Archive for the ‘Rex Dixon SplashCast Blog’ Category

Thoughts from this Thursday….

Thursday, July 26th, 2007

It’s been quite a busy day for me. I just went through and updated my Link Blog for only the 2nd time today. What I’m doing these days is fun, exciting, and at the same time frustrating at times. You know that being said, I wouldn’t trade it for any day job that I’ve done. Even when I worked in the IT industry full time, I will have to say, this is still 120% more fun.

Well I just went through my Link Blog, as I stated above, and one of the articles that jumped out at me of course is from CenterNetworks. One thing about Allen, he has a great way at putting across the news of the moment. I saw a bunch of articles about the twitter money grab, but he put it across in an engaging and interesting manner. One that grabbed my attention, and made me want to read it. Any article that finishes with the line

I am sure the cats who handle the servers are eating some fine Kibbles ‘n Bits tonight!

deserves to be read.

I will however have to say, even though the article he posted the other day on a great blog that talks about VC funding, I am going to have to lean to what I have always stated. Any freakin’ idea will sell to any VC if you know the right people. If you know how to grab someone’s attention, and hold it for at least 7 minutes, you can sell them another social network. Don’t believe me? Look through any of the major sites to see how many social networks have received $millions in the past 30-45 days.

So where do I stand as far as executive summaries, biz plans, and all that tree killing stuff? Well as a traditionalist I would say “Yes, you should have all of that ready to roll.” As a person that hates to kill trees for any purpose but to burn wood over an open fire, I would say, if you can talk the talk and get in front of some people; show that your product just “works” (twitter), all that stuff can be reserved for an open bonfire on your camping trip.

Another interesting item that I have yet to see is Om’s new show. GigaOm TV. Nice. Now again, I did read Allen’s review of the show earlier today (see guys/gals, I may not be blogging as much, but I am reading and taking note when I get a second!) - and I will have to say, I am still intrigued at watching. That just proves that a bad review or middle of the road interview is not a show stopper.

I agree with what Om said, all that production stuff is hard to deal with. When I was doing the podcast thing last year, 4 nights a week, I will say that was the worst part of it all. I can walk in and plain lay it down. Perform. That’s me. When it comes to producing a show, now that is another story entirely. As many have seen, I forgo any production these days with my occasional video web cam casts. Why? Because I would rather be the talent, and let someone else do the producing stuff. OR, I’d rather just produce and let someone else be the talent. Either or, but not both.

When you have the crew of Revision3 behind you, anything can be cool looking. Unlike the videos that I was in earlier this year that I did produce. The Technically Speaking Live shows, and the Friggin’ Break Reports. Yup, Rev3 could have probably made those shows rock. Unfortunately, being the talent as well as the producer takes quite a bit of time. All of these shows I speak of, podcast or video can be found on my media page.

Finally a “just this in“, well not really. It’s been in for a bit now, but looks like Microsoft is going after anything that strengthens their stake in the world of online advertising. They just acquired this Santa Barbara startup called AdECN Inc. I’m not the first to say anything about it, as I saw the smattering of stories as I went through the Link Blog, and it’s quite interesting to see their focus now on the advertising world.

One that I posted earlier in the Link Blog, that everyone that is in a startup should look at. It’s called, when it’s time to move on from your startup idea. I agree with the 3 points it made. For those that are in a failed startup, maybe it’s time you read this article that pretty much lays the facts out there. What was that saying? Oh yeah, “Lie to yourself, Lie to your mother, but don’t Lie to Rex Dixon.”

Technically Speaking, yes, I can be a goof ball - but when you live like I do, you have to have a weird sense of humor to keep your sanity some times day to day. Oh, and why it’s almost a total full time job being a blogger - this just in for real - Alesis iMultiMixer - now this is just plain COOL! I think some Wilmington NC real estate might be the plan someday.

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Episode 25 - Wetpaint, Business 2.0, Terabitz

Tuesday, July 17th, 2007

Episode 25 notes:

Wetpaint

Wetpaint is announcing this morning that they will now offer private wikis for Wetpaint users. So if you want to protect your Wiki, you can do it now with Wetpaint.

Mashable coverage of Wetpaint

Business 2.0 will cease by September

Business 2.0 magazine, a seven-year-old Time Inc. publication that covers start-ups, technology trends and changes in the new economy, might publish its final issue in September, according to people briefed on discussions about the fate of the magazine.

CenterNetworks coverage of Business 2.0

Mashable coverage of Business 2.0

Terabitz

Terabitz is launching a comprehensive site for home buyers wanting to organizing and map information about their prospective homes.

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Episode 23 - LinkedIn up 323%, DivShare FREE this weekend, Planypus shirt

Saturday, July 14th, 2007

Episode 23 notes:

LinkedIn up 323%

Have you been getting a flurry in LinkedIn invitations in the past few months? I have been receiving a few requests a week, so I wasn’t surprised to find that the market share of US visits to LinkedIn was up 323% in the past year (week ending 7/7/07 vs week ending 7/8/06), and up 17% in the past four weeks alone (week ending 7/7/07 vs week ending 6/8/07). As of last week, LinkedIn ranked at #23 in the Hitwise Employment and Training category.

iPod is charging - iPod #1 of 2 that I won playing Jambaz.


Planypus shirt
- Great sponsors of this blog for a long time, just north of here up in Chicago.

DivShare FREE this weekend

DivShare, one of many services that offer to host your photos, videos, audio and slideshows, is running a special offer this weekend: DivShare Direct, the site’s service for custom-branded video and audio players, is going free.

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Episode 20 - Break.com - Lionsgate ?, Adap.tv $10 million, 60 Frames, Chorebuster

Wednesday, July 11th, 2007


* In the right hand corner after you hit start - you will see “1/20″ - click the right arrow to get to Episode 20!

Episode 20 notes:

Break.com receives money ?

Break.com, the online video site, has received investment funding from Lionsgate, the independent film and television studio. The investment amount was not disclosed.This is the first round of funding for the video-sharing site.

Adap.tv $10 million

Adap.tv, the video advertising platform, has closed a Series A round of funding amounting to $10 million.

60 Frames - yes, I apologize, I called it 60 seconds in the video

Why should indie video creators have all the fun? A new venture called 60Frames Entertainment launched today, promising “professional content creators access to financing, speed to market, greater ownership over their intellectual property and participation in all revenue streams including advertising.”

Chorebuster - get off your a$$ - that is how you bust your chores!

Chores are an unfortunate side effect of domestic existence. Things need to be done, people need to do them, and dolling out who does what, and when can lead to an exasperating amount of effort for parents, roommates, and authoritarians.

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Episode 19 - National Banana, LiveRail, Facebook App Factory, Kevin Rose

Tuesday, July 10th, 2007


* In the right hand corner after you hit start - you will see “1/19″ - click the right arrow to get to Episode 19!

Episode 19 notes:

National Banana - Funny videos to brighten up your day.

LiveRail

LiveRail is a unique online video advertising platform that lets you promote your business with measurable results and predictable costs, by only paying when someone chooses to watch your ad.

LiveRail can help you distribute your video content online and monetize it with unobtrusive, relevant advertising. Without signing away your copyrights.

Facebook app factory

Silicon Valley venture capital firm Bay Partners said it wants to write checks of between $25,000 and $250,000 to developers writing applications for Facebook’s platform.

TechCrunch coverage

GigaOm coverage

Kevin Rose

“I probably would invest in Pownce if he’s going out for funding,” says high-tech angel investor Ron Conway, who’s invested in Digg and Revision3. “I like to invest in great entrepreneurs, and he’s a great entrepreneur.”

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Episode 18 - Flock, Trion $30 million for?, TiVo and Amazon

Tuesday, July 10th, 2007


* In the right hand corner after you hit start - you will see “1/18″ - click the right arrow to get to Episode 18!

Episode 18 notes:

Flock

Alright, last week we were the first to get you a review of the Flock 0.9 browser and tonight we have the first screenshot of the new Flock.com launching on Tuesday to support the new browser.

Trion $30 million ????

I’ve read this press release three times, and I still don’t know what it means, exactly, except that several traditional media corporations have jumped into online games in a huge way. Thanks to a joint investment by three VC firms, TimeWarner, NBC, and Bertelsmann (along with HP) have just made Redwood City-based Trion World Networks $30 million richer.

TiVo and Amazon

ALVISO, Calif. (AP) — Users of TiVo Inc.’s digital video recorders will be able to order movies from Amazon.com Inc. directly from their TVs starting Tuesday.

The two companies partnered in March to deliver Amazon’s Unbox download service to TiVo machines, but the feature required customers to place their orders on a computer through Amazon’s Web site.

Now, PC intervention won’t be needed. The new ”Buy on TV” feature allows TiVo users to search Amazon’s video catalog and rent or purchase titles using their TiVo’s remote control.

Webware coverage

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Episode 17 - Facebook IPO?, Pageviews are dead

Monday, July 9th, 2007


* In the right hand corner after you hit start - you will see “1/17″ - click the right arrow to get to Episode 17!

Episode 17 notes:

Facebook IPO?

Social networking’s current hottie, Facebook, might be considered a pretty sexy acquisition target (to put it lightly) for new media’s biggest players. But if an intriguing job posting on Facebook’s site is to be believed, the service may be headed for an initial public offering instead.

ValleyWag coverage

Pageviews are dead

On Tuesday, Nielsen/NetRatings will announce that it will no longer rank top sites on the web by pageviews: instead, it will measure the time spent on a site. “Total minutes”” (of all users spent on the site) is the new Holy Grail.

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Episode 16 - Crossloop, Intel $219 million EMC, Last.fm and Sony BMG

Monday, July 9th, 2007


* In the right hand corner after you hit start - you will see “1/16″ - click the right arrow to get to Episode 16!

Episode 16 notes:

Crossloop

Crossloop, the company that lets two people share their computer screens over the Web, has released new feature that lets them transfer unlimited files freely between their computers.

Intel $219 million for EMC VMware

BOSTON (Reuters) - Intel Corp . will invest about $219 million for a stake in VMware Inc. and a seat on the board of the Silicon Valley software company that parent EMC Corp. is taking public, the companies said on Monday.

The investment is intended to speed adoption of VMware’s software technology on computers using Intel semiconductors, expanding an ongoing strategic relationship.


Last.fm and Sony BMG

Last.fm, the online social network and peer recommendation system for music, has partnered with Sony BMG Music Entertainment.

*** I use SplashCast to do these webcam videos. The sound quality is NOT indicative of their service! It is where my laptop is when I do them. I have had quieter video’s, but where I usually am has a lot of electrical interference is what I am thinking.

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Episode 15 - Google-Postini, Google-SocialStream, Yahoo-Mosh, Hey!Spread beta

Monday, July 9th, 2007


* In the right hand corner after you hit start - you will see “1/15″ - click the right arrow to get to Episode 15!

Episode 15 notes:

Google-Postini

Just in from Google HQ - news that Google has acquired Postini for $625 million. Postini has 300 employes and handles message security, archiving, encryption, and policy enforcement. Postini will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Google and the deal should close by the end of the 3rd quarter 2007. The Google blog has just updated with the news. There is also a very detailed FAQ document for download.


VentureBeat coverage

GigaOm coverage
Mashable coverage

Google-SocialStream

Google already has a social network (orkut), but it’s only popular in Brazil and India, doesn’t have a Googlish interface and had a lot of security problems in the past. That’s why last year Google sponsored a project at the Carnegie Mellon University’s Human-Computer Interaction Institute whose initial goal was to “rethink and reinvent online social networking”.

Mashable coverage

Yahoo-Mosh

Here’s a juicy tip - we’ve been hearing about a new Yahoo social network initiative called Mosh, which is at mosh.yahoo.com but can only be accessed from inside the Yahoo offices.

Hey!Spread beta

Spread your videos over the best video networks in one shot.

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I’m also located on social networks such as - Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Ojeez, Vertagio, and the new Mashable one.

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Episode 14 - Universal Music-Apple, twitter, Pownce

Saturday, July 7th, 2007


* In the right hand corner after you hit start - you will see “1/14″ - click the right arrow to get to Episode 14!

Episode 14 notes:

Universal Music and Apple in a negotiation breakdown

MUSIC DIVIDE The Universal Music Group of Vivendi told Apple that it would not renew its annual contract to sell music through iTunes, executives briefed on the matter said. Universal told Apple that it would provide music to Apple at will, giving itself the option to pull out of the service at any time.

The two companies have reached a standoff in negotiations. The music industry has been complaining for years about Apple’s influence on the online-music business, its power to set prices on music downloaded through iTunes and iTunes’ lack of compatibility with music players other than the iPod.

twitter and why Allen Stern hates it

Here is another good example of lack of conversation followthru. Here user “RexDixon” notes to user “marshallk” something about Gmail chat. In this example, I can click “in reply to marshallk” to view the initial status. But there is no threading so if another user was to reply, I would not be able to view it.

Pay For Pownce? Nah… get a CN autographed postcard instead:)

I finally realized the possibilities of using eBay to promote your product so I am very excited to announce that this morning I placed a “Limited Edition Hand Signed Genuine Authentic” CenterNetworks PostCard auction on eBay. Close your eyes and imagine all of the possibilities that are possible when you own your own signed PostCard. Don’t be the dork at the next Facebook launch party without one of these PostCards.

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