MarkAaron Tech

GO TO THE NEW SITE!

MarkAaron — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 18:56:34 +0000

Go to my new full feature site http://www.GoodLuckHighFive.com and continue to follow MAS!

Time, Person of the Year: Mark Zuckerberg

MarkAaron — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 06:46:49 +0000

This is the article straight from time magazine! Link here.

Martin Schoeller for TIME

On the afternoon of Nov. 16, 2010, Mark Zuckerberg was leading a meeting in the Aquarium, one of Facebook’s conference rooms, so named because it’s in the middle of a huge work space and has glass walls on three sides so everybody can see in. Conference rooms are a big deal at Facebook because they’re the only places anybody has any privacy at all, even the bare minimum of privacy the Aquarium gets you. Otherwise the space is open plan: no cubicles, no offices, no walls, just a rolling tundra of office furniture. Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s COO, who used to be Lawrence Summers’ chief of staff at the Treasury Department, doesn’t have an office. Zuckerberg, Facebook’s CEO and co-founder and presiding visionary, doesn’t have an office.

The team was going over the launch of Facebook’s revamped Messages service, which had happened the day before and gone off without a hitch or rather without more than the usual number of hitches. Zuckerberg kept the meeting on track, pushing briskly through his points — no notes or whiteboard, just talking with his hands — but the tone was relaxed. Much has been made of Zuckerberg’s legendarily awkward social manner, but in a room like this, he’s the Silicon Valley equivalent of George Plimpton. He bantered with Andrew “Boz” Bosworth, a director of engineering who ran the project. (Boz was Zuckerberg’s instructor in a course on artificial intelligence when they were at Harvard. He says his future boss didn’t do very well. Though, in fairness, Zuckerberg did invent Facebook that semester.) Apart from a journalist sitting in the corner, no one in the room looked over 30, and apart from the journalist’s public relations escort, it was boys only. (See pictures of Mark Zuckerberg’s inner circle.)

The door opened, and a distinguished-looking gray-haired man burst in — it’s the only way to describe his entrance — trailed by a couple of deputies. He was both the oldest person in the room by 20 years and the only one wearing a suit. He was in the building, he explained with the delighted air of a man about to secure ironclad bragging rights forever, and he just had to stop in and introduce himself to Zuckerberg: Robert Mueller, director of the FBI, pleased to meet you.

They shook hands and chatted about nothing for a couple of minutes, and then Mueller left. There was a giddy silence while everybody just looked at one another as if to say, What the hell just happened?

It’s a fair question. Almost seven years ago, in February 2004, when Zuckerberg was a 19-year-old sophomore at Harvard, he started a Web service from his dorm. It was called Thefacebook.com, and it was billed as “an online directory that connects people through social networks at colleges.” This year, Facebook — now minus the the — added its 550 millionth member. One out of every dozen people on the planet has a Facebook account. They speak 75 languages and collectively lavish more than 700 billion minutes on Facebook every month. Last month the site accounted for 1 out of 4 American page views. Its membership is currently growing at a rate of about 700,000 people a day. (See a Zuckerberg family photo album.)

What just happened? In less than seven years, Zuckerberg wired together a twelfth of humanity into a single network, thereby creating a social entity almost twice as large as the U.S. If Facebook were a country it would be the third largest, behind only China and India. It started out as a lark, a diversion, but it has turned into something real, something that has changed the way human beings relate to one another on a species-wide scale. We are now running our social lives through a for-profit network that, on paper at least, has made Zuckerberg a billionaire six times over.

Facebook has merged with the social fabric of American life, and not just American but human life: nearly half of all Americans have a Facebook account, but 70% of Facebook users live outside the U.S. It’s a permanent fact of our global social reality. We have entered the Facebook age, and Mark Zuckerberg is the man who brought us here. (See pictures of Facebook’s overseas offices.)

Zuckerberg is part of the last generation of human beings who will remember life before the Internet, though only just. He was born in 1984 and grew up in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., the son of a dentist — Painless Dr. Z’s slogan was, and is, “We cater to cowards.” Mark has three sisters, the eldest of whom, Randi, is now Facebook’s head of consumer marketing and social-good initiatives. It was a supportive household that produced confident children. The young Mark was “strong-willed and relentless,” according to his father Ed. “For some kids, their questions could be answered with a simple yes or no,” he says. “For Mark, if he asked for something, yes by itself would work, but no required much more. If you were going to say no to him, you had better be prepared with a strong argument backed by facts, experiences, logic, reasons. We envisioned him becoming a lawyer one day, with a near 100% success rate of convincing juries.”

MarkAaron’s Movie of the Week (…and last week!)

MarkAaron — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 23:25:24 +0000

Some great movie’s came out this week! On Thursday the gargantuan Tron: Legacy came out, as well as Black Swan and the Fighter. Last week debuted The Tourist. Because i have not seen The Tourist, i am going to cheat a little bit and give last weeks MOTW(since i was sick) this weeks credit too.

Surprisingly this movie was outstanding. Natalie Portmann does an amazing job portraying an innocent character. This character has to become the black swan from the white swan. The dance company puts on the show Swan Lake. This movie is a very psychotic rendition of this production. Because of this, the music is phenominal. I would go see this for the music alone. Overall, its good, great, but not a MUSTSEE for everyone, 78.

MarkAaron’s Mischief

MarkAaron — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 23:01:18 +0000

In yet another ragingly useless event, the RIAA(Record Industry Association of America) and the MPAA (Motion Pictures Association of America) have stricken a blow against piracy. This time, however, it was even moreso worthless. They attacked popular blogs that have a tendency to write about and share music in their blog-posts; Wow! What great free advertising for the Record companies!!! Well, not anymore.

In addition, Torrent-Finder.com has been attacked. Waleed A. GadElKareem says, “Google and Yahoo still link to [torrents], Why can’t I?” If you are still n need of this service, you can visit it at its new location. http://www.Torrent-finder.info !!!

This purge affected 82 websites says Ben Sisario, NYT. You all know my feelings about this topic, so it is sad that it has to keep coming up. Perhaps in an article in the future i will include my full thoughts on this issue, but that is not today! My advice, support the freedom of information by continuing to keep GadElKareem’s website available and online!

SICK!

MarkAaron — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 03:42:21 +0000

Sorry Everybody, i am sick with Bronchitis and have finals! No MarkAaronMonday Today!!!!!!!!!

Ill catch up this week, dont worry!

MAS

Pokemon Profile Picture Month

MarkAaron — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 23:46:32 +0000

The following article is complete fact. Some of the language and material in this article makes it appropriate for absolutely noone.

So, going on for almost 13 years now is Pokemon Profile Picture Month. This international event is in remembrance of the December, 1998 Pokemon Massacre. As you all know, since the beginning of time Mankind and Pokemankind have lived together in harmony. That was, until 1998. it was in 1998 that professor Oak invented “The PokeDex.”

It was in December of 1998 that a vile man, worse than every Saddam, Hitler, and Stalin that ever was, surfaced. Gary Oak. Yes, Professor Oaks very own grandson. It is evident that with every angel there has to be a demon. Gary pissed the Pokemon off so steeply that they called all there friends and spoke, “F*ck! This Gary dude is a f*ckface! F*CK!!! Let’s leave this lame-@ss planet.” It was on that day that the Pokemon announced they were all leaving for a nearby foreign planet.

The people of earth were very sad that the Pokemon chose to leave, but Gary took this anger to a new level. Gary grabbed up the closest shotgun and began blasting each and every Pokemon right in the face in what is considered the largest genocide of all time. He had slain almost every type of pokemon when our hero appeared. Ashe, coming all the way from Pallet Town, arrived to save the day.

Ashe, allied with an army of the last remaining Pokemon, Mudkips, took an army to face the wielder of evil, Gary. It was in this moment of terror, that Ashe, wielder of the Pokedex, took up his absent-father’s blade and cut off Gary’s fingers. Ashe then remembered that he was supposed to stab him in the heart and not cut off his fingers, but it was too late. In a last-ditch effort to curse the world Gary used “Self-destruct” which successfully destroyed all of the remaining Mudkips and our hero Ashe.

Let us take this month to remember our hero Ashe and our lost Pokemon allies. Please take a moment of silence while observing the following statue of our hero currently located in a museum in St. Louis. Thank you.

Statue to the Hero Ashe

MAS Exchange

MarkAaron — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 09:03:18 +0000

It pains me and it comforts me to know that Limewire, the once extremely popular music, movie, and TV shows sharing outlet, will be shut down before the begin of 2011. Yes, Limewire’s sole New York office announced 3 days ago that “As a result of our current legal situation, we have no choice but to wind down Limewire Store operations. . . Despite our dedication and efforts, December 13, 2010, will mark the day when [Limewire] shuts its virtual doors.”

Those who know me closely know where i stand on piracy and its merits and demerits. Regardless of my opinion, this is a “huge victory” says music industry officials who blame internet piracy for the decline in music sales. Through my eyes, yes, internet piracy does have a large effect on the music industry, but piracy is here to stay. As a teacher once told me, “For everyone smart person out there, there are 1,000 smarter.” So, every time a regulation is created to try and halt the pace of pirates, a smarter party comes up with a way around it. Obviously there are effective solutions to this issue, look at World of Warcraft!

Another example of the music industry creating a way for people to easily acquire music LEGALLY is iTunes. Take a look at the progress of the Beatles in their first week on iTunes and tell me again that the music industry cannot thrive. The Beatles were released shortly ago on iTunes (amazing it took this long, right?) and raised a whopping $6,495,500.

So, Music Industry, you can continue to stop the Limewires of the world, but for every ‘problem’ you remedy, a thousand new ones appear. There are unique innovative ideas like iTunes and Amazon music, remember to use them!

MAS Distribution: Kinect

MarkAaron — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 06:01:50 +0000

In less than a month, the XBox Kinect has had over 2.5 million units sold. According to CNN.com the company has been able to sell 100,000 Kinects per day and estimates that there will be upwards of 5 million sold by christmas. With this many sales, this is by far the most numerous console launch ever; contrasting the Wii’s 600,000 units sold in eight days.

Kinect is the first mainstream system which allows users to control their video game without any kind of remote. In 2008, Johnny Lee, a computer scientist and engineering artist, showed a way to manipulate the WiiMote system to form unique 3D experiences, and also ways to help poorer school districts.

Lee’s ideas are one of a kind, but resemble very closely the new method of using remotes with the Kinect! You will note from the video that Lee mentioned it “shocked the gaming community”, well Johnny, i think you might’ve been right! With a pricetag of only $150 the XBox Kinect is well worth the money. If you won’t buy it for the sheer enjoyment of the game, buy it for the sheer exploration of the unique interface and computer techniques.

Stop the Playground Bully Comcast!

MarkAaron — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 17:22:03 +0000

Click here to sign a petition to stop Comcast from blocking Netflix!

Level 3 is the primary content provider for Netflix and has recently come under attack by Comcast. The press release included the following:

“On November 19, 2010, Comcast informed Level 3 that, for the first time, it will demand a recurring fee from Level 3 to transmit Internet online movies and other content to Comcast’s customers who request such content. By taking this action, Comcast is effectively putting up a toll booth at the borders of its broadband Internet access network, enabling it to unilaterally decide how much to charge for content which competes with its own cable TV and Xfinity delivered content. This action by Comcast threatens the open Internet and is a clear abuse of the dominant control that Comcast exerts in broadband access markets as the nation’s largest cable provider.”

“On November 22, after being informed by Comcast that its demand for payment was ‘take it or leave it,’ Level 3 agreed to the terms, under protest, in order to ensure customers did not experience any disruptions.”

When questioned, Netflix would not comment on this situation. (The above report is a gyst from Stacey Higginbotham)

My opinion. The internet is and should remain free. If companies like Comcast are enabled to put up boundaries that, when crossed, trigger fees, then the internet as we know it will be dead and information will no longer be available to those in search of it. I urge you to sign the petition started by BoldProgressive.com, “Don’t let Comcast block Netflix or other online innovators for their own profit! Support the strongest Net Neutrality protections possible — and keep Obama’s promise.”

MAS Corporations Applying Applications

MarkAaron — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 16:56:15 +0000

When we think of photo editing we thing of Adobe’s Photoshop or Paintshop or iPhoto. Apple apps like Picoli Pano, or Nightcam are excellent ones for on the go editing. And, strangely enough, they are more user friendly then iPhoto!

As you know Adobe is it’s own company which focuses on excellent media editing software. Not this way, Apple’s iPhoto or Photobooth is still a fantastic editing tool. iPhoto’s main problem, however, is it’s lack of willingness to allow for pictures other than “iFormatted pictures” to be edited. This causes it’s users to be forced to email pictures to themselves purely for the reason of opening it in an editor. When asked about this unique aspect Biersdorfer (Gadgetwise) was told “[These products are] mainly for taking pictures with the built-in iSight cameras on most current macs . . . it allows you to see the files location on your Mac’s harddrive.” Now… Im no computer scientist (Oh wait, I am!) but i think those are both functions that Adobe does just fine! All in all, it’s time for Apple to stop loving the sound of their own voice so much, and start listening to the way the world works!

Paypal, the online payment service is most closely associated with eBay for raking in near 40% of their profit, but it looks like eBay has some competition in the quickly growing mobile world. “Based on current trends,” Kopytoff of the NYT says, “Paypal will surpass eBay in revenue in 2014.” Paypal is looking to branch out to websites selling digital goods like music, periodicals, games, and movies. Similar to a post on MarkAaron Monday, the Paypal application now has the ability to allow users to deposit checks into their account via mobile device.

How have they grown so much? Well, the very same mobile devices, which they use to convenience customers with ease of account access, are turning them a profit. Paypal has always been a easy to use service so I am excited to see them doing well. We can only hope they dont choke on this large opportunity and allow a new threat to take over!