square to circle and...ta da! no more lawsuit

These guys are fast. Just two days after the Scrabulous developers got pulled from Facebook, they're back. Meet WordScraper, the new Fbook app from the Agarwall brothers. Its quite similar to Scrabble, but with circular tiles and the ability for users to customize the "rules." Its surprisingly smooth, which tells me they probably had this one sitting in the back room collecting dust until they ran into problems such as Tuesday's. Whatever the case, their daily active users aren't quite what Scrabulous was (500,000+), or even Scrabble (64,744), but at 3,569, its a start.

I think lawsuits should start to be treated like timeouts...start with a finite number so you use them wisely. Where's the love Viacom? Hasbro? MediaSet?

youtube in some more hot water

Yet another suit has been filed against Google's Youtube for copyright infringement, this time all the way over in Italy. The suit, filed today in Rome courts, is seeking $779M in damages for illegal use of its copyrighted material. Scrapers from Mediaset, Italy's largest television broadcaster (controlled by Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi), found "at least 4,643 videos and clips, equivalent to more than 325 hours of transmission without having rights." They claim that is equal to 315,672 days worth of broadcasting. Now, that number is questionable, considering the videos were posted after the shows aired, but who's counting? Only the courts, researchers, press and Google. Nobody of real importance.

Google is also facing a $1B lawsuit from Viacom (the famed Daily Show squabble), which puts a good amount of pressure on the Google legal team. Good luck boys and girls.

sweeeeeet

What comes to mind when you think CPU cooler? Well, certainly not this gorgeous piece of copper. Retailing for $60, the Thermaltake V1 CPU Cooler has to be the prettiest computer accessory I've ever seen. And screw its functionality, I'm settin' this one up in my living room.

Oh, and it won the Red Dot Award for Design. Naturally.

Official site.

phillippe starck - we are mutants

The man who designs not for the design but for the result, has found yet another aspect of life to master: philosophy. Phillippe Starck's presentation at the TED Conference back in 2007 tackles evolution as design through mutation. Tough. And he does it all with the thickest French accent I've ever heard. Tougher.

His basic concept is that we are more than evolving, we are mutating through history. 4.5 billion years ago life had no idea what it would be like today, and today we have no idea what life will be like 4 billion years from now. And based on those numbers, we are about halfway through the journey. He finds this to be our "poetry, our romanticism."

Starck has designed the most obscure and diverse portfolio of objects, from hotels and condos, to motorcycles, to toothbrushes, and even the new Virgin Galactic Space Station in Arizona.

Check out his "network" here.

i need a 6-letter word beginning with 'k' including the letters 'l','d','e','l','i'

Killed. Hasbro, the company that holds the copyright and trademark for Scrabble in the U.S. and Canada, filed suit against Rajat and Jayant Agarwall--the developers of the popular Facebook App Scrabulous--last week for copyright infringement. Today it was ruled effective, and Facebook took the application down. If you go to access the app, you get this message: "In response to a legal request from Hasbro, the copyright and trademark holder for Scrabble in the U.S. & Canada, the developers of Scrabulous have suspended their application in the U.S. and Canada until further notice."

Earlier this year, Hasbro had approached the Agarwall bros with a hefty check for a "claim to the Scrabble brand," according to Silicon Alley Insider. That amount may be left to nada now that the app is down and killed. That sucksulous.

More from SAI on the topic.

weekly diy: road sign coffee table

Tired of going through coffee tables like tic-tacs? Me too, and after pulling a third Chris Farley on your glass Pier One table, consider something a little....hmm...less expensive. I give you the road sign coffee table.

Find two cardboard boxes (preferably one that's ~ 24"x24"x16", and the other ~ 16"x16"x4". Those numbers are completely arbitrary, btw). Fill each box with Styrofoam. Get a roll or two of duct tape, and tape those bad boys together, in a nice, even manner. Take some more duct tape, roll up a few pieces to make it double-sided, and slap the road sign on top. Bada bing, bada bang, bada boom. You have yourself a coffee table.

Materials needed: two cardboard boxes, duct tape, stolen road sign.

Tools needed: none.

Total out of pocket: $3.95

you've got 60 seconds...go

TechCrunch, in its infinite wisdom and ever-growing number of derivations (CrunchGear, CrunchBase, TalkCrunch, MobileCrunch, Gillmor Gang, and the list goes on), has created a platform for entrepreneurs to upload a 60 sec video clip of their "elevator pitch," accompanied with a few key facts about their start-up (web address, founding date, funds raised to date, and a brief description). This is a great tool for anybody involved in early stage companies; from VC's and angels looking for places to put their funds, to other entrepreneurs looking to scope out the competitive landscape. Its also great for users looking for cool new apps, widgets, or platforms that are a little alternative to the status quo.

And if you don't fall into any of those categories, its always fun to chuckle at the nervous pitchers who can't stop glancing at their cue cards, sweatin' like a whore in church.

Some notable pitches: Smarkets, Jackson Fish Market, Yovia, Semanticator.

ad space moves from madison avenue to wall street

There once was a day when a tired sales force spent hours haggling on the phone with ad buyers, trying to dump their leftover inventory off at prices that justified their labor hours. No longer.

There are markets for everything, and they are becoming increasingly technical and efficient. There are now several exchanges where ad buyers bid on remnant ad space (excess inventory that was unable to be sold at a premium price), and create a market around the specific spot. These spots' prices are grossly reduced (a typical ad selling at $20 per 1,000 impressions may go for $1 per 1,000 on the exchange, discounted for reduced demand levels and more headache involved), and the volume is growing (about 6B transactions per day).

Some advertising research firms are setting up complex trading algorithms to profit on the open market, by exploiting arbitrage opportunities just like in normal equities markets. There is hope of the market evolving to demonstrate more similarity to exchanges such as the Nasdaq or NYSE, including secondary markets, options, futures, and derivatives. In 2007, about 15% of remnant ad space, and about 5% of overall ad space, was sold over the exchanges, so it seems as though we're well on our way.

The endgame is obviously a more sophisticated and useful market for ads in general, applying, theoretically, a fair market price to each spot.

Check out the full article here, and the largest exchange, the Adsdaq, here.

new favorite phrase: "slime bucket"

And we can thank Steve Jobs for delivering it to us (while we're at it, let's thank him for this beautifully contorted pose at his keynote address). The recent woes about Steve's health have finally been buried: Steve Jobs does not have a recurrence of cancer.

Joe Nocera, the NYT reporter who criticized the Savior-in-Chief and his employer for not revealing what he (and a lot of other people) considered to be notable information for shareholders, got a virtual, geotagged slap in the face from iSteve. To some degree, I agree; with a company so reliant on its founder and main creative force, detriment to his health, or any risk of early retirement, is an event that could impact the performance of the company. On the other hand, it is indeed our right as human beings to maintain confidentiality over our medical records...one of the few liberties still upheld today. So, is the risk of thousands of shareholder lawsuits worth it to keep the lid on a can of worms threatening our very civil and human liberties? Probably. I'm just glad Steve's OK and it didn't come to that.

Oh, by the way, Steve's opening line to Nocera: "This is Steve Jobs. You think I’m an arrogant [expletive] who thinks he’s above the law, and I think you’re a slime bucket who gets most of his facts wrong." Nice.

suck it comcast

One small step for high bandwidth users, one giant leap for net neutrality.

The FCC has finally ruled that Comcast's limiting actions taken against a "small percentage" of high bandwidth users (users Comcast claims were transferring large amounts of p2p files) were wrong. Agency officials cite the violation of federal policy by "deliberately preventing some customers from sharing videos online via file-sharing services like BitTorrent."

Frankly, its about time somebody cracked down on these crooks. If anybody has dealt with their cable or internet services, you know what I'm talking about.

Full article on wsj.com here.

the stones' farewell tour: bye bye EMI

After a long push-and-pull relationship, The Rolling Stones have finally buggered off of EMI's rapidly shrinking client list. Who wins? Well, the Stones, now that they don't have to deal with crazy financier Guy Hands any longer; Vivendi Universal, who get's the band's catalog dating back to the 70's (and any rights to new releases, but don't hold your breath); and Abcko, who gets to hold onto the earlier stuff. But not LiveNation, who everyone thought would be the recipient of the Stones' performance dollars or pounds. They are choosing to remain "indie" on that front, and good for them. LiveNation has been a bit overzealous in its recent signings (see previous EMI post), and as a result Michael Cohl, the exec feverously persuing these 7-8 figure deals, got canned.

As Mc says, "I won't miss you child." Sorry Mikey. And Guy. But not really.

weekly diy: homemade play-doh!

Really bored? Let's make play-doh.

Materials needed: 2 cups flour, 2 cups warm water, 1 cup salt, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, 1 tablespoon cream of tartar, food coloring (your choice of colors), scented oils (oo baby)

Tools needed: stove-top burner, mixing bowl, a child's imagination.

Its quite simple: throw all your ingredients into the mixing bowl, stir 'em up. Put your concoction over low heat, heat until it resembles mashed potatoes. Let it cool. Glop the dough on a counter top, and roll vigorously into balls. Create a dimple in each ball and place your desired food coloring, and work the color into the dough (use gloves for this). Work the oils in so it doesn't smell so weird. Then play to your heart's content.

Here's the instructable.

put the lime in the...wait, what?

Scientists believe they have found a solution to our rapidly increasing CO2 emissions into the atmosphere, and they call on nothing more than a hint of lime (well, maybe a bit more than that, I'm still unclear how much a "hint" really is). These scientists have developed a theory that by adding lime to our oceans, the water's ability to absorb and hold CO2 is drastically increased, effectively reversing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. It would, according to their theory, restore CO2 levels to an amount not seen since before the industrial revolution (CO2 love us long time).

The lime required is actually from limestone, and was previously thought too expensive to extract. But Tim Kruger, from the consulting and private equity firm Corven, thinks that due to regions with "stranded energy"--flared natural gas or high solar energy levels in deserts--too remote to exploit economically, are areas that this process could be feasible.

For more on this quite unique solution to CO2 emissions and ozone protection, here's the full article.

Put the lime in the ocean and make global warming stop.

dark knight swallows the green screen

As we all knew it would, The Dark Knight--Chris Nolan's second installment of his adapted Batman trilogy--broke the box office record for both opening weekend and single day gross ($155.3M and $66.4M, respectively). And they did it all without a green screen (the same cannot be said for the now second place weekend grosser Spiderman 3). If you've seen the film, and you didn't already know this, your jaw should be dropping about now. Yes, that villain snare of Lau from his Hong Kong office, beginning with an 88-story base jump into the window of another equally tall office building, only to be "Sky-Hooked" back out of the window holding the now thoroughly intimidated Chinese criminal? Real. 3 week prep time.

God I love Chris Nolan.

Beyond the authenticity of the explosions, stunts and machine gun spitfire, there is an element of deep darkness that surrounds, in my opinion, the greatest villain performance of all time. The late Heath Ledger's Joker instills a sense of total abandon for human decency, a feeling that stays with you long after you exit into the fluorescent light. Rounded off by true crime thriller plot weaves, twists and turns, and nods to some of film's greatest crime dramas (including Dog Day Afternoon and The Seven-Ups), this film really has it all. My one negative was the lack of closure the audience gets on the Joker, as we are left hanging, as he is, from an unfinished skyscraper by the ankle.

Go see this movie, and if you have already, go see it again.

going back in time...to deliver your weekly diy, yesterday

So a tricky look at DIY this week: how to snag the new 3G for $199 even if you didn't buy first-gen and aren't eligible for an upgrade through AT&T. This comes to you via Alley Insider and MacRumors, and may or may not work (but still bears less risk than, say, keeping your money in an FDIC insured bank account...ahem, IndyMac).

Step 1: snag your iPhone-toting friend's device, replace his SIM card with your own.
Step 2: log onto iTunes and activate the phone as your own.
Step 3: remove your SIM card and return the phone to your buddy.
Step 4: march on over to the Apple store and buy a 3G iPhone. Your account should show up as having had a first-gen iPhone, making you eligible for the upgrade, and thus saving you that extra $199 non-upgrade kick-up.

Materials needed: willing friend, willing friend's iPhone, your old SIM card.

Tools needed: ninja-like sneakiness.

Total out of pocket: $0 - $199 = -$199 (yay savings).

Don't get caught...and if you do, we never had this conversation.

its like rain on your wedding day

Its not ironic, it just sucks.

You know the market's having a bad hair day when Apple (AAPL) releases its most hyped product yet, and they're still down ~1.5%. To add insult to injury, its now confirmed (via Engadget) that the iTunes servers are completely down, after working intermittently throughout the morning rush. This means that you can't activate your new 3G, and when you upgrade from the first-gen, it disables your SIM, so you're stuck holding two worthless (but beautiful) devices. The servers went down due to (expected) excessive demand. Apple and AT&T stores are sending people home to activate through iTunes remotely. Guess you're gonna have to wait for those cool new apps just a little longer.

That does suck.

weekly diy: usb cd fan

Ah, finally a useful function for the CD. Now, instead of using them for entertainment while you hurl them against walls to watch them shatter, you can cut them up, stick 'em on a cork and blow yourself (insert Tobias grin here).

Its very simple really; you cut a CD into fan-like appendages (as shown in the above picture), heat it so you can bend them off-axis, find a small motor or battery-charged fan, and connect the two with a cork. If you have a USB cord, cut one end of the cord off, strip the wires and connect them to the battery unit of the motor. Done deal.

Materials needed: Michael Bolton CD, cork, candle, small motor/battery-powered fan.

Tools needed: Solder, soldering iron, wire cutters.

Total out of pocket (not including tools): ~$10

Check out the instructional video here, or the Instructables.com article here.

dat's a lotta downloads

Mozilla Firefox, the most popular internet browser, has just gotten itself into the Guinness Book of World Records. What for? The first ever most downloads in a day award...Mozilla broke it with a "record" (this term is used loosely because its the first ever recorded) 8,002,530 downloads in 24 hours (from 1pm June 17 to 1pm June 18, EDT). The company transferred 62,419,734 MB (over 62 terabytes) of data. Impressive.

Mozilla, for those of you who don't know, was started by Mitch Kapor (lotus anyone?) who's a super-cool tech entrepreneur/philanthropist. The Mozilla Foundation is a 501c(3) non-profit, and operates Firefox through its for-profit subsidiary, Mozilla Corp. The company makes meager revenues for such a killer product, and donates all the profit to its foundation (the majority of its revenues come from the little Google search bar in the upper right-hand corner of the browser). Killer product, killer record. This should kick on the ole' competitive engine and up the ante for apps and browsers. Good things.

weekly diy: portable solar charger

So beginning this week, I'm going to be doing a weekly DIY posting, every Tuesday. I'll try to keep the projects simplistic, requiring little specialized knowledge and few tools (light soldering, some electrical knowledge, etc).

This week, I've found a DIY instructional for a solar charging unit. You can create this baby using just a simple car charging unit that plugs into your cigarette lighter. And with that solar panel, now you can charge your Blackberry when it runs out of batteries when you happen to be stranded (with a solar panel handy, mind you) in the middle of the Mojave desert...talk about clutch.

Materials needed: Solar panel (you can pick these up at Wal-Mart now, believe it or not); universal DC2DC charger; quick connect.

Tools needed: Solder, soldering iron, screwdriver.

Total out of pocket (not including tools): ~$45

Check out the step-by-step instructions here. Enjoy.