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The chairman of the virtual bank in EVE Online, a space-trading/piracy game, absconded with billions of virtual credits, swapping them for $5,000 in cash to make a house payment.
The original CompuServe service, first offered in 1979, was shut down this past week by its current owner, AOL
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Three months ago I mentioned that an “unofficial site” in Beijing was providing hourly Twitter readings on the air pollution element that is most threatening to health but is either not measured or not reported by the Chinese government itself. I knew then but did not say that the “unofficial” site was actually on the roof of the U.S. embassy in Beijing. I did not say it because friends at the embassy said that calling attention to it could seem provocative or thumbing-the-nose at Chinese authorities and could jeopardize the whole undertaking. A tremendous amount of “unofficial” activity goes on in China, under the hallowed principle of “one eye open, one eye shut.” As long as the authorities’ noses weren’t rubbed in the flouting of rules, many things were possible. For better or worse, and perhaps with different guidance from embassy officials, Time magazine’s blog recently revealed that the site was on the embassy roof. And just now my favorite paper, the China Daily, has picked up the story. In the short run, I see that it has kicked Twitter followers for the service well up above previous levels. I hope the readings continue — and, of course, that they eventually show healthier air.
The advertising and consumer research industries gleaned some vital lessons from Coca-Cola’s high-profile failure, particularly with respect to social conformity in marketing. The 11% segment of alienated consumers proved to be a formidable force in shaping the public’s perception, an effect which Coke had observed but ignored in its focus groups. Marketing professionals also noted that New Coke’s success in taste tests may have been due to the small servings offered to tasters. In his book Blink, Malcolm Gladwell points out that such “sip tests” could produce a systemic bias towards sweeter drinks, since small samples would prevent the drinker from reaching the sickly-sweet threshold.
The trading of virtual currency for real cash employs hundreds of thousands of people worldwide and generates between $200 million and $1 billion annually, according to a 2008 survey conducted by Richard Heeks at the University of Manchester. He estimates that between 80% and 85% of gold farmers are based in China.
The Chinese government estimates that trade in virtual currency exceeded several billion yuan last year, a figure that it claims has been growing at a rate of 20% annually. One billion yuan is currently equal to about $146 million.
The Chinese government has banned all forms of exchange between game economies and cash economies, including the extremely popular Chinese online games that involve buying and selling virtual goods with cash, as well as the infamous practice of gold farming (creating in-game wealth that is sold on to rich foreign players), a practice that is said to employ 400,000 people in Chin
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Apple’s App Store now offers a selection of more than 50,000 applications, including games, entertainment and news.
F.O.M.S. - Internet Explorer 8 (via ie8videos)
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WHEN Tokyo residents of a certain age want to go shopping, they head for Sugamo, in the north of the city. The main street, Jizo-dori, features a variety of shops selling food, sweets, medicaments, bits and bobs and, most notably, a huge choice of woolly underwear in bright red, a favourite colour with the elderly because it is thought to be lucky and health-giving. The local McDonald’s has a section with seats designed for older people, and a karaoke bar offers songs from the good old days. For spiritual refreshment, there is the four-centuries-old Kogan-ji Buddhist temple, where visitors buy incense and pray for a long life—and a quick and easy exit
Ms Charnock’s software company, Cataphora, based in California, analysed the contents of e-mails sent by employees at a firm that had been sued by America’s government for supposedly inflating charges on federal contracts. Cataphora’s analysis helped to prove that the allegation was groundless. But it also revealed that some executives at the company shared an interest in bondage, lacing their e-mails to one another with references to their proclivity but making no mention of it in correspondence with other staff.
You consume old media sitting on a couch. You consume new media galloping on a horse” - Will.i.am
Mainstream media suffer from attention deficit disorder. New media suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder
