Al Jazerera, the major Middle Eastern based news/current affairs network, is launching a 24 hour online news network, according to our sources. We can expect Al Jazeera Plus, that online network, to launch sometime in 2014.
The new online channel is expected to cover news, current affairs, as well as human interest. In other words, like other news networks, they’re going to tell you how to think and how to feel (I sure to heck hope not!). But Al Jazerra Plus has hubs literally all over the world, from? Johannesburg to Beijing. They’ll also have an office in San Francisco, California where English and Arabic language services will be available for everyone. Panelist will come from all over the media world, like CNN’s Peter Bale and Facebook’s Jon Steinberg.
I know some of you are going to look at the name Al Jazerra and all kinds of crazy images and stereotypes are going to come up. Let me change that perception. Several years ago, Al Jazeera was voted one of the most influential global entities, ranking alongside Google and and Apple. This says something about our changing times. More people are turning off mainstream news and more people are turning on online news and alternative media.? An online news site called Russia Today? which has over a million subscribers on You Tube alone. I’ve seen RT and I love how it tackles issues American mainstream media won’t touch. I think online news sites are doing well because they don’t give you a bunch of Hollywood fluff. So if Al Jazeera Plus is going to be successful, they must go this route. Give people something new and challenging. Make people think, don’t tell them what to think. The audience is already there, all they have to do is? captivate them. How do you think Al Jazeera Plus will do?
Amazon is dominating the technical battle of the e-book game. After all, they are the ones who started the phenomenon with Amazon Kindle. Let’s look at their next device.
It’s called the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite. It is what it says it is. You read books and other texts on it, just like last year’s version, from size to battery life. The hardware and software changed a little. The processor is faster and it does come with more light. Pages turn easier. The decorations are simple enough. It’s mighty difficult to obtain books outside of the Amazon system. I think this was done deliberately for obvious reasons. Amazon is making it easier to bookmark pages on this and other devices;? bookmarking has been a common complaint by many. What really makes Paperwhite a winner is the X-Ray technology. You press on a character, place, or word you don’t understand, and a pop-up window explains it to you. There’s even a vocabulary builder app.
Now I must admit, I wasn’t a fan of Kindle, or e-books in general. Then I discovered the x-ray technology that explained what I was reading. It cleared up a lot of things, and increased my love for reading a lot more. That’s something a paper book can’t do. So my days as a paper purist ended right there. The price of the Paperwhite is $139. I’m reading you can get it as low as $119. But it’s lower than a lot of hand held devices out there. I think it’s a good buy. It would make a great holiday gift (sorry to mention Christmas in October, but I figure somebody is thinking early). So it may not be flashy and make you sing and dance, but it does what you buy it to do and gives you more. You can’t say that about everything sold these days. What do you think of the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite?
First there was the Facebook social media site. Then came the Facebook based movie. Then came the Facebook phone, or should I say, there came and went the Facebook phone. How would you like to live in a Facebook apartment?
In Menlo Park, CA, the heart of Silicon Valley, Facebook is putting up a community condo. This condo will be mostly for Facebook employees; only 15 units will be open for non-employees. This community will be called Anton Melo. The community is expected to cost $120 million to build, have 394 units, exceed 630,000 sq. foot and be close to Facebook headquarters where they work. These first class facilities will include: an outdoor pool, cafe, convenient store, sports bar, pet spa, bike repair shop, gym with personal trainers, and an entertainment area. That’s all just on the property!
My reactions to this are mixed. On one hand, the San Franciso/Oakland/Silicon Valley area is one of the most expensive areas in America. So I can see how living in this community would ease that burden. You gotta admit, you can’t beat the commute to work. It does beat fighting traffic. If you don’t believe that, come in live in my city for a while. I guess it would build up community among the Facebook work community. These are best case scenarios. Let’s look at the worst. Look at how everything is in this facility. Yes it’s convenient, maybe a little too much. It’s so convenient people may not even want to leave. Or is that the plan all along? What if an employee quits, gets fired or laid off? If they have their own place, at least they have that. In this case, they’ll lose it all. And socially, well you can make great friendships in communities like this. Nonetheless, just the opposite can be true. I remember living on campus in college, where people who couldn’t stand each other had to see each other daily. That situation was like watching a powder keg that eventually exploded, and everyone around knew it was going to. Anton Melo has it’s good and bad points. If your job offered a community like Anton Melo, would you live there?
Since Yahoo’s ‘renaissance’ under CEO Marissa Meyer, they’ve been trying to reach out to different demographics. They’re pursuing the sports lover with intensity. Now Yahoo is adding another tool to it’s sports arsenal.
Yahoo bought out the services of Hitpost. Hitpost is a developer of sports based apps. Hitpost was founded by Aaron Krane. He’s been studying and working in social gaming media for years. He found potential for great fusion between free phone/social media game and our obsession with sports. So Krane and his company Hitpost created apps from live sports discussions to? fantasy football polls to virtual betting. Now you can’t make any money on those betting apps, so put your money back in your pocket!
This comes in the wake of Yahoo getting in the fantasy sports world. As well they should. Millions play fantasy sports every year; I’m just not one of them yet. Yahoo is wasting no time with it’s new acquisition. Go to it’s website and all you will get is a page telling you Hitpost is joining Yahoo. But it doesn’t give you a link to click on. It doesn’t even tell you when this merge will be getting up and running. This is a red flag to me. Most acquisitions will at least have some kind of transition, but for Hitpost to shut the whole operation down until further notice? I think that’s a bad call. Will Hitpost have their fans and users when they get set up with Yahoo? How will this move, or lack of move thereof, affect Hitpost?
Without a doubt, You Tube has impacted many lives. It has impacted the viewer as well as the producer. Musicians have been discovered there. And now, You Tube is going to celebrate that.
November 3rd will mark the first ever You Tube Music Awards. The awards will take place in New York City. You Tube favorites like CDZA and Lindsey Stirling will be running elbows with household names like Eminem and Lady Gaga. B-Movie star Jason Schwartzman is scheduled to host. And of course, an event like this can, and should only be seen on You Tube. You can expect acts around the world to participate, from London to Brazil. Nominations will be announced October 17, where else, but You Tube.
This is a huge step for You Tube! In just a few years, You Tube went from just a fad to a staple of American life. There’s been a lot of stars discovered on You Tube, such as: Justin Beiber, Cody Simpson, and Avery. So it’s only right they get an award show. And I’m glad major stars are showing their support. This could be an opportunity for yet another rising You Tube star to come out and shine. I can’t wait to see where these awards go! What ever happened to that Bieber fellow?
Some reports this week about Internet use got me thinking which nations have low online access? I’m counting down this list based on low online use percentage. These are the countries I think we need to take notice of.
10. China: [43.2% have Internet access, 102nd in the world] This stat is due more to censorship than anything else. But the Shanghai business district is opening up, and hopefully, the rest of China will too.
9. Mexico: [38.4% have Internet access, 114th in the world] The US and Canada’s online access rate is in the 80s. What can be done to fix this imbalance?
8. Nigeria [32.9% have Internet access, 128th in the world] They have the second highest online access rate in all of Africa; that’s whats so startling! But if you see an Ebay offer from Nigeria, run!
7. Iran [26% have Internet access, 133rd in the world] Censorship is huge in this nation. But that didn’t stop millions from using social media to protest elections!
6. Syria [24.3% have Internet access, 139th in the world] Obviously this nation has far more issues to worry about than the Internet. But if more people had access to it, I think it would be a powerful way for the Syrian people to tell their own story during this horrible war.
5 India [12.6% have Internet access 164th in the world] It’s one of the fastest growing and most populous nations in the world. Many can’t get wait to get their hands on the latest gadgets. This nation needs to step up it’s online game if it’s going to compete in the global market.
4-3 Iraq and Afghanistan [7.1% and 5.5% have Internet access 179th and 185th in the world] After 12 years of war in these nations, Internet access would be a great symbol of rebuilding. It would also prove a powerful outlet to show the world.
2. East Timor [0.9% have Internet access 210th in the world] There are two countries where online access is less than one percent. This tiny nation in Southeast Asia is one of them.
1. Eritrea [0.8% have Internet access 211th in the world] This nation is East Africa’s horn scored the lowest in media freedoms in the world. In fact, they’ve had no private or free owned media since 2001, a record that rivals North Korea’s.
There’s my list. What other nations are…ahem…worthy of being up here?
