October 2009
16 posts
Navigating the Future: Take Me to Bob →
Google has just announced a free turn-by-turn navigation app for Android 2.0 in the US (Radar post). Google Maps Navigation relies on Google’s own mapping for routing you. As with many…
Oct 30th
D-Day For Facebook App Developers →
Facebook is holding a Developer Garage today at its offices in Palo Alto, and a number of new app policies will be formally announced. Some of the changes, though, are so dramatic that Facebook…
Oct 28th
Google Redefines GPS Navigation Landscape: Google... →
If you weren’t sure about switching to an Android phone in the near future, this might put you over the edge. Google Maps Navigation is an absolutely killer app. And it is only available for…
Oct 28th
Net Neutrality in the Senate
I came across an article on Net Neutrality on the newly redesigned (nice!) CNN.com: “Today I’m pleased to introduce the Internet Freedom Act of 2009 that will keep the Internet free from government control and regulation,” McCain said in a statement. “It will allow for continued innovation that will in turn create more high-paying jobs for the millions of Americans who are...
Oct 28th
The Importance of Discovery
I wrote a post a few months ago in the heat of the Facebook vanity URL debate. In it, I argue that while owning your name space is important, the name itself is negligible - the links between your names are what matter: Your identity online, in your own space, can be Jake Levine, Jakel25, Jakerlevine, levine.jake, or whatever pseudonym you wish to go by. Many will be forced to settle for...
Oct 27th
Oct 25th
Sean Parker’s Rise of Facebook And Twitter, Fall... →
Yesterday at the Web 2.0 Summit, Founder’s Fund managing partner Sean Parker gave a provocative presentation entitled “The New Era Of The Network Service.” In it, he argues that…
Oct 25th
As The NYT Shrinks, The Internet Now Brings Nearly... →
It was another bleak quarter for the New York Times, which keeps on shrinking. The New York Times announced third quarter earnings this morning. Total revenues were down 17 percent to $571…
Oct 23rd
Taking Issue with Sean Parker on Twitter, Facebook...
I came across a recent TechCrunch article titled  ”Sean Parker: Twitter/Facebook Will Soon Dominate The Web - Not Google” summarizing Sean Parker’s (Founders Fund, Facebook co-founder) speech at Web 2.0 summit yesterday. I took issue with two points that he made (as presented in TC): Parker noted that data portability is a red herring. Data portability is easily solved by...
Oct 23rd
Google To Partner With iLike And LaLa For New... →
Google will partner with iLike and LaLa for their new music service, we’ve learned. And the announcement date is Wednesday, October 28, 2009. Press, including us, received an invitation this…
Oct 21st
Twitter Lists: Almost Doesn't Count
Twitter is in the process of rolling out a long-awaited Lists feature. I wrote about the importance of social segmentation a few weeks ago and so it’s great to see that the folks at Twitter are keeping up with blog.jakerlevine.com. If you’re reading this, no thanks necessary - I’m fine with stock. Segmenting the data we consume into ‘buckets’ is a useful feature for...
Oct 21st
Startups 101: The Complete Mint Presentation →
Startup Building 101 – Last night I posted the video of Mint CEO Aaron Patzer’s 45 minute presentation on building startups from the ground up. If you are an aspiring startup…
Oct 8th
The "What Makes NYC's Web Startup Scene Special?"... →
Last tuesday night, I gave a talk at Clickable’s monthly speaker series on “What Makes NYC’s Web Startup Scene Special?” The talk was recorded and the video went up last night. I’ve embedded it…
Oct 6th
Gmail Users Get Real-Time Updates in their Email... →
Recently, some Gmail users spotted a new feature in which small favicons were appearing next to certain email messages in the inbox view. The icons, which only appeared next to commercially…
Oct 6th
The "What Makes NYC's Web Startup Scene Special?"... →
Last tuesday night, I gave a talk at Clickable’s monthly speaker series on “What Makes NYC’s Web Startup Scene Special?” The talk was recorded and the video went up last night. I’ve embedded it…
Oct 6th
Rescuing The Reporters →
Last week I gave a talk on newspapers at the Shorenstein center. (They did an amazing job with the transcript, including annotating the talk with a remarkable amount of linking.) During the…
Oct 3rd