Apple sues Amazon, Microsoft sues Barnes & Noble, and commerce and copyright lines are blurring. Neil Strauss confesses his agony about working with NYT copyeditors, Nao robots turn into refugee saviors, the iPad 2 will launch Friday, and your palm may be able to affect television screens within the next couple of months. Check out what we have for Tech Tuesday!
1. LinkedIn, Professional Social Network, Reaches 100 million members today. This probably explains the dozens of emails you’ve been getting from the company. Since 2003, LinkedIn has extended to over 200 countries. The top three are the U.S., Brazil, and Mexico. LinkedIn’s 100 million comes with a caveat- not all of them are active users, so this could potentially slow the growth of the company and cause their stock to decline. They have little reason to worry. Compared to Facebook’s 600 million member bomb, LinkedIn will continue to grow slowly and steadily. [TechCrunch]
2. Scary new dating site: The Real World. Ha. This is actually really funny. [WSJ]
3. In theme with disconnecting, check out this post on “My Life Without a Cell Phone, An Amazing Tale of Survival” over at [TheAwl]
4. Supporting the NYT. According to Michael DeGusta, you could subscribe to the Wall Street Journal, the Daily, and the Economist and still have $99 left over in your pocket vs. the Times. Below, this chart compares annual digital subscription prices between various publications. [TheUnderstatement]
This news, coupled with the fact that The Huffington Post just poached their third NYT writer (Maura Egan), does not seem to bode well for the Newspaper. [BI]
5. FBI Consultant and former New York Times writer Neil Strauss reveals copy-editor snarkiness:[Gawker]
6. Firefox is on its fourth life. After Firefox leaked last night, many tech experts and frequent internet users have tested it out, including myself. At first glance, the browser appears much faster than before (due to the new JavaScript engine). Firefox took on a GoogleChrome look by placing the tabs above the browser, making the page look cleaner. My favorite feature appears in the tab bar. I’m a tab whore, so when there are about twenty tabs it’s hectic. Firefox allows you to make groups of tabs by category. Well done, foxy. [BusinessInsider]
7. Android Wars: Apple sues Amazon. Amazon recently made a deal with an Android App store, scheduled to open Tuesday, that has prompted a lawsuit from Apple. You would be able to purchase the Apps online, which cuts Google out of the equation. Apple begs Amazon not to use the term “App Store,” for it was their creation. Amazon will be ruthless, I believe. They have a marketing trick up their sleeve, the “recommendation algorithm” and a daily free application. This feature tops both Apple and Google. Overlapping commerce, much? [NYT]
8. Move television screens with the wave of your palm. Microsoft’s Kinect, motion-sensored gaming technology, makes its way into box sets, PCS, and even operating rooms. This innovative flux projects infrared light into your body, which cancels any ambient light. A radiation sensor notices this reflection and uses it to move the screen! [CNN]
9. Ray Swyers phone freaking (aka “phreaking”)- how to contact anyone in the world. Phone hacking isn’t something new, recall Steve Jobs’ “blue boxes” that allowed free phone calls. Swyers works meticulously. He dials numbers quickly with one ear to the receiver and scrawls down numbers on a pad. Over at the Betabeat offices, Swyers tested out his system. The challenge was to contact CEO Lex Fenwick on the line, and sure enough, he accomplished it. Swyers software is still in the making, and this unconquered territory could be his. [Betabeat]
10. Kutiman Chops & Mixes You-Tube Footage to Create a Mesmerizing Tune. Two years ago, Ophir Kutiel became an internet phenomenon with his video compilation called “Thru You.” This time, Kutiman takes samples from musicians on YouTube and orchestrates them into one harmony. Now, he has returned with a brand new, jazzy track called, “My Favorite Color.” Watch below! [TechCrunch]
11. 5 Mistakes to Avoid on Your Company Blog. Lately, companies can’t survive the competition without creating a blog or social media profile. This list provided by Mashable gives reasonable support to their mistakes that a CEO should avoid. Some include- Ignoring Social Media (that’s the best way to promote!), Starting Without a Strategy, and Not Being Yourself. A genuine approach to a blog compels people to read it frequently. Read up on more of the specifics! [Mashable]
12. Literature Transforms from Real to Virtual. Bryn Mawr College’s Intro to Shakespeare Class uses a virtual, three-dimensional program called theatron.org to recreate scenes from each classical play. Apparently, other universities, like the University of Virginia, have applied this similar virtual reality to their classroom. For instance, students can explore a virtual recreation of the South African township of Soweto during the 1976 uprising or sign up for “e-black studies.” Professors and students a like are eager to explore this field of digital humanities. [NYT]
13. Electric Fashion- Hey, excuse me, my dress is ringing… Ever thought of merging your cell and headphones with your clothes? Check out the Rusty Wired Series Swept Away with built in, machine-washable, drawstring headphones. If you’re in need of something dressier, Mohan’s has built a custom iPad suit pocket, and the M-Dress accepts a standard SIM card and can receive and send out phone calls. [Mashable]
14. Watch a Nuclear Chain Reaction made out of mouse traps and ping pong balls! Chemistry students at the Horizon Science Academy in Cleveland were told to illustrate the reaction and came up with this video. This would be awesome as a class prank. [Gizmodo]
15. We must be saved, Nao! We’ve seen them dance in synchronized patterns and play some foot ball, but can Aldebaran create a disaster relief line that traverses any terrtain? Recently Aldebaran robotics has announced they will be creating a line of robots that will help in hazardous situations (citing tsunami ridden Japan as an example). I’m all for that, as long as they can dance while doing so. [Engadget]
