digimills

Following a decision by eBay to permit video listings on its UK site, Vzaar has launched its service that allows users to insert videos into their eBay listings.

A fine idea that should already be in place in the US version. It’s easy to hide things in photos with the right lighting and angles. I just got a painting delivered that was purchased from ebay. It had a sizable scratch. Looking back at the listing it wasn’t in the description (dishonest in it’s own right) and barely there in the photos.

link (via mashable)

What is Walk Score? Walk Score helps people find walkable places to live. Walk Score calculates the walkability of an address by locating nearby stores, restaurants, schools, parks, etc.

And like most new sites, it uses google maps.

My home scored an 88, while my more suburban office scored a 48.

link (via electro^plankton)

YouDeparted lets your loved ones access up to 5GB of electronic files when after you pass.

When you pass away, your Recipients will unlock your account. Once a minimum number (set by you) of Recipients sign in and confirm your death, your account will be unlocked after a time delay (which can be set by you). The information and instructions you saved will be sent to your family and friends.

Unless you plan on dying soon, $9.95 per year seems pricey.

link (via techcrunch)

I can’t decide if this is an overall good or bad thing. Since plenty of college kids get fucked by credit card companies, parents might as well give them some experience before they are out of the house.

The PAYjr Prepaid MasterCard card is a re-loadable prepaid card designed just for teens. This prepaid card gives teens flexibility and spending independence, in addition to teaching them personal financial management. Money earned through the completion of chores, recurring allowances, even gifts can be loaded onto the card electronically. The PAYjr system also provides SMS text messaging or email notifications to keep parents and teens aware of card activity, including balances and loads to the card.

link (via trendhunter)

Emily Gould was on a recent episode of ‘Larry King Live’ to speak about Gawker, the Web site she co-edits. When guest host Jimmy Kimmel went on the attack about the site, she claims she was shocked (how long has she been in the paparazzi business?!). As you can see in the clip she rolls her eyes, however in a very forced manner. Yesterday she wrote an opinion piece in the NY Times. It really doesn’t add much to the original clip. Below are some excerpts:

“It’s hard to believe that Mr. Kimmel, a late-night talk show host who has made on-air inebriation a cornerstone of his public image, was truly upset that people knew he’d gone out drinking. So what was he really angry about?”

For some reason Emily can’t understand why someone would be upset about an untrue story (Kimmel claims), let alone one entitled “When Isn’t Jimmy Kimmel Visibly Intoxicated?” She also can’t distinguish between an on-air persona and real life.

“Gawker Stalker Map, a regular feature that displays brief, user-generated celebrity sightings on a map of Manhattan.”

I can imagine a number of people, crazy and relatively normal, using this map to try to see a celeb.

“Since the sightings aren’t posted in anything like real time, it would be a ludicrously ineffective tool for “real” stalkers.”

I strongly disagree. Many of these posts happen in stores or restaurants that stars may frequent on a daily basis. As admitted in the interview, some sightings are online within minutes-while dinner, a movie or other outing can last hours at one location.

Of course gawker.com can post whatever they please, but they shouldn’t be surprised when lawsuits start rolling in. Hopefully they just stay in the realm of slander…

link (via boingboing)

The idea behind Fixya.com is to get support information on various gadgets into one centralized location. Through users and a rating system, you try to find the best solution for your problem and/or offer a new solution. It should at least work for common gadgets experiencing common problems.

link (via gizmag)

Todd Hollis, of Pittsburgh, filed a lawsuit last June against DontDateHimGirl.com and its creator, Tasha C. Cunningham, 34, of Miami. Hollis claimed Cunningham’s site is liable because it solicits negative comments but does not screen them for truthfulness. Hollis also is suing those who posted comments that questioned his sexuality and claimed he tried to dodge paying child support. A Pennsylvania judge said he had no jurisdiction since the site is based in FL.

An interesting case. I can see suing those who posted the comments, but he’s liking going to get nowhere with the site itself.

Surprisingly I’m still not on this site!

link (via techdirt)

In celebration of Gumby’s Golden Anniversary, all 200+ Gumby episodes will soon be available in full length on YouTube. Here’s episode I: Gumby on the Moon.

link (via techcrunch)

A British motorcyclist posted a youtube video of himself going over 100mph. Police wanted to prosecute, but because they have to give notice of a traffic offense within 14 days and no date or time appeared on the video, the driver won’t be charged.

A man in Norway wasn’t so lucky. And of course be careful when raising hell and taping it in France.

link (via techdirt)

‘You Witness News’ is in beta. The site asks users to upload photos and video to have them considered for use in articles and features on Yahoo! News. I imagine anyone that takes them up on the offer doesn’t know that those images and videos could fetch thousands of dollars elsewhere.

link

Jack Daniels has their standard whiskey which you’ve probably had, their Gentlemen Jack which is a little more mellow and you may have had, and at the top, their Single Barrel whiskey, which you probably haven’t had. Single Barrel bottles are all individually tagged around the neck, describing which barrel they came from.

On the main Jack Daniels’ site you can register any commerative bottles. They need to bring this idea over to their currently horrible Single Barrel site. It would be fantastic if you could read notes from others who have a bottle from the same barrel. Great way to build an online community for any number of wine and spirit brands.

Google Maps now shows real-time traffic information for many cities including Miami.

It works by adding a layer that colors the roads in green, yellow, red, or gray. The colors represent how fast the traffic is moving:
* Green: more than 50 miles per hour
* Yellow: 25 - 50 miles per hour
* Red: less than 25 miles per hour
* Gray: no data available

I’ll put this to the test tonight, hopefully no more being stuck on the palmetto.

link (via praized)

Click here for some photos from last night’s BarCamp Miami. Tim didn’t get a chance to do a Picture Marketing presentation, but maybe next time. And the free food and beer more than made up for that, thanks sponsors! Looking forward to the Refresh Miami meeting in late March.

Today’s cnn.com poll showed 64% of respondents believe “it is possible to become physically addicted to the Internet.” However I’m not so sure it isn’t solely psychological addiction (besides porn sites!). I guess the question was properly posed. Here’s wikipedia’s trying to explain things:

“The obsolete term physical addiction is deprecated, because of its connotations. In modern pain management with opioids physical dependence is nearly universal but addiction is rare.

The medical community now makes a careful theoretical distinction between physical dependence (characterized by symptoms of withdrawal) and psychological dependence (or simply addiction). Addiction is now narrowly defined as “uncontrolled, compulsive use”; if there is no harm being suffered by, or damage done to, the patient or another party, then clinically it may be considered compulsive, but to the definition of some it is not categorized as “addiction”. In practice, the two kinds of addiction are not always easy to distinguish. Addictions often have both physical and psychological components.”

related:
Chat room addict sues IBM over firing

Electroshock therapy for China’s “Internet addicts”

NY Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger isn’t sure. “I really don’t know whether we’ll be printing the Times in five years, and you know what? I don’t care either,” he says. After declining profits and a $570 million loss at the Boston Globe, he is focusing on how to best transition from print to Internet.

Having a paper to feel in your fingers, visually reduce in size as you read each section and bring into the toilet is great, but the pain of delivery, cost, environmental impact and today’s 24 hour news sources should do it in fairly soon. I believe a full printed version will be around 10 more years, likely 20, but in the near future most physical ‘newspapers’ will be a thin flexible lcd screen.

link (via praized)