Author: JD Rucker

Newspapers are not dead, despite every effort by many (including newspaper publishers) to kill them. That may have been the biggest surprise in a recent report by Forrester regarding the way Americans spend their media-consumption time during the last 6 years. For the first time ever, Internet usage equaled television watching with 121% increase since 2005. The numbers may be slightly inaccurate as the increased use of television-based Internet consumption may have confused people. There is a chance that Internet usage exceeded true television watching. Television for its part also saw…

The first iAd on the iPad will be for the upcoming movie “Tron Legacy”. A Tr-iAd. And thus, the era of app-based tablet advertising is officially launched. This full-screen iAd will be the only one we will see on the iPad in 2010 and is loaded with rich graphics, touch navigation and nearly 10-minutes of video native to apps. Unlike other forms of advertising, this iAd will be extremely interactive with a theater locator, loads of images, and a preview of the movie soundtrack (which you can, of course, purchase through an iTunes module on the iAd itself). “Disney and Apple are excited to debut the ‘Tron…

What started as an online diary for lonely people to express their thoughts to nobody in particular (or in some cases, nobody at all) has grown into one of the most powerful aspects of the Internet. For many, it’s where we get our news rather than from mainstream media. For others, it’s become a full-time job that pays the bills through advertising and sponsorships. Some blogs are worth millions. This graphic by Flowtown illustrates a time line of where we’ve been and where we are now. Have bloggers evolved to their ultimate state as alternative journalists, public relations portals for businesses,…

Social media blackmail. When called anything other than blackmail, it’s something that people normally talk about with a positive sentiment. Ordinary people who get extra “power” by being good at social media making big businesses bend at their wills – it’s the way we want it, “sticking it to The Man.” It’s also something that falls under the category of “what’s wrong with social media in 2011″. First, a brief story: Using “Klout” To Whine And Moan There was a time when ordinary people would have to break the law or win the lottery to get the attention of the masses. Social media has made it possible…

As the world’s second most powerful computer, the Jaguar has been called on to do many things, particularly for the US Department of Energy. In 2011, it will be asked to use its tremendous power to fight crime. It’s going pedophile hunting. Scientists from Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee where Jaguar is housed are working with local and national law enforcement to put Jaguar’s incredible processing abilities to work with Artemis, a program that finds pornographic images and videos on computers and networks. Named after the Greek goddess of the hunt, the program quickly scans computers…

Those of you who bought a Kin (all 500 of you) probably liked the Kin Studio. It was likely one of the biggest reasons you bought the phone in the first place, having social networks and life-streaming apps from the cloud in your hands. As of January 31, 2011, the Kin Studio will be no more. Those who have a Kin will be given the option of getting a new phone for free. The phone will continue to work, as will Zune, text messaging, web, and other basic functionality, but the studio itself will be closed. According to WP Central, owners of the Kin will lose: Feed Reader will stop working Search Near me will stop…

The CR-48 marks a huge transition by Google into several potential new markets that it has scarcely touched over the last decade. Hardware, operating systems, technical support – a year ago all of these were a dream. Most industry experts have expected two out of the three (a Google technical support team that the public can access has always been a far-fetched expectation) at some point and now we are on the verge of having them. With all of the innovations, differentiators, and unique offerings that the CR-48 represents, there’s one thing that doesn’t make sense until you dig deeper: why on earth…

If you haven’t heard, Facebook is a pretty prominent site. In this latest update to the World Map of Social Networks, Vincenzo Cosenza from Vincos.it displays what most who use social media likely already knew: Facebook is taking over the world. They are surpassing local and country-specific social networks to tie the world into one global web unlike anything since the invention of, well, The Web. Mixi and Hyves are the only other sites that are more popular than Facebook in multiple countries, while 8 other social networks still reign in their home countries. For now. At least Google’s Orkut…

Remember the days when nearly all of your Christmas gifts were clothing or accessories. Sure, there were a few household appliances sneaked in there, perhaps cologne or perfume, and an occasional piece of jewelry, but aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, and parents would fill the underbelly of the Christmas tree with sweaters you’d never wear and underwear that sort of felt uncomfortable getting as a present. Those days are closer to being behind us as the digital age makes more of an impact on the holidays. As this graphic by our friends at Savings demonstrates, more and more people are turning…

Before seeing this graphic, I thought I was in the majority. Apparently, Facebook gaming is grabbing more than just the geeks in their mothers’ basement with no significant other in the real world. The growing phenomenon of social gaming has created 3 camps: those who do it and love it, those who hate it and want it killed with fire, and those who are able to ignore it or don’t even know it exists. This graphic shows that there are a lot more people than most would imagine playing Ravenwood Fair. LOLapps, the creators of the wildly popular game, has gone through much adversity on their road to success….