Stylehive bookmark of the week: Fisheye Camera

Web Culture/Social Shopping/Stylehive
Found on: stylehive.com

Here's a kick ass fish lens camera for only 50 bucks - now you can take some crazy pictures of your friends when their all up in your grill - so necessary!



Description: Enter the world of extreme close-ups. The only camera in the world with a built-in fisheye lens, this two-tone beauty features a sweeping 170-degree field of view. Barrel distortion compacts your photos to appear as if inside a glass ball: the center bulging larger than life, the borders wrapped to a circular edge. Each 35mm camera includes premium glass optics,
built-in electronic flash powered by one ‘AA’ battery, wrist strap, and editorial booklet.

Tags: cameras,gadgets

URL: veer.com

Spinlets private beta program!

Web Culture/Web 2.0/Website
Found on: spinlets.com

I love getting invited to private betas, they make me feel important and well liked, well liked by other important people that are also well liked...uh okay, I'm totally being facetious, but I do get a lot of invites and not all of them are blog-worthy but this little guy, this little guy is pretty cool.

Spinlets post:

Spinlets are embeddable chunks of code that let you take content anywhere. Create your own "mash-ups" by bringing your favorite YouTube videos, Flickr photos or iMeem music to your blog or personal page. Spinlets work with MySpace, TypePad, WordPress, Blogger, as well as most other blogs, sidebars or webpages. No downloads or plug-ins are needed and they're free.

NEWS: Justin.TV Network Launches: More Shows to Come

News/Social Networks/Videos
Found on: techcrunch.com

Using a process called "lifecasting" sites like Justine.TV and Ustream.tv are taking off and reality television just made a huge shift over to the web. Both platforms provide a network and a set of tools to create your very own live show using a webcam.

Techcrunch.com post:

24/7 reality online TV show Justin.tv has has turned into a bit of a mini-phenomenon since launching just two months ago.Their apartment was raided by the police, and they were later evicted by their landlord. They were on the Today Show. Justin has hung out with famous rappers. They’ve taken extravagant dares from their audience, and a crowd always surrounds Justin and his ubiquitous camera. Hundreds of adolescent viewers watched (sort of) as Justin had sex on the show, although users were left with a black screen and silence until the Justin.tv team started playing porn music. The site has been far more successful so far than the founders anticipated.

Damn twitter cat!

Social Networks/Web 2.o/twitter
Found on: twitter.com

Twitter cat has taken over twitter again - for the love of god already, someone get that damn cat out of the server room!



twitter post:

Whoops! We're either deploying new features or there was a slight network hiccup (an issue we're working through). Please click here in a few seconds and you'll be back to Twitterin' in no time!

NEWS: Companies try eBay to sell themselves

News/Web 2.0/ebay
Found on: news.yahoo.com

Looking for a deal on a Web 2.o dot-com? Well look no further - USATODAY.com is reporting that there are plenty to be had on the popular auction site eBay.

USA Today post:

What do Beanie Babies, Pez Dispensers and troubled Internet companies have in common? They're all for sale on eBay.

More than 10 dot-coms have recently sought buyers on the popular auction site. Search engine DigForIt.com sold for $25,400 this month after promising bidders "great revenue potential." SynapseLife, an online calendar and organizational site, sold for $60,000 despite warning it had "no advertising revenue."

NEWS: Europeans predominate in Second Life - study

News/Social Networks/Second Life
Found on: reuters.com

Before you log into Second Life again, you might want to consider brushing up on your German, because chances are you'll be speaking to one -- Guten Tag Avatar!

Reuters post:

Second Life was born in the United States, but 61 percent of its active residents are Europeans, a study by research firm comScore said on Friday.

The number of active German residents exceeds the number of active residents in the United States, although growth rates in the U.S. are the highest worldwide, said comScore, which
specializes in measuring various kinds of Internet usage.

More than 6 million user accounts have been created in Second Life, up from about 1 million at the end of 2006, but the number of active users is far lower.

NEWS: Digg.com User Revolt

Web Culture/YouTube/Videos/Digg
Found on: Youtube.com

HD-DVD crack code on Digg results in multiple users getting kicked off the site and banned - then all hell breaks loose.



Youtube Stats(as of this post):

Views: 214
Comments: 3
Favorited: 3 times

Bonus link:

Kevin Rose Speaks out

NEWS: 'Second Life' User Numbers Don't Quite Add Up

News/Social Networks/Second Life/Users
Found on: foxnews.com

Clay Shirky just completed a four-month study on the number of users in Second Life, based on his findings, Shirky claims that the actual number of regular users are less the 200,000 versus the 3.2 million Linden Lab reports to have...numbers don't quite add up?

FoxNews post:

How many people use "Second Life"? Not as many as you might think.

In December, New York University lecturer Clay Shirky launched a one-man Web crusade against the widespread misrepresentation of "Second Life"'s popularity, claiming most publications — including PC Magazine — were inadvertently overstating the number of users.

When reporters ask how many people are using "Second Life," the folks at Linden Lab typically respond with the number of "residents," and most reporters assume that "resident" means "unique user."

But as Shirky points out, a resident isn't a unique user. A single user can create multiple virtual residents. "Second Life"'s popularity is significantly smaller than the press claims, and though Linden Lab won't tell us how many people are really using the service, Shirky thinks he's finally gotten to the bottom of things.

NEWS: NBA Headquarters Unveiled in Second Life

Social Networks/Second Life/Sports
Found on: nba.com

With it's multiplayer games, retail stores and a variety of other features designed to draw repeat visitors, the NBA unveiled their Second Life "Headquarters" on Tuesday - anyone up for a game of HORSE?



NBA.com post:

The NBA announced the launch of NBA Headquarters, a new virtual destination featuring a variety of innovative and interactive NBA elements in Second Life, the popular 3D online world with nearly six million residents. The announcement was made by NBA Commissioner David Stern during a recent media event conducted in the NBA Headquarters.

The NBA’s 3D virtual destination, developed with The Electric Sheep Company, a leading creator of 3D virtual world content and solutions, will provide basketball fans and Second Life residents with access to comprehensive features including the T-Mobile Arena, broadband video of classic NBA games and highlights, and an opportunity to have their picture taken with the NBA’s championship trophy in the Toyota Larry O’Brien Trophy Room.

Additionally, in Second Life fans will be able to purchase NBA and WNBA jerseys and merchandise for their identity or avatars at the NBA Store, walk along a special path highlighting the 50 Greatest NBA Players and participate in a variety of basketball activities at the NBA Jam Session.