A Harshly Divided Planet
A Harshly Divided Planet By Phil of Phil's Stock World I was early with my May call that the World was hurtling into violent revolutions (see my musical photo essay) but it is kind of my job to be ahead of the curve and the fact of the matter is that I called this way back in December of 2009, in "2010 Outlook - A Tale of Two Economies": 2010 is going to be an interesting year and it seem
TechCrunch Review — The iPad 2: Yeah, You’re Gonna Want One.
In January 2010, shortly after its unveiling, I first got my hands on an iPad. My initial reaction? “The iPad is like holding the future.” And that’s funny because here we are, just a little over a year into that future, and something new has come along that makes holding the iPad 1 feel like holding the past: the iPad 2. A week ago, after its unveiling, I got some hands on time with the new hard
On Apple TV Special Apps, Sports, And The Slow Bleeding Of Cable
Buried today in the iOS 4.3 release is an unmentioned, but very interesting update for the Apple TV: access to both MLB.tv and NBA League Pass. Yes, the live sports are coming to the Apple TV! That’s great news for Apple TV owners, but such functionality has actually been available for some time on the rival boxes by Roku. Still, the ramifications of this are potentially huge because the lack of s
OpenFeint And The9 Team Up To Bring Game Developers To Android Platform
OpenFeint, the comprehensive mobile social gaming platform from Aurora Feint, is teaming up with its recent investor and Chinese gaming company The9 on a joint initiative to bring game developers to the Android platform. Basically, OpenFeint and The9 will be using the $100 million Fund9, a Chinese-based mobile internet development fund, to fund game developers. As we’ve written in the past, OpenF
URL Hunter: Play a Game in Your Address Bar
First, click this link. Then look at your URL bar. Use the left/right arrow keys to track down the scurrying As. When they're trapped inside your O, hit the space bar to eradicate them. Repeat. [ProbablyInteractive via SAI] More »
Business Cycles and Markets
Here is something very different. This is NOT intended as investment advice. Why is there so much focus on the business cycle? For companies, especially cyclical companies, the reason is obvious – it helps with planning, staffing and investment. But why are investors so focused on the business cycle? Obviously earnings decline in a recession, and stock prices fall too. The following graph sh
Foursquare 3.0 Has Arrived: Here’s What’s New
Foursquare, the location-based mobile game startup that pioneered the checkin, will introduce version 3.0 Tuesday evening. The new release turns on the power of every checkin accumulated over the course of its two-year history and transforms that data into recommendations.“Our theme internally has always been that every checkin counts,” says co-founder and CEO Dennis Crowley, who speaks of vers
Crashiverary Week Continues
Michael Snyder wonders "Will The Day Of Rage In Saudi Arabia On March 11 Send The Price Of Oil Into Unprecedented Territory?" Phil was thinking oil at $105 would be hard to hold - at least yesterday, while later on in the week, oil at $110 might be a good short. - Ilene Crashiverary Week ContinuesBy Phil of Phil's Stock World I love it when a plan comes together and our plan in yesterday's Mo
EightBit Hits The Street Running With HTML5 Power; SXSW Just Got A Lot More Fun
The other day, I was thinking about the magic that was the original Foursquare launch at SXSW in 2009. The city of Austin was abuzz with everyone using the app — even though no one was sure what it really was yet. Or how, if ever, it would be useful. It was really just a fun game at the time. And this year, Austin is going to have that game again: EightBit. If you’ve been on the Internet in the pa
Microsoft Finally Making Smart Moves – Is It Too Little Too Late, Though? Here’s How To Make Money Regardless
In the controversial article Steve Jobs Calls End Of the PC, We Call The End Of The Fat Margin Tablet – Including The Pretty iPad, With Proof! I attempted to make clear that those that are really in the know know that looking towards the future, Apple is not the real threat. As quoted from the blog post: The CEO of the hardware side of the recent Microsoft/Nokia alliance (Elop) put it most a
So This Is How Kids Play The License Plate Game These Days
Everyone's played the license plate game, but has anyone actually ever won? As in actually spotted plates from all 50 states? How did we ever even keep track? Well now there's a way, with State Plate, a gorgeous iPad app that turns your tablet into a touchable scorecard for the classic road trip pastime. It's got some cursory information on every
Try Playing Rock Paper Scissors Against This All-Knowing Computer. You'll Probably Lose
How many rounds of rock, paper, scissors have you played in your life? Probably not enough to outsmart a computer. Have you identified trends in playing behavior? Doubtful. Are you predictable with your throwing strategy? Likely. Is it even possible to be any good at the game? Well, here's your chance to find out. Test your rock, paper scissors pr
Havok physics engine comes to Android 2.3, demoed on Xperia Play
Great graphics are often a component of great video games, but fancy physics can help too, and last week Havok announced that it was bringing those to Android, along with all of the requisite development tools. That means smartphones with Android 2.3 or up can potentially enjoy the same procedural animations and pretty dresses that we've enjoyed on PC and home console for years, and as the firs
Skyhook brings location-awareness to the Sony NGP, including WiFi-only models
The news got a bit overshadowed by some augmented reality demos and a little game called Uncharted, but Sony also talked a bit about the NGP's location-aware capabilities at GDC this past week, which we now know will rely on Skyhook's Core Engine system. What's more, that functionality will apparently be included on WiFi-only models in addition to those with 3G, which means that all NGP users wil
First Piece of Mozilla’s Web Apps Project Arrives, But Can it Outfox Chrome?
At great long last, Mozilla has revealed the first developer release of their Web Apps Project, which aims to build the infrastructure for an open web app ecosystem. Back in May of 2010, Google announced plans for what would become the Chrome Web Store. Mozilla responded immediately with plans for its own web store, now known as the Web Apps Project. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Google was first to th
6 Successful SXSW Startup Launch Stories
As part of this year’s SXSWi, Mashable presents the Mashable SXSWi House, featuring private events, open houses, meet-and-greet opportunities and two nights of parties. Learn more here and register for public events on Eventbrite.Startups vie for a chance to be part of the SXSW Accelerator competition for the opportunity it brings — 41% of the companies that have participated in the first two c
N64oid brings Nintendo 64 emulation to Android devices
There's not exactly a shortage of video game emulators for Android devices, but there has been one notable, 64-bit exception. That's finally been rectified with the just-released N64oid application, however, which finally brings emulation of Nintendo 64 games to the platform -- and, like the other emulators from developer Yongzh, it's conveniently available right in the Android Market (for $5.99)
4 Hot Social Gaming Trends to Watch
Prita Uppal is the founder and CEO of YooMee Games, a social competition platform that brings tournaments and cash prizes to skill-based games across websites, social networks and mobile apps.More than 18,000 interactive gaming industry pros came to San Francisco for the Game Developers’ Conference this week, an annual event that draws programmers, artists, producers, game designers, audio prof
Why the Search Marketing Industry Must Adapt or Perish
Tommy Swanson is the Social Media Specialist at KMA (A Pursuant Company), a full-service fundraising company. Swanson is in charge of SEO and social media for numerous nationally recognized non-profit organizations. He is also a serial online entrepreneur who has built and sold several large businesses since his early teens.Type a query into Google and, nine times out of ten, you’ll find a resu
Ubisoft's Kinky Swinger Sex Game Gets a 12+ Age Rating
Man, we were kind of excited to invite all our friends over to play We Dare and spank/sleep with their girlfriends and wives, but now that the European game rating agency PEGI has slapped a 12 years and up rating on the game, why bother? More »
Announcing Mashable & Gowalla’s SXSW 2011 Partnership
Like Mashable, Gowalla is about connecting with others, discovering new things and finding inspiration to explore.That’s why we’re thrilled to announce we’ll be teaming up with the location-based service to enhance the SXSW 2011 experience. Attendees can collect custom passport stamps and earn exclusive pins for checking into the Mashable SXSWi House, the Mashable Geek Games and panels featurin
Untapped Opportunity: Exploring the Arab Video Game Market
Mahmoud Khasawneh is the founder and CEO of Quirkat, a games development company based in the UAE with studios in Jordan. He is also the IGDA Middle East Chapter Leader.As the games industry in the Middle East has grown and evolved over the past decade, video game development and game localization aimed at the Middle Eastern market remains a tremendous opportunity. At first glance, the complexi
Steve Jobs Calls End Of the PC, We Call The End Of The Fat Margin Tablet – Including The Pretty iPad, With Proof!
video Apple has announced the release of the iPad 2 and it is an impressive piece of hardware, very nicely packaged and comes with margin boosting accessories (that are actually pretty slick) such as a magnetic cover. With that being said, the RDF (reality distortion field) and FUD (fear, uncertainty & doubt) absorbed and regurgitated by the tech media is simply horrendous and is an example of
10 Austin Startups to Meet at SXSW 2011
For those planning to hit South by Southwest this year, I figured I’d share a few local area startups you should make it a point to meet while you’re down in lovely Austin, Texas. I polled some locals, as well as consulted my notes about cool startups, to pull together this list. Feel free to debate the merits of it in the comments or add your own suggestions. For those who didn’t get a chance to
Toshiba shows off dual-core-powered Z2 HDTVs, Regza app for Android
Toshiba always likes to push the boundaries of TV technology -- Cell TV, Media Center extender TVs and its more recent glasses free 3D efforts come to mind immediately -- but there's always room for more conventional HDTVs and it showed off a few in Japan recently. The Z2 series of LED lit LCDs ship later this month and utilize a dual-core "CEVO (Cell Evolution) Engine" processor that has the hor
China Takes Giant Step Towards Making Yuan the World’s Reserve Currency
Washington’s Blog strives to provide real-time, well-researched and actionable information. George – the head writer at Washington’s Blog – is a busy professional and a former adjunct professor. ~~~ For years, I’ve been writing about the long-term decline of the Dollar, and the rise of the Chinese Yuan … and it’s potential to become the world’s next reserve currency. As I pointed out in 2007,
PoNZi CaLLiN WiZaRD
I originally did this song for Bernie Madoff IN 2009. But now, I realize it is much more appropriate to have Bernie singing the song in honor of the real PONZI callin King! Pinball Wizard - The Who - MyVideo PONZI CALL WIZARD sung by Bernie Madoff(Pin Ball Wizard, The Who)WilliamBanzai7 Ever since I was a young boy I've played the Ponzi game From Wall Street down to Palm Beach I've played the su