Time Management

Some of my fellow bloggers continue to get lost in this quandary:

With all the things I have to do in one day, how can I find time to blog/read blogs/surf the web/etc. ?

I'm not exactly the archetype of the typical web user-- I like to make time for things and function well, if not above average, on little to no sleep. I am a perpetual reader/sponge for all things ridiculous. Let's face it, if I put half as much time in perfecting my flabby body as I do tweaking my sharp wit and boundless pop knowledge store, I'd be a regulation hottie. (Remember though-- beauty fades, dumb is forever.)

I have to admit though, since I've signed up for Web 2.0 it's been a real challenge to learn how these sites/etc. work. I now belong to 11 social networks (MySpace, Facebook, hi5, bebo, Friendster, Twitter, MyFamily.com, MyYearbook, Digg, LinkedIn, and Doostang). And, a quick update-- 2 friends of mine much closer to my first tier have joined Twitter since I have... I am kind of hooked on writing in Twitter.

There are still all kinds of sites I could join (de.li.ci.ous or Gawker come to mind). There are thousands of blogs IO could read. And apparently, I'm supposed to create my own legit new content for this blog, which is hard when you're not as plugged in as the other bloggers. I mean, I interview the creator of RubMyYouKnowWhat, the only blogger to do so BTW, and I still get minimal spike in traffic.

Time is a hot commodity these days, and it's a big risk for consumers to take precious time to surf the web hoping to find something unique. If we really are suffering from Blogorrhea and too much derivative content, we need to streamline the topics into channels, much like cable TV did in the 70's and 80's.

If there were simple channels with similar content, viewers would have a better guarantee that they were surfing relevant content and not getting lost in a sea of highly optimized sites. This is likely the future of the Internet, which we're already seeing with the increasing popularity of vertical search.

Until such time as we develop a remote control and Tivo for your PC, you're just going to have to rough it like the rest of us pioneers. My suggestion in the meantime, get some kind of iPhone or at least a smartphone so you can search the Internet anytime, anywhere.

Oldies in the City

Given how much you all know I enjoy both Sex and the City and watching old people discover technology and the new millennium... I thought you would appreciate this.



Funny thing about this video (which has horrible sound, btw) is that the whole thing is actually 4 years old (from the TV Land Awards, no less) and it just kind of went viral on Thursday and Friday. WHY? I think it's the impending movie release... timing is everything!

Twittering

I joined Twitter over the weekend kind of on accident. I mean, I don't really know if anyone reads my updates, and only three people in my Gmail address book were on the site. I'm "following" three of my third-tier friends, even though it looks like they joined the site and stopped updating it over 6 months ago.

But what I love about Twitter is being able to text to update from my iPhone. And it's linked to my Facebook status. And if I'm on Gmail chat, I see my Twitter buddy and send it an update too.

I joined because there is some kind of iPhone SDK app called iTweet. I am still doing research, but I'm curious what others out there do with Twitter. It's kind of the ultimate "seen and be seen" site, right?

iPhone at 37,000 Feet

Today I flew on JetBlue’s BetaBlue plane for the first time. This is the plane that is testing limited Wifi connectivity. I was pretty disappointed actually.
The company partnered with Yahoo and Blackberry to make this happen. What?!
JetBlue is supposed to be a young, hip brand so if it was looking for a cell phone partner, wouldn’t iPhone make sense? Apple already seemed to think so.
And the company recently changed its inflight map service to Google Maps from Yahoo’s sorely underperforming and dated MapQuest.
So, BetaBlue has a low Wifi connection, so if I put iPhone on Airplane mode, and enable wifi I can access some Yahoo mobile pages (limited news, a random flickr page, and some other basic yahoo functions. But that’s it. And, a search of my contacts showed that I had NO friends on Yahoo Messenger. I’m gonna guess they are on Gmail chat. Or even AIM.
iPhone was pretty useless on BetaBlue. I don’t use a Yahoo account for email and I have no friends to talk to. Luckily, there was a nice LiveTV technician on the flight who told me I could send text messages to folks from Yahoo Messenger. Well, as I started doing that I ended up not being able to get the Messenger to work any more. Some kind of 404/343 magic error. So, then I got fed up realizing most of my friends were at work anyway and wouldn’t be responding.
Luckily this is just the Beta test, but let’s hope the real thing is just that—the real internet with all the bells and whistles that JetBlue’s young and hip audience really seeks.
Thank God they still have free TV! (I would have tried to post the entry from the sky but I don't really know how yet.... I'm learning, but I guess, as a good friend told me: Beauty fades, dumb is forever.)


Full disclosure: the writer works in the Operations department at JetBlue in Forest Hills, NY and his opinion is just that. OPINION. The writer did not work on the BetaBlue product launch and his research for this post was based solely on the pamphlets in the seatback pocket and the experience on the flight itself. The opinions in iPhone and the City certainly do not reflect any official opinions of JetBlue Airways, LiveTV or its partners and should not be considered official company information.

Walking and Texting Injuries

I recently bought two new pairs of boots. They are beyond hot, except they have these ridiculously slippery leather soles.

This morning, after donning the shoes and running to work (late and hungover) I started dashing off a text on iPhone and in all the excitement, I slipped right down the last three stairs in my building.

Since I like to blog based on experience, I decided to pull up another article I've had on the back burner.

It seems that one in ten British people were injured while texting and walking in 2007. The article got press in all kinds of places, including CNN/Time.My friend the Odder Adder would probably get a kick out of the ridiculous ads that the UK Directory service 118118 used to protect negligent texters.

While I'm sure more than just 1 in 10 Americans have been injured by texting, I've been unable to find any conclusive data. But, dude, walking and texting is probably better than driving and texting. I don't get too political here, but this a pretty scary idea.

Waiting for Your College Acceptance Letter... and your iPhone?

I picked this up a few weeks back, but it's just now making its way into writing.

So, it seems that there is a college in Texas, Abilene Christian University, that is offering an iPhone to any incoming freshman this fall. Here's their press release: http://www.acu.edu/news/2008/080225_iphone.html.

Read about on Engadget and apply to ACU if you must. Apparently, the school portends that students will receive homework alerts and probably use some kind of course management webapp.

This is similar to Duke's attempt to give out iPods to incoming students. My guess is people know Duke exists and don't necessarily need more incentive to apply, which is why they ave since scaled back on that. But, really ACU-- don't you think we all see this as a far-cry from homework and an academic stimulus package so much as a marketing tool to tech-starved, MTV-obsessed Texas Christians.

Also, isn't like gluttony or pride a sin? Leave the sinning to the experts (me) and stick to what you know ACU.

Of course, in the fine print, the cost of the iPhone is included in tuition.

Does iPhone Really Make Life Simpler?

I have an iPhone. I also carry a blackberry and a 60-GB Video iPod with me in every laptop bag or manpurse. And I'm not alone. I've met others who carry the berry for work, in addition to the iPhone (which I still suspect is for for sex appeal) and the iPod for various reasons.

I'll never be able to move all my songs from iPod to my iPhone (first, it's not big enough, and second, many of the songs were uploaded CD's, so they aren't in my iTunes library).

I also can't commit to the Blackberry for a personal phone. I don't like the web browser and it feels like I'll never escape work. It's also just not as hot of an accessory.

Sadly though, iPhone would never fly to replace my blackberry for work. Typing and the email client both are not integrated enough to keep up with the barrage of emails coming in and out. I also think I will always have a natural tendency to keep my personal and work phones separate. This is super-important for me to be able to separate from work.

How about the rest of iPhone users? Am I the only one who now never leaves home without my iPod, iPhone and Blackberry (valued at just over $1000 when you factor in my Bang & Olufsen A8's)? Maybe I really am more fabulous than I previously thought.

Part Two: The Business of Mobile Porn (Continuing the Interview with Tim Vandecasteele)

*Mature Content Alert, i.e. NSFW... well, just don't click on some of the links... oh, and if you're under 18, go away*

As I mentioned yesterday, Tim Vandecasteele and I chatted for one hour on Saturday, March 15. There was so much good material, I decided to make this a two part-series (click here for the first part). In this entry, we'll talk about Tim's concerns about mobile porn, legal and ethical implications, and the struggles of optimizing search engines for porn. Don't worry, tomorrow we'll be back to shorter, more digestible bits.

"iPhonePornGrid [iPG] like it is now is more of an experiment," Tim told me. "Does porn work on the iPhone?... indeed, it's super-accessible." Let's face it, of course porn works on the iPhone. It's an easy to use browser that can link to the internet via the EDGE network or any stray Wi-fi. In short, it's perfect for the lonely, computerless guy to whip up some inspiration for very portable way to get his rocks off.

But porn raises all kinds of issues. "I think Apple is afraid of [getting] a bad reputation," Tim says. "Porn is associated with spam and viruses." And, think about it: if iPhone really became a popular conduit for porn, it would make it more enticing for virus developers to create Mac viruses thus tarnishing Mac's superior reputation.

Tim also shared that only 37.69% of the visitors to iPG come through on the at&t EDGE network, meaning that a large portion are using the wifi capability, "so... it will definitely matter if iPhone has 3G." (We'll talk more about 3G in future entries.)

Mobile porn also raises concerns about minors. How do producers ensure that the phone is in the hands of not-so-impressionable eyes? Tim postures that, because iPG does not produce any content, they are able to avoid the legal red tape.

And just who are "they", the producers of iPG? Tim, age 23 and his 22 year old journalist brother. While Tim is in his last year at the University of Ghent studying electrical engineering, his brother, who has less tech experience, "uploads the content."

"The idea of iPG came because RubMyClit was such a huge success and the Google ads actually made some money," or so Tim says. "Too bad Google ads aren't allowed on porn sites-- so I went to AVN ads."

Getting money from a mobile porn site when you don't actually produce content is harder than you'd think. It's not like Tim and his brother at iPG are just middle men in a normal industry. They are running a porn site built for a mobile device. Because the iPhone display is different than a regular monitor, and because the EDGE network isn't as fast as your DSL, iPG seeks to make porn to fit the iPhone and load quicker. Tim says the average user spends 6 minutes and 23 seconds on iPG (to which my response was, naturally: "Well, that's long enough for me sometimes..."). We'll also talk more about how porn drives the development of new technologies in a future entry.

While iPG is not unique (there are many competitors you can read about on this VERY NSFW review site of mobile porn), Tim's model is a bit different from most being that they do not produce any content. "All [the] content is just from affiliate programs," meaning that users can see some content on iPG (quite a lot actually- all straight) and then decide whether to join an affiliate site. Simple enough, really.

"Actually, I want to go to some kind of paying model, but micropayments are not so easy, especially not for porn," Tim pines. By micropayments, Tim is talking about payments like "per picture or per minute instead of the pricier subscription model. "I want to make the payment quick and easy, but I haven't yet discovered the iPhone way of paying."

It's just not so easy to type all that information into the iPhone. But the alternative "micropayments" work a lot like the 900 numbers used to and how voting for American Idol used to: they partner with the phone companies who compile all the "Sir Charges" and put them on your phone bill. "In Europe we have some good SMS payment systems," Tim says. And I don't have to tell you how difficult it will be to make that case with US carriers.

So what does the future hold for iPG? Tim is looking into search optimization, but it's pretty difficult to rank on porn searches (imagining that the two best keywords for iPG would be "iPhone" and "porn", both likely already in hot contest). But Tim seems nonplussed, "In approximately one month I [made] my hosting costs back for a year. The rest are just little extras."

But to be honest, "We're actually looking into buying content of shooting content [if] feasible," Tim says. And, after all, like any guy, Tim says, "I consider shooting as a fun part, that's exactly why we're looking into it."

*I'd like to thank Tim for not only giving me an exclusive first interview, but also just being an all-around nice guy and tolerating my ridiculous line of questioning. We wish you and your brother all the best with your endeavor!*

First-ever Interview with the Man Behind the, umm, you know...

*Mature Content Alert, i.e. NSFW... well, just don't click on some of the links... oh, and if you're under 18, go away*

The writer was lucky enough to convince Tim Vandecasteele to sit down for a one-hour interview over the weekend. Would you believe no one else has interviewed the man behind the next big thing in sex ed? Readers may remember Tim as the man behind "RubMyClit". In this hour-long Skype conversation, Tim mused about his inspiration behind RMC, the mathematical formula he constructed to get the girl off, and the business of running a start up mobile porn website.

Tonight, I'll summarize the RMC portion of the conversation, and tomorrow, in part two, we'll talk about Tim and his brother's foray into the mobile porn world (a.k.a. iphoneporngrid.com or iPG as I'll call it).

Tim Vandecasteele would be a true American inspiration, if he were American. This 23-year-old son of Belgium and president of the student union of engineers at the University of Ghent is every technologically-advanced frat guy's best friend.

"I was working with my iPhone and one of my friends mentioned what my stroking resembled and I started thinking how I could implement that as I found the idea very cool," Tim told me on Saturday afternoon.

I had so many questions about RMC, and Tim patiently answered them all. Wanna know who drew that amazing representation of the vagina, painted nails and all? Tim would tell you that, at first, he "took a picture, but a drawing emphasized the game element and the fun. It also made it in my eyes easier to accept." And surely, he's right-- it wouldn't be so easy for iPhone users to show their friends at the bar if they were staring into a real vagina.

Ultimately, he found a photo on flickr. "I was looking for a nicely drawn vagina that wouldn't be too shocky," Tim says. "RubMyClit is NOT porn, [it's] just a fun game." And we couldn't agree more.

Many people have asked me if this site is password protected, and the answer is no. Tim doesn't see any legal implications with the game. "If minors want to see porn, they will. And as I said, I consider RubMyClit more as anatomics than porn," he said. (We'll talk more about this tomorrow in the second part of this interview.)

And, ladies, you'll be pleased to know that Tim simplified the mysterious act of stimulating the clitoris to some mathematical formulas. "[The formulas] first react to slow strokes, and later on [to] more rude and faster ones." Tim carefully explained how the javascript application makes it possible to "make her come [sic]" on an iPhone, but almost impossible to do with your normal browser or scroll wheel.

"Everyone has the same one for now, the same speed, and the same rendering," Tim said when asked about the research or personal experience that went into the development. "It is more based on math fun than real-life experience." If only it were that simple.

And, fellow frat boys, Tim and his 22-year-old journalist brother were able to make money off of RMC with the use of GoogleAds. At its peak, after the article on BoingBoing brought RMC to the forefront, RMC was seeing upwards of 15,000 visitors per day. This success led the brothers Vandecasteele to create iPG, although the money has not yet caught up to them. "Too bad Google ads aren't allowed on porn sites," pines Tim.

What does the future hold for RMC? Well, the long-awaited SDK was finally launched, but while Tim was initially optimistic, the initial launch of SDK does not allow porn. "[Because] Steve [Jobs] doesn't want them," Tim would say.

Although RMC's visitors have declined to 300-400/day, I like to think that RMC will get its second wind as iPhone adoption increases. I'm also optimistic because I'd like to see Tim be successful-- he's just so likable and he really seems to know his audience:

"I actually thought about a male version, as I think you might enjoy that more," Tim had the audacity to say to the writer. (He was right of course). "But the gestures just don't fit."

That and the target online gamer audience (i.e. straight guys) probably wouldn't like getting a guy off. Also, let's face it, there's nothing mysterious about getting a guy off.

Stay tuned tomorrow for the second part of my interview with Tim.

UPDATE 3/17/08: Here is the second part: http://iphoneandthecity.blogspot.com/2008/03/part-two-business-of-mobile-porn.html.

The Dangers of Putting Naughty Photos on Your Phone

My roommate and coworker facilitates many trainings for employees. Often, after the training, attendees come up to her to chat about things and show pictures of children, just because they think she's cool (which she is, btw).

So, one particular day, she was training a particularly attractive gentleman who wanted to show her a picture of his dog on his phone (this gentleman does not have an iPhone). Well, as usually happens, in passing the picture of his cute pup around, the backlit screen went dark.

So, when the phone ended up in my roommate's hands, she exclaimed, "Oh, the screen went dark!" at which point she just pressed a random button.

But she pressed the navigate button. That button that scrolls to the next photo. And it elicited an immediate reaction from this gentleman.

"NOOOOO..." he reached in seemingly slow motion to avoid the inevitable. Because, you see, my roommate had already seen this guy's penis. Yup, that picture you take of yourself to send to an illicit lover and vow to delete,but somehow forget to delete.

This, of course, has become the stuff of training legend at our workplace. I couldn't help but wonder how many other people have had their naughty photos accidentally exposed.

Please, Mr. Jailer, Let My Phone Go Free...

If you read about the iPhone on the internet for too long, you're likely to hear another phrase thrown around a lot: "Jailbreak".

jailbreak. v. To free iPhone of the tyrannical restrictions imposed by Apple disallowing severely technical personalization of iPhone.

There are all kinds of websites out there that offer quick ways to do this that aren't reminiscent of the famed New Jersey boy who figurd out how to crack his iPhone with the soldering iron.

Users are doing this to allow applications to be placed right on their phones, but WHY? It seems so unsafe!

I'll never understand why, really, but I hate downloading music for free-- I just feel like it's going to have a virus and ruin my computer (this is probably also the same reason I pay for porn on the internet, something my friends have long chastised me for.)

So, it's only natural that I don't want to do anything to ruin my iPhone. I'm going to continue researching what it is about folks like me that keeps us reticent to unlock/jailbreak/etc the iPhone. In the meantime, I welcome any speculation.

Are Diaper Dials the New Drunk Dials For the Quarter-Life Crowd?

Last year, a lot of my friends got married, so many of them now have kids. Last night, I received three consecutive calls on iPhone with no voicemail.

When I woke up this morning I immediately sent a text message to this friend just to check in and make sure everything was ok.

The text I received back was just, "Oh sorry, the baby called you last night."

This of course is a huge throw back to the undergrad days when I would wake up to three or four missed calls and a couple voicemails from drunk friends. There was something annoying yet endearing about those calls and now, with the kids, it's almost the same thing.

I'm intrigued that no one else has coined the phrase "diaper dials". (I did a quick search, but all I came up with were some references to baby monitors and babies used as sundials.)

But it is actually pretty awesome that babies can actually dial numbers. Especially mine! That baby has to scroll through to the "E's" in the contacts and then hit "send" or whatever. I can't help but wonder how advanced these babies are going to be when they grow up, I mean, after all, the most advanced technology I could use as a kid was a hippo piano.

Anyone else have any good diaper dial stories?

*note: updated 3/6 at suggestion of 4141 (see comments) Thanks!