NerdBoyTV "Hot Off The Press" – Animated iPad Book, Netflix, MySpace

NOTE: Here's some tech-related stories we thought you might be interested in. Enjoy.

By John Pavlus, FastCompany.com

E-books are already a fraught subject for many readers, writers, publishers and designers, but children's e-books are even more so. Is it rotting their minds? Is it as good as good ol' paper? Is it too interactive for their own good? Obviously there are no practical answers to such questions, but at least one children's e-book/app/thingie (what do we call these things, again?) is doing it very, very right. It's called "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore," and it's like a well-written bedtime story and an immersive animated movie at once -- without being "too much" of either.



READ article on FastCompany.com.

By Tecca | Today in Tech

Apparently all good things, or at least all good prices, must come to an end. Gone are the days of getting both unlimited DVDs and unlimited streaming video from Netflix for one low price; the company has just announced a new pricing scheme that separates DVDs from streaming video, and charges full price for both. Subscribers can now choose unlimited streaming video for $7.99 a month, or unlimited DVDs (one at a time) also for $7.99 a month. If you want both, you'll have to pay $15.98 each month for the privilege.

READ article on Yahoo! News.

by Stan Schroeder, Mashable.com

MySpace’s new owners, Specific Media, and Justin Timberlake — who has an ownership stake in the company — are considering plans for the site that include a possible talent show.

“Whether it becomes a talent competition or something like that, those are things that we will still flesh out,” said Timberlake’s manager Johnny Wright in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

“We definitely want to bring the industry back to MySpace to really look at the talented people that have put their faces there,” Wright added.

READ article on Mashable.com.

Justin Timberlake Considers Turning MySpace into a Talent Show

by Stan Schroeder, Mashable.com

MySpace’s new owners, Specific Media, and Justin Timberlake — who has an ownership stake in the company — are considering plans for the site that include a possible talent show.

“Whether it becomes a talent competition or something like that, those are things that we will still flesh out,” said Timberlake’s manager Johnny Wright in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

“We definitely want to bring the industry back to MySpace to really look at the talented people that have put their faces there,” Wright added.

Timberlake and the new management have said they plan to steer the site’s focus in the direction of music and entertainment. MySpace may have been bleeding traffic in the last two years, but it’s still a very popular site for bands and musicians, and Specific Media obviously plans to capitalize on this.

READ article on Mashable.com.

NewsCorp Unloads MySpace at Huge Loss

News Corp. has sold struggling social networking site MySpace for $35 million. The deal values MySpace at a fraction of what News Corp. paid for the site six years ago. (June 29)

MySpace users can now sync posts to Facebook

MySpace users can now sync posts to Facebook - Yahoo! News

"MySpace, which recently revamped itself to look more like Facebook, is now allowing users to sync their posts to Facebook, too.

That means people on Facebook can see their friends' MySpace items without leaving Facebook.

MySpace users will also be able to share music, videos, game applications, links and photos across both social networking sites.

The changes announced Monday are part of an overhaul at MySpace, which has faced falling advertising revenue and stagnant user growth.

The News Corp. unit is also in the midst of renegotiating a search partnership as its deal with Google Inc. is nearing a close.

- Sent using Google Toolbar"

President Obama Wants YOU... to Twitter for Him

READ this article on Mashable.com

Think you’re such a social media expert that you could tweet for a living? Well, President Obama is looking for an official social networks manager, and you might be just the tech whiz for the job.

According to President Obama’s website, The Democratic National Committee and Organizing for America is in the market for a new hire. According to the Wall Street Journal, Mia Cambronero, who currently holds the position, said, “[I] will be stepping down from my infamous role as ‘Barack Obama’s twitterer… We’re looking for someone who is available to start immediately.”

And what exactly are they looking for over at the White House? According to the job posting:

“The Social Networks Manager is responsible for maintaining the Democratic Party and Organizing for America accounts on all social networks (such as Facebook (), Twitter () and MySpace () accounts, etc.) The Social Networks Manager works closely with the rest of the New Media department to execute grassroots campaigns to advance the President’s agenda for change.”

Said person must also be willing to work hard — “this isn’t a 9-5 job,” the posting said — and be “passionate about engaging millions of Americans in advancing President Obama’s agenda and changing the country.” Yeah, that’s not daunting at all.

Social Web sites face transparency questions

"Yelp.com prides itself on being a site where people can write reviews about pretty much anything and connect with similarly critical peers. Yet as the site grows, some of the businesses scrutinized on Yelp are turning the tables and griping about the company itself.

The complaints highlight an irony for Web sites that stimulate online communities and let users speak their minds. As the sites make the world more transparent, giving people the power to discuss everything from a great pizza to a bad date, the sites' own transparency is often questionable, as consumers and businesses struggle to understand how they operate."

One-Year-Old Hulu Adds Boxee-like Friends Feature

One-Year-Old Hulu Adds Boxee-like Friends Feature: "Hulu is celebrating its first year and adding new features. The online video service, co-owned by News Corp., NBC Universal, and Providence Equity Partners, went from beta to live a year ago and began offering users access to online videos, television shows, and clips from various content providers.

As part of its milestone celebration, Hulu has added a Friends feature to Hulu.com. The site integrated with e-mail providers, including Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and Hotmail, and social-networking companies Facebook and MySpace to let users invite friends to Hulu.

Similar to the way users on Facebook can keep track of what their friends are doing with status updates, Hulu has added a Tab to the Friends feature allowing users to keep track of what friends are watching, subscribing to, and discussing."

Social networking now bigger than e-mail

Report: Social networking now bigger than e-mail : Ben Patterson : Yahoo! Tech: "That's the word from Nielsen, which reports that the worldwide 'reach' of sites like Facebook and MySpace has now outgrown that of the most popular e-mail services.

According to the Nielsen Company's new report, nearly 67 percent of global Internet users last year went online to use a social networking service of some kind, compared to just 65.1 percent for e-mail. (In case you're wondering, search is still king with a global Net 'reach' of 85.9 percent, followed by 'general interest portals' with 85.2 percent, according to Nielsen.)

Another finding: When you consider global Internet use, about one in every 15 minutes was spent browsing social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace in 2008, the report claims—and apparently, that number is going nowhere but up."