Spymaster, the Twitter-based game that we covered last night, is spreading like crazy today. It’s been a trending topic on Twitter throughout the day, even ahead of the hype around Microsoft’s new search engine, Bing. Because of this popularity though, some Twitter users are getting inundated with tweets from the service in their streams. It’s not really spam, because it’s their friends doing it, but to some, it’s very annoying. Former Digg lead architect, Joe Stump, is particularly pissed off.
“I’ve started both unfollowing and reporting users of this game to @spam. This isn’t because I hate my friends, it’s because I have no other recourse to stop this application’s abusive behavior,” he writes in a blog post today. While Stump isn’t entirely accurate that the only way to gain points is by tweeting out your actions in the game, the spirit of what he’s saying is correct because you are encouraged to tweet out your actions in the game to earn more points. He notes that this is similar to what happened with Facebook Platform early on, as games like Zombies took over people’s streams. This is something that VentureBeat’s Eric Eldon notes as well, joking that maybe they should rename the game “SpamMaster.” → Read More
I know that, in the beginning, the idea of DJ Hero appealed to me. As a fan of house and related genres—Renaissance The Master Series Part 13, mixed by Hernán Cattáneo, just hit the Internet—I was looking forward to playing the role of a big haired animated DJ. But then I realized: what a minute, actually DJing isn’t that hard at all! Why bother playing a DJ video game when you can actually DJ? → Read More
The founder of Text Link Ads (which was acquired by Media Whiz in 2007) Patrick Gavin, is launching another startup related to search engine optimization. Search marketing is a fast growing industry and becoming a vital part of a businesses strategy to maintaining a presence online. There are many firms out there that have developed products and software to aid businesses search, including Conductor, Marin Software and Kenshoo, but Gavin is trying to create solutions for small businesses who can’t afford to throw a ton of money towards SEO. Gavin is launching DIYSEO, which just raised $500,000 in seed funding from angel investors, to target small businesses who only have a $500 budget and can put 25 man hours per year towards online marketing. Gavin is mum on the details but says that the product will be semi-automated yet highly customized. Gavin says the product is primarily targeted towards small businesses who have little resources to put towards the web, including real estate agents, small car dealers, restaurants, and part-time entrepreneurs. But SEO is a crowded and competitive space and with the decline in the economy, SEO providers are all looking to provide cost-effective options for SMBs. It should be interesting to see how DIYSEO will fare in this climate. CrunchBase Information DIYSEO Information provided by CrunchBase → Read More
This is a new trailer for Mega Man 2.5D, a new version of the classic Mega Man currently in the works. It’s being built by designer Peter Sjostrand and looks like 15 pounds of amazing. → Read More
A couple years ago, Netflix began supplementing its DVD mail rental business with movie streams over the Web. for a few thousand select titles. Today, millions of Netflix customers stream their movies instead of waiting for them to come in the mail (or, more often, do both). ComScore Video Metrix estimates Netflix’s online viewership a bit lower at 645,000 unique viewers in March. They watched 6.9 million video streams and the average time spent watching per viewer is an amazing 128 minutes for the month, which is right up there with YouTube in terms of time spent (having full-length feature films helps keep people around longer).
I ran into Netflix CEO Reed Hastings at the AllThingsD conference this week, and asked him in the video (after the jump) how his streaming service is going and how its economics compare to that of mailing out DVDs. → Read More
Oh my. Please watch this British video of the future of video telephones. It’s wonderful. If only we actual had video phones by now it would be great. That and the flying cars we were promised. → Read More
Facebook developers are dying for a unified payment platform, and all signs are pointing to one coming soon. In the latest news, the site has just released a draft of its proposed new Payments Terms, which will dictate how transactions will be conducted going forward. While the updated terms are in line with Facebook’s recent trend towards using simplified language in its legal documents, the company’s blog post also notes that the new terms will “give us the flexibility to try new features”. This isn’t particularly surprising – there have recently been reports of Facebook planning to begin testing payments some time soon, after months of delays.
Facebook is using the same community commenting process it used during its site-wide Terms of Service fiasco before it officially rolls out the new terms, giving users three days to voice their thoughts on the site’s Governance site. → Read More
It’s been over 2 months since Foursquare launched at SXSW and something strange is happening: My friends are still using it — a lot. Sure, for the service to have real success, it will have to spread well beyond pockets of tech hipsters, but even this success is something we haven’t seen with the majority of location-based social networks so far. But Foursquare’s strategy is smart in that it’s just as much of a game, in which you collect badges and gain mayorships of your favorite local places, as anything else. And now it’s gearing up for a further expansion with an API.
Initially, team hopes this API will be used to build more mobile clients, co-founder Dennis Crowley tells us. Right now, there is only a native app for the iPhone, but he says that there are already a few people working on a native Android app as well. And they envision someone building a BlackBerry app shortly as well. I know that will be music the ears of a lot of my friends who are forced to visit Foursquare’s website from their mobile browsers, which is a less than ideal experience right now. → Read More
Here’s a tip for you on this endless Friday: if you don’t want a computer virus then don’t search for lyrics. It turns out that the search term “lyrics” is a dangerous one, and carries a maximum risk percentage of 26.3 percent in McAfee’s little danger-o-meter or whatever. That is to say 26 out of every 100 Web sites that pop up when you search for “lyrics” may contain viruses, browser exploits, a boatload of pop-ups, and other Internet nasties. → Read More
If you’re thinking of scanning all your old photos using a traditional flatbed scanner, let me be the first to tell you what a royal pain in the ass it is. I’ve done it a few times in my life and I put it up near the top of the list of things I don’t want to do, right underneath “helping someone move”. → Read More
Well, it’s about time! After a few missteps, Verizon has finally gotten their act together and managed to get a much needed software update for the Blackberry Storm through testing. Right now, it’s still unknown what the soon-to-be released 4.7.0.148 software will do for all you patient Storm owners out there, but what we do know is when you can get your mitts on it: you can download it directly from RIM this Sunday, May 31 at 3 PM sharp. For those of you who are a little less motivated, it’ll be available as an OTA update starting at 10 PM that same night. For all the good it’s bound to do, it’s puzzling that no one has let slip what this will fix. Storm owners, what do you want to see taken care of before you ditch your trusty handset for a Storm 2? EDIT: Not minutes after this was posted, one of BGR’s trusted ninjas came through with the change log. Take a look after the jump! → Read More
UK startup Imagini has launched the private beta version of its VisualDNA Shops widget to help monetise blogs and websites through a unique take on affiliate sales. The widget adds personalised product recommendations to any site, and immediately starts generating detailed demographic, psychographic and behavioural analytics of its visitors. It does this using the company’s VisualDNA concept; working out people’s personality types based on the pictures they choose. Imagini draws the data from its consumer facing personality test site, Youniverse, which has profiled more than 15 million people since 2006. VisualDNA Shop presents visitors with a few visual questions, and delivers real-time product recommendations from Amazon.com based on their responses. At the moment this means visitors can choose from mobile phones, digital cameras and gadgets. The company plans to include a broader range of products from sites like eBay and Shopping.com in the near future. Imagini secured $13.5m in funding in February this year, a chunk of which no doubt went to getting Stephen Fry to explain the VisualDNA concept (doing a rather succinct job, too): Anyone can try the concept with a free, limited VisualDNA Shop. There’s a Pro version for $2.99 a month which comes with advanced analytics that tell site owners what their audience is like — coining titles like ‘funster’, ‘gamer’ and ‘active adventurer’ — and what appeals to them. With the Pro version, site owners can make their own suggestions for new products to be advertised to different types of shopper, and show visitors other sites visited by people with similar preferences. If you want to try it out, TechCrunch Europe has 50 access codes to give away using the invitation code ‘techcruncheuropevisualdnashop’. CrunchBase Information Imagini Information provided by CrunchBase → Read More
Dell, a company that makes computers, is down 63 percent from $784 million last year, leaving them at $290 million in net income. Total revenue fell $12.34 billion.
Mr. Dell himself isn’t very worried – he expects a replacement cycle to hit with the launch of Windows 7. Market share fell 34 percent in desktop sales and 20 percent in notebook sales, leaving plenty of room for growth, I guess. → Read More
EA is going the online-only route this year for the computer version of the Tiger Woods golf franchise, called Tiger Woods PGA TOUR Online. That’s good in the sense that it’ll be Mac compatible too, updates should be automatic, and you’ll be able to play from any computer. → Read More
Yahoo 360, which was supposed to close early last year, is finally officially shutting its doors on July 13, according to a blog post written on the site today. The social network/blogging service that nobody really used (except in Vietnam) steadily lost its steam, especially in the U.S. According to ComScore, Yahoo 360 had 13.9 million worldwide unique visitors in April. But only 982,000 of those unique visitors were from the U.S. This is down from 1.8 million unique U.S. visitors a year ago (see chart below). → Read More
Cecil Rhodes once said “to be born English is to win first prize in the lottery of life.” I know this because Ricky Gervais said it at the beginning of “The Rickey Gervais Guide to… The English.” Today, being born a English probably isn’t as great as it once was, but it does mean you’re able to watch Sky Sports’ coverage of the Premier League. And, starting in the fall, people in the UK and the Republic of Ireland—not that a Scot or a Welshman are English, mind you, but I needed a flashy opening—will be able to watch Sky content on their Xbox 360. That’s really, really great. → Read More
If you don’t use GOOG-411 when you are away from your computer and need directory assistance, you should. It is free and will give you the address or phone number of any local business. Today, GOOG-411 added an obvious feature it should have had all along: it now tells you the street intersections where a business is located.
Since it knows the location information and can presumably cross-reference that with Google Maps, giving out the intersection is not too hard. To get the intersection, just ask for “details” after you get the phone number. → Read More
Wired seems to truly enjoy the new Garmin Forerunner 310XT, a follow-up to their popular 405 and 305 models. → Read More
