tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52313480873153923692024-03-13T19:40:12.040-07:00Viralrootsthe revolution will be viralized.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger349125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231348087315392369.post-90285046790218915872014-06-16T16:44:00.003-07:002016-04-07T13:15:19.709-07:00Why Twitter Will Outlive Facebook<h2>
A brief history of the Internet and a mildly amusing theory about software platforms versus protocols.</h2>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oMj6A_w2qrg/UZ6Gw6BFVNI/AAAAAAAAC3I/yL1JERTEkmw/s1600/Atlantic_cable_Map.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oMj6A_w2qrg/UZ6Gw6BFVNI/AAAAAAAAC3I/yL1JERTEkmw/s640/Atlantic_cable_Map.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<h3>
The Transatlantic Telegraph</h3>
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On August 16, 1858, the first message was transmitted from North America to Europe via undersea cable. The message was sent using Morse Code.<br />
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That cable no longer exists. It's long been reclaimed by the sea.<br />
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But Morse Code is still used commercial and emergency applications to this day.</div>
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<h3>
ARPANET, TCP/IP and TELNET</h3>
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On October 29, 1969, the first message was transmitted from UCLA to Stanford over ARPANET, the first packet switching network. After a few iterations, TCP/IP was adopted as ARPANET's standard protocol in 1983. ARPANET became a subnet of the internet.<br />
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On February 28, 1990, ARPANET was taken offline.<br />
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However, TCP/IP is still the protocol stack the internet runs on to this day. </div>
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<h3>
GUI Online Services, the Web and E-mail</h3>
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The 1980s saw the rise of consumer pay online services. These included CompuServe, Prodigy, GEnie and AOL. These were initially walled-garden platforms, but by the early 90s, they had allowed for mass adoption of the larger Internet by allowing access to email and the web through easy to use graphical user interfaces. In 1989, CompuServe became the first walled-garden online service to offer incoming and outgoing email connectivity with the Internet at large.<br />
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Ultimately, AOL grew to become the world's largest walled-garden Internet community. Its stock soared going into 2000, when it bought Time Warner Inc. At the time of the merger, AOL had a market value of $162 billion.<br />
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By 2002, AOL had over 25 million paid subscribers worldwide, with access to standard email and web, in addition to its proprietary services.</div>
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By 2003, AOL's market-share was declining with the rise of free web-based email services coupled with affordable ISPs. In mid 2006, AOL began offering free email for non-subscribers to slow the rate of defection to other free email services such as Hotmail and Yahoo!</div>
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Today, AOL's walled-garden platform no longer exists.<br />
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Its current incarnation as a services, news and branding company has a market cap of about $3.7billion. Roughly, 2.5% of its peak capitalization. </div>
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There are still an estimated 2 billion email users worldwide.<br />
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<h3>
Software Platforms Versus Protocols</h3>
In describing the difference between platforms and protocols, the most important word that comes to mind is "transcendence." When something is transcendent, it breaks out of confinement.<br />
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In this relationship, the Platform is the "confinement." The protocol is the "thing" that "breaks out."<br />
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This is the case illustrated by all of the above examples.<br />
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My argument is that Twitter is transcendent. It behaves like a protocol. It's a method of transport, and its inherent usefulness does not rely on the survival of its platform or any platform.<br />
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On the other hand, the fundamental value proposition of Facebook is only as good as its ability to keep uses on its platform.<br />
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This was the exact problem AOL faced at the turn of the century.<br />
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It's my opinion that Facebook is an identical product to AOL. In a way, it's a weaker product because Facebook does not solicit the inflation-adjusted $25/month that AOL used to get in the '90s. But as the web has become more robust, the ability to operate a platform equivalent to AOL through a browser instead of a stand-alone program has become reality. And that's precisely what Facebook is doing.<br />
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As the Internet evolves and we explore exceedingly unthinkable possibilities, Facebook's core business will still need to exist inside its platform or it ceases to be Facebook, as we know it. An analogy, aside from AOL, is Blackberry. As a platform, Blackberry is in critical condition. But their one hope is pivoting into the protocol business. A "transcendental" version of BBM, essentially a rich instant messaging protocol, will likely be their only business. If this sounds familiar, it's because it was one of AOL's post-platform pivots with AOL IM.<br />
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With Facebook, I'm not quite sure if they have a single component that has a life after platform.<br />
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The scary thing about all of this is irrational exuberance. It is uncanny how history has a tendency of repeating itself.<br />
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On January 10, 2010, AOL <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2000/01/10/deals/aol_warner/">announced</a> its intent to acquire Time Warner for about $182 billion in stock and debt. On that day, AOL was trading with a market cap of about $163 billion. It's significant to note that AOL had twice the market cap of Time Warner that day. It's significant to note that Time Warner was doing three times the revenue as AOL. It's significant to note that the deal left Steve Case more powerful than Ted Turner in the new company.<br />
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But through the lens of history, it's probably most important to note that today, Facebook is trading at a $144 billion market capitalization. That's edging on AOL's peak market cap. Facebook is booking about $6.87 billion in revenue, which is more than AOL's historic peak revenue. Finally, Facebook is pocketing about $1 billion a year, slightly more than AOL's peak net income.<br />
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Across the board, Facebook's current key statistics look so similar to those of AOL's at its peak, it's a little uncanny.<br />
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The cycle of market bubbles predates modern exchanges. The cycle of rapid adoption and abandonment of communications platforms predates the internet. Yet, irrational exuberance gets the best of us. We drive up financial markets. And so often, when the bubble bursts, it's platforms like AOL and Blackberry leading the dive.<br />
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I'm of the opinion that Facebook will find itself in a similar position. And it too will lead the dive of its sector. This cycle appears to be an inherent aspect of communications technology. I don't think this indicates something wrong with the businesses that live this cycle.<br />
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Rather, there seems to be something about society and how we interact with each other through technology that drives this cycle.<br />
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I believe that while ubiquity requires a critical mass, abandonment also requires a critical mass.<br />
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An important aspect of new communication forms will always be novelty and exclusivity.<br />
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Novelty and exclusivity make new communication technology an attractive alternative to real life. These are two things that are always defined by the platform. Not the protocol. And as novelty and exclusivity wain, the platform loses unique value.<br />
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But the protocol, the transport technology that powers it, can live on.<br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://viralroots.blogspot.com">Viralroots</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231348087315392369.post-79459567108975374502014-06-12T13:57:00.001-07:002014-06-12T13:57:22.207-07:00Are Nootropics The New Multivitamin? <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MiZlXQkJYpg/U5oPrBGBD-I/AAAAAAAAC_Q/L4vvM5-F0MU/s1600/vinpocetine.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MiZlXQkJYpg/U5oPrBGBD-I/AAAAAAAAC_Q/L4vvM5-F0MU/s1600/vinpocetine.PNG" height="100" width="400" /></a></div>
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As I write this, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinpocetine" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">vinpocetine </a>is coursing through my veins.<br />
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In 1985, the European Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology published the results of a study conducted by the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom.<br />
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Subhan & Hindmarch found that 40mg of vinpocetine significantly improved memory in healthy humans, compared to the control group.<br />
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The class of substances used as "smart drugs" are called nootropics. They are mix of natural supplements and synthetics used to enhance brain performance. Some are stimulants. Some boost blood circulation to the brain. Some support cell health. Some improve or even increase production of neurotransmitters.<br />
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And today, nootropics are all the rage.<br />
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Ray Kurzweil famously published a list of all his daily supplements, many of which are classified as nootropics.<br />
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<a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/Nootropics" rel="nofollow">Message boards</a> all over the internet are lighting up with brain hackers creating their own nootropic "stacks" or ideal blends of nootropics to take daily.<br />
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Yup, just like grandma with her days-of-the-week vitamin box.<br />
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There's more.<br />
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Supplements companies are assembling their own proprietary stacks like <a href="http://modernlifereview.com/cerastim-review/">Cerastim</a> by <a href="http://livecellresearch.com/">Live Cell Research</a> and <a href="https://www.onnit.com/alphabrain/" rel="nofollow">Alpha Brain</a> by <a href="https://www.onnit.com/" rel="nofollow">Onnit</a>.<br />
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Take the decision-making out of it! Go for a nootropic one-a-day!<br />
<br />
I've been playing in the nootropic playground for a little while now.<br />
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And I must say, it is interesting.<br />
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If you hang out on message boards, you can get sucked down a rabbit hole that encompasses everything from kids talking about their amphetamine score to boost their homework skills to daring individuals mega-dosing on chemicals because there was that one promising racetam study on mice.<br />
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Okay, that said, I must confess. Vinpocetine is not the only nootropic I'm taking.<br />
<br />
I'm also taking bacopa extract. In 2001, the <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">School of Biophysical Science and Electrical Engineering in Australia found improved </span></span><span style="line-height: 16px;">cognitive</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"> function in a double-blind placebo-controlled study in humans.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">What can I say. Hacking your brain with nootropics can be addictive. </span></span></span><br />
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And now that pre-formulated, brain enhancing stacks are available the same way you can purchase your multivitamin, they are accessible to everyone. <br />
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How accessible?<br />
<br />
Well that's easy to test. It just requires a visit to my parent's home.<br />
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I went there and did some snooping in my mother's medicine cabinet. She had this supplement bottle I had never seen before. I won't say the brand because it was private labeled for her physician and I don't want to poke the bear.<br />
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I checked out the ingredients.<br />
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Two things caught my eye: Bacopa Extract and Bovine Adrenal Extract.<br />
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What?<br />
<br />
First, my mom is taking nootropics and probably doesn't know it.<br />
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Second, the hell is Bovine Adrenal Extract?<br />
<br />
Thank you, <a href="http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-941-ADRENAL%20EXTRACT.aspx?activeIngredientId=941&activeIngredientName=ADRENAL%20EXTRACT" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">WebMD</a>.<br />
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This stuff is exactly what it sounds like. It is literally extracted from the discarded adrenal glands of slaughtered cows. It supposedly supports a wide array of functions including fatigue and stress.<br />
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Hah! Sounds like some quackery to me.<br />
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But wait, then what am I doing hanging out on reddit with a bunch of sixteen year-olds figuring out the best amino acid to jack their caffeine high?<br />
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Okay, so maybe there's something to nootropics. Maybe there isn't. Maybe there's something to, gag, adrenal extract.<br />
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Is it worth the chance?<br />
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Well, I bet there were a bunch of sailors a hundred years ago that would have been happy for a tip about Vitamin C, even if it came from a message board.<br />
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If nootropics can at least offer the hope of protecting our brains and warding off aging, then they're here to stay.<br />
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And I'll be taking them, just in case.<br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://viralroots.blogspot.com">Viralroots</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231348087315392369.post-59200435096990001052013-04-02T18:12:00.000-07:002013-04-03T10:04:50.807-07:00Subversive Consumerism: An Organic Distribution Platform<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Kb9Hjq9ICEo/UVt4E8ePfFI/AAAAAAAAC0w/96_0chRoYGs/s1600/viralroots-screenshot2007.jpg"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Kb9Hjq9ICEo/UVt4E8ePfFI/AAAAAAAAC0w/96_0chRoYGs/s640/viralroots-screenshot2007.jpg" /></a><br />
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In 2007, we started covering the first US presidential election in history that required the candidates and the media to engage voters online with digital content and social media. Digital content changed the world at that time. Online engagement leading up to the 2008 election of Barack Obama forecasted the results earlier and better than traditional polling and pundits. As a result, digital content strategies are assumed for all political campaigns and mass movements. The revolution happened so quickly. In a blink of an eye, digital, social and mobile strategies were the new status quo.<br />
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By 2008, it was overwhelmingly clear to us at Viralroots that our experiment and thesis had moved way beyond discussion. It was reality. We returned to our day jobs and pursued other projects and experiments.<br />
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Recently, I've reengaged Viralroots as a platform to discuss the impact of digital content in arenas other than election politics. Specifically, the impact on branding and marketing.<br />
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I believe that high value content is coming from unusual places at this time. Digital content is prerequisite in all marketing and distribution strategies, but it also must share an ecosystem with diverse user generated content, piracy and re-posts. As a result, there is a lot of noise, which creates a huge discoverability problem.<br />
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There's amazing professional and user-generated content on the web. And there's even great content either distributed, curated or generated by brands. But making sure people get to see the best content across all of these categories is tricky. Yet somehow, some of it breaks through, finds a tipping point and zoom, that's why we started talking. <br />
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But, this is not 2007.<br />
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Discovery solutions seem to be emerging from the least likely of places, such as 4chan, a place where brand skepticism and subversive action can inadvertently drive mainstream awareness for otherwise poorly performing, low impact, marketing campaigns. <br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Dn0IjO_Rylo/UVt4Z-NpPxI/AAAAAAAAC04/H_hsQNkBHFU/s1600/1358000435843.jpg"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Dn0IjO_Rylo/UVt4Z-NpPxI/AAAAAAAAC04/H_hsQNkBHFU/s640/1358000435843.jpg" /></a><br />
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You should know what this is.<br />
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The image is from the <a href="https://www2.axeapollo.com/en_PH/the-competiton">AXE Space Challenge</a>. A peer-vote-driven contest for a chance at space travel. The face in the picture belongs to Christopher Poole, aka Moot, aka the founder of 4chan. The people of 4chan, on an ordinary day, have nothing good to say about AXE or any other consumer goods. <br />
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The contest was doing fine as of yesterday morning. The first place contestant had a few thousand votes. <br />
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Then 4chan decided to send Moot to space.<br />
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Last night, Moot had 400,000 votes. <br />
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The contestant behind him had 40,000. <br />
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The votes were not all legit. Earned by scripts moving votes through proxy servers, true to 4chan fashion. But man, what a story. <br />
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Moot has since been removed from the competition.<br />
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Just one example. <br />
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It's places like 4chan, sorta the sleeping giants of viralroots rumblings, that have an unprecedented, untested capacity to prove disruptive in the content game.<br />
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But, probably to the utter confusion, fear and paranoia of brands, it looks like what makes them disruptive might also make them a ticket for success. In the example above, a small community drove a massive feedback loop, bolstering awareness on Facebook and across the web. If not for them, I'd never be plugging AXE. Yet, here I am.<br />
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Can brands learn to play nice and forge relationships with niche communities and organic content distribution? <br />
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It seems to have worked for AXE, but there's no doubt it worked by accident. <br />
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The lesson is still the same: <br />
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We're way past subversive marketing. <br />
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<b>Prepare for subversive consumerism as a platform for organic distribution. </b><br />
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<b>Turns out, your content does not actually have to be native if it invokes mischief in the right group of people.</b><br />
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This is scary stuff. It requires letting go of a huge amount of power.<br />
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It requires you to question <i>why </i>consumers like your content.<br />
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Furthermore, it may require you to stop caring <i>why </i>consumers like your content, so long as they do. <br />
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Here's my perspective. We started writing Viralroots in 2007. We stayed on topic. More than 75% of our articles are tagged, Viral Politics. What's our most blogged about, most linked to, most trafficked article of all time? The one about <a href="http://viralroots.blogspot.com/2007/04/dennis-kucinich-youtube-video-plays-hot.html">Dennis Kucinich's sexy wife</a>. <br />
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Turns out, sex sells. And if it got me one more reader, who cares?<br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://viralroots.blogspot.com">Viralroots</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231348087315392369.post-34521845822611628512013-03-27T12:23:00.000-07:002013-03-27T12:25:46.191-07:00Breaking News vs. Breaking Press vs. Editorial Content<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r5QjmqbHxeY/UVMyjVj3v7I/AAAAAAAACz0/Nx3RalQi8U8/s1600/dewey-defeats-truman.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="420" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r5QjmqbHxeY/UVMyjVj3v7I/AAAAAAAACz0/Nx3RalQi8U8/s640/dewey-defeats-truman.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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or, <u>Blogging from your toilet 101: A Rant</u><br />
<u><br /></u>
As I make my way through my soon-to-be-deceased <a href="http://viralroots.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-end-of-google-reader-is-better-than.html">Google Reader</a> list, I find myself especially annoyed this morning by how many repeat blog posts I'm seeing.<br />
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There are far too many blogs falling back on the, in-case-you-don't-look-out-your-window-or-watch-cnn-or-read-drudge-or-the-times-or-deadline-here's-some-breaking-news paradigm.<br />
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And they leave it at that.<br />
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These stories often don't get further opinion or insight on their way down the food chain.<br />
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They just tumble on down.<br />
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Don't get me wrong, I'm sure I've been guilty of this in the past. It used to make sense when everything was traditional media and certainly <i>someone </i>had to migrate it to the web. (I remember when we used to actually scan pieces of paper for text and images.) But that's all changed.<br />
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In my opinion, the big changes started when the "official press release" marketing machine got thrown out of whack by the Internet.<br />
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Once upon a time, we used to rely on daily trade publications to read placements masquerading as breaking news. You gotta give <a href="http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/">Nikki Finke</a> credit for this one. She took a game that, in the entertainment world, was OWNED by daily publications Variety and THR and proved she could scoop their printed breaks on a blog, hours if not days earlier.<br />
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Her success, in my mind, defined the news-breaking paradigm that blogs can serve. They're not CNN. They're not KCAL 9. Meaning, blogs will never bring you live transcription of supreme court hearings or a helicopter shot of a police chase. But they can successfully sift the noisy deal-making, publicity and marketing machines of an industry, and find news there before official press releases break.<br />
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This is a massively powerful function. It subverted the way corporations communicated. And it now drives an entire derivatives market of lesser bloggers repeating high value content, like scooped press.<br />
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This is actually one of the many reasons the death of Reader breaks my heart. The ability to consolidate news sources and consume them in chronological order sheds a huge a mount of light on who broke a story and who's regurgitating it. Furthermore, who's regurgitating it in a timely manner and who might be adding valuable insight.<br />
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In a world were my time is valuable and I need to consume information as efficiently as possible, Reader helps me identify low-value content and either skip it or remove it from my list.<br />
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So, breaking news like Bank-Robber-on-PCP-Speeds-Down-405 breaking news doesn't seem to be a good plan for your average friendly neighborhood blogger.<br />
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Scooping official announcements seems to be a surgical craft, owned by digital operations who have emerged from or replaced legacy print operations. And merely repeating this information can drive traffic, but you're not generating valuable content.<br />
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This leaves editorial.<br />
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Editorial is the space in content that you get to fill with personality that separates you from other blogs and other bloggers. This is the space where you can make your content valuable by making it uniquely yours.<br />
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If you want to successfully blog from your toilet or a Starbucks or a Starbucks toilet, please stop creating low-value content.<br />
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If I've seen it already, it has no value.<br />
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I don't care if you're a movie blog and the information is movie-related, so you want to share it.<br />
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If I've already seen it, it doesn't make me think you publish a lot. <br />
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It makes me think you publish too much and you're not contributing value to the conversation.<br />
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I guarantee you, if you're blogging in a niche, there is demand for amazing original content. This sounds pretty basic, but if you look at my Reader list, doing this well is still the realm of a small handful of key players in any given niche.<br />
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For instance, <a href="http://io9.com/">io9</a> and <a href="http://www.geekologie.com/">Geekologie </a>are some of my favorite nerd reads. The two blogs cannot possibly be more different. io9 provides a well edited magazine-type experience. As much science as sci-fi. Extremely well written and detailed, original content that appeals to my interests and always sheds new light on a topic, even if it's about something familiar.<br />
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On the other hand, Geekologie is quick. Snappy. Image-driven. But GW's commentary is funny. It's brief, but it shines and it's distinctly him.<br />
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In my mind, both these blogs are premium offerings within the nerd niche and are equally important components in my reading list.<br />
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My interest in them is not story breaking ability, but quality and presentation. Valuable editorial content. From them, I know it's a good read. I know I want to read their next articles. I know I want to share their stories with friends.<br />
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There's a real value proposition going on with both these blogs.<br />
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Regurgitating breaking news in a large field like entertainment seems like a better recipe for traffic, but that's not how you're going to keep an audience over time. It's not a feasible business model to push from your toilet.<br />
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Making it onto my Reader list is half the battle.<br />
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You also have to keep me on.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://viralroots.blogspot.com">Viralroots</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231348087315392369.post-78683303120940177112013-03-20T18:43:00.000-07:002013-03-20T18:43:24.699-07:00The End Of Google Reader Is Better than A Financing Round For Feedly<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e1sFaACk6G8/UUpb--wnGAI/AAAAAAAACzk/X6UjgRb82Bg/s1600/feedly-traffic-spike.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="274" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e1sFaACk6G8/UUpb--wnGAI/AAAAAAAACzk/X6UjgRb82Bg/s640/feedly-traffic-spike.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
Google broke my heart three days ago, announcing the end of Google Reader. The service will go offline July 1st. Almost immediately, articles suggesting alternative news readers started sweeping the <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5990881/five-best-google-reader-alternatives">blogosphere</a>. One particular service, <a href="http://www.feedly.com/">Feedly</a> has come up a lot, for having form and function very similar to the Google Reader experience. It turns out, this is the best possible news for Feedly. Their <a href="http://blog.feedly.com/2013/03/15/priorities-keeping-the-site-up-and-adding-new-features/">blog</a> states that "more than 500,000 Google Reader users have joined the feedly community over the last 48 hours." Google shutting down Reader has literally put Feedly on the map.<br />
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So here's my question: Why would Google shut down Reader in the first place?<br />
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<a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2013/03/a-second-spring-of-cleaning.html">Google</a> cites a loyal following, but it has declined. But the Feedly story seems to suggest differently. And Google does keep a fair amount of legacy offerings up and running. A "loyal following" seems like all an app like Reader would need to remain a legacy product.<br />
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I can't help but think this is about something else. And I suspect that <i>something </i>might be advertising.<br />
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RSS was never mainstream. It's a geek tool. It's barebones. It's down and dirty. It's great for collecting the sources you trust to one place, moving through information fast, focusing on what you care about, and ignoring what you don't.<br />
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Ironically, I just described Facebook and Twitter.<br />
<br />
And maybe that's the issue. Google Reader takes content, (I mean <i>real </i>content. Articles, studies, white papers, not single sentences and photos of your nephew.) dislodges it from its advertising and hey-stay-a-little-longer filled home, and presents it as-is.<br />
<br />
In today's world, that seems like an awful lot of great content and hard work to give away for free with very minimal, easy to skip, advertising.<br />
<br />
My guess is there's a solution in the works that keeps aggrogated content married to advertising in a more effective way than Reader.<br />
<br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://viralroots.blogspot.com">Viralroots</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231348087315392369.post-24874067609759449792013-03-18T14:12:00.001-07:002014-01-14T10:42:59.474-08:00Google Glass: Why the Stop-The-Cyborgs Fuss is Too-Little-Too-Late<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xrOn4f_-qBs/UUd3WP-HR_I/AAAAAAAACzU/EA9qidp2xME/s1600/google_glass.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Google Glass" border="0" height="360" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xrOn4f_-qBs/UUd3WP-HR_I/AAAAAAAACzU/EA9qidp2xME/s640/google_glass.jpg" title="Google Glass" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Pop Quiz: <br />
<br />
<em>How many surveillance devices are within three feet of you right now?</em><br />
<br />
Here's my answer:<br />
<br />
-One web-connected camera pointing directly at my <a href="http://www.gq.com/news-politics/newsmakers/201201/luis-mijangos-hacker-webcam-virus-internet">face</a>.<br />
-Four additional web-connected cameras, two on my <a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-effective-cell-phone-surveillance-apps/">phone</a>, two on my tablet.<br />
-Three web-connected <a href="http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/big-brother-cyber-weapon-can-take-screen-shots-turn-on-microphones-copy-data-record-communications_05292012">microphones</a>.<br />
-Two GPS devices.<br />
-Two <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phone_tracking">cellular triangulation trackers</a>.<br />
-Three often static <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/9432518/Google-we-failed-to-delete-all-Streetview-data.html">IP addresses</a>.<br />
-One web browser that can be identified as completely <a href="https://panopticlick.eff.org/">unique</a> from anyone else, using Java.<br />
-Two web browsers that deliver and have been delivering endless <a href="http://blogs.computerworld.com/chrome_googles_biggest_threat_to_your_privacy">behavior </a>to Google since 2008.<br />
<br />
Shall we expand the scope of the question to within fifteen feet?<br />
<br />
-An additional six web connected devices, all tansfering data through the same static IP address, but with unique <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAC_address">MAC addresses</a>.<br />
-A relatively sophisticated bit of spycraft consumers refer to as the <a href="http://technorati.com/technology/article/shopper-surveillance-using-microsoft-xbox-kinect/">Microsoft X-Box Kinect</a>.<br />
-An electrical grid smart meter that delivers<a href="http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/sdge-socal-edison-get-smart-meter-opt-out-orders"> real-time energy usage</a>, not only the utility company but also to me, or anyone with my credentials, over the web.<br />
<br />
And if we were to reel the scope of this question to only within inches one's body, there's RFID in our wallets and on our keychains. <br />
<br />
And if we were to expand the scope of the question to outisde of fifty feet, there's neighbors with their own prized collection of corporate spytech. There's traffic cameras, parking enforcement vehicles equipt with license plate readers, and on, and on...<br />
<br />
I think I've made my point. <br />
<br />
Today, we are surrounded by endless instruments for individually identifying, gathering and storing information. These tools are accessible to hackers, jealous lovers, private investagators, concerned parents, major corporations and, of course, the government.<br />
<br />
So: <br />
<br />
<strong>2013. </strong><br />
<strong>Just coming around to </strong><a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57574607-93/google-glass-the-opposition-grows/"><strong>stopping the cyborgs</strong></a><strong>?</strong><br />
<br />
After decades of technology capable of compromising privacy, the Stop The Cyborgs movement was finally created earlier this month.<br />
<br />
Recent <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2295004/Google-Glass-Googles-sinister-glasses-turn-world-search-giants-spies.html">headlines</a> linked to with sensational panic by Drudge.<br />
<br />
This is all a result of hivemind logic deciding that Google Glass is somehow more insidious than anything we've seen thus far.<br />
<br />
What a fabulous destraction from the spytech already all around us. <br />
<br />
Let's focus on the one device that one wears <strong>on their </strong>face<strong>. </strong>The one device that is overt, obvious and public. The very intention of the device is to collect and augment information from the world around us, and hopefully do something with that information to make our days a little easier. <br />
<br />
Let's completely ignore all the covert and insideous devices that hide within the gadgets we've welcomed into our lives over the past several decades.<br />
<br />
Courtesy of <a href="http://stopthecyborgs.org/">Stop The Cyborgs</a>, the following exchange with a Google spokesperson:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
A Google spokesperson responds: </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>“It is still very early days for Glass, and we expect that as with other new technologies, such as cell phones, behaviors and social norms will develop over time.” </i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Stop the cyborgs reply:</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"We couldn’t agree more. These early days are our opportunity to proactively shape the social norms and technological development through public debate, politics and individual action rather than passively accepting and adapting to new technology."</i></blockquote>
Anyone pretending that we are somehow in the "early days" of the surveillance security discussion has zero grip on the last three decades of computer technology and takes for granted the technology that is already within three feet of us.<br />
<br />
<em>You know what's great about Google Glass?</em><br />
<br />
You know when you're staring right at it! <br />
<br />
It practically screams, "Hi, I'm a camera! Behave like you're in front of a camera!"<br />
<br />
My smartphone's design offers nothing of the sort. Just ask my girlfriend. <br />
<br />
<em>So, does it need a blinking light?</em><br />
<br />
Well, that depends. If the freedom to ignorantly assume a camera is not recording, in spite its obvious presence, is a basic human right, then I guess it needs a blinking light.<br />
<br />
But in this world, that's staggeringly shortsighted logic to rely on. <br />
<br />
It's right up there with not looking both ways when you cross the street, since, duh, pedestrians have the right-of-way. If a car hits you, it's their fault! So <em>they</em> should look, not <em>you</em>! It's a totally weak argument if you end up dead, and it's a totally week argument for assuming a right to privacy.<br />
<br />
In 2009, Eric Schmidt, in an <a href="http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=1372176413&play=1">interview with Maria Bartiromo</a>, famously said the following:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<em>"If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place."</em></blockquote>
Most people find this notion abhorrent. A violation of a basic human right to privacy. <br />
<br />
Believe what you want, but your beliefs do not change the reality of the statement. This has been the reality of our world for quite sometime. It is not a new reality forged by Google Glass. And it is not a reality that will be going away anytime soon. <br />
<br />
You can fight it all you want. You can lead debates, make bumperstickers and fight for initiatives to unwind it. You can even become a <a href="http://io9.com/5926587/what-may-be-the-worlds-first-cybernetic-hate-crime-unfolds-in-french-mcdonalds">cybernetic bigot</a> if it floats your boat. <br />
<br />
But what I would not suggest is allowing yourself to be consumed by the distraction of wearable devices like Google Glass while ignoring the reality and capability of what's already in our pockets, on our desks and staring at us in our living rooms. <br />
<br />
Because that position is too little too late. <br />
<br />
That position is like arguing with the driver over right-of-way as you lie bleeding in the intersection. <br />
<br />
These are real:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CB25RCQ/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00CB25RCQ&linkCode=as2&tag=ambieology-20" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B00CB25RCQ&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=ambieology-20" /></a></div>
<img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=ambieology-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00CB25RCQ" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />
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They have been for quite some time. </center>
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Who knows, they could have kindly walked you back to your dorm room. The rest of the details are fuzzy.</center>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://viralroots.blogspot.com">Viralroots</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231348087315392369.post-85212521795881420912013-03-13T12:28:00.000-07:002013-03-13T19:02:36.897-07:00Veronica Mars Goes Over-The-Top: Today, the studio is crowds. Tomorrow, it's brands.<center>
<iframe frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/559914737/the-veronica-mars-movie-project/widget/video.html" width="480"> </iframe></center>
<br />
Netflix showed us with HOUSE OF CARDS that if you trust the talent and give them enough money, they can create premium content anywhere. We no longer live in a world where must-see-TV can only be produced, and more importantly, distributed by studios and networks. Moving forward, we'll continue to see premium content emerging from distribution-driven models, but replicating quality and reach is only half the equation. I don't mean this in a bad way. I think it's extremely important that Netflix is putting their money where their mouth is, effectively saying, hey we tap talent like you, we spend like you, we get to "jog" with you. Anything short of that would have given them excuses to make in the face of a potential failure. <i>But we only had Canadian actors</i>, for instance. (For example, see <a href="http://www.youtube.com/show/halo4forwarduntodawn">Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn</a>.)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/559914737/the-veronica-mars-movie-project">The Veronica Mars movie funded on Kickstarter</a>, will hopefully reveal the second half, in my opinion the more important half, of the equation. I'll pose it as a question. What is the real cost of ninety minutes of content created by premium talent using premium technology, but working for ownership in the negative instead of upfront fees? Based on this campaign, as well as financial models and budgets I deal with on my day-to-day, the answer is somewhere right around here: $2,000,000. The campaign does state that obviously all proceeds over $2million will go into the budget, which I'm sure they'll be happy to have. Again, I know for a fact that this number is feasible providing you leverage the correct talent. (I'll probably write more about that in the future.) To be fair, Warner Bros. does own the underlying IP and they're hard pressed to give up ownership. Sources tell me they <i>may </i>pony up production funds (in addition to a domestic limited theatrical release, no doubt to leverage oversea sales (and likely canabilize a digital window)), which would no doubt contribute to fees, but the model can work just the same with ownership pooled for talent.<br />
<br />
Now, it's <a href="http://variety.com/2013/digital/news/caa-agent-discloses-netflix-series-spending-1200006100/">speculated </a>that HOUSE OF CARDS came in at around $3.8million per episode, on the cheap end. And going forward, the same speculation suggests Netflix will continue pushing budgets around $4million per episode for future shows.<br />
<br />
So, the implication here is that it's quite easy to spend a 100% premium between fees and production costs if given the opportunity.<br />
<br />
But what happens if you're not given the opportunity?<br />
<br />
Tighter budgets and back-end compensation seem to suggest an emerging model for digital content that might just allow creators and consumers to have their cake and eat it too: Greater numbers of niche shows/films/experiences of premium quality created on smaller budgets, reaching pre-engaged audiences on different-sized screens.<br />
<br />
Engaged, niche audiences. Low production costs. Premium IP.<br />
<br />
Which brings us to our... third half...<br />
<br />
Brands want in.<br />
<br />
They don't all know it yet, but some are coming around.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.deadline.com/2013/03/rob-jones-edelman-digital-machinima/">Edelman nabs a Machinima content programmer</a>.<br />
<br />
Conglams are leveraging their brands across networks. <a href="http://www.deadline.com/2013/03/conde-nast-entertainment-launches-digital-video-network-with-sponsored-programming-from-glamour-and-gq/">Conde Nast launches a digital network programmed by its biggest brands</a>.<br />
<br />
The brand play makes perfect sense. We're talking marketing budgets in the billions, especially in automotive and consumer electronics. Why just spend it on commercials? They're expensive. They air a few times. Sometimes they're cool, but with time, they always become invisible. Here's an opportunity to build content libraries. Products unto themselves. Consumable. Re-consumable. They garner empathy and fans. Serialized or episodic, you can track engagement.<br />
<br />
So simple, right?<br />
<br />
Here's (some) of the reluctance: <i>But what about GRPs? </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
I have this conversation all the time. Brands love their GRPs.<br />
<br />
I'm always talking to engineers on the analytics side. I usually like to scream at them. It goes something like this:<br />
<br />
<i>What the fuck? Your network has upwards of 500 user touch-points. Why is your latest, greatest product a GRP solution? It doesn't make sense! Why don't brands use these touch points? If the brand is the content instead of just the interstitial, they'll understand, won't they? Who gives a shit about GRP? It's a Furry Convention Time Travel show, not a fucking billboard on the way home from work! And that 250k buy from The Tampon Company that's rendering 75% on ustream? Those views are in front of a drunk college girl showing her tits to stoners, you don't need GRP to know you're completely missing! Please tell me why you do this!</i><br />
<br />
I always get the same answer. It's a version of this:<br />
<br />
<i>You are absolutely right. But you're going to have to wait for some very stubborn people in some very important positions to either retire or die. It's just the way the world works.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
I don't want to wait for people to die! It's 2013, we just cured HIV! That could take forever!<br />
<br />
I want brands, no more precisely, I want agencies that represent brands to get their heads out of their asses and start taking risks on content and metrics in a meaningful way so that I never have to see a tampon commercial ever again and my wife never needs to see a sportscar commerical ever again.<br />
<br />
Okay, go support <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/559914737/the-veronica-mars-movie-project">Veronica Mars on Kickstarter</a>. Seriously. It was like the best show ever.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://viralroots.blogspot.com">Viralroots</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231348087315392369.post-36683309668931442252013-03-13T11:15:00.000-07:002013-03-27T12:27:53.421-07:00FAKEGRIMLOCK: THE WORLD IS CAN'T<center>
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About six or seven years ago, I saw philosopher/futurist/warrior <a href="http://www.thiemeworks.com/">Richard Thieme</a> speak at defCON. I discussed how a generation had emerged that identified more strongly with its online presence than its real life presence. At the time, I found this insight incredibly profound. It was an evocative message, which in my mind, best communicated the notion that sitting in front of a computer screen, for some people, results in more cozy interactions than say, sharing a lunch table. </center>
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Presently, <a href="http://fakegrimlock.com/">FAKE GRIMLOCK</a> reminds me, fuck, that defCON talk was a long time ago. Not only has the line completely blurred, not for a fringe but for most people. And furthermore, it might only be that agency we find on the internet that will ever give us the psychic tools to tolerate individuality, failure and success, the fringe and the every day, in real life. </center>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://viralroots.blogspot.com">Viralroots</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231348087315392369.post-71742608900008390782012-10-01T11:47:00.000-07:002014-01-21T14:27:58.296-08:00Wi-Fi Zombie Apocalypseor<br />
<br />
<b>Can A Distributed Network Of Lone-Wolf Amateur Entrepreneurs Crowd-Fund Starbucks And Turn A Profit Before Exhausting Social Welfare Safety Nets?</b><br />
<br />
I have recently found myself without an office. This blows. Why? Because with it I have lost my innocence. I'm no longer sheltered from the frightening reality of Wi-Fi Zombies. Turns out, Starbucks has undergone a massive transformation through this great recession. Once an overpriced coffee shop, they've emerged an overpopulated Hooverville, wreaking of bacon and toilet smells to boot.<br />
<br />
This is not hyperbole. I'm sitting between two homeless guys who have very obviously moved in. One has some sort of art thing going on. The other has either invented a new form of math or is schizophrenic. No matter. They both have laptops and Starbucks cups, which makes them fully documented citizens in this place. Turns out, it's those same two things, and ONLY those two things, that make me a fully documented citizen here also. Despite this being my first... time.<br />
<br />
So, imagine you're you. You stroll on in to Starbucks, go through the motions. You know 'em: Dart your eyes, assess the line, search for power-outlet-adjacent seating, check if the bathroom is free. You glance past me without missing a beat.<br />
<br />
I'm babbling to myself, coffee stains on my shirt, slamming my keyboard.<br />
<br />
Steer clear, he's one of <i>them</i>.<br />
<br />
If I ask you a question, you'll pretend you're in a stare, in deep concentration, listening to your headphones, something. Anything, so you don't have to acknowledge the lunatic. Cuz that might open a veritable Pandora's box of inappropriate conversation, sexual advances and assumed association with said lunatic by your fellow Wi-Fi zombies.<br />
<br />
But wait, I'm one of <i>you!</i><br />
<br />
Now turn the tables. I look up from my coffee-stained macBook. I say, "Excuse me, I'm supposed to meet a friend at the Starbucks near Robertson. I'm new at this, but by my approximation, there are six of them. Would you say this is accepted as the correct one?"<br />
<br />
You quickly press the button on your EarPod and pretend to be in deep conversation as you stare off into the mass-produced pop-art hanging on the wall.<br />
<br />
Yikes, <i>you're</i> one of <i>them</i>.<br />
<br />
"Who is this lunatic?" I ask myself. As if I didn't just ask a reasonable question pertaining to Wi-Fi zombie culture? This one must be damaged, I think. Or escaped from the laughing academy? Perhaps a trust-fund schizophrenic with that coffee-stained shirt and fancy iPhone 5?<br />
<br />
I've read about this.<br />
<br />
One has been living in the alley for years. He screams, "fuck" all night until he can't any more, but he only smokes Nat Shermans. He'll fight you if you offer him anything but.<br />
<br />
He's one of us, too. Deal with it.<br />
<br />
And that's where it gets really confusing. Look at you, you smug upstanding member of society with your good Wi-Fi zombie manners, macBook and debit card. The screamer enters on rollerskates and mutters, "cunt" under his breath with impressive restraint.<br />
<br />
You shake your head in disgust as he moves toward the cashier with his Platinum American Express card. There goes the neighborhood, you say. His patronage isn't welcome here. Where's <i>his </i>macBook? He doesn't even have a cup!<br />
<br />
He buys sixteen danishes and a blueberry scone on his AMEX. He stuffs the scone in his bicycle shorts, call the trashcan a "Hajji" and leaves.<br />
<br />
"Can you believe this guy?" you say, as you get up to ask the barista to refill your ice water.<br />
<br />
I quickly look away, careful not to make eye contact.<br />
<br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://viralroots.blogspot.com">Viralroots</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231348087315392369.post-65207808368143720522012-06-21T19:21:00.002-07:002012-06-21T19:21:56.553-07:00Why Reddit is Irrelevant: Aggregators vs. Good ol' Fashion BBSs<center><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/l93wAqnPQwk" width="480"></iframe></center><div>
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Marlowe here. You're probably wondering why I'm updating a blog I haven't touched since the presidential election. Easy answer is, we proved our thesis and I didn't have another one. Then this video emerged and it gave me something to talk about.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Tuesday night I could not sleep. I found my way to 4chan, onto a channel which may not be discussed by name when not on said channel. It's against the rules. What can I say, kids are silly. Anyway, the thread that was blowing up (or, a shitstorm, as they say) was about a video discovered on Facebook of some absolutely evil children making their bus monitor cry by insulting her.<br />
<br />
By the time I got to the thread, contributors had already determined not only that the victim is the lovely Karen Klein, but they had figured out the names, addresses, phone numbers and even credit card numbers of all the culpable kids and their proud parents. They also had the contact information for all relevant law enforcement, school and district employees. A letter writing campaign to the principal was in full force. Templates were being tweaked and shared. Emails being sent to the media, local and national. Endless pizza deliveries, magazine subscriptions and box bombs were being sent to the homes of the perps. The full on campaign was being waged through multiple threads, IRC channels and pastebin dumps. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Interest piqued, I began to do some digging on my own. And save for the video uploaded to you youtube, I found absolutely nothing. No one tweeting about it. Nothing on local news sites. Nothing on blogs. Nothing on Reddit. Nothing. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Once again, 4chan succeeded at something very special that only can happen on 4chan. They scooped the planet on the type of news story, ELDERLY LADY BULLIED ON SCHOOL BUS BY STUDENTS, that news magazine anchors could only pray for before going to sleep at night. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Cut to the next morning. The story finally broke by what seems to be 9:00AM EST. Picked up on Reddit, local news outfits, youtube trolls copying the video and reuploading it to attract hits, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/20/greece-school-district-bullied-footage-causes-outrage_n_1612925.html">The Huffington Post</a>, even a <a href="http://www.indiegogo.com/loveforkarenhklein">crowdfunding campaign</a> to get Karen a dream vacation. (At nearly $400,000 on day two, it seems she might be retiring.) </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
What was absent from all this eight-hours-too-late breaking news, you ask?
Any reference to 4chan. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It is the above events that has pulled me back to Viralroots after a three year abandonment. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
This is the story that will define my new thesis. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It is the story of an absolutely tremendous, diverse and misunderstood community that not only constantly scoops global news, mass movements and mainstream memes, it creates them. And what's its big secret? The contributors don't even care. For several reasons, this community is, by definition, so realtime, it just can't help but succeed better and faster than anything else. I attribute this success to one key thing: Action versus feedback.<br />
<br />
Bulletin Board Systems such as 4chan's imageboard require interaction and contribution to keep ideas alive. In other words, creating things worth writing about is not just a plus in this community, it is a requirement. Action is what keeps any given post alive, giving it a chance to go viral.<br />
<br />
On Reddit, Facebook and Digg, all that's required is to "like" or "thumbs up" something for it to earn extended reach. The problem with this is, you can "like" something a billion times, but in the end, you haven't actually created anything. It's a passive, observer culture that can just as easily be exploited by self-promoters as it can be by legitimately organic movements. There is no collaboration or innovation. It is just a remarkably lazy way of consuming traditional media that has been pre-filtered by your peers.<br />
<br />
4chan is different. In any given topic channel, there are 15 pages to hold threads. Each new thread bumps the very last thread into oblivion. The last thread "404s," it ceases to exist. Each time someone contributes to a thread, it bumps it up back to the top. Spam fails within minutes. Self promotion fails within minutes. Poorly veiled appeals for others to contribute content fail within minutes. Attempts to steal content from Reddit or 9gag is briefly shot down as being outdated, always with racial and homophobic name-calling, and then it fails. The only thing that lasts is action. What ultimately results from a successful thread is a nearly endless feedback loop of individuals around the globe latching onto ideas and not just liking them, but loving them enough to be invested, to take action and to report back on that action.<br />
<br />
It is this <i>collaborative</i> <i>doing, </i>as opposed to <i>passive liking,</i> that resulted in the action that set off the shitstorm that is dictating the fate of Karen Klein and the fate of those pissant kids. When all is said and done, it looks like Ms. Klein is going on the vacation of a lifetime, and those kids are going on a vacation to juvy.<br />
<br />
And credit will never go where credit is due. By the time the story breaks in the mainstream news cycle, that collaborative thread that got it all done in the middle of the night, has 404'd by the next morning. Gone like it never even existed. It's ancient history on 4chan, any rehashings inevitably met with racist & homophobic insults, because the anonymous community of 4chan is already on to the next one.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://viralroots.blogspot.com">Viralroots</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231348087315392369.post-43115892484301804562010-11-18T10:59:00.000-08:002010-11-18T11:02:56.612-08:00Viral Video: Four Loko is Roofies in a can!<center><object width="512" height="328" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" id="ordie_player_ffad1b2b77"><param name="movie" value="http://player.ordienetworks.com/flash/fodplayer.swf" /><param name="flashvars" value="key=ffad1b2b77" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed width="512" height="328" flashvars="key=ffad1b2b77" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" quality="high" src="http://player.ordienetworks.com/flash/fodplayer.swf" name="ordie_player_ffad1b2b77" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object><div style="text-align:left;font-size:x-small;margin-top:0;width:512px;"><a href="http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/ffad1b2b77/four-loko-it-s-roofies-in-a-can" title="from ebsquared1710, CharlieScully, and EddBenda">Four Loko: It's Roofies in a Can!</a> - watch more <a href="http://www.funnyordie.com/" title="on Funny or Die">funny videos</a></div></center><br />To recap, the ingredients for a viral video avalanche: 1 part socially relevant, 1 part short, 1 part funny, 1 part sexy. 100% awesome! <br />As you might have read, the FDA has just coerced Four Loko to remove that caffeine from their alcoholic energy drinks, or caffeinated alcohol drinks, or legal user friendly roofies, or whatever its called.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://viralroots.blogspot.com">Viralroots</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231348087315392369.post-8231363153023745402009-09-22T11:34:00.000-07:002013-03-22T11:18:51.187-07:00Will Ferrell and Jon Hamm's PSA for Healthcare<div style="text-align: center;">
<object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" height="328" id="ordie_player_041b5acaf5" width="512"><param name="movie" value="http://player.ordienetworks.com/flash/fodplayer.swf" /><param name="flashvars" value="key=041b5acaf5" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param>
<embed width="512" height="328" flashvars="key=041b5acaf5" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" quality="high" src="http://player.ordienetworks.com/flash/fodplayer.swf" name="ordie_player_041b5acaf5" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></div>
<div style="font-size: x-small; margin-top: 0; text-align: left; width: 512px;">
<a href="http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/041b5acaf5/protect-insurance-companies-psa" title="from FOD Team, Will Ferrell, Jon Hamm, Olivia Wilde, Thomas Lennon, Donald Faison, Linda Cardellini, Masi Oka, Ben Garant, Jordana Spiro, lauren, Drew, and chad_carter">Protect Insurance Companies PSA</a> from <a href="http://www.funnyordie.com/will_ferrell">Will Ferrell</a></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://viralroots.blogspot.com">Viralroots</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231348087315392369.post-10948093691631727622008-11-04T19:19:00.001-08:002008-11-04T19:22:44.682-08:00CNN Hologram Almost Star Wars CoolHelp me, Wolf Blitzer, you're my only hope!<br /><br /><center><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/thOxW19vsTg&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/thOxW19vsTg&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></center><br />Who knows how long this video will be up for, but it's sorta sweet. CNN has unveiled this hologram technology that projects 3D renderings of remote correspondents into the studio. It's like, the future, or something.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://viralroots.blogspot.com">Viralroots</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231348087315392369.post-33610168144439302362008-11-04T15:40:00.000-08:002008-11-04T15:44:39.939-08:00Black Panthers Guard Polling Place<center><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/neGbKHyGuHU&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/neGbKHyGuHU&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></center><br />Ahh, it's just like election day in Sierra Leone. Good times.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://viralroots.blogspot.com">Viralroots</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231348087315392369.post-29868864770246891822008-11-03T22:29:00.000-08:002008-11-03T22:49:21.407-08:00Find Your Polling Place With Google MapsIt's election day. Do you know where your polling place is? Let <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/mpl?moduleurl=http://maps.google.com/mapfiles/mapplets/elections/2008/us-voter-info/us-voter-info.xml">Google</a> tell you with this handy little maplet. <br /><br />CNN will be live for the next twenty plus hours. It's like Gulf War 1 all over again. <br /><br />We're taking a survey. What do you think we should do with this blog after the election is over? <br /><br />We've made it pretty clear that we don't particularly like either candidate. But we do like gambling. And <a href="http://www.intrade.com/?request_operation=main&request_type=action&checkHomePage=true">intrade.com</a> says that the money is on Barack Obama. Money talks, and the money is giving Obama 347 electoral votes and McCain 191 electoral votes.<br /><br />I'm watching CNN right now. Was that Dave Chappelle on stage with Joe biden? It sorta looked like him.<br /><br />If you vote in California and you like other people telling you how to vote, here's he official Viralroots Voting Guide:<br /><br />STATE MEASURES<br />1A. No<br />2. Yes<br />3. No<br />4. No<br />5. No<br />6. No<br />7. No<br />8. No<br />9. No<br />10. No<br />11. Yes<br />12. No<br /><br />May the best man win. And if he doesn't, please, try not to resort to violence. <br /><br />This is Philip Marlowe, signing off.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://viralroots.blogspot.com">Viralroots</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231348087315392369.post-70148342916661998562008-10-23T20:41:00.001-07:002008-10-23T20:44:53.682-07:00Viral Video Of The WeekSorry for not posting in a while, but I've basically spent the past two weeks searching endlessly for this video. It's so sad, yet I can't stop watching. Skip to about 2:30 in to see this poor girl take the fall of a lifetime. Oy.<br /><center><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/8430IMQI4zU&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/8430IMQI4zU&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></center><div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://viralroots.blogspot.com">Viralroots</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231348087315392369.post-90492025772953488592008-10-06T19:59:00.000-07:002008-10-06T20:06:04.872-07:00At Least We Have Sarah PalinAnother day, another 360 points down the poop shoot. At least there's Tina Fey and her impression of that Ice Road gremlin to keep up smiling. PS, I just heard a guy on CNN say, not playing the stock market is pretty sound advice.<br /><center><object width="425" height="250"><param name="movie" value="http://www.hulu.com/embed/oRZOSPVCsFMTZ9Df3Y5LfQ"></param><embed src="http://www.hulu.com/embed/oRZOSPVCsFMTZ9Df3Y5LfQ" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="250"></embed></object></center><div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://viralroots.blogspot.com">Viralroots</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231348087315392369.post-88210282109280750552008-10-03T19:26:00.000-07:002008-10-03T20:26:23.986-07:00Viral Video Of The Week<center><object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1aBaX9GPSaQ"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/1aBaX9GPSaQ" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object></center><br />Duh, Homer Simpson Tries To Vote For Obama.<br /><br />Below is a rant. And not even a good one. So if that doesn't float your boat, just watch the Simpsons video and move on.<br /><br />I've been an absent leader this week. I just recently discovered that I have a day job. So I'm gonna make up for it by just saying a bunch of random shit right now.<br /><br />Firstly, everyone is insane. <br /><br />I love that Sarah Palin won last night's debate simply because she survived. I'm sick and tired of feminists bitching about glass ceilings, but god forbid Joe Biden raise his voice to a girl. <br /><br />Anyone who can even pretend that Palin is ready for DC or adds something to the ticket is entirely delusional. It's not even a discussion. It's simple physics. There's not an industry in the world that would hire someone this unprepared to be their CEO's backup. Arguing otherwise is like saying you can flap your arms and fly to the moon.<br /><br />By the way, if I ever found myself having a conversation with someone that speaks and gestures and behaves the way she does, I'd probably blow my brains out. Could you imagine asking someone questions that consistently either answers different questions or doesn't answer at all? If she's VP, there might be heads of state slitting their wrists in meetings.<br /><br />Maybe I'm an asshole because I'm from a big city, but it seriously blows my mind that anyone of this personality type can tie their shoes, yet alone make it into the public spotlight. I've only seen people like this in the movie FARGO and on the show Ice Road Truckers. God help these people. <br /><br />I could just keep on posting links to the Katie Couric interview etc, but PETA says I can no longer beat dead horses. <br /><br />Senator McCain: Congratulations, you blew it. And I wait with baited breath for you to "make famous" those responsible for the billions of dollars in pork attached to this bailout bill that you voted for. At least you were neither "absent" nor "present" this time. <br /><br />I could go into our downward spiral towards socialism and rip into Obama and talk about how Schwarzenegger threw us Californians under the bus, but this has been exhausting. I'll save all that for another time.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://viralroots.blogspot.com">Viralroots</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231348087315392369.post-43457385392675999722008-09-29T12:36:00.000-07:002008-09-29T13:13:06.437-07:00BANKING HOLIDAY<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RMUSNDDGJV0/SOEvC2GiyvI/AAAAAAAAA9E/Ty99wP7k3o4/s1600-h/bank-run.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RMUSNDDGJV0/SOEvC2GiyvI/AAAAAAAAA9E/Ty99wP7k3o4/s400/bank-run.gif" alt="Bank Run" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5251530366419913458" border="0" /></a>I should probably be busy in the lab writing amazingly witty blog posts and honing my comic stylings, but I opted for jumping out my second story window instead. In retrospect, it was probably a bad idea. When I decided to jump, the DOW was down 700 points. But as I lay in the bushes, I can hear the radio from upstairs and it seems the DOW has recovered and is only down 563 points now. Drat. I always jump the gun. In the meantime watch this "shocking video unearthed" of Democrats being dumb and inter-titles made by a ten-year-old. Okay nevermind down 748. And they keep blaming the Jews!<br /><center><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_MGT_cSi7Rs&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_MGT_cSi7Rs&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></center><div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://viralroots.blogspot.com">Viralroots</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231348087315392369.post-7312977791209877542008-09-26T18:48:00.000-07:002008-09-26T18:55:05.100-07:00Sarah Palin Swimsuit Beauty Pageant Video<center><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/rSdFIDygFwM&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/rSdFIDygFwM&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></center><br />CORRECTION<br /><br />Ignore the below Viral Video Of The Week. It's crude and I apologize. My Bubbie already called and said she fell out of her chair when she saw it. Shame on me. Rather, enjoy the sensual curves of Sarah Palin in a one-piece sweatin it to the 80s. And when I say sensual curves, I mean dumpy ass. What's next? John McCain hosting a 1992 wet t-shirt competition in Ft. Lauderdale? No wonder my people love him down there.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://viralroots.blogspot.com">Viralroots</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231348087315392369.post-78459742408235858402008-09-26T10:21:00.000-07:002008-09-26T10:29:18.250-07:00Viral Video Of The WeekFor the record, I just wanna say that I'm by no means proud of posting this video. That is all. <br /><center><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/pHk2HSzXry0&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/pHk2HSzXry0&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></center><div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://viralroots.blogspot.com">Viralroots</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231348087315392369.post-45364667466136505342008-09-24T11:32:00.000-07:002008-09-24T12:05:27.937-07:00Top 5 Hurricane Ike ClipsThere's sorta nothing funnier than reporters facing certain death in the name of responsible journalism. Here are some of the highlights from hurricane Ike live coverage. <br /><br />1. Geraldo Rivera takes a nasty fall into raw sewage. He even says he's "gonna be the star of YouTube now."<br /><center><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/HW0M-DvkEn8&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/HW0M-DvkEn8&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></center><br /><br />2. Weather Channel reporter blown away by huge gust, keeps reporting.<br /><center><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Nx7-8Rv62LU&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Nx7-8Rv62LU&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></center><br /><br />3. Drunken Dancing Chicken Wastes Anderson Cooper's Flavor.<br /><center><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/OApb1VtqNAQ&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/OApb1VtqNAQ&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></center><br /><br />4. Reporter broadcasts from inside giant swells.<br /><center><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/SYl9mgFhe2o&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/SYl9mgFhe2o&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></center><br /><br />5. (Not hurricane Ike but too funny to not post) Female Weather Channel reporter gets blown into a truck screaming.<br /><center><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Q2uBTQdTFRg&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Q2uBTQdTFRg&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></center><div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://viralroots.blogspot.com">Viralroots</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231348087315392369.post-53900002688429016492008-09-22T10:30:00.000-07:002008-09-22T10:31:15.543-07:00Happy Monday!<center><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/lVMy0PFr8no&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lVMy0PFr8no&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></center><div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://viralroots.blogspot.com">Viralroots</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231348087315392369.post-76447597427727988622008-09-19T12:17:00.000-07:002008-09-19T12:25:46.732-07:00Viral Video Of The Week<center><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/muLIPWjks_M&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/muLIPWjks_M&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></center><br />Here at viralroots.com, our top secret proprietary algorithm crunches away 24/7 so that on a fairly regular basis, we can bring you the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Viral Video Of The Week</span>. And the algorithm is never wrong. Sometimes it feels wrong when the the Viral Video Of The Week happens to be Ninja Cat, but I assure you, it's not. Don't blame the algorithm. Blame the tubes. Kisses. Marlowe.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://viralroots.blogspot.com">Viralroots</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231348087315392369.post-20401948038913628342008-09-17T16:48:00.000-07:002008-10-03T22:55:06.578-07:00Hilarious Anti Sarah Palin T-Shirt<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://actorsandactivists.blogspot.com/2008/09/sarah-palin-juno-parody-t-shirt.html"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RMUSNDDGJV0/SNGXoXXG0CI/AAAAAAAAA8M/mhlma7AFnnc/s400/Sarah-palin-Juno-t-shirt.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5247141760584831010" /></a><br />I know our readers aren't exactly the sharpest in the tubes. In fact, when I was showed this I was told it was pro Palin. Well, clearly it's not. You see, once upon a time, a movie came out called JUNO. And JUNO was about a teenage girl having an unplanned pregnancy. She chose to keep the baby. And then, a gal no one heard of named Sarah Palin won the Republican vice presidential nomination. And it just so happens that she has a pregnant teenage daughter. Just like Juno. Hence the T-Shirt. Get it? [<a href="http://actorsandactivists.blogspot.com/2008/09/sarah-palin-juno-parody-t-shirt.html">Anti Sarah Palin T-Shirt</a>]<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.qksrv.net/click-3141775-10463747?XID=8678263&SID=&URL=http://t-shirts.cafepress.com/anti-palin">MORE ANTI SARAH PALIN T-SHIRTS</a></span><BR><div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr /> <a href="http://viralroots.blogspot.com">Viralroots</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0