Business
BLITZ – 2/6/13: Awww Skeet Skeet
February 6, 2013
Prodigy – “Bang On Em”
18 People Charged By The Feds In A $200 Million Dollar Global Credit Card Scam
Former NBA Star Allen Iverson Loses His Atlanta Mansion To Foreclosure
Church Daycare Closed After 5-Year-Olds Caught Having Oral Sex
Jeremy Lin Helps Set NBA Record In Houston Rockets Win Over The Golden State Warriors
I Went To The Playboy Mansion (And It Was Kinda Depressing)
Female Prison Guard Pregnant With Inmate’s Baby & Had Multiple Affairs With Other Prisoners
Coco Brown Could Be The First Ever Porn Star In Space
Man Caught Having Sex With A Horse; Says He Was Trying To Get It Pregnant
Palm-Sized Nano-Copter Being Used In Afghanistan As A Spy Drone
Nigerian Prostitutes Offer One-Week Of Free Sex If Nigeria Wins The African Cup In Soccer
Atlanta Reporter Gets Sucker Punched In The Face Live On Camera
For 100 Years Pitbulls Were Considered The Perfect ‘Nanny Dogs’ Before Negative Stories
10 Questions Should Ask Themselves At The Beginning Of Their Careers (If They Want Success)
Room For Debate: Have Black Intellectuals Sold Their Souls?
Futuristic Freakum Dress: ‘Intimacy 2.0’ Dress Turns Transparent When Women Get Aroused
Jacksonville Jaguars Unveil New Team Logos
Jesse Jackson, Jr’s Wife Subject Of A Federal Investigation
Mixing Alcohol & Diet Soda Can Make You More Intoxicated Faster
Armor On The Field: How The NFL’s Use Of Kevlar Helmets Can Possibly Eliminate Concussions
Ray Lewis Does His Dance For The Last Time In The Ravens Stadium With Lombardi Trophy
New Orleans Saints Plan To Hire Rob Ryan As Their New Defensive Coordinator
Research Says Straight Men Who Watch Porn Tend To Be Supportive Of Same-Sex Marriages
Puerto Rico’s Battered Economy: The Greece Of The Caribbean?
Technology: Qualcomm’s Paul Jacobs Sees a Bright Future for Smartphones (Video)
January 21, 2013
Qualcomm was the chip company smart enough to put Internet protocols into cell phones right around the time the ‘Net was becoming accessible to the general public (early 1990s). The guy at the helm of a company that demonstrates such foresight is someone to whom we should listen, right?
Well, whether or not you do, I am listening to what Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs has to say:
‘There are a lot of opportunities… Obviously, the smartphone trend is going to continue… There will be 5 billion smartphones sold between now and 2016.’
– Paul Jacobs
5 billion!! Did y’all get that? Now, what would smart folks in media (radio, TV, performing artists, promoters, bloggers, etc.) be looking to do in light of such a tip from such an authority as Jacobs? I dunno.
(Yeah, I do. Look left. You can download the JayForce mobile app… to interact with this site via phone… to listen to Beatz & Lyrics with JayForce via phone… you… do get it, right?)
So, just how far can this mobile trend take us? Possibilities for business are obvious; but what about for humanity. Check it:
‘Let me tell you something that’s pretty cool. There’s a researcher we’re working with who has an idea to put a tiny chip inside your bloodstream … and it’ll maybe lodge in your wrist and look for certain indicators that in two weeks you might have a heart attack. Can you imagine that? So your phone will ring and tell you to go to your doctor. That’s in the lab right now. People are working on that now.’
– Paul Jacobs
– @ojones1
Posted in Business, Technology, Television, Videos | 
Tags: Charlie Rose, Paul Jacobs, Qualcomm, smart phone, Smartphone | 
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Wanted: Black Female Hackers #BlackHack
November 1, 2012
Think of a relatively small subset of the population – like Black people in the United States.
(It’s okay. This post is not ‘racial’; more like post-racial.)
Okay, now whittle that subgroup down… to Black women in the U.S. Then narrow the group to U.S. Black women who are programmers or software developers and… um… where’d everyone go? Get it? The number is small. Understandably, the few there are might feel all alone. Well… until now. Coming up is the #BlackHack: a hack-a-thon for Black women programmers put on by Black Girls Hack.
The event – expected to bring 100 Black women developers and entrepreneurs together – will take place in Atlanta on November 16 and 17 (very soon). Mailchimp has signed on to be primary sponsor for the #BlackHack.
So… looking for women with brains who are about their business, are you? A’ight then.
Read more at “Black Girls Hack creates #blackhack: a hackathon for black women programmers” (full article)
Read the rest of this entry »
The ‘Internet Radio Fairness Act’ – A Win for Web Radio & Indie Music
October 30, 2012
The Internet Radio Fairness Act of 2012 is a bipartisan bill (e.g. proposed by team Democratic and Republican members of the U.S. Congress) set to level royalty rates for streaming online music; bringing what internet radio stations pay in line with what terrestrial (land-based local) broadcast stations pay to play music. Now, there are other elements of the bill that are important; but like most bills, the text is wordy and complex. I have done a bit of research, and here is what you need to know if you are an artist or have a stake in helping artists or internet radio stations.
Plain and simple: Alongside noncommercial (college and community) radio stations, Internet radio stations have been welcoming independent artists’ music for years. The cheaper it is for them to spin, the greater the chance we all win. Good (e.g. NOT commercial)Â music in mass quantities. I’m in! Support this legislation y’all (House Bill HR 6480 and Senate Bill S 3609). Ask your Congressperson about it.
The Collective: Agents To The ‘YouTube’ Stars
October 8, 2012
Well, it had to happen. As a medium of its own, the Internet – specifically YouTube – has generated its own stars. They are like TV and movie celebrities, but they are not borne of the big or small screen. Heck, look no further than this site for examples of such celebs. We spotlight Internet-grown stars like Narduwar all the time.
But you know what stars need when they get ‘big’ enough, right? Agents! And now, the big names on the ‘Net have one. Los Angeles entertainment industry vet Michael Green founded The Collective in 2005 – the same year YouTube was started – ‘to capitalize on the shifting entertainment landscape…by teaming with artists…who he believes are well positioned to capitalize on the decentralization of media consumption.’ Green presumed (rightly) that as consumers in greater and greater numbers watched less TV and attended fewer movies shown in theaters, opting more for Internet-based entertainment, that new stars would emerge… stars who were not being represented by traditional talent agencies. Having already represented and handled administrative duties for the likes of the Backstreet Boys and Snoop Dogg, Green has set up The Collective to manage the careers of Internet icons who have reached (or have the potential to reach) the six-figure income level by themselves. Taking them on as clients then frees them to continue pushing the limits of their creativity (which is what made them stars in the first place). Meanwhile The Collective handles mundane matters like fee negotiations, legal matters and other paperwork. It’s win-win. Here’s how.
Comedic musician team Rhett & Link, once overwhelmed by huge marketing contract proposals from General Motors and McDonald’s, certainly appreciated (and were happy to pay for) The Collective’s help. Another client, Annoying Orange, created by indie filmmaker Dane Boedigheimer, now has its own Cartoon Network show with 2.5 million subscribers. That’s an Internet entertainer… doing “TV numbers”… on YouTube… insane! Bet there is some insane money involved on the back end for The Collective, too.
Best believe that this business model is here to stay, too. The Interactive Advertising Bureau has tracked growth of brand spending in digital video from $324 million in 2007 to $1.8 billion in 2011. That’s right: Digital video brand spending more than quadrupled its 2007 figure in the course of four years! And for a fraction of the money it takes to develop and launch TV ad campaigns, brand companies get their names and messages out to masses of young, loyal viewers they hope to convert to consumers. Moreover, Internet ads are becoming more sophisticated (e.g. companies like Rhett & Link and their competitors are stepping up their game); so the digital video advertising business can be expected to intensify and grow… and The Collective will be right there to get its share of a pie that is getting bigger and bigger.
The Real Life Tony Stark: Elon Musk Was Inspiration For Marvel’s “Iron Man” Movie Character (Video)
September 24, 2012
Forty-year-old South African innovator Elon Musk (featured in the video vignette above) served as an inspiration for the fictional genius billionaire Tony Stark in the “Iron Man” movies, according to director Jon Favreau. Mr. Musk even made a cameo in one of the movies. A quick peek at his profile lets us know that Mr. Musk is indeed the Marvel comic character come to life!
Successful in bold business ventures, Mr. Musk’s Tesla Motors, Inc. (of Palo Alto, California), already has more than 10,000 orders for its Model S high-end electric car. A futurist with eyes toward the skies (and beyond), Mr. Musk’s Falcon 9 rocket (developed by his Hawthorne-based business SpaceX) took an unmanned Dragon capsule on a mission to the International Space Station – marking the first time a private company has sent a spacecraft to the space station. Mr. Musk, ever the industrialist, also helped cousins Lyndon and Peter Rive develop their soon-to-be public SolarCity solar panel company (and he currently serves as Chairman of its Board). Oh yeah… forgot to mention that Mr. Musk also founded PayPal (which sold to eBay for $1.5 billion a while ago)!
But alas, like Tony Stark, Mr. Musk is something of a troubled ladies’ man – recently splitting with his actress wife, Talulah Riley; his second, as author Justine Musk was his first. Justine is coming out with a book…and word has it that it will NOT be a flattering piece of literature.
Mm..mm…mm…it’s hard out here for a futurist…industrialist…philanthropist…tech wiz…PLAYER!
GENIUS, BILLIONAIRE, PLAYBOY, PHILANTROPIST
– @ojones1
Posted in Business, Cover Story, Human Interest, Technology | Tags: Elon Musk, Iron Man, Tony Stark | 3 Comments »
McDonald’s Going Meatless?
September 19, 2012
McDonald’s is the biggest burger chain in the world, in part, because it knows how to give the customers what they want. That said, we might say “about damn time” to vegetarian options on Mickey D’s menu, right? Well… hold your lettuce, pickles, and onions, my friend. No one is saying McD’s will offer vegetarian menu items…worldwide…yet. However, Businessweek has reported that the burger chain’s locations in India will serve only vegetarian food because of customer preferences in the region. While there are only 250 (out of 33,000-plus) McDonald’s locations in India, this is a huge step: To go from just “not serving beef or pork” to becoming completely vegetarian. Of course, the chain is taking the huge step in hopes of making huge gains:
I got no beef with McDonald’s over this. Good business move. But keep my Mighty Wings on the menu over here in the States… and bring back that McRib sandwich pronto! Yes… That will complete my order.
– @ojones1
