Archive for November, 2008

Major Websites Should be Mobile Friendly

Posted by John Durbin | November 25, 2008

mobilephone

Last night I was trying to track some NHL games via my mobile internet and went to NHL.com to get some scores. The amazing thing is, the NHL didn’t automatically send me to a mobile site. After a few minutes and a gradually rising eyebrow, it just dropped me off on a beat up version of their website. Maybe they have one that the iPhone doesn’t automatically send you to it but I stood looking at my phone with a face as though I had just gotten an e-mail saying “the entire royal family has been electrocuted and you are the rightful heir to the throne”, a la King Ralph. Side note for anyone who doesn’t think product placement works, I remember these things from King Ralph: The family being electrocuted during a picture, Ralph sneezing and his crown falling into the bathtub, Ralph bowling, and Burger King. As an added note, thinking about this is making me crave a Whopper.

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I asked for the human internet and got it…

Posted by Saneel Radia | November 25, 2008

chacha

Dear Anonymous Interweb Reader,

At Denuo, we get the “trends in digital” presentation request a lot. And one trend I’m excited about that’s clearly bubbling up is the humanizing of the internet. Sure, web 2.0 is already bringing more people together, blah, blah, but the reality is we’re going to see humans formally add a layer onto most web tools over the next 3 years in ways that are miles ahead of “community” and “UGC” (barf).

One of the services I cite as an example in that conversation is inevitably ChaCha. For those that don’t know ChaCha lets you text in a question and a human guide texts back an answer based on some quick Googling. I became obsessed with ChaCha about 6 months ago and used it to settle most bar bets (yes key lime pie was invented in the florida keys — a fact Durbin paid Benny $20 over).

However, my real pleasure came from asking it completely human questions. Things Google can’t answer because they were subjective in nature (“am I smart?”, “what after shave should I use,” etc).

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Posted by Saneel Radia | November 24, 2008

whale

OK, those of you that know me know I consider myself a social sheriff of sorts. So, I took it upon myself to put together some commandments about how to use Twitter. It just felt like a place begging for some guidance.

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Netflix & Xbox 360: Made of Win

Posted by Benny Torres | November 24, 2008

netflixxbox360

Microsoft recently released a rather large update for the Xbox 360 – which adds a completely revamped interface along with some new features, including the ability to stream your Netflix instant queue to your TV. Eric Bee called the feature a “gamechanger.” I’ve never quite jumped on the Netflix bandwagon so I scoffed indignantly. This weekend, I tried it out. I’m now a convert. Using the service was one of those “holy s**t” technology moments. It’s like I saw the future in front of me. And it looked like Tina Fey in HD. Netflix on Xbox 360 truly changes the role of the white, heat-prone box underneath my TV.

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Liveblogging My Twilight Film Experience

Posted by Eric Bee | November 23, 2008

twilight01

10am: Wife and I are speeding the mean streets of suburbia en route to the matinee showing of “Twilight,” the apparent heir apparent to the Harry Potter throne of nerdish literature obsession and fantasy-lite followers everywhere. Everything in me screams that this thing is going to suck. Being a vampire movie, the pun isn’t lost on my wife, who laughs every time I say that. We’re meeting her work buddies, who are all female and all fans of the books. I’m expecting their boyfriends and husbands to share the same lost look I’ll have, our gazes wandering to posters of the upcoming Punisher movie and politely smiling while they swoon at press photos of Twilight’s cast.

Maybe this little jaunt will give me clarity to recognize why this thing came out of nowhere to suck up the minds and hearts of Hot Topic consumers everywhere. Maybe this will just make me want to see the new Punisher movie. Maybe I should just eat my popcorn, endure, and use the experience as Cohabitation Credit toward one day of uninterrupted Xbox gaming. Anyways, we arrive, park, pay, and we’re strapped in for monster melodrama. On with the show!

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