Variety is up for sale! – Hollywood’s trade publication

Variety, Hollywood’s oldest entertainment industry trade publication (107-years-old), has been put up for sale.

The move comes as Variety has lost its standing as Hollywood’s dominant trade newspaper amid heated competition from online-only publications Deadline and the Wrap, as well as its traditional competitor, the Hollywood Reporter. Long seen as Variety’s also-ran competitor, the Reporter relaunched in late 2010 under new owners as a glossy weekly magazine that covers breaking daily news on its website.

Daily Variety is the only remaining daily print publication exclusively covering show business and still the best known around the world.

“Variety is not just a brand, it’s a trophy brand, and you might find someone overpaying for that reason,”

…a sales price would probably be around $50 million.

 

Read the full article to learn how the Variety paywall failed.

 

 

// Photo via 416 Style

How much do you think it costs to travel on the Surfing World Tour?

You make the world tour, have 11 stops around the world and some cash to be made…. so, did ya ever wonder how much it would cost to travel the world tour?

 

Stop 1 – Gold Coast for the Quikkie Pro – roundtrip airfare, food, lodging, transportation: $2000

Stop 2 – LAX to Melbourne for the Rip Curl Pro: $1500

Stop 3 – Rio, Brazil for the Billabong Pro: $1500

…

Stop 11 – Hawaii for Pipe Masters $1500

 

Total cost – $27,000

 

It’s safe to say, no one is stressed about the costs of travel. Just $27000 to compete…. considering these guys make no less than $77K per year for just showing up and placing =25th, it’s no brainer… they can place last in every event and still show a net profit of 50K …. throw in their endorsements, if any, and they’re all making over a hundred K no matter how bad they surf….

See the cost of all 11 stops on the Surfing World Tour

 

California launches a statewide network of charging stations for electric vehicles

Governor Brown joined with the California Public Utilities Commission today to announce a $120 million dollar settlement with NRG Energy Inc. that will fund the construction of a statewide network of charging stations for zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs), including at least 200 public fast-charging stations and another 10,000 plug-in units at 1,000 locations across the state. The settlement stems from California’s energy crisis.

The network of charging stations funded by the settlement will be installed in the San Francisco Bay Area, the San Joaquin Valley, the Los Angeles Basin and San Diego County.

“Through the settlement, EVs will become a viable transportation option for many Californians who do not have the option to have a charging station at their residence.”

The Executive Order issued today by the Governor sets the following targets:

  • By 2015, all major cities in California will have adequate infrastructure and be “zero-emission vehicle ready”;
  • By 2020, adequate infrastructure to support 1 million zero-emission vehicles in California;
  • By 2025, there will be 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles on the road in California; and
  • By 2050, virtually all personal transportation in the State will be based on zero-emission vehicles.

via ca.gov

 

Just one question, not addressed in the announcement, is charging at the stations free?

What will be the cost for a full charge?

 

// photos via NCDOT Comms and gwyst

World record for the tightest parallel parking – 10 inches (video)

The tightest parallel parking measured 26 cm (10.24 in) and was achieved by Ronny Wechselberger a.k.a. “Ronny C-Rock” (Germany) on the set of Guinness World Records – Wir holen den Rekord nach Deutschland in Berlin, Germany on 2 April 2011.

Neuer Weltrekord!!

 

Here is an older record, a 33 centimeter parallel park.

Gmail: why do messages end up in spam folder?

Many of our users say the accuracy of our spam filter is one of the key reasons they love Gmail. And while we think you should never have to look in your spam folder, we know some of you may want to know why the messages there were marked as spam.

So starting today, we’ll be showing a brief explanation at the top of each of your spam messages. Simply look at any message in your spam folder and now you can find out why it was put there and learn about any potentially harmful content within the message.

via Official Gmail Blog

 

Help articles from Google explaining why Spam can be dangerous.

Thx Don Burke.

WhichFlicks? – Browse Netflix Instant Watch movies and TV shows on an elegant interface

WhichFlicks is a website that allows you to sort through thousands of movies and television shows on Netflix. With that many options there is always something to watch the trouble is finding it.

With this website you have the ability to sort by Netflix Stars, Rotten Tomato Ratings, date, genre, audience (MPAA rating), and by people (actors, directors).

It is a far superior way to find something to watch, compared to the native Netflix search and recommendation system. It compares very well to Instant Watcher, a site that provides a similar service. Which Flicks is definitely easier and cleaner to use, while Instant Watcher has many more lists and details.

The best unique feature in Which Flicks is the “Upcoming” movies section. I really enjoy this section because Netflix doesn’t often promote its future content.

The state of media on the rez – American Indians in 2012

American Indians and Alaska Natives typically live in more rural and isolated locations of the United States, areas that generally have waited longer for internet broadband access. Many tribal lands still have only very limited connectivity.

As a result, many Native people have moved straight to mobile internet, accessing digital content through cellphones that do not require broadband connection.

Radio remains the most prevalent medium for this population and since 2009 new stations aimed at Native populations have gone on the air. Television also saw growth with the debut of a new Native station. Newspapers had a more mixed year.

The American Indian and Alaska Native population in the United States reached 5.2 million in 2010, or 1.7% of the total U.S. population. That is a growth of 1.1 million, or 26.7%, over the last 10 years, more than double the overall population growth of 9.7%, but still less than some other races.

Less than half of American Indians and Alaska Natives, 43%, have broadband access at home. The rate for the U.S. generally is 65%. The rate is also lower than rural Americans (50%) and other ethnicities (over two-thirds, 67%, of Asian Americans have broadband access at home as do 59% of African Americans and 49% of Hispanics).

via Pew’s – State of the News Media

Getting your attention is big business

Some interesting thoughts from Om Malik, founder of GigaOm, after their latest acquisition. He hints that while everyone can blog only certain websites can grab users attention and continue to do so.

Media is the new Wild West

We are quite strategic about our acquisitions — we acquire media entities only if we love the people and believe that we are at the starting phase of a trend. In 2008, we acquired jkOnTheRun as our tip of the hat to the growing demand for mobile devices and the changes it would bring into society. Later that year, we brought in The Apple Blog because we knew the best was yet to come for Apple. Both of those acquisitions have helped GigaOM cover the issues that matter most to our ultimate customers — you, the reader — in a smart, sensible fashion.

“The question that mass amateurization poses to traditional media is ‘What happens when the costs of reproduction and distribution go away? What happens when there is nothing unique about publishing anymore because users can do it for themselves?’ We are now starting to see that question being answered.”— Clay Shirky

Shirky’s observation means that we are in a time of chaos where the very idea of media is being questioned. And as a Chinese proverb says, from chaos emerges opportunity. I believe the best is yet to come for media.

—

I have always believed that we’ve got to stop thinking of media as what it was and focus on more of what it could be. In the world of plenty, the only currency is attention and attention is what defines “media.”

via Why we are buying paidContent

 

It may also help to have a name that squishes together multiple words into one 🙂