15 Year-Old Installs WordPress, Launches “Startup,” Makes TechCrunch

Posted on August 6, 2008
Filed Under Web 2.0 Kool Aid | 1 Comment

Every now and again, I come across a great story about a young entrepreneur.

In the world of Web 2.0, the story of now 18 year-old Ashley Qualls is perhaps one of the most notable. Her MySpace layouts website, Whateverlife.com, reportedly pulls in a nice 5-figure amount each month in advertising revenue and made Qualls a millionaire before she turned 18. She paid $250,000 cash for her home at the age of 17.

Not bad for what started out as a hobby and not bad for an average teenage girl living in Michigan.

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More Evidence Blogging is a Tough Business

Posted on August 5, 2008
Filed Under Unjournalism | Leave a Comment

Profy was one of the few technology blogs that I still perused on a fairly regular basis. The reason? I always felt that Profy’s Cyndy Aleo-Carriera did a good job at keeping track of the latest happenings in the tech blogosphere (something which I have little interest in doing these days) and filtering out what isn’t important or interesting.

So it was with some surprise that I learned that Profy’s bloggers, Cyndy Aleo-Carriera, Leslie Poston and Triston McIntyre, have all resigned. Aleo-Carriera has moved on to The Industry Standard and Poston and McIntryre have moved on to Tech Blorge and UptownUncorked.

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Sponsor Shout-Out

Posted on August 4, 2008
Filed Under Commercial Interruptions | Leave a Comment

Thanks to recently-launched Finnish Internet startup MySites for sponsoring The Drama 2.0 Show and supporting my Future Bail Fund.

MySites, which bills itself as a “a single place for all your online needs,” has been busy implementing user feedback and adding new features and is looking for your feedback so if you haven’t done so already, consider giving MySites a whirl and leaving your thoughts for MySites founder Ramine Darabiha.

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Party Like a Rockstar Web 2.0 Remix

Posted on August 1, 2008
Filed Under Commercial Interruptions | Leave a Comment

Unfortunately, the A-list Web 2.0 celebrities that I tried to get together to lay down a hot rap single couldn’t get their schedules to align so my chance at Billboard success as a songwriter didn’t materalize.

But maybe the second time will be the charm. Like any aspiring songwriter, I’m sticking with it.

My newest song is the Web 2.0 Remix of the Shop Boyz hit Party Like a Rockstar.

[Chorus]

Y-y-y-yeah, y-y-y-yeah, y-y-y-yeah, y-y-y-yeah

T-t-t-totally dude!!!!

Party like a rock
Party like a rockstar
Party like a rock
Party like a rockstar
Party like a rock
Party like a rockstar
Party like a rockstar

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Is Web 2.0 One Big Party?

Posted on August 1, 2008
Filed Under Web 2.0 Kool Aid | Leave a Comment

I’ve always been amused by the seemingly perpetual schedule of Web 2.0 “parties” that take place.

From the TechCrunch shindigs to the Mashable bashes (or more appropriately mashes), Web 2.0 knows how to get its party on, even if the parties are heavy on sausage and khakis. To be fair, nobody promised good parties.

Perhaps the preponderance of parties in the small world of Web 2.0 isn’t all that unexpected. After all, these are the “social” media people we’re talking about here.

And socialize they do.

To be sure, other “industries” have no shortage of parties.

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Yahoo Finance Sucks

Posted on July 31, 2008
Filed Under Unjournalism | 3 Comments

Question: which of the following headlines does not belong in the list?

If you selected “Julia Allison’s Real Test,” you are smarter than the people making decisions at Yahoo Finance.

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The Wisdom of Drama - July 30, 2008

Posted on July 30, 2008
Filed Under The Wisdom of Drama | Leave a Comment

Drama 2.0 says:

Easy money usually goes as fast as it comes.

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Why VCs Invest in Stupid Companies

Posted on July 28, 2008
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From Webvan to Facebook, why do VCs make stupid investments?

Since I’m often very critical of VCs, I figured it was appropriate to look at the reasons behind the their less-than-intelligent investments in my latest post on E-consultancy.com.

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Another Non-Existent Non-Profit, the Open Web Foundation, Launches

Posted on July 25, 2008
Filed Under Web 2.0 Kool Aid | 2 Comments

Back in April, I criticized DataPortability for presenting itself (and allowing others to present it) as a legitimate non-profit organization when, in fact, DataPortability does not exist as a legal entity.

With “open” everything being in vogue, it’s no surprise that another “organization” has launched to make sure the web becomes a more “open” place.

This “organization” is the Open Web Foundation. It describes itself as “an independent non-profit dedicated to the development and protection of open, non-proprietary specifications for web technologies.”

There’s only one problem - the Open Web Foundation does not exist as a legal entity.

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Zuckerberg’s Zany Comparisons

Posted on July 24, 2008
Filed Under Web 2.0 Kool Aid | 1 Comment

At Facebook’s F8 developer conference, Mark Zuckerberg proved once again that not only is he still socially awkward (ironic for a “social” networking startup CEO) but that he is still capable of stating absurdities with a straight (or robotic?) face.

As discussed at Valleywag, Zuckerberg used his keynote to prove that he’s completely out of touch with reality by making some zany comparisons about Facebook applications.

iLike is Like MySpace, Only Better

According to Zuckerberg, the “top 5,000 bands on iLike have more fans on iLike than they have on any other site on the web.” He goes on to note that this is especially impressive because it puts iLike ahead of MySpace.

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