"Obama girl" changes the presidential election
Friday, August 31, 2007
The power of the internet is crazy, huh? I know this video is a couple months back, but I just caught wind of it last night. To set it up for those who haven's seen it: basically, a NY public relations exec had an in idea for a video talking about having a crush on presidential candidate Barack Obama. He sought some people (including the videographers and a hot lip syncer who has garnered a cult following) out on Craig's List to make it happen and voila -- a YouTube phenom that has been watchd over 3 million times. Although Obama himself has nothing to do with the video, you better believe it's made the YouTube-watching crowd think twice about Barack. That's powerful!
The key will be to see how they monetize this idea. It looks as if shirts and apparel are already in the mix.
posted by Michael Tavani @ 10:23 AM |
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New York City's IAC building
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
The IAC (InteractiveActiveCorp - ask.com, TicketMaster, and match.com) Building, a 10-story twisted glass structure, in New York City's trendy Chelsea neighborhood is one of the coolest I've seen recently. It opened in March 2007 and was designed by famed architect Frank Gehry.As neat as the building is, the website for the building is equally as cool. It's one of the better websites I've browsed. I've spent a good 30 minutes checking out the different pictures, views, features and behind-the-scenes info on the building. And on top of that it has a pretty boss urban beat playing in the background. It's an all around pleasant and entertaining experience. [The IAC Building]
Labels: cool stuff, news, places
posted by Michael Tavani @ 8:25 PM |
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CNN and YouTube collaborate
Monday, July 09, 2007
This is an interesting breakthrough in the world of media. CNN and YouTube are collaborating to host a series of presidential debates - the first on July 23 for Democrats and the second on Sept. 17 for Republicans. CNN (owned by Time Warner) will televise the debates, featuring questions submitted via web powerhouse YouTube (owned by Google). CNN-YouTube debates
The candidates will assemble on a stage to answer questions submitted by ordinary people via YouTube. CNN anchor Anderson Cooper will act as the moderator between the viewers and the candidates. [examples of the video questions]
What's really interesting is that new media video sharing site YouTube was probably the hotter commodity and more sought after in this deal than the old media news network CNN.
posted by Michael Tavani @ 11:14 PM |
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Newsmakers
Sunday, July 08, 2007
This is a cool shot of two major sports personalities set to make some major news this week. Both have very distinct styles and fashion sense and probably get panties thrown at them on a daily basis.Rafael Nadal, the "King of Clay" due to his 83 straight wins on clay courts, is right now battling possibly the best tennis player of all time Roger Federer (see previous UE post) in the Wimbledon Final and has him even through 4 sets (turn on NBC now). If Nadal wins, he could possibly become the #1 ranked player in the world. This would be one of the more unbelievable feats in sports history considering Federer has won 9 of the last 14 major tournaments. Can you ever imagine a player being replaced as #1 player in the world after winning 9 out 14 majors? Nadal could possibly make it happen.
And that leaves us David Beckham. Everyone knows his deal. He is the most well-known athlete in the world and he's coming to the U.S. to play in MLS. That is pretty cool. His arrival in LA is this Friday, July 13. His first game for the Los Angeles Galaxy is July 21 on ABC or ESPN against English super club Chelsea.
posted by Michael Tavani @ 12:00 PM |
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Tech news
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Great tech stories today from Kim Komando.
Want a computer virus?
A computer specialist created an ad offering to infect computers with a virus. Over a six-month period, more than 400 people clicked on the ad. Users were not actually infected. It was an experiment to show that advertising could be used maliciously.
Man arrested for stealing Wi-Fi
Sam Peterson was arrested for using Wi-Fi -- which a cafe provides for free. The problem? Peterson accessed the network from his car outside. He did this repeatedly. Peterson will pay a $400 fine and complete 40 hours of community service. He is not the first to be charged with stealing Wi-Fi.
posted by Michael Tavani @ 10:26 PM |
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One golf course, two greats - MJ & Tiger
Friday, May 04, 2007
For the first time in his career, Tiger Woods was paired with a more famous playing partner... Michael Jordan. The Nike pitchmen were paired together in the Wachovia Championship Pro-Am in Charlotte. If it was offered, I wouldn't be surprised if some loaded guy would've paid $1 million to be the third partner.Article
On One Golf Course, Two Greats Share the Stage NY Times
Photo
SI photo
photo to the right, credit: AP
posted by Michael Tavani @ 12:31 PM |
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102-year old lady hits hole in one
Saturday, April 14, 2007
This is pretty awesome.102-year old Elsie McLean is the oldest golfer ever to hit a hole-in-one on a regulation course, surpassing a 2001 HOI by a 101-year-old man in Florida. She said that "for an old lady" she hits the ball "pretty good." Elsie has been golfing since her 20s, and has been featured in Golfers Digest.
Read the story.
posted by Michael Tavani @ 10:30 AM |
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Blogger released from jail after 7 months
Thursday, April 05, 2007
This is a pretty interesting story and has everything to do with how powerful blogging has become. Josh Wolf spent seven months in jail, more than any other journalist held in contempt. He refused to hand over footage of a street protest in San Francisco. He has finally agreed to give prosecutors a copy of the video. In exchange, he won’t testify in front of a grand jury.
Read the article, check out his blog and watch the infamous video.
Labels: news
posted by Michael Tavani @ 9:09 PM |
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Yahoo Mail offers free unlimited email storage
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
I've always been curious to see who uses what when it comes to the free email accounts. Everyone has their preferences for one of the most popular three - Yahoo Mail, Google's Gmail, or Microsoft's Hotmail.Yahoo Upping the Ante
It used to be that Google offered by far the most email storage space, but Yahoo today announced that they'll offer unlimited storage for their free email starting this May. Now you'll definitely never have to delete an email again. Check out this solid TechCrunch review/comparison of the three email giants.
Humble beginnings
I've used Yahoo Mail since 1999 (when the storage was 10 MB) and I was constantly deleting text emails to clear storage space. I remember the relief I felt when it was increased to 100 MB.
Note to AOL Users
If you're still using and paying for AOL you're stuck in the 1997 IM days and you're wasting your money. I expect UE readers to be more web savvy than that.
User Statistics (in millions) (from TechCrunch)
- Yahoo Mail -- 250 M
- Gmail -- 51 M
- Hotmail -- 228 M
Free Email Storage
- Yahoo Mail -- Unlimited
- Gmail -- 2.8 GB
- Hotmail -- 2 GB
Labels: cool websites, news, web
posted by Michael Tavani @ 5:55 PM |
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Shark attack story
Sunday, February 25, 2007
An abalone diver survived an attack by a great white shark, which swallowed his head and shoulders before he fought free of the predator. The 41-year-old Australian, who lost oxygen supply mask during the attack reached up and twisted the shark's eyeball while his upper body was in the shark's mouth in order to escape. Watch the video here and his Letterman appearance here. [via JB]
Labels: misc., news, TV, video
posted by Michael Tavani @ 5:01 PM |
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Time changes and watches
Monday, February 19, 2007
Last January, I wrote about the sales of wrist watches declining among young people as the reliance becomes even greater on cell phones and other electronic devices. This is a trend I've noticed for a while and always wondered how it might turn out. Turns out, watches are losing ground to cell phones (AP).
Market researchers say more people are carrying electronic devices that also tell time, whether a phone, an iPod or a BlackBerry. They're also finding that young people, in particular, are more interested in spending their money on other kinds of accessories, such as shoes and hand bags.
Anther interesting time-related fact: most of the United States has observed Daylight Saving Time from 2:00 am on the first Sunday of April until 2:00 am on the last Sunday of October, since 1966. But on August 8, 2005, President Bush signed a sweeping energy bill that changed the timing of DST in the US by 4 weeks, in an effort to save energy. Beginning this spring, DST will begin 3 weeks earlier, on the second Sunday in March, and end 1 week later, on the first Sunday in November. This will affect Microsoft Outlook Calendar because it was not programmed to adjust for this new DST schedule and will simply record times as you have entered them. [via RW]
posted by Michael Tavani @ 10:10 PM |
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2007 SI swimsuit edition
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Since 1964, the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue has been a brilliant idea by Sports Illustrated. The best part is it allows guys to not look like pervs when buying the magazine (by the mailman or the grocery store clerk) because technically it's a "sports publication". That's what makes it great - the Swimsuit issue has nothing to do with sports. Singer Beyonce is on the cover of this year's music-themed edition. The issue came out yesterday, Valentine's Day. No irony there, huh?I wonder what percentage of men order the $50 magazine subscription purely for this one issue. Check out the SI 2007 online version you "sports fanatics".
Labels: fashion, news, photos, pop culture
posted by Michael Tavani @ 12:52 PM |
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iPod's banned in major cities
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Are you kidding me? This guy obviously isn't an urbanite. N.Y. lawmaker hopes to ban iPod use in crosswalks. I'd be shocked if this passes.
posted by Michael Tavani @ 7:30 PM |
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Swimmin' the Amazon
Saturday, January 27, 2007
I thought running 50 miles in 50 days in 50 states and pulling a Forrest Gump and running from New York to San Francisco was an amazing physical challenge.Well, here's an equally amazing physical challenge. On February 1, Martin Strel, a Guinness Book world record marathon swimmer, is attempting to swim the Amazon River - 3,375 miles in 70 days. This freakin ballsy. First off, he's 52 years old - by no means a young whipper snapper. In the MSNBC article, Daredevil plans Amazon swim, Strel acknowledges [the Amazon is] "home to some of the most poisonous and dangerous and ferocious animals, fish and insects... I’m going to swim that river or die trying. But dying is not my intention.”
The best part about it is that we'll be able to watch the expedition in real-time via live video streaming on Amazonswim.com. [via JB]
posted by Michael Tavani @ 5:07 PM |
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Update: Sport's life lessons
Friday, January 26, 2007
Representatives from Universal Pictures must read Urban Eola because they picked up the movie rights to the story that chronicled the struggles of the Fugees, a youth soccer club made up of international refugees who now live in Clarkston, GA (outside ATL), just two days after the story appeared in this space. Either that or they read the New York Times article on the story.
posted by Michael Tavani @ 5:13 PM |
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Guilty until proven innocent
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
No one can imagine the feeling.The numbers of people being let free are astonishing. And these are just the ones where DNA evidence is still available. 8 exonerated in New York state in the past 13 months. 12 exonerated in Dallas since 2001. According to the Georgia Innocence Project, 192 innocent people have been let free in the U.S.
- After 22 years, falsely imprisoned man walks free [photos] (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
- DNA frees man after 21 years (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
- A 12th Dallas Convict Is Exonerated by DNA (New York Times)
- With DNA From Exhumed Body, Man Finally Wins Freedom (New York Times)
posted by Michael Tavani @ 7:20 PM |
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Politics for a change
Thursday, January 18, 2007
I rarely, if ever, post about politics but this interesting story deserves mention. Republican Congressman Jack Kingston rarely goes against GOP opinion in key votes on Capitol Hill, but when it came time for the University of Georgia graduate and Athens, GA-born politician to vote on House Resolution 39, he departed from party lines.The reason? House Resolution 39 commended "the University of Florida Gators for their victory in the 2006 Bowl Championship Series (BCS) and for winning the national college football championship." The House bill passed by a vote of 414-1.
Normally these bills pass unanimously. For example, House Resolution 43, a bill that commended "the Boise State University Broncos football team for winning the 2007 Fiesta Bowl and completing an undefeated season," passed by a vote of 415-0 last week.
posted by Michael Tavani @ 11:24 PM |
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The next power couple
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
If they're actually dating (as rumored) (funny scenarios by ESPN), Brazilian Victoria's secret model Giselle Bundchen and New England Patriots QB Tom Brady (aka "Brad Chen") will take over the title of hottest couple alive from Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie ("Brangelina").Labels: news, pop culture, sport
posted by Michael Tavani @ 7:46 PM |
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Is Beckham U.S. bound?
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Update // 1.11.07 - hate to say I called it, but I did.
Beckham's conquered practically every region of the world, but the U.S. His penchant for fashion, marriage to Posh Spice and his high profile social life make him a perfect candidate for a move to the States. Major League Soccer approved a new rule this summer called the "Beckham Rule", which allows teams to go over the salary cap and spend whatever money they want on up to 2 marquee players. L.A., is Beckham on his way to the hometown Galaxy? Here's a great article on his possible move. While you're at it watch Ali G's hilarious interview of Becks and Posh.
Notice there's no soccer pics.
Labels: news, photos, pop culture, sport
posted by Michael Tavani @ 7:48 PM |
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Apple's announcement
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Every year Apple has a MacWorld Expo. Every year, founder Steve Jobs seems to announce something bad ass. Today the Expo took place. Today a bad ass Apple device was announced - the iPhone. Their stock subsequently soared. Watch Jobs' keynote address. Read this description for full details. Here's the specs:4 GB ($499) and 8 GB ($599) models
thinner than a Motorola RAZR
3.5 inch touchscreen with a virtual keyboard
2 megapixel camera
WIFI enabled and runs OSX
Cingular service only
standard web sites can be viewed via Safari web browser
motion sensor that rotates photos when you turn the phone
release date: June 2007 in U.S.
posted by Michael Tavani @ 9:45 PM |
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