France won their quarterfinal match against New Zealand on the back of a scintillating try that included a forward pass between Frederic Michalak and Yannick Jauzion. The pass was blatant to the millions of fans watching on television but was missed by referee Wayne Barnes and his two touch judges. Similarly, Fiji came within a […]
Tech
Posted inBusiness, Tech
Who needs private capital?
In this country, the notion of private companies risking their capital on infrastructure projects is a no-no. While it complains about “market failure” and high prices, the Financial Mail’s Duncan McLeod reports that the government has just decided to spend $2 billion (!) on its own undersea cable project.
Posted inLifestyle, Sport, Tech
All Blacks and France plan Facebook revenge
France and New Zealand may be out of the Rugby World Cup, but they have come up with a desperate new attempt to prove they remain a force on the international stage. In just three weeks, France has doubled the size of its regional network on Facebook, from 141 000 to 284 000. The New Zealand network […]
Posted inLifestyle, Tech
Is technology manipulating consumer behaviour?
The advent of armchair shopping has turned the consumer space completely on its head. Traditionally the capacity to store and move goods hampered the rate of consumption, which ultimately gave birth to larger brick and mortar stores and faster courier services in an attempt to present and sell the ever-growing selection of goods to the […]
Posted inBusiness, Tech
The Remora business model, or how widgets make money
If you have a blog or a Facebook account, I’ll bet you have plenty of widgets or applications on your pages. Ever thought of how the developers make money off these little tools? Photobucket sold to MySpace for $250-million, and myBlogLog was recently acquired for $10-million. The TripAdvisor supposedly paid $3-million for the “Where I’ve […]
Posted inLifestyle, Tech
Blogging Player of the Week: What a schmuck!
The first blogger I knew didn’t call himself a blogger, because the word hadn’t yet been invented. Once, in the dawn of internet time, Roy Blumenthal was at the helm of “a hare-brained art prank” called Dirty Laundry, in which he created a web page asking people to send their dirty laundry to him for […]
Posted inTech
The geek as activist
The Geek Freedom League actually exists. Its existence was proclaimed enthusiatically by a usually mild-mannered and friendly chap, who happens to be a family member. But when he comes to open source, he becomes a militant. And like all militants, militancy requires wearing the right gear and having the right slogans. His gear of choice […]
Posted inTech
Are you prepared for the internet of tomorrow?
Where once web users and technology each formed an independent part of the internet, something happened in recent years where the distinction between man and technology slowly disappeared, where each “realised” that the one could not successful evolve on this thing called the world wide web without the other. Enter the web of today, a […]
Posted inBusiness, Media, Tech
What’s the frequency, Zuckerberg?
On Friday I read a rumour that Facebook would be launching a possible iTunes competitor. Since then the rumour has evolved and claims a more realistic scenario that Facebook will simply be implementing musician-friendly profiles — a feature that will compete directly with MySpace’s Artist platform (responsible for a huge part of their growth). Rafat […]
Posted inTech
More Google tips and tricks
After my last post, I received many emails requesting more information on how to use Google optimally. Well, I must admit that I spend way too much time researching the abilities of Google and all the cool Google products, but I guess if I can share it with all of you, it is making the […]
Posted inTech
You heard it here first: Why Facebook is not a bubble
People who play — and work — in the online space are so scared that they might be caught addicted to a has-been technology that there is a race to proclaim “The next bubble!” or “The next Facebook!” or, if they really want page views, “Why Google is near its end!” Yawn. Can we enjoy […]
Posted inTech
iPhone so sweet. Revolutionary indeed
On Saturday night I got to play with Apple’s iPhone. Honest opinion? It’s the best damn gadget to hit Mother Earth since the cellphone itself. Where do I begin?! I first started following the iPhone in the media when it was just speculation about a year ago. Gizmodo has a separate section for it and […]