JPG magazine, which was declared dead less than a week ago, is most definitely for sale and it looks like a transaction will close shortly.

Twenty or so potential buyers have expressed interest, say our sources, including Flickr (a natural fit because the photos published by JPG Magazine are submitted by readers), Smugmug and Alexander Muse. Wordpress also expressed early interest, we’ve heard, although they’ve pulled out of the bidding.

It’s unclear how much it’ll take to get the JPG Magazine assets, but our understanding is that 8020 Media, the company behind the publication, is fielding cash offers only and is being fairly successful in getting a bidding war going.

Continue reading " Flickr, Smugmug And Others Bidding To Buy JPG Magazine "

Three years ago when Web 2.0 began proliferating, Israeli startups used eSnips as the poster child for their case that a successful social network could be founded in Israel. Based on the criteria in those days, eSnips was in fact delivering: It was able to convince top tier VCs to buy into an advertising-based business model, it leveraged user-generated content (the main activity is sharing personal media), used free storage as a hook, traffic was rising steadily, and it became a press darling domestically and internationally. As we say in Israel, “It was all honey”.

Now fast forward to Q4 2008. A shell of its previous self, eSnips is now a startup train wreck: Founders divorced and dismissed, threatened litigation courtesy of a record label and, with no possibility for further funding, the company was unloaded for approximately $750,000 to the Logia Group.

In the past three months I have spoken to a number of sources close to the company and have managed to reconstruct the circumstances that brought the company from its zenith, to its nadir.

Continue reading " eSnips: A Story of Hearthache (For Its Founders, Investors & Employees) "

Not much else to add but the Roku Netflix box will soon be able to stream 40,000 Amazon titles on demand, “enabling Roku customers for the first time to watch new release movies titles instantly.” The movies cost as much as the do on Amazon and the box will simply connect to your online account and have no movie adding/browsing functionality. The system should be similar to the current Netflix scheme.

Watch new release movies the same day that they are released on DVD. Hit titles such as “The Dark Knight,” “Hancock,” “Pineapple Express”, “Tropic Thunder” and hundreds more that are not currently available on the Roku Player.

Continue reading " Roku Netflix Box to Stream Amazon Video on Demand "

My guess is this has nothing to do with the phishing attacks that started on Twitter a couple of days ago. But a few minutes ago the official Fox News Twitter account posted “Breaking: Bill O Riley is gay” (referring to the host of the popular Fox show O’Reilly Factor), right after a legitimate message about making turkey lettuce wraps.

My guess is they’re just finding out about it now, and realizing their password, which was probably “password,” has been changed. Twitter will promptly restore the account to its rightful owners, I’m sure. But here’s my question - if you’ve had your Twitter account hacked, how long did it take you to get it back?

Continue reading " Celebrity Twitter Accounts Hacked (Bill O’Reilly, Britney Spears, Rick Sanchez) "

So Steve isn’t dying, he’s just thin. WSJ got a note from Steve describing his malady as some sort of nutritional/hormonal problem and, it seems, all is right with the world. First, the note.

Dear Apple Community,

For the first time in a decade, I’m getting to spend the holiday season with my family, rather than intensely preparing for a Macworld keynote.

Unfortunately, my decision to have Phil deliver the Macworld keynote set off another flurry of rumors about my health, with some even publishing stories of me on my deathbed.

I’ve decided to share something very personal with the Apple community so that we can all relax and enjoy the show tomorrow.

Continue reading " Steve Responds to Rumors With a Steve-note: I’m Just Thin "

After Steve Jobs pulled out of giving the keynote at this year’s Macworld, there was rampant speculation once again about his health. The shares took a hit as investors began to worry about whether Jobs would be able to remain at the helm of the company. Despite an obvious distaste for talking publicly about his health, Apple released a letter today from Jobs designed to dispel the rumors that his cancer has returned, but which reveals that a mysterious “hormone imbalance” has caused him to lose weight. It also admits that this health problem indeed was the reason why Jobs won’t be giving the Macworld keynote. (Apple’s chief marketing officer Phil Schiller will be filling in for him instead).

Here is an excerpt from Jobs’ healthnote:

Continue reading " Steve Jobs Explains His Weight Loss in Healthnote "

Steve Jobs breaks a deafening silence on his health to tell the “Apple Community” that it is not a recurrence of his pancreatic cancer but a treatable hormone imbalance that is the cause for his noticeable weight loss.

Continue reading " Apple’s Jobs Cites Hormone Imbalance for Weight Loss "

At the beginning of each year I traditionally publish a list of my favorite startups and products. This is the fourth year I’ve done this - previous lists: 2006, 2007, 2008.

This is a list of the products I tend to use daily. Some are for work (Wordpress, Delicious, Zoho, etc.), some are for fun (MySpace Music, Hulu, etc), and some are useful for both (Digg, Skype, YouTube, etc.). But I use most of them every day, or nearly every day, and I would not be as productive or happy without all of them.

The list changes a bit from year to year, and is also getting longer (see chart). Just three products have been favorites all four years: TechMeme, Skype, Wordpress. TechMeme continues to be the news aggregator I check multiple times per day to keep up on tech news. Skype is the instant messaging and VoIP platform that I use most often, and Wordpress software powers all of our blogs.

I’ve added nine new products, including one gadget (which I’ve left off in the past): Animoto, Friendfeed, Hulu, iPhone 3G, MySpace Music, Pandora (which was on in previous years) Docstoc/Scribd and Yammer.

Continue reading " 2009: Products I Can’t Live Without "

Twitter acknowledges that “a number of high-profile Twitter accounts were compromised” on Monday morning, and used for pranks and spam.

Continue reading " Britney, Obama Twitter Feeds Hijacked After Phishing Attack "

Pyrethrin and Pyrethroids

These poisons cause the ion channels in nerve cells to remain open too long, which makes neurons fire repeatedly, resulting in paralysis and death. Pretty vicious given where they come from: Pyrethrin is obtained from flowers of the asteraceae family (including daisies and chrysanthemums); pyrethroids are just synthetic pyrethrin. While both are especially toxic to insects (alas, even bees) they are supposed to be among the least deadly pesticides to mammals. Still, keep Raid away from kitty: Cats’ livers can’t process pyrethrin fast enough to keep from, you know, dying.

Piperonyl Butoxide or N-Octyl Bicycloheptene Dicarboximide

Not poisons on their own, these so-called pesticide synergists block the enzyme that breaks down pyrethrin in insects. Basically, bugs don’t have a chance.

Isoparaffinic Hydrocarbon Solvent

The patent recommends Exxsol D60, a proprietary goo concocted by ExxonMobil Chemical and described as an “aliphatic hydrocarbon”—a hydrocarbon without aromatic ring molecules. Here it serves as an oily poison delivery system that coats the insect’s exoskeleton, helping to get the toxins into the pest’s pores.

Fragrance

Unscented Raid smells like a kerosene spill in a nerve gas factory. Lemon Scent Raid smells like a kerosene spill in a nerve gas factory with a hint of lemon.

Sorbitan Monooleate

Older spray pesticides were up to 80 percent hydrocarbons, toxins that aren’t the greatest chemicals to be spraying around your house. Raid’s current formula cuts the amount of hydrocarbons in half, replacing it with water. Surfactants like sorbitan monooleate help the H2O and hydrocarbons stay mixed properly.

Sodium Nitrite or Sodium Benzoate

These substances (particularly sodium nitrite) can be toxic in high doses, but the amounts present here are only enough to prevent the metal can from corroding.

Liquefied Saturated Hydrocarbons

Raid uses a mix of propylene, butanes, and butylenes as propellant. These are flammable and can cause breathing difficulties; you might want to stub out that Marlboro Light before spraying indoors.

Continue reading " What’s Inside Raid? Watch Out, Kitty! "