Archive for March, 2008
Facebook isn’t just messing around with a few European language translations any more. They’re using their new user-powered translation engine to get Facebook into 22 more languages, on top of English, French, German and Spanish. It will take some time for users to translate the sites, and Facebook likes to stagger launches to maximize PR. If […]
Facebook isn’t just messing around with a few European language translations any more. They’re using their new user-powered translation engine to get Facebook into 22 more languages, on top of English, French, German and Spanish.
It will take some time for users to translate the sites, and Facebook likes to stagger launches to maximize PR. If you want to help out with the project, the application is here.
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When I started TechCrunch nearly three years ago it was meant to be little more than a hobby. I love startups, and writing about them was fun, not work. But since then this hobby has grown into a real business. We have a number of full and part time employees that need to get paid […]
 When I started TechCrunch nearly three years ago it was meant to be little more than a hobby. I love startups, and writing about them was fun, not work. But since then this hobby has grown into a real business. We have a number of full and part time employees that need to get paid every two weeks, and advertisers/sponsors that we owe a certain level of professionalism towards. We’ve also acquired a number of other startups. TechCrunch is a serious thing, and needs to be treated seriously by others. We demand some respect around here.
My own personal brand has risen over the years as well to the point where I believe I can say without hubris that I am a very important person. Forbes recently named me No. 2 on their list of web celebrities, for example, and Business Week says I’m one of the 25 most influential people on the web. I’ve also appeared in numerous JibJab videos. More details, if you care to read them, are on our about page. My agent has told me numerous times that I need to be more careful with how I leverage my personal brand, and to be aware of others who are using/abusing it for commercial reasons.
So we’ve been increasingly concerned about developments at Facebook over the last few months that allow advertisers to post ads using my picture and name to endorse their products without my explicit permission. I’ve received literally dozens of emails from readers asking me if I’m associated with Blockbuster’s Movie Clique application, or the new Jackass movie (no to both).
These ads appear in both the sidebar and in my friend’s news feed. See examples below:
 Our attorneys believe that the use of my image and name in third party advertising is a violation of my statutory and common law publicity rights (we’ve written explicitly about this issue before). Specifically, this leads to user confusion as to whether or not I am actually endorsing these products.
The key factor in determining whether a use is permitted or not in California (where I live) is Civil Code Section 3344, which was first enacted in 1971. California is perhaps more aggressive than any other state in protecting publicity rights because of the number of people engaged in the entertainment business. The law allows for recuperation of damages, attorney’s fees and injunctive relief, as well as unspecified punitive damages and statutory damages of $750/incident in the event a person’s “name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness” is used “in any manner on or in products, merchandise, or goods, or for purposes of advertising or selling, or soliciting purchases of products, merchandise, goods or services, without such person’s prior consent.” There are additional common law remedies available to us as well.
Facebook will argue that users give permission in the terms and conditions. They also allow users to opt out of having their images placed in ads. Our lawyers say that’s a pretty good defense but that they can most likely win over a jury anyway if they focus more on emotional issues rather than the actual facts and legal precedent.
In truth, there hasn’t been much in way of actual damages to back up the lawsuit. But where we’ll really be able to stick it to Facebook is the $750 per incident statutory damages. It’s a stretch, but we’re going to argue that every impression of an ad that includes my name or likeness is an “incident.” Based on our calculations and recent comscore data, we estimate the number of impressions to be in the hundreds of thousands at the very least. Multiplying that number by $750 gets us to damages of at least $150 million.
At this point we’re prepared to settle the case for $25 million in Facebook stock (priced at the employee option price, not that ridiculous $15 billion Microsoft valuation), a small fraction of the amount we’ll almost certainly receive if this case goes to trial, plus guaranteed exclusives on all new Facebook product releases. A recent case involving Taster’s Choice, for example, had an award of $15.6 million in damages.
I am sad that this had to blow up to the point where we are publicly suing Facebook over the matter. We’ll be filing the lawsuit tomorrow along with a related civil case for assault and battery. In a round of negotiations over the lawsuit with Facebook led by Chief Privacy Officer Chris Kelly, things got out of hand. When our team of lawyers offered to settle for a mere $50 million, Kelly told me Facebook would “bury you and bury your crappy blog” if we filed the suit. He then threw his steaming hot triple soy latte espresso at me, which caused extensive second degree burns over the top half of my body.
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San Mateo based mobile phone advertising provider AdMob has passed the 20 billion ads served mark. Since March 2007 the company’s monthly impressions have grown from 500 million ads per month to 2.5 billion advertisements per month today. AdMob’s 20 billionth ad impression was from financial services conglomerate HDFC. The ad was served in India […]
 San Mateo based mobile phone advertising provider AdMob has passed the 20 billion ads served mark.
Since March 2007 the company’s monthly impressions have grown from 500 million ads per month to 2.5 billion advertisements per month today. AdMob’s 20 billionth ad impression was from financial services conglomerate HDFC. The ad was served in India at 1:56am GMT on Tuesday, March 25, while a visitor was browsing Cricinfo’s mobile web site on a Nokia N70.
We’ve covered AdMob a couple of times, but it’s a company doing some big numbers that we don’t hear that much about. Their client list is first rate: companies currently using AdMob include Porsche, Ford, Toyota, Adidas, CoverGirl, Herbal Essence, EA Sims, Terminix, TruGreen and Let’s Talk. Where it gets better (and why this is a company just waiting to be bought out) is two key clients: Google and Yahoo. The web’s two leading companies are using AdMob to advertise their services on mobile phones.
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By Evan Ackerman After all the uproar about HD DVD and Blu-ray, with Blu-ray claiming the final victory, you have to wonder what exactly the victory consisted of. According to Laurie Fincham, Chief Scientist at THX (the high-fidelity sound reproduction standard), “It’s too late for Blu-ray. We don’t really need another spinning format… I think consumers […]
By Evan Ackerman
After all the uproar about HD DVD and Blu-ray, with Blu-ray claiming the final victory, you have to wonder what exactly the victory consisted of. According to Laurie Fincham, Chief Scientist at THX (the high-fidelity sound reproduction standard), “It’s too late for Blu-ray. We don’t really need another spinning format… I think consumers will only become interested in replacing DVD when HD movies become available on flash memory.”
I have not bought into any high definition disc system, nor do I plan to. Why not? Well, I never thought it was worth the expense or the hassle. The point that Fincham is making is that Blu-ray is just not enough of a step forward to really get the attention of the market. The transition from VCR tapes to DVDs made a lot of sense, if for no other reason than you can’t skip around a tape (plus they take up lots of space). But the difference between DVDs and Blu-ray discs is nowhere near so dramatic… You can just fit more stuff on ‘em, the functionality isn’t materially changed.
The big deal, of course, is the high def resolution. At the moment, Blu-ray is the way to go if you want to watch a movie in 1080p. The problem, according to Fincham, is that the optical disc is relatively large, fragile, and expensive, and fixed media is definitely on the way out, even now. A dual layer Blu-ray disc holds 50gb of data. Sure, that’s a lot right now, but it won’t be a lot for long, as flash memory prices continue to decrease while capacities increase:
“In the future I want to be able to carry four to five movies around with me in a wallet, or walk into a store and have someone copy me a movie to a USB device. Stores will like that idea, because it’s all about having zero inventory. I don’t want to take up shelf space with dozens of HD movies “By the time Blu-ray really finds a mass market, we will have 128GB cards. I would guess that getting studios to supply movies on media cards, or offer downloads, will be a lot easier than getting them to sign up to support a disc format.”
Fincham doesn’t touch on the issue of streaming HD content over the internet, which I think is probably the biggest long-term threat to the Blu-ray format… But either way, since I can’t actually afford an HD TV, much less a Blu-ray player or discs, I’m just gonna stick with my DVDs, thank you very much.
[ DVDTown ]VIA [ DVICE ]
media
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By Luke Anderson If you’re one of the many people that have jumped on the iPhone wagon, you’ve no doubt realized that typing on it isn’t quite as easy as other smartphones. The main cause for this is the lack of tactile feedback. Sure, I will admit that the keyboard isn’t that bad to use, but […]
By Luke Anderson
If you’re one of the many people that have jumped on the iPhone wagon, you’ve no doubt realized that typing on it isn’t quite as easy as other smartphones. The main cause for this is the lack of tactile feedback. Sure, I will admit that the keyboard isn’t that bad to use, but if you could actually feel where your fingers were, it would make things much easier. This is exactly the purpose that My Touch Keys plans to serve.
This piece of plastic clings to your screen, with holes where the letters of the keyboard would be. This way you can feel exactly where your fingers are. The blue tint looks like it might wash out your picture a bit, but for $7.99, it can’t be too bad.
[ MyTouchKeys ] VIA [ UberGizmo ]
accessories, iPhone, iPod
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UPDATE: Tickets are sold out again. Look for a final release of tickets next week. The TechCrunch MeetUp LA co-hosted with PopSugaris just two weeks away, so we’re making 250 more tickets available now. If you are coming to the party, make sure you join the Facebook or MySpace event as well. There’s still […]
UPDATE: Tickets are sold out again. Look for a final release of tickets next week.
The TechCrunch MeetUp LA co-hosted with PopSugaris just two weeks away, so we’re making 250 more tickets available now. If you are coming to the party, make sure you join the Facebook or MySpace event as well.
There’s still time to help sponsor the MeetUp. This is our biggest event yet, with over 1,500 attendees, and the business networking will be great. Please contact Jeanne Logozzo to learn more about how to participate.
Event Details:
Get tickets here, based on availability. As usual, tickets are $10 to manage the guest list, and proceeds will be donated to charity. All ticket purchases are non-transferable and non-refundable. If you purchase multiple tickets under your own name, your guests will need to arrive together with you at the event. Photo IDs are required for event check-in (attendees must be at least 21 years of age); no paper tickets necessary. Hope to see you there!
Thank you MeetUp 12 Sponsors
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By Andrew Liszewski I don’t mean to demean my local refuse pickup professionals. In fact, most people don’t realize how important their jobs really are. (And they probably have a great union.) But is this remote control garbage truck the best way to a foster a child’s mind? Sure it’s a pretty accurate 1:32 scale model […]
By Andrew Liszewski
I don’t mean to demean my local refuse pickup professionals. In fact, most people don’t realize how important their jobs really are. (And they probably have a great union.) But is this remote control garbage truck the best way to a foster a child’s mind? Sure it’s a pretty accurate 1:32 scale model of a Peterbilt 379, but quite frankly I’d be a bit worried if my kid spent their childhood driving this thing around the house making scheduled stops at every room.
It’s 13.5 inches long, features opening cab doors and a fully-functioning refuse container in the back. It also includes a 7-function wireless remote, though I don’t think I’ve ever considered ’stop’ to be an actual function. Why not call it an 8-function remote since I’m sure it can idle too? You can find it at Diecast Model Car Collectibles for $29.98.
[ Remote Control Peterbilt 379 Garbage Truck ] VIA [ Nerd Approved ]
Toys, Unusual
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By Luke Anderson Living in the Midwest means that we usually have a decent amount of rain. Sure, there are times when the farmers complain that their crops are a bit dry, but you rarely see people watering their lawns due to dry weather. In other parts of the country that isn’t always the case. If […]
By Luke Anderson
Living in the Midwest means that we usually have a decent amount of rain. Sure, there are times when the farmers complain that their crops are a bit dry, but you rarely see people watering their lawns due to dry weather. In other parts of the country that isn’t always the case. If you happen to live in one of those areas and don’t want to take the time to go outside and turn on and off the sprinklers, you might enjoy this Remote Rain Water Control.
Just hook this little gadget up to your water line and attach the hose. Then just keep the remote somewhere handy and press the button when you want to turn on or off the water. This is also good for playing pranks on people walking through your yard. After all, that “Do not walk on grass” sign is there for a reason.
[ ImprovementsCatalog ] VIA [ UberGizmo ]
Outdoors, Remotes
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Figures released by the Newspaper Association of America show that the decline of newspapers is more rapid than previously thought, with total print advertising revenue in 2007 plunging 9.4% to $42 billion compared to 2006, the biggest drop in revenue since 1950, the year they started tracking annual revenue. Online provides some solace for the dead-tree […]
 Figures released by the Newspaper Association of America show that the decline of newspapers is more rapid than previously thought, with total print advertising revenue in 2007 plunging 9.4% to $42 billion compared to 2006, the biggest drop in revenue since 1950, the year they started tracking annual revenue.
Online provides some solace for the dead-tree business, with internet ad revenue growing 18.8% to $3.2 billion compared to 2006, but a rate significantly lower than the 31.4% growth the year before, and not even close to replacing the losses from print. Online revenue now represents 7.5% of total newspaper ad revenues.
Newspapers do have a future, but as I wrote in November, we are yet to see a major consolidation of print in the United States. Declining revenues will ultimately force consolidation across print media in the United States, and many of those that fail to embrace change will be on borrowed time.
(via E&P)
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By Andrew Liszewski We’ve all heard or even seen the hour-long TLC specials about surgical instruments being accidentally left inside a patient. But even something as simple as a sponge can lead to a deadly infection if forgotten, and that’s why every single sponge has to be accounted for. But instead of relying on a nurse […]
By Andrew Liszewski
We’ve all heard or even seen the hour-long TLC specials about surgical instruments being accidentally left inside a patient. But even something as simple as a sponge can lead to a deadly infection if forgotten, and that’s why every single sponge has to be accounted for. But instead of relying on a nurse to manually count the sponges before and after an operation, the Safety-Sponge system from SurgiCount employs special bar codes printed on every sponge that are scanned into a PocketPC computer before and after they’re used.
Essentially, the system works much like a grocery store check-out counter – every laparotomy and gauze sponge is pre-labeled with an individual and unique bar code (in this instance, a 2-D data matrix label) and a scanning SurgiCounter is used to read the labels. Unlike other technologies, there is no major change in a hospital’s established AORN manual counting practices and procedures. And no other technology can offer documented time stamps of when every item was counted in and out.
Since every single sponge has a unique bar code, the system can even alert the operating room staff if the same sponge has been scanned twice. I guess as long as the special barcode-branded sponges aren’t considerably more expensive than a regular sponge, there’s no reason for a hospital not to adopt a system like this. But then again I’m not a doctor, I just pretend to be one on the internet.
[ SurgiCount Safety-Sponge System ] VIA [ 7 Gadgets ]
Health, Medical
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