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Showing posts from August, 2009

A Brief Remembrance of Ted Kennedy

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Back in '91 or '92, when I was in Boston for Reuters , I got to participate in an annual event that was legendary among journalists in the area: The Kennedys threw open up their Hyannisport compound to reporters and their families for a summer day of eating, playing and casual schmoozing. And when I say "threw open," I do not exaggerate: We had the run of the place. When Ethel Kennedy's front door is ajar and you wander in and she looks up from her paper to tell you a story or two about Bobby and point out John's favorite chair in her house, well, that says something about the manner of this remarkably gifted political family. It was like a company picnic and the entire management team was there to make us feel like family. We were greeted with a receiving line, with every hand shaken by every single Kennedy, even those whose ages were in the single digits, because it's never too early to learn about the family business. There was no pressure or spin but t

Social Media Restrictions at Sporting Events?

An 'Instant Panel' discussion on CNBC's Power Lunch about recent attempts to restrict what fans can do with the pictures and videos they take at sporting events, by event organizers. Good luck with that, guys.

Social Media Account Security on NBC Nightly News

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News , World News , and News about the Economy A hit on the NBC Nightly News, pegged to an uptick in attacks on social media sites.

Big Game Hacking on CNBC

I was the convenient time-zone mouthpiece, but the work on this story has been done the inestimable Kim Zetter on wired.com's Threat Level blog . So, guys, hope you liked it. Please don't drain my bank account.

August 17, 2000: Internet Crosses 50-Yard Line in U.S.

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2000: Half of United States households have internet access, according to Nielsen/NetRatings. Nielsen is best known for measuring the popularity of a certain other mass medium that went viral a half-century earlier. How fitting that this paradigm shift came with fin-de-siècle serendipity to a millennium that had already witnessed staggering technological advancement. Not since television transformed the world in the early 1950s had anything entered the collective consciousness as quickly or pervasively as the internet, which began its life 40 years earlier as " Arpanet ," a relatively humble military experiment. (In Wired.com style, BTW, "internet" — even "the internet" — is lower case.) Like television, experiencing the internet initially required the procurement of expensive, finicky equipment. And as in TV's earliest days there wasn't much to see. One internet service provider (ISP) even playfully reminded us of the limits of the net in a TV a

Text Etiquette On Today — Or, How I Survived 5 Minutes Without My iPhone

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News , World News , and News about the Economy I've become quite the mouthpiece on digital etiquette lately — specifically the rights and wrongs of messaging when you are with people. It's all tied to Wired magazine's August issue dedicated to the subject, and I am standing in for Brad Pitt , as usual. In a recent appearance on CNBC's Power Lunch I argued that there was no sensible rationale for regulating texting from the boardroom. Not too much controversy there. But an impending hit on the Today show about texting from every place other than the boardroom spurred a good-natured mini intervention at home, where I was reminded that I'm addicted to love for my iPhone. Yes, my name is John A., and I use my iPhone all the time. And, I am not alone, I do not think: With every new mobile means of communication comes a new opportunity to shut out people in the world that's right around us and engage in some sort of conversation with ot

Ode to Noodle Soup

For sniffles and snuffles Here's the straight poop There's no better tonic Than hot noodle soup Try apples, you’re thinking Or nice canteloop No no, that won’t do it Just hot noodle soup I know you’d like liquor Imbibed on the stoop But don’t let that blind you To hot noodle soup The brain cells are mushy You might have the croup No matter. There’s nothing Like hot noodle soup Away, I could sail now Aboard my own sloop If only my first mate Was hot noodle soup This isn’t their problem That helpful friend group But blessed are they who Bring hot noodle soup I’d like to perk up now I do hate to droop I know! I will find me Some hot noodle soup! The dreams are subsiding Now there’s a big whoop The rantings are waning Thank you, noodle soup

Twitter TMI

Embedded video from CNN Video A brief appearance on a CNN piece about Tweeting TMI. Don't blink!

Contessa Brewer: All is Forgiven

It took a year, very nearly the end of the world as we know it, and perhaps pity for some sincere remorse . But if every dog has his day mine came Thursday as I finally got face time with Contessa Brewer. She would certainly have no idea of my embarrassment for having failed to recognize her in our first interview in the same studio back in September 2008 — a faux pas she handled with grace and self-deprecating humor. This time we were soul mates, mourning even a brief interuptus with Twitter, the emotional impact of which we each implicitly understood. Ms. Brewer is an avid Tweeter as @contessabrewer , which she casually mentioned. When I told her that I followed her, she offered to reciprocate, and I am sure I blushed. On air, it was more of the same. Near the end of the interview, when I allowed as I had "misted" when Twitter failed this morning, she offered me a tissue and laughed when I told her friends had immediately e-mailed me to ask how I would be spending my &qu