Monthly Archives: January 2009
Judson Laipply Is Back With Evolution Of Dance 2
Judson (Jud) Laipply is a YouTube celebrity, comedian, and motivational speaker from Bucyrus, Ohio. Laipply’s is best known for his dance moves on Evolution of Dance. In that video clip, he played a medley of about 32 songs and danced to the moves associated with each song. The video clip was an instant hit and remained one of the most popular YouTube video clips of all time with over 109 million views to date. And now Jud is back!
Personally I believe Evolution of Dance 2 is good, but it doesn’t hold a candle to the original. But I’ll let you be the judge. Leave a comment. what do you think of the new Evolution of Dance? It already has close to 1 million views and it was added 4 days ago. Evolution of Dance 2 has already been favorited by over 15,000 YouTube members
Below is the video clip of Evolution of Dance 2, courtesy of PeopleJam:
Categories Evolution of Dance, Judson Laipply, PeopleJam, YouTube
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ParisHilton.com Has Got Viruses
Last week, the hackers got Twitter and this week it looks like ParisHilton.com got nailed. Security company ScanSafe reports that anyone that visits Paris Hilton’s website is prone to malware infection.
“Hilton’s popular website, ParisHilton.com, has been outfitted with malware prompting site visitors to ‘update’ their system in order to continue navigating the site,” stated ScanSafe. “When the bogus pop-up box appears, users have the option to click ‘Cancel’ or ‘OK.’ Regardless of which option they choose, destructive malware will be downloaded to the user’s computer.”
An iFrame was embedded into Paris Hilton’s website. The iFrame calls malware from from a website called you69tube.com. Then a PDF with a virus in it is called. While it is not known how the iFrame got onto the website, there is speculation that there is a vulnerability in Joomla’s CMS.
This is not the first time that technology utilized by Paris Hilton was hacked. Hilton’s T-Mobile Sidekick phone was hacked and her photos were exploited. The hacker of Hilton’s phone got 11 months in juve for it.
[via PC World]
Categories Paris Hilton, ParisHilton.com
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NewsGator Raises $10 Million In Sixth Round From Masthead Venture Partners, Mobius Venture Capital and Vista Ventures
NewsGator is a social computing, enterprise RSS and social widgets company. NewsGator had the strongest quarter in its history. NewsGator’s list of customers has grown substantially too. Given this growth, investors were confident enough to provide them with $10 million in their sixth round of funding. The investors involved include Masthead Venture Partners, Mobius Venture Capital and Vista Ventures.
Some of NewsGator’s clients include 2 out of 3 of the top world banks, the world’s largest private public relations firm, the second largest U.S. advertising agency, the second largest law firm, four out of the top pharmaceutical companies, the fourth largest U.S. electrical company, and one of the top five investment banking companies in Canada.
“We’re very proud to continue to extend and expand our Global 2000 customer relationships,” stated NewsGator CEO and President JB Holston. “Demand is accelerating for our on-premise and SaaS-based social computing offerings as top quality companies turn to immediate, high-ROI solutions for content and collaboration.”
NewsGator is also well known for NetNewsWire, an RSS reader. NetNewsWire was named one of the Top 10 iPhone Apps for 2008 in TIME magazine.
“The social computing models that have rocked the consumer world have equally important roles to play in the enterprise – and now more than ever in the current business environment,” stated NewsGator Director and Managing Director of Mobius Venture Capital and Foundry Group Brad Feld. “It’s inspiring to see NewsGator tapping this rich vein of need and achieving remarkable results to document the value of its approach.”
SocialVibe Raises $8 Million Series B From JAFCO And Redpoint
SocialVibe announced earlier yesterday that they have raised $8 milion Series B in funding from JAFCO Ventures and Redpoint Ventures. SocialVibe is a social media company that has social network users create advertising badges on social networks. Advertisers using the badges include Sprint, Adobe, and Coca-Cola.
“SocialVibe has brought soul to the intersection of social media and online advertising with a solution that resonates with advertisers, publishers and members,” stated Greg Martin, Partner of Redpoint Ventures. “SocialVibe is more than a great business, they are a force for good.”
Through this round of funding, Managing General Partner of JAFCO Ventures Joe Horowitz will be joining SocialVibe’s board of directors. SocialVibe has grown to about 500,000 members. These members are sharing brand badges with about 10 million of their friends on social networks. In turn this creates 100 million endorsed impressions.
“Today’s funding round represents a tremendous vote of confidence in our team, vision and business model,” stated SocialVibe CEO Kurt Johnson. “JAFCO and Redpoint Ventures are quality venture firms that understand our business and have the experience to help us grow into a leading advertising and monetization solution for social media.”
Google Disputes The Times Online UK’s Claim About Environmental Impacts On Search Queries
It sounds like Alex Wissner-Gross, Jonathan Leake, and Richard Woods of the Times Online U.K. should have done more research when writing a paper about the energy that Google consumes. Leake and Woods are writers for The Times Online U.K. and Wissner-Gross is a physicist that gave predictions about the energy consumption.
Leake and Woods started their article by stating “Performing two Google searches from a desktop computer can generate about the same amount of carbon dioxide as boiling a kettle for a cup of tea, according to new research.” That’s a pretty bold statement to make about a search engine company. Below is an additional excerpt from The Times Online article:
While millions of people tap into Google without considering the environment, a typical search generates about 7g of CO2 Boiling a kettle generates about 15g. “Google operates huge data centres around the world that consume a great deal of power,” said Alex Wissner-Gross, a Harvard University physicist whose research on the environmental impact of computing is due out soon. “A Google search has a definite environmental impact.”
Wissner-Gross submitted his paper for publication to the U.S. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and created a website regarding his research called CO2stats.com. Since Google is making a tremendous effort towards becoming a greener company and built their whole company based on a “Don’t be evil” philosophy, they simply can’t take the bad reputation. Especially if they believe the facts are wrong. Urs Hölzle, SVP of Google Operations responded to the accusations on the Google Blog.
Hölzle’s started by emphasizing that Google has built some of the most energy efficient data centers in the world. Below are some of the stats that Hölzle brokedown in the article response:
- The Times wrote that a typical Google search uses “half the energy as boiling a kettle of water” or 7 grams of CO2
- Google returns each search within 0.2 seconds which amounts to 0.0003 kWh of energy per search or 1 kJ. The average human needs 8000 kJ of energy per day from food. One Google search uses about the same amount of energy that the human body uses in 10 seconds.
- One Google search amounts to 0.2 grams of CO2, not the 7 grams that the Times mentioned.
- The EU standard for tailpipe emissions is 140 grams of CO2 per km driven. For every 0.6 miles that a car drives, it produces the same amount of CO2 as one thousand Google searches.
Between the two articles, I’d believe Google as being the most accurate. There is only so much information about the company that the Harvard physicist had, but good try though.
[Reference: Times Online UK]
Categories Alex Wissner-Gross, CO2stats.com, Google, Jonathan Leake, Richard Woods, The Times UK, Urs Hölzle
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Yodle Raises $10 Million Series C From JAFCO, DFJ, and Bessemer Venture Partners
Yodle is a startup that provides local online advertising across search engines and other web real estate. Yodle is based in New York and has raised $10 million Series C from JAFCO Ventures, the DFJ Growth fund, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and Bessemer Venture Partners.
Yodle started in 2005 and reports that they have increased 700% in annual revenue compared to 2007. The run rate for their fourth quarter in 2008 was about $30 million. Yodle has about 9 people in staff in 2006 and now they have 250 people. The company has over 5,000 customers. They had 125 in 2006. The company expects to make a profit in about six months.
Yodle helps small businesses advertise their products on search engines and Yodle will track and optimize the ads. This includes the clickthrough rates, phone calls, and click per action rates. Yodle has their customers grouped into different sectors such as Beauty & Personal Care, Business & Professional, Health & Medical, Home & Garden, and Travel & Lifestyle.
Yodle was founded by Nathaniel Stevens. He currently serves as the VP of Media Operations. Stevens started the company while he was attending Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania. Stevens was accepted into the Venture Initiation Program, UPenn’s incubation initiative. Yodle’s first round of funding was $3 million by Bessemer Venture Partners. Yodle’s second round of funding was $12 million and provided by Bessemer Venture Partners and DFJ. This gives Yodle a total of $15 million.
[via TechCrunch]
Microsoft Launches New Advertising Campaign: “It’s Everybody’s Business”
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has a massive advertising budget. In 2008, they hired Seinfeld as a spokesman, launched an “I’m a PC” campaign, set-up kiosks showing off Windows Vista, and even conducted an experiment that fooled people into thinking Vista was a new product. Now Microsoft has launched a new campaign called “It’s Everybody’s Business” that focuses on the interviewing executives at other companies regarding how software keeps their business competitive.
“In the end, we want to make sure that customers are aware of the broad range of solutions we offer across CRM, virtualization, business intelligence, unified communications, security, collaboration and everything else that provides real functionality to help everybody make an impact, no matter what their role is in the business,” stated Gayle Troberman, General Manager of Advertising and Customer Engagement Team at Microsoft.
Microsoft is working with companies such as Quicksilver, Coca Cola, Nestle USA, and Method. This campaign has more of a focus on business and technology decision-makers rather than consumers. This is why the “It’s Everybody’s Business” campaign is different from the “I’m a PC campaign.”
Below is a video clip with the “It’s Everybody’s Business” theme:
[via Microsoft PressPass]
Categories Microsoft Corporation
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Gary McKinnon, NASA Hacker May Be Taken To U.K. Court
Gary McKinnon hacked into U.S. military computers in 2001 to find out whether UFOs exist. The U.S. military computers that McKinnon penetrated included those that belong to NASA. McKinnon believes that he did not cause any damage after hacking into the systems, but the U.S. government alleges that he stole 950 passwords and deleted files necessary for replenishing supplies for an Atlantic fleet according to PCWorld.com. If McKinnon is tried in the U.K., he said he would plead guilty.
The U.S. government believes that deleting files and stealing passwords wasn’t the only crime committed by McKinnon. They believe that McKinnon also disrupted military networks necessary for operations conducted after 9/11. The dollar value of the damage is estimated to be about $700,000.
McKinnon is currently on extradition to the U.S. for going to court based on a 2008 decision of the European Court of Human Rights. If McKinnon is tried in the U.K., it is unlikely that he will be extradited to the U.S.
“McKinnon has had tremendous support from the hacker community and even ordinary people – many IT workers have a lot of sympathy for his ongoing plight and would rather see him tried in Britain as opposed to the U.S.,” stated Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant for a security company called Sophos. “Any form of hacking is illegal and should be punished as such, and hacking into U.S. government networks is bound to come with harsh repercussions — anyone thinking about engaging in these types of activities in the future should think twice. This man’s sorry tale should warn other would-be hackers that they are playing with fire if they break into sensitive networks, and shouldn’t be surprised if the full force of the law goes after them.”
[via PC World]
Categories Gary McKinnon, NASA
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Google Street View Helps Solve A Kidnapping Case
Natalie Maltais was kidnapped by her grandmother. Natalie’s legal guardians called the police when her grandmother threatened that they may never see the girl again. Natalie had a cellphone and when the police called the number, they were able to track her approximate location. The cellphone company provided the GPS coordinates within 300 feet of each other.
The police knew that Natalie was in Rhode Island and that she was around the Virginia Route 11 near the Natural Bridge. Deputy Chief Lozier then used Street View using Google Maps to scan the location where the cellphone was located. Using Street View, Lozier was able to look up and down the intersection. He noticed a short building near the highway that looked like a motel. Lozier searched for motels in the area.
It turned out that it was a Budget Inn where Natalie and her grandmother was. “I told Todd if I was going to throw the dice, I’d throw them there,” stated Lozier. Lozier was referring to Officer Todd Neale, who was also on the case. “When I got that call from Todd that they found them, that was a good call,” stated Lozier.