Google Phone News

So, if you are at tech savy, you have probably heard about the iPhone but did you know Google has an anxiously awaited phone on the horizon as well?

I love the howstuffworks website and they recently came out with an article related to the new Google phone. Much of it is speculation so far but here are some known facts to start.

• Google purchased Android, a software company that makes software for mobile devices.
• Google filed a patent for a mobile payment processing system called Gpay.
• Google purchased Zingku and Jaiku, two companies that provide social networking services. Zingku offers applications for text messaging, sharing pictures, instant messaging and other networking features. Jaiku is a microblog site like Twitter, allowing users to post and read messages with friends.
• Google has expressed interest in bidding in the FCC's upcoming 700-MHz auction with the minimum reserve of $4.6 billion and the stipulation that the FCC agree to its "open devices" terms. This auction will sell off commercial blocks of bandwidth in the 700 MHz frequency. Google executives say they want the mobile phone market to become more competitive, allowing customers to buy any handset and use it with any phone service or operating system.
• Google is working on creating mobile device versions of its applications.
• Google continues to lead the market of Internet-based advertising.

Full Article HERE

Who Will Dethrone the King and Queen?

I have satellite radio in my car and occasionally on my long boring drive I will wander my way through the stations and inevitably I will run across either Madonna or Michael Jackson.

So I decided to try an experiment, I ran through 10 channels, 10 times in 10 days, pausing for 10 seconds at each channel. What were the results?

I heard Madonna and/or Michael Jackson 9 times out of 10! Now this really doesn't prove much other than XM Radio plays a lot of these artists until I asked myself...

Is this a coincidence or were these two artists really that popular?

Now, before you start calling me Noah John Rondeau, understand that what I'm asking isn't so much who these people are, but more the significance of the following questions...

What will it take to dethrone the King and Queen of Pop?
What makes these two specific people so special?
Who will be the next Madonna or MJ?
Do you care?

Well if you are still reading I will assume you are at least a teenie bit curious but not curious enough to look up any statistics so I did some for you.

Ladies first.

Madonna has a very long wikipedia page solely dedicated to her awards and achievements where I take most of my "facts"

Net worth

Madonna is the richest female singer in the world, and one of the richest self-made women in the world,^[4] with an estimated net worth of over $850 million. In 2004 alone, she earned more than $50 million with her Re-Invention Tour which became a new record for a female singer on The "Guinness Book of Records".^[5]

On ABC's "Life of Luxury", which aired on December 13, 2000, Madonna was named the richest female artist with an estimated fortune of $613,000,000. Madonna just may be a billionaire herself... if not today, then very shortly in time.

Music

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Madonna is the Most Successful Female Recording Artist of All Time.

• Madonna has the most consecutive top 5 singles in the USA (16) from 1984 (Lucky star) to 1989 (Cherish).
• She has the most consecutive top 20 debuts in the charts (27) from 1983 to 1992.
• "Hung Up" topped the charts in 41 countries according to Guinness World Records, the first time this has been achieved by any single.
• Madonna is the artist with most number one singles in the history of the ARC Weekly Top 40.
• Madonna has twelve multi-platinum albums in the United States (more than any other female artist)
  

Awards

Madonna has been nominated for twenty-five Grammy Awards, six of which she won, since she began her career in 1982.

Madonna is the most successful act in the history of MTV's Video Music Awards. While presenting Madonna's Lifetime Achievement Award at the TRL Awards in 2006, Damien Fahey stated that Madonna is the most successful artist ever at the MTV Video Music Awards with a record 66 VMA nominations and 19 VMA wins.

Now for the Superfreak himself Michael Jackson

He has been named the "Most Successful Entertainer of All Time" by Guinness World Records

Net worth

It's hard to talk about Michael's true monetary worth since he's had so many ups and downs but Forbes estimates his current value somewhere around $350 million. This figure should obviously be much higher if he would just keep away from the kids, but we aren't here to discuss moral character only achievements so...

MJ is one of only 5 other artists to sell 500 Million Records or more

Bing Crosby, Elvis, Frank Sinatra and the Beatles being the other four just to add some context.

Like Madonna Michael also has a dedicated Wiki award page

Music

• Jackson is the male artist with most #1s, with 3 in total.
• Jackson is the only artist to occupy both the #1 and #2 positions at the same time ("I Just Can't Stop Loving You" and "Bad").
• Jackson is the only artist to replace himself at #1
• Jackson has nine platinum singles in the United States, a record for a male artist during the Billboard Hot 100 era (since 1958).
• Jackson's Thriller remained at number one for thirty-seven weeks, the longest stay by a non-soundtrack album to date.^[1]
• Thriller spent 80 consecutive weeks, more than a year, in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200. It is only one of three albums that has managed that feat.
• Thriller is the only album in the United States to have sold more copies than any other in two separate years, topping the sales charts in 1983 and 1984.
• Jackson was the first and, to date, only artist to have five number-one hits from one LP, Bad ("Bad", "The Way You Make Me Feel", "Man in the Mirror", "I Just Can't Stop Loving You", and "Dirty Diana").
• Jackson had nine number ones in the 1980s, more than any other artist during the decade.
• Jackson's album Bad remained in the top five of the Billboard 200 for thirty-eight weeks, longer than any other album to date.
• Jackson had 28 top ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100, more than any other solo male artist in the Hot 100 era (since 1958).
• Jackson had 37 top 40 hits on the Hot 100.
  

Awards

Michael has received 13 Grammy Awards and has been nominated 17 times

• Jackson has more music awards than any other artist in the history of music.

• Jackson jointly holds the record for most Grammy Awards won in a single year. He won eight awards at the 1984 ceremony. This has been equaled by Carlos Santana at the 2001 ceremony.
• Jackson jointly holds the record for most American Music Awards won in a single year, winning eight awards at the 1984 ceremony. This has only been equaled by Whitney Houston at the 1994 ceremony.
• Jackson holds the record for winning more Billboard awards than any other male artist, having 26.
• Jackson holds the record for winning more Billboard awards than any other artist in one year, grabbing 13 in 1983.
• Honored as artist of the decade by former President, George H. W. Bush in 1989 and another seven awards from others.
• Named "Artist Of The Century" at the American Music Awards ceremony in 2002.

WOW impressive resumes even if you think these people are scum.

So, are there any current artists on pace to rival either of these two?

I say no and this success will never happen again and here are two examples.

Justin Timberlake and Will Smith

Both have had great success as musicians but both had also made the leap to the big screen.

For example here are Will Smith's top 10 worldwide grossing movies

The Pursuit of Happyness	$304,086,036
Hitch	$366,784,257
Shark Tale	$363,192,000
I, Robot	$348,801,023
Bad Boys II	$272,540,870
Men in Black 2	$441,818,803
Wild Wild West	$217,700,000
Enemy of the State	$250,300,000
Men in Black	$589,390,539
Independence Day	$816,969,255

Almost 4 Billion dollars. $3,971,582,783

Movies are much bigger business than music alone, we are lucky Madonna and MJ can't act.

Finally

This picture will only make sense to a few people but for those that understand, Woot!

Google News, Is this the downfall of YouTube?

from blog.wired.com

Google Unveils YouTube Copyright Filter to Mixed Reviews

By David KravetsOctober 15, 2007 |

Google's announcement Monday it was deploying a beta test of copyright protection filters for its popular YouTube video-sharing site was met with mixed reviews.

The video-filtering system is a database full of copyrighted videos that will match a video loaded to the YouTube site.

Copyright owners get the right to add advertising to the video or request the content be taken down under the "Video Identification" program, which requires copyright holders to help Google create the database.

Content uploaders will be automatically notified that a copyright holder alleges the work is infringing. The uploaders still have the opportunity to keep the content on the site, which the Digital Millennium Copyright Act requires.

"It will help copyright holders identify their works on YouTube, and choose what they want done with their videos: whether to block, promote, or even—if a copyright holder chooses to license their content to appear on the site—monetize their videos," said David King, YouTube's project manager.

Digital rights groups weren't so gleeful.

"While Google should be commended for its effort, we don't think that any automated process will be able to determine whether a consumer's fair use rights are being violated," said Gigi B. Sohn, the president of Public Knowledge.

Washington, D.C.-based copyright attorney Jonathan Band disagreed.

"It sounds like it's a logical way to try to balance the needs of users and copyright holders," Band said. "I think it provides the user an early warning that what they are doing might be a problem."

Google's move is in response to several lawsuits, including one from Viacom, alleging it's YouTube site is riddled with copyrighted works.

*****

Info about the service on the YouTube Video Identification Beta info page

The Cube That Just Won't Go Away

So for those that follow this tiny little space on the internet you know I was recently seen embarrassing myself solving my Rubik's Cube while reciting Green Eggs and Ham.

Of course the first question I am always asked is "How fast can you solve it" It seems everyone is obsessed with speed cubing.

Well to add some perspective, my record with two perfectly working hands is 1:50:04 which at first may seem impressive until you read about or see the pros in action.

BUDAPEST, Hungary — A 16-year-old took the top prize at the Rubik's Cube world championship Sunday, solving the puzzle five times in an average of 12.46 seconds.

But the fastest single attempt was a cool 10.88 seconds, just off the world record of 9.86 seconds.

Full article here

And if you are truly interested here is a youtube link from a National Geographic special about it. I don't know if I'm disgusted or impressed with the world record feet solve? Ewwww!

Summer Movie Review Part Deux

Alas, summer 07 has finally come to an end. The little ones are all back in school, the weather is turning colder and it looks like OJ is headed for prison.

Ok, I wanted to give readers my final 07 summer movie review.

First a quote from an article from EW

"For the first time ever in a year, let alone a single 14-week period, four movies took in more than $300 million domestically. And nobody — except their profit participants — cared. Thanks to Spider-Man 3, Shrek the Third, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, and Transformers, all of which will wind up among the 25 highest grossers in history, 2007 has earned its spot in the record book — but that's the only place it'll be remembered. We're living in the Year of the Buzzless Blockbuster."

You may remember my previous post about the craptastic start of the summer but if not, don't bother looking for it, just know that Pirates, Shrek & Spidey were all horrible.

So was the second half any better? That would be a giant YES!

Ocean's Thirteen
I was skeptical about this when I first saw the trailer but in the end I really enjoyed it. It is very fast paced and they pack a lot of characters into 2 hours so there's not much depth but I would assume anyone making it this far into the franchise has already seen the first two, so need for all the details. There are a number of really far fetched ideas that sort of spoil some of the classic caper but it does go on to further prove the old phrase "the rich get richer". Overall I would give this one a solid B.

Fantastic Four : Rise of the Silver Surfer
Well what did you expect with a comic book movie? This movie pretty much lived up to my expectations. Only two reasons to see this and they are both related to Jessica Alba. Ok, the scenes with the surfer were definitely well done and using Laurence Fishburne as the voice was perfectly cast. Overall a B- and up to that point the best sequel of the summer.

Ratatouille
Classic Pixar! Wonderful animation, great story line. Perfect family movie. Best "kids" movie of the year. At points in the movie I totally forgot I was watching animation. I even forgot that rats can't actually talk. It is a little long in parts for an animated movie but the final cooking sequence at the end is worth the wait. Overall a A-

Transformers
One Word...Awesome! Way better than expected. By far the best special effects of the summer and the best toy becomes movie adoption ever. The transformations of the main characters is awe inspiring. Megan Fox was definitely competition for Jessica Alba.
Here is one snippet of a review
"Gets this critic's seal of approval as another overblown Michael Bay extravaganza, for it succeeds in bringing a cornucopia of beloved robots to life for a concatenation of epic battles worthy of a bombastic summer blockbuster."
Ya, what he said. Overall B+

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Ok, my first bad movie for the second half of summer. This movie just seemed to drag along. I agree with Roger Ebert's first paragraph of his review.

"Whatever happened to the delight and, if you'll excuse the term, the magic in the "Harry Potter" series? As the characters grow up, the stories grow, too, leaving the innocence behind and confusing us with plots so labyrinthine that it takes a Ph.D from Hogwarts to figure them out. "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" still has much of the enchantment of the earlier films, but Harry no longer has as much joy. His face is lacking the gosh-wow-this-is-really-neat grin. He has internalized the secrets and delights of the world of wizards, and is now instinctively using them to save his life."
Overall C+ simply because it's a Harry Potter movie

The Bourne Ultimatum
The following statement has never been more true "Saved the best for last." To me this was the best movie of the summer. When I got up to walk out of the theatre I distinctly remember thinking, 'Woah, that was the fastest two hour movie I have ever seen." For example, I wish you could buy just the second half of Titanic because that's what this whole movie felt like. Even if you aren't a Matt Damon fan, there's not much to criticize with the end of this trilogy. I haven't read any of these books but I was definitely interested after seeing all of the Bourne movies.
Overall A, and that's all I have to say about that.

So, if you have followed this post all the way to here a few more minutes shouldn't matter.

Out of curiosity I thought I would summarize the 2007 movie season in terms of $$$ since lately it seems like the "big" studios are simply making sequels to make cash regardless if they are even remotely good movies. Artistic presence seems to be less and less prevalent. My example of this would be the Matrix trilogy. The last two movies should not have been made but the studios saw the $$$$ even with a horrible script.

The 2007 Box Office Top 20

Rank	Movie Title	Studio	Total Gross	Weekend	% of open
1	Spider-Man 3	Sony	$336,530,303	$151,116,516	45%
2	Shrek the Third	P/DW	$321,012,359	$121,629,270	38%
3	Transformers	P/DW	$315,175,018	$70,502,384	22%
4	Pirates of the Caribbean:	BV	$309,404,152	$114,732,820	37%
5	Harry Potter	WB	$290,175,378	$77,108,414	27%
6	The Bourne Ultimatum	Uni.	$222,788,180	$69,283,690	31%
7	300	WB	$210,614,939	$70,885,301	34%
8	Ratatouille	BV	$203,360,412	$47,027,395	23%
9	The Simpsons Movie	Fox	$181,983,159	$74,036,787	41%
10	Wild Hogs	BV	$168,273,550	$39,699,023	24%
11	Knocked Up	Uni.	$148,761,765	$30,690,990	21%
12	Rush Hour 3	NL	$137,669,996	$49,100,158	36%
13	Live Free or Die Hard	Fox	$134,397,016	$33,369,559	25%
14	Fantastic Four:	Fox	$131,879,346	$58,051,684	44%
15	Chuck and Larry	Uni.	$119,318,320	$34,233,750	29%
16	Superbad	Sony	$118,858,438	$33,052,411	28%
17	Blades of Glory	P/DW	$118,245,842	$33,014,202	28%
18	Hairspray (2007)	NL	$117,990,718	$27,476,745	23%
19	Ocean's Thirteen	WB	$117,154,724	$36,133,403	31%
20	Ghost Rider	Sony	$115,802,596	$45,388,836	39%
	Paramount/ DreamWorks		$754,433,219
	Disney		$681,038,114
	Warner Brothers		$617,945,041
	Sony		$571,191,337
	Universal		$490,868,265
	Fox		$448,259,521

What does this show?
Further proves that movies are relying much more on franchise capacity versus word of mouth.

For example, Spider Man 3 and Fantasic Four did almost 50% of their total 07 revenue on their respective opening weekends, whereas Knocked Up did only 21% yet it's number 11 on the list.