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Too Few Women In Tech? Stop Blaming The Men.

admin — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 23:08:32 +0000

Success in Silicon Valley, most would agree, is more merit driven than almost any other place in the world. It doesn’t matter how old you are, what sex you are, what politics you support or what color you are. If your idea rocks and you can execute, you can change the world and/or get really, stinking rich. For the most part I’ve sat on the sidelines over the years during the endless debates about how we need to do more to encourage more women to start companies. What I mean by “sat on the sidelines” is this – until today I haven’t really said what I felt. Now I’m going to. Here’s why. Yet another article, this time in the Wall Street Journal, takes a shot at us and others for not doing enough to help women in tech. Says Rachel Sklar, a perennial TechCrunch critic: “Part of changing the ratio is just changing awareness, so that the next time Techcrunch is planning a Techcrunch Disrupt, they won’t be able to not see the overwhelming maleness of it,” said Ms. Sklar, referring to the influential tech conference. Yeah ok, whatever Rachel. Every damn time we have a conference we fret over how we can find women to fill speaking slots. We ask our friends and contacts for suggestions. We beg women to come and speak. Where do we end up? With about 10% of our speakers as women. We won’t put women on stage just because they’re women – that’s not fair to the audience who’ve paid thousands of dollars each to be there. But we do spend an extraordinary amount of time finding those qualified women and asking them to speak. And you know what? A lot of the time they say no. Because they are literally hounded to speak at every single tech event in the world because they are all trying so hard to find qualified women to speak at their conference. What’s The Real Problem? I could, like others (see all the links in that Fred Wilson post too), write pandering but meaningless posts agonizing over the problem and suggesting creative ways that we (men) could do more to help women. I could point out that the CEO of TechCrunch is a woman, as are two of our four senior editors (I’m one of the four). And how we seek out women focused events and startups and cover them to death. But I’m not going to do that. Instead I’m going to tell it like it is. And what it is is this: statistically speaking women have a huge advantage as entrepreneurs, because the press is dying to write about them, and venture capitalists are dying to fund them. Just so no one will point the accusing finger of discrimination at them. That WSJ article also criticizes Y Combinator for having just 14 female founders out of their 208 startups to date. But I know that Y Combinator wants – really, really wants – female founders and that there just aren’t very many of them. I know this because Y Combinator cofounder Jessica Livingston has told me how excited they are to get applications from women, and that they want to do everything they can to get more female applicants. What they probably won’t admit, but I suspect is true anyway, is that the rate of acceptance for female applicants is far higher than for male applicants. The problem isn’t that Silicon Valley is keeping women down, or not doing enough to encourage female entrepreneurs. The opposite is true. No, the problem is that not enough women want to become entrepreneurs. Why? I was asked that question as part of a New York Times interview earlier this year . I dodged it completely, and referred them to Cyan Banister , the founder of Zivity , instead: Q. Do you anticipate that there will be more companies led by women at the TC50 and Disrupt this year? A. Women are really tough. I have no idea why. We invited a team founded by a woman to Disrupt. But they canceled. There just aren’t a lot of female tech entrepreneurs out there relative to the number of men, I think. We celebrate the ones we find whenever we find them. There’s a chance we’ll write about what they’re doing, simply because they’re a fairly rare thing in our world. But it is really hard to find female entrepreneurs in tech, in my experience. I really think this is an industry-wide problem. Q. How do the female tech entrepreneurs and investors in your community feel about this situation? A. There’s a fascinating company, Zivity, it’s a venture-funded, adult photography community — yes, they put up pictures of naked women online — it was co-founded and is run by a woman, Cyan Banister. She wrote me in response to a post about women who are entrepreneurs, saying, basically, though these are not her exact words, women [stink] as entrepreneurs a lot of the time because they are nurturing and not risk-taking enough by nature. She also said when men roll the dice and take risks, that society doesn’t punish them at all, and it’s in their nature to take stupid risks. I didn’t respond to that. I didn’t want to jump into that debate. And I guess I still don’t. Is Cyan right? I don’t know, I’m from Mars, not Venus and I cannot speak intelligently about the nurturing and risk tolerance needs of women. But I will say this. The next time you women want to start pointing the finger at me when discussing the problem of too few women in tech, just stop. Look in the mirror. And realize this – there are women like Sklar who complain about how there are too few women in tech, and then there are women just who go out and start companies (like this one ). Let’s have less of the former and more of the latter, please. And when you do start your company, we’ll cover it. Promise.

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Too Few Women In Tech? Stop Blaming The Men.

Older Adults Nearly Double Social Media Presence [STATS]

admin — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 21:33:15 +0000

A new study from Pew Internet found that between April 2009 and May 2010, social networking site usage grew 88% among Internet users aged 55-64, and the 65 and older group’s social networking presence grew 100% in the same time frame. Young people still dominate social networks like Facebook , but their usage only grew 13% during the year covered by Pew’s report . Older adults are catching up at an incredibly quick pace, though it remains to be seen whether they will pass the youth or hit a ceiling at or below the usage levels reported by young adults and teens. Older adults who use services like Twitter or Facebook are still in the minority amidst their peers. Pew reported about 10 months ago that 19% of all Internet users use status updates, but only one in ten Internet users aged 50 and older used status updates or read ones written by others. That’s a lot more than there used to be, but it’s still a small group — especially when you consider the fact that Pew’s numbers only cover people who are on the Internet at all. Many people in that age group aren’t going online to begin with. According to report author Mary Madden, e-mail still dominates interpersonal communication for the 50 and older set. Image courtesy of iStockphoto , monkeybusinessimages Reviews: Facebook , Internet , Twitter , iStockphoto More About: adults , demographics , Pew , Pew Internet , research , senior citizens , social media , stats For more Social Media coverage: Follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Social Media channel Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

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Older Adults Nearly Double Social Media Presence [STATS]

Foursquare Takes Over Times Square With A Massive Display Ad

admin — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 20:48:03 +0000

In terms of brand recognition, it’s hard to top a huge live display billboard in Las Vegas . But Foursquare has managed to do it. As you can see above, they now have a massive, multi-level and multi-angle display practically screaming about the service to all those in Times Square in New York City. “ Check in, find your friends, unlock your city ,” the ad reads. In smaller print at the bottom it talks about checking in to American Eagle for some kind of special. Foursquare head of business development Tristan Walker confirms that American Eagle is behind the ad, which he says is the “ largest digital billboard in Times Square .” American Eagle or not, this is clearly a huge ad (and a huge win) for Foursquare itself. Walker thanks Foursquare’s designer Mari Sheibley for designing the thing. And hints that a version 2 is coming. The phrase “you can’t buy this kind of publicity” comes to mind — probably because Foursquare, while well-funded , undoubtedly couldn’t buy this type of ad. (American Eagle owns the billboard, Walker tells us.) And yet there it is. This also managed to one-up the big branding rival Gowalla got in New York City earlier this year when they were a part of a massive billboard that loomed large over Madison Square Garden. This Times Square billboard is just about the opposite of a check in off the grid for the service. [photo via WillMcD on Flickr and Twitter ] CrunchBase Information Foursquare Information provided by CrunchBase

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Foursquare Takes Over Times Square With A Massive Display Ad

Foursquare Takes Over Times Square [PIC]

admin — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 20:19:35 +0000

A massive array of shimmering advertisements for Foursquare has been erected in New York City’s Times Square. This picture just appeared on Flickr ; it’s pretty impressive. The ad towers over American Eagle’s Times Square retail store. Foursquare reportedly did not pay for the ad space. Instead, it has some other kind of deal with American Eagle. That means American Eagle is open to multiple location brands even though it’s one of the retailers using Shopkick , a location-based rewards service. It seems like just a short time ago that these location services were only used by a few hardcore web tech geeks. Now they’re so mainstream that they’re taking up a chunk of the New York skyline. Did you see that coming? If so, you’ve been ahead of the curve. Reviews: Foursquare More About: advertising , american eagle , foursquare , location , manhattan , Mobile 2.0 , new york , photo , pic , times square , trending For more Mobile coverage: Follow Mashable Mobile on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Mobile channel Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

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Foursquare Takes Over Times Square [PIC]

Motorola DROID 2 vs Motorola DROID X Comparison Video

admin — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 19:54:38 +0000

Looks like Motorola is back in the smartphone game! Here’s a comparison video by PhoneArena between two of Motorola’s latest devices that have been released by Verizon in the U.S. – Motorola Droid X versus Motorola Droid 2 . Regarding the naming…yes I know it can confusing. Just remember that the “X” is the larger one without keyboard and runs Android 2.1 (in short). Here are the links to each one’s Press Release: Motorola Droid X Press Release Motorola Droid 2 Press Release YouTube – Motorola DROID 2 vs Motorola DROID X . Related Posts: A Comparison of Nexus One vs iPhone, Droid & Palm Pre Motorola’s Smartphones for 2009 Look Real Fine Motorola MOTOZINE ZN5 Motorola Unveils H560 and H620 Bluetooth Headsets Motorola Presents AURA Luxury Phone Tags: Android 2.1 , Android 2.2 , Android Froyo , Droid 2 , Droid Comparison , Droid X , motorola , Motorola Android , Motorola Droid , Motorola Droid 2 , Motorola Droid X , Motorola Smartphones , Verizon

Cheezburger CEO’s Tweet Gets a Response From Reddit’s Co-Founder

admin — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 19:17:49 +0000

Around this time yesterday, Cheezburger Network CEO Ben Huh publicly offered on Twitter to buy Reddit from publishing company Condé Nast . Reddit Co-Founder Alexis Ohanian responded in a blog post this morning suggesting that all the relevant parties get together and talk… over cheeseburgers. Ohanian, who is no longer directly involved in managing Reddit on a daily basis, actually teased in his blog post’s title that he would respond using only LOLcats (for which Huh’s Cheezburger Network is famous), but he didn’t make good on that promise. Instead, he explained how Reddit ’s ads are restricted to preserve a clean user experience, and how that poses “a difficult monetization problem that hasn’t yet been solved.” You might remember that Reddit called on its users to contribute money in exchange for “gold” memberships when the site struggled to meet the revenue goals set by Condé Nast. Huh offered to give Reddit “more resources and less corporate interference” than Condé Nast. As open as Ohanian seemed to Huh’s wooing, he wasn’t optimistic about the possibility of Reddit switching hands. “Team reddit needs help, but I wouldn’t expect anyone to call you, Ben,” he blogged. “In fact, I’d be very surprised if reddit were sold.” Despite his concerns, Ohanian suggested a dialogue between Huh and Reddit’s caretakers: “Considering all that you’ve done with the Cheezburger empire, Ben, I think it’s at least worth dropping a note to Chris Slowe & the team to chat over some… uh… cheeseburgers?” Chances are nothing would come of such a meeting — apparently Huh has already made offers privately with no luck — but Ohanian seems to agree that Reddit isn’t quite at home with Condé Nast. [via The Next Web ] Reviews: reddit.com More About: acquisition , alexis ohanian , Ben Huh , cheezburger network , conde nast , reddit , twitter For more Social Media coverage: Follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Social Media channel Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

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Cheezburger CEO’s Tweet Gets a Response From Reddit’s Co-Founder

HOW TO: Make Free iPhone Ringtones

admin — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 17:27:03 +0000

Ringtones — They are the darlings of the music industry and the bane of anyone subject to hearing a bad one. If you’re sick of your plain old telephone ringer but don’t want to download a canned tone, you don’t need to spend extra money to turn your favorite song into a ringtone for your iPhone . There’s a way to create ringtones in iTunes from your existing music. Once you’ve done it, you’ll be making ringtones faster than you can download them. It is not, however, the most obvious process. Here’s a how-to guide to help you out for both Mac and Windows users. Simply follow the steps outlined here to create your own tones right from your computer. Let us know how you got on — and what songs you ringtoned — in the comments below. Choose Your Song and Edit It The first part of the process is more or less the same for both Mac and Windows users. In iTunes, select the song you want to use, right-click on the track and hit “Get Info.” Select “Options” from the menu along the top, then change the “Stop Time” of the song to 15 seconds (or how long you want it to be — reports vary, but apparently ringtones can’t be longer than 30 seconds). Now, in the “Advanced” iTunes menu, select “Create AAC version.” You will now see a second version of the song. Be sure to go back into the original song’s “Get Info” options and delete your “Stop Time” setting, or else the song won’t play past this point in the future. Converting the File for Mac Users Mac users should right-click on the new, 15-second version and hit “Show in Finder” in order to change the file extension from .m4a to .m4r. This can be done just by clicking on it and overtyping. You also want to make the file name as short as possible too, so rename this in the same way. Now, still in Finder, drag the .m4r file to your desktop and delete the version that is in iTunes. When this is done, you want to import the file back into iTunes. To do this, open the iTunes “File” menu and select “Add to Library,” find the song on your desktop and add it back in. Converting the File for PC Users PC users will do this last part a little differently. Once you’ve got the AAC version of the song, you need to find it on your computer. Unless your default settings have been changed, it’s likely you can find it by clicking through the following folders: My Documents, My Music, iTunes, iTunes Media, Music and then the relevant artist’s folder. You need to change the file extension from .m4a to .m4r by clicking on it and overtyping. If you can’t see the file extension type (just the name) then you need to enable that functionality first. Go to your control panel and click “Folder Options.” Then, untick the option that says “Hide extensions for known file types.” Going back into the iTunes folder and you will now be able to see the extension to change it. Once it’s changed, you need to import the renamed file back into iTunes through the “Add to Library” option in the “File” menu. Getting the File onto Your iPhone Now, both Mac and PC users will see the file under the “Ringtones” category on the left of your iTunes display. To get the ringtone where it needs to be — on your phone — sync your iPhone to iTunes. If this is the first time you’ve added a ringtone in this way, make sure that the “Ringtones” tab is set to sync. To change the ringtone on your iPhone to your chosen song, go to “Settings,” then “Sounds,” then “Ringtone” and you should now have a “Custom” list above the pre-loaded “Standard” list. Just touch the song you want and you can be free of that pre-loaded “Marimba” forever! More iPhone Resources from Mashable: - 10 Useful iPhone Keyboard Shortcuts, Tips and Tricks - 10 Incredible iPhone Portrait Photographs - 10 Incredible iPhone Photographs - 10 Ridiculous iPhone Accessories [PICS] - 5 iPhone Apps to Help You Learn to Dance Reviews: Windows , my music More About: free ringtones , how to , iphone , iphone 4 , itunes , ringtones , trending For more Apple coverage: Follow Mashable Apple on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Apple channel Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

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HOW TO: Make Free iPhone Ringtones

Samsung Epic 4G available on Amazon for $199.99

admin — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 16:54:54 +0000

We’re only a few days away from the launch of the Epic 4G, and for those of you who are interested in buying one, Amazon is offering the phone for $199.99 with a 2 year contract. Buying from Amazon will run you $50 less than the $250 offering from Sprint’s online store, which is a pretty decent chunk of change. Amazon is expecting to ship the device on August 31st, but depending on the demand, some customers may experience a delay in shipping. So, for those of you who are so inclinced, you can head on over to Amazon and save $50 on a shiny new Epic 4G. Visit TalkAndroid for android news , android guides , and much more! Samsung Epic 4G available on Amazon for $199.99

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Samsung Epic 4G available on Amazon for $199.99

Root has been achieved on the Samsung Epic 4G

admin — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 15:54:55 +0000

Yes, you read that title correctly. The team over at SDX-Developers has achieved root on the Samsung Epic 4G , before the phone is even being sold. The process involves first establishing a temporary root, and then pushing a script that sets the root environment every time the phone is powered on. It likely won’t take very long for a script-less version of the process to be released, but for now, those who are planning on buying an Epic 4G have an immediate root option. All the details can be found in the source link below. Visit TalkAndroid for android news , android guides , and much more! Root has been achieved on the Samsung Epic 4G

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Root has been achieved on the Samsung Epic 4G

Check (In) Yo’ Self Before You Wreck Yo’ Self: Why Foursquare Users Check In “Off The Grid”

admin — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 15:38:54 +0000

This is a guest post by Hunter Walk ( @hunterwalk ) who conducted a survey of 500 Foursquare users to better understand their check in behaviors and motivations. His obsession with Foursquare is unrelated to his day job leading the consumer product team at YouTube , although he did at one point hold the Mayorship of their San Bruno headquarters. Have you noticed “Off the Grid” [ OTG ] appearing in your Foursquare feed recently? No, it’s not the latest trendy West Hollywood club or SF food cart. OTG is Foursquare’s “privacy” feature where you check in to a location but don’t disclose it to your friends (while gaining any applicable points, badges, etc). What purpose does it serve to notify your friends that you’re out on the town but to hide the location? And what does it tell us about the future of location-based services & privacy? This was the question I set out to answer by surveying nearly 500 Foursquare users . The answers point to some ways that Foursquare can fend off Facebook Places by being an experience, not just a utility. It’s clear that the check in will be a commodity — there will be any number of services which allow you to push a geotag and location to your social stream of choice. That’s a utility. However, as I wrote earlier this year , Foursquare’s future is tied to its ability to be an experience, providing value on top of the check in. Here’s the data and four things learned: 1) Even Very Public People Have Private Moments [“Did I need to tell everyone I was getting a Brazilian wax job? but I wanted the points!!!”] The single largest reason for OTG was hiding from friends [46%]. People gave a variety of motivations [examples: buying a gift for girlfriend, on a date, avoiding someone in particular, hiding one’s poor eating habits from friends, and seeing a doctor.] Whether protecting their own location, or doing it out of respect for their host [21%], it’s clear that public people have private moments that fully public check in systems can’t fully respect. But why check in if you don’t want people to know where you are? That’s learning #2… 2) Foursquare as “My Local History” Is High Potential (And Underdeveloped) Why check in off the grid? 60% of respondents cited the desire to keep track of where they’ve been for their own future reference. Currently, your Foursquare History is a flat set of your check ins but the user interest here points to the opportunity for a much more robust feature. One just needs to look at visualization tools such as WeePlaces to imagine how much more dynamic your Foursquare history could be presented. Let alone the possibilities of letting users annotate, organize and communicate with previous check in locations. Shouldn’t Foursquare be giving me the ability to create ongoing relationships with the venues I visit? I’ve been acquired as a customer so the ongoing remarketing costs are minimal. This is where I’m most bullish about Foursquare as a business — loyalty programs and offers; customer acquisition and retention instruments. 3) A Leaderboard Could Cost You Your Job [“Interviewing in another city, didn't want current employer to know”] Would you put your job at risk just to earn virtual points? 34% of respondents used OTG to check into a location that could have been considered confidential or sensitive to their job. And people wonder why social engineering works so well as a hacking tactic? A third of OTG check ins are some big honeypot of information about potential partnerships, acquisitions, job interviews and so on. Now THAT could be Foursquare’s killer business model – paid access to view private check ins 4) Don’t Hate the Playa, Hate the Game [“I want to be mayor of my office so I check in off the grid so my rival (competing with me for mayor) won't realize! :)”] Mayor stalking was the surprise motivation for many OTG check ins since they count towards mayorships but don’t display your name associated with the venue. This didn’t come up at all in my pre-survey discussions (I guess my Silicon Valley friends aren’t into mayorships — or were hiding their secrets!) but several respondents gave this as their reason. In fact, 60% of respondents overall noted that the points/mayorships are what motivate them to register OTG as opposed to skipping the check in altogether. Other miscellaneous product thought s: Events : As part of personal history, I would expect Foursquare to support “events” — limited time named instances at a particular venue — so that people can create temporal locations to check into without creating duplicate location entries. Check-out : Only 15% of users report using OTG to signal a “check out” — leaving a venue and not wanting to publish location out of concern friends will arrive to find you departed. There had been some speculation that Foursquare would build a check out feature. I think it’s more likely that Foursquare will auto check you out based on pinging your location in the background, and that this will be an opt-out feature. Suppress Notifications on Duplicate Check Ins : 26% of people utilize OTG for repeat check ins at a location over the course of a few days (such as a hotel). These could easily be public but collapsed into a single line. Or subsequent check ins might be public, but not published as alerts. What does this mean for Foursquare vs Facebook Places? Foursquare has a window of opportunity to build an experience on top of geolocation. The game mechanics are unlikely to be pursued by Facebook who have already allowed social gaming to be a third party business on their platform. The ability to have a personal location diary combining public and private check ins is also unlikely to be duplicated by Facebook given Mark Zuckerberg’s declarations about the importance of public sharing. They likely both have designs on loyalty programs and offers but Foursquare has the pure play focus. It’s definitely going to be a feature dogfight in the nearterm as Foursquare makes their bets and decides what, if any, relationship they should have with Places. I expect many geo services to leverage the Places API for pushing check ins to Facebook (as SCVNGR just announced ). One could certainly imagine a future where Foursquare places value on building an experience on top of the check in but cares less about owning the social graph (or even places directory) outright, deciding instead to focus on game mechanics, reviews/recommended places, and merchant offers/loyalty programs. I bet this is a hotly debated topic amongst CEO Dennis Crowley & team who last said they were still deciding how to work with Places. Below, find the survey results. Survey : Why did you decide to hide your location from your friends? [respondents could select more than one answer] Survey : Given that the location was kept secret, why did you check-in at all? [respondents could select more than one answer] CrunchBase Information Foursquare Facebook Information provided by CrunchBase

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Check (In) Yo’ Self Before You Wreck Yo’ Self: Why Foursquare Users Check In “Off The Grid”