We’ve all heard about the troubles in our public schools and maybe even know a few parents brave enough to homeschool their kids. But what are the effects of doing so?
Is it only for the wealthy or those with teaching experience, and does it make your kids weird?
A new infograph from college@home answers these questions, starting with GPA:
Just a few years ago Hulu, the online television site, was something of a novelty. A lot of people knew about it and watched it, but it was just another website. That all changes this week as Hulu participates in “upfronts”.
Hulu is in this position because of some staggering numbers:
This all adds up to a gamechanger for the industry. The studio heads who originally created Hulu want to kill it, or at least sell it. They know that it’s taking away viewers from traditional television and offering better advertising:
“On a one-to-one basis, advertising placed on Hulu for our clients was more effective than advertising placed on television for the same programming,” said Steven J. Farella, chief executive at TargetCast TCM.
Additionally, Hulu collects vastly more data on viewers and can offer ads specifically targeted to them.
“Stoking envy among traditional television executives, the Web site collects a trove of data on its users’ preferences in programming and ads.”
At this point, it’s too late for the studios sell or kill it, though they did try all last year. Instead, they are inviting it to the table to see if it can compete on its own. Which means participating in the full cycle of television from pilot episodes, to full series, and selling all that to advertisers.
The most critical point being the “upfronts”:
At a presentation on Thursday in New York, Hulu, will pitch advertisers on original programming in an annual ritual known as upfronts that are typically reserved for cable channels and network broadcasters.
Hulu executives are expected to take the stage to sell advertisers on new series. The executives will also promote the service’s desirable demographic of young viewers who turn to Hulu for popular network sitcoms like “New Girl” and “Family Guy,” available only after they are broadcast on Fox.
So, like Netflix, Hulu is making a push into original series. It has also licensed 13 television shows that will appear exclusively online.
Traditional television is still the dominant game in town, but Hulu and Netflix are at the table now, and they have the internet on their side. With offerings like on-demand, full series at once, mobility, fewer commercials, and lower prices, you can expect all of this to quickly change the balance of power.
read more about upfronts at the NY Times
The United Nations has gone mobile…in a big way. In just a few clicks I found more than 10 iPhone apps covering everything from news to statistics to global photos.
Plus, a very cool short video about the apps from Jess3:
I’ve just downloaded all these apps and haven’t yet played with them, so no recommendations yet. Let me know if you have any suggestions or tips:
The app makes it easy to get involved and includes some innovative (and fun) ways to learn about the work of the United Nations. An interactive photo-scramble game, “Pieces of Peace,” gives users the ability to have fun while they learn by unscrambling photos taken around the world that are related to the work of the UN. The game includes ways for users to learn as they play, helping build awareness and knowledge about international issues. Integrated social media options also allow users to organically share this content with friends, brag about their photo-unscrambling prowess, and encourage them to get involved.
Continue reading “United Nations has gone mobile – so many apps for world peace and development”
Sunscreens prevent sunburns, but beyond that simple fact surprisingly little is known about the safety and efficacy of these ubiquitous creams and sprays.
FDA’s failure to finalize its 1978 sunscreen safety standards both epitomizes and perpetuates this state of confusion. EWG’s review of the latest research unearthed troubling facts that might tempt you to give up on sunscreens altogether.
That’s not the right answer – despite the unknowns about their efficacy, public health agencies still recommend using sunscreens, just not as your first line of defense against the sun.
Here are the surprising facts:
– No consensus on whether sunscreens prevent skin cancer.
– Some evidence that sunscreens might increase the risk of the deadliest form of skin cancer for some people.
– The common sunscreen ingredient vitamin A may speed the development of cancer.
– Free radicals and other skin-damaging byproducts of sunscreen.
– Pick your sunscreen: nanomaterials or potential hormone disruptors.
– Europe’s better sunscreens.
– The 34th summer in a row without final U.S. sunscreen safety regulations.
keep reading – each fact has an explanation at EWG
// Thx to Swiss Miss, Photo via Robert S. Donovan
For the first time ever, China has launched more rockets into orbit in a year than the U.S. In 2011, the Chinese sent 19 rockets into space. The U.S. sent just 18. Russia, the Walmart of space launches, fired off no fewer than 31 rockets.
…Beijing is not about to catch up to Washington in space. For starters, the U.S. government spends more money than any other country on space launches and spacecraft: nearly $50 billion, compared to just $25 billion or so for all other governments combined…Washington is projected to possess the biggest space arsenal for decades to come.
American launch organizations, which include NASA, the military and several private companies, had a perfect success rate last year. China lost one experimental satellite when a Long March rocket veered off course in August. Russia had the worst record, with four failed launches.
U.S. rockets on average carried more satellites per launch than their Chinese counterparts. Last year, the 18 U.S.-launched rockets placed 28 satellites into orbit. Nineteen Chinese launches placed just 21 sats. Russia’s 31 launches delivered 53 spacecraft.
via Wired
Not to mention that all the American satellites last longer, but that isn’t the most interesting part for me. What is fascinating is the total amount of spacecraft up there. The report says that during the Cold War the U.S. had 400 satellites in orbit.
It’s not crazy to think that number has doubled or tripled since then. Plus, all the other countries (Japan, European Union) launching things these days. I bet the number is somewhere in the 1,000-2,000 range!
// Thx to Dave Schroeder, Photo via Jurvetson
Any computer gamer old enough to remember floppy disks probably paid at least a fleeting visit to SimCity, the legendary franchise that let players build — and destroy — the metropolises of their imaginations. After passing through half a dozen incarnations in the two decades since its debut, the game is back, and its creator, Maxis Studios, says that this time, it’s putting more than bricks and mortar into the mix.
Slated for release in 2013, the new SimCity invites players to grapple with tough choices about energy generation, environmental costs and the responsibilities shouldered by inhabitants of a planet with finite resources — choices faced by real policymakers on the very real planet Earth.
To the game’s original repertoire of fire stations and governor’s mansions, power lines and city budgets, Maxis is adding a cocktail of new challenges, including limited resources and the spillover effects of pollution.
more on the “green” design of the game – Scientific American
The official trailer, which doesn’t contain any reference to the pollution or green aspects, just natural disasters:
// Thx to Nasry Al-Haddad
If you’re lucky enough to have a film festival in your hometown then you have to support it, because they are tons of fun.
For me that means the Newport Beach Film Festival with several hundred movies and a focus on sports, like surfing, snowboarding, and skateboarding.
It’s pretty awesome, though, I do wish there were more films about global concerns like the Environmental Film Festival has in Washington D.C. (my former hometown festival).
Still, I have a pretty good lineup for the festival days, April 26 – May 3, with everything from quirky comedies to surf film premieres, a 3,000-person rugby game and a college for comic books.
Here are the descriptions and trailers for all those movies.
Continue reading “Tickets on sale for Newport Beach Film Festival – 9 recommendations”
The Coca-Cola Hug Machine. You hug it, it returns the favour with a Coke. Because vending machines have feelings too. #hugmecoke
A new campaign from Ogilvy & Mather features the Coca-Cola hug me machine. Look for more of these gesture-based machines to pop up across Asia in the upcoming months.
Amazon continues to upset the publishing industry, this time going around publishers to offer authors $20 million for going audio. If an author is willing to let Audible, the Amazon-owned audiobook powerhouse, sell their book then Amazon will give them $1 per book:
The Amazon-owned digital audiobooks site Audible.com is launching a new program, “Audible Author Services,” that pays audiobook authors $1 per sale through Audible.com, Audible.co.uk, and iTunes, out of a $20 million fund. The audiobook publishers do not receive any of the funds.
To sign up, authors must make their titles available as audiobooks through Audible.com. Once they enroll their books in the program, Audible says, they will:
- Receive an honorarium of $1 per unit sold.
- Obtain samples and links from Audible for use in social media, blogs, or on their websites.
- Gain direct interaction with Audible marketing and merchandising teams; and
- Obtain a free copy of their audiobook from Audible.
via Paid Content
All of this amidst a Department of Justice probe into e-book price-fixing that charged many major publishing houses and Apple, yet, conspicuously left Amazon out.
It certainly does appear that Amazon has a death wish for certain areas of the publishing industry and is largely succeeding at that.
