Collaborative Strategy Guild

Paulo Coelho calls on readers to pirate books | Books | guardian.co.uk

Peter O'Kelly — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 13:39:00 +0000

I’m guessing, from the final sentence below, that Coelho does not have much experience with Kindle devices (via The New Yorker)

Although Coelho admitted that as an author he should be defending intellectual property, he went on to call on the "pirates of the world" to "unite and pirate everything" he has ever written.

"The good old days, when each idea had an owner, are gone forever. First, because all anyone ever does is recycle the same four themes: a love story between two people, a love triangle, the struggle for power, and the story of a journey. Second, because all writers want what they write to be read, whether in a newspaper, blog, pamphlet, or on a wall," he said. "The more often we hear a song on the radio, the keener we are to buy the CD. It's the same with literature. The more people 'pirate' a book, the better. If they like the beginning, they'll buy the whole book the next day, because there's nothing more tiring than reading long screeds of text on a computer screen."

Paulo Coelho calls on readers to pirate books | Books | guardian.co.uk

Refurbished Motorola Xooms Sold With Data From Previous Owners‎ – John Paczkowski – News – AllThingsD

Peter O'Kelly — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 12:55:00 +0000

Oops

The company said today that 100 of the 6,200 it sold through Woot.com between October and December of 2011 may not have been properly reformatted.

In other words, they still contained the personal information of their previous owners — everything from email and social networking passwords to photos and documents.

Refurbished Motorola Xooms Sold With Data From Previous Owners‎ - John Paczkowski - News - AllThingsD

Continue reading: Refurbished Motorola Xooms Sold With Data From Previous Owners‎ – John Paczkowski – News – AllThingsD

Windows Phone Developer Exec Leaving for Amazon – Ina Fried – Mobile – AllThingsD

Peter O'Kelly — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 12:52:00 +0000

Small world

Brandon Watson, who has been heading up Microsoft’s efforts to convince programmers to develop for Windows Phone, is leaving the company for Seattle-area neighbor Amazon.

“The rumors are true,” Watson said in a Twitter post. “The team is in great hands.”

At Amazon, Watson will lead a group working on Kindle applications for various Amazon-made and non-Amazon devices.

Windows Phone Developer Exec Leaving for Amazon - Ina Fried - Mobile - AllThingsD

Continue reading: Windows Phone Developer Exec Leaving for Amazon – Ina Fried – Mobile – AllThingsD

Facebook chief faces tax bill of $1.5bn – FT.com

Peter O'Kelly — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:43:00 +0000

Perhaps Mitt Romney could provide some timely tax tips

Mark Zuckerberg faces a tax liability of more than $1.5bn this year, vaulting the Facebook co-founder into the leagues of all-time highest taxpayers and leaving a big question mark over his company’s initial public offering.

The taxes will fall due on a vast profit of nearly $5bn that Mr Zuckerberg, 27, plans to take on stock options he was handed in 2005 for acting as Facebook’s chief executive.

Facebook chief faces tax bill of $1.5bn - FT.com

Continue reading: Facebook chief faces tax bill of $1.5bn – FT.com

Information Diet | Clicks Have Consequences

Peter O'Kelly — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:30:00 +0000

Another timely insight from the author of The Information Diet

This is what I mean when I say that "clicks have consequences": our information diets online have an ethical consequence to our social community. By watching video of the adorable kittens or by reading online that story about the Kardashians, you're not only doing yourself a disservice, you're actually telling editors to write more stuff like that, at the expense of other stuff. The ethical consequences of a poor information diet are more direct and immediate than the environmental consequences of eating meat.

[…]

This isn't something I say to scare you or fear-monger you into behavioral change. Rather, it's good news because the solution is simple. If you want better content and better journalism, you have the ability to make it happen. Consume consciously and deliberately select your information providers, and make the media chase after you.

Information Diet | Clicks Have Consequences

Does Siri Speak the Language of Love? A New Book Investigates – NYTimes.com

Peter O'Kelly — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:26:00 +0000

Sign of the times – and, I’m guessing, an ELIZA 2.0 story (I haven’t read the book)

Blue Rider Press said in a news release that “Siri & Me” chronicles a character named Dave, “a 29-year-old writer and blogger, who falls in love with the mysterious—and often cryptic—woman living inside of his new iPhone.” The publisher added: “Through their trials and tender moments, Dave and Siri both prove that communication is the key to every relationship, but that nothing is more important than holding hands with the one you love.”

Does Siri Speak the Language of Love? A New Book Investigates - NYTimes.com

Continue reading: Does Siri Speak the Language of Love? A New Book Investigates – NYTimes.com

Information Pleas: Networks Resort to Trickery in an Attempt to Lift Ratings – NYTimes.com

Peter O'Kelly — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:21:00 +0000

Check the full post for analysis by Joe Maguire, and stop watching TV “news,” if you haven’t done so already…

For those who follow information responsibility, here’s a story that has a little bit of everything:

A widespread tolerance of cynical data distortion, all to manipulate ratings and rankings.

Distortion of category boundaries to exclude unwanted data points.

Distortion of category boundaries to include desirable data points.

Manipulation of idiosyncratic metrics.

Abuse of the news cycle.

Anemic enforcement of ethical standards.

An exclusive set of informed consumers who are not hoodwinked.

Information Pleas: Networks Resort to Trickery in an Attempt to Lift Ratings - NYTimes.com

Facebook’s new friend request: political insiders – The Washington Post

Peter O'Kelly — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:16:00 +0000

Investing long-term

Facebook has studied mistakes by older rivals, such as Google and Microsoft, and is responding quickly, experts say, by strategically hiring experienced Democratic and Republican operatives. The company has brought on key operatives from the past three administrations.

Last year it hired Marne Levine, who was chief of staff to Obama’s former chief economic adviser Larry Summers, as head of global public policy in Washington. General counsel Theodore Ullyot was deputy assistant to President George W. Bush. Joe Lockhart, Facebook’s vice president of communications, was President Bill Clinton’s press secretary.

Facebook’s new friend request: political insiders - The Washington Post

No "Facebook fatigue" for longtime users: survey – Yahoo! News

Peter O'Kelly — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:13:00 +0000

Another Pew summary

A survey released on Friday shows that people who have used the social networking site over a long period - since its founding in 2004, say - show no sign that they are tired of posting pictures, updating weekend plans or just relaying random thoughts.

[…]

Ahead of the IPO, one concern about Facebook has been that users will simply bore of it after a while, a phenomenon known as "Facebook fatigue." The Pew research suggests those worries may be unfounded.

No "Facebook fatigue" for longtime users: survey - Yahoo! News

Continue reading: No "Facebook fatigue" for longtime users: survey – Yahoo! News

Facebook’s IPO filing sends Zynga stock soaring – SlashGear

Peter O'Kelly — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:35:00 +0000

A happy halo effect for Zynga

With big expectations for Facebook IPO filing, Zynga’s own stock has soared since the IPO paperwork was filed. In fact, since the Facebook IPO filing Zynga’s market cap has climbed over $1 billion thanks to the increase in stock prices for Zynga. Apparently, Zynga stock was trading at the close of market early this week for $10.96 per share, which is a bit higher than the $10 per share price in December when the company made its IPO. Yesterday, Zynga stock opened at $11.05 and the price went up to $12.81 per share at its peak.

Facebook’s IPO filing sends Zynga stock soaring - SlashGear