhone." But There Is — In A Big Way In Japan.
Nov 26, 11:13PM
Remember back in 2008 when there was a lot of talk about how the iPhone would flop in Japan? 91 percent of Japanese would not be buying the device, said one survey. By 2009, that talk inevitably turned to how it had already flopped. With some even writing about how the Japanese people "hate" the device. Then something funny happened. That kind of talk abruptly stopped. And for good reason. As it turns out, the iPhone is actually a massive success in the country. Much like it did in the U.S., the iPhone is transforming the mobile landscape in Japan. Two stories today highlight this. The first, talks about the Japanese iPhone "craze" and details how app developers are rushing to get into the potentially huge market for Japanese iPhone apps. The second story notes how NTT DoCoMo, Japan's largest mobile carrier, is turning to marketing to make up for the fact that they don't have the iPhone (it's sold there by rival Softbank). Marketing involving yes, Darth Vader.
Former Digg VP Of Engineering Lands At Gilt Groupe
Nov 26, 10:32PM
Well at least one former Digg engineer out there that had a happier Thanksgiving. We've gotten word that John Quinn, former Digg VP of Engineering, will be joining luxury discount marketplace Gilt Groupe as VP of Engineering come next Monday. Quinn will be working in the Gilt Groupe New York office under CIO Steve Jacobs. Prior to Gilt Groupe, Quinn had spent three years at Digg and before that was VP of Engineering at Squaretrade. According to our sources, Quinn was instrumental in the Digg v4 redesign and its problematic move over to a Cassandra versus MySQL database. 
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