Here’s a smart move from Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism: They are partnering with The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science to launch a dual-degree program that will teach young j-schoolers all they need to know about writing, reporting and creating for the new media world.
Beginning this fall, up to 15 students will be able to sign up for a “Master of Science Program in Computer Science and Journalism.”
They will play with data visualization and data analysis, mobile apps, identifying and exploring misinformation, new ways to tell stories, and more.
Where can we sign up?
“This should be journalism’s golden age; more people have access to more news sources than at any time in history,” said Columbia’s academic dean Bill Grueskin in the press statement. “But most news organizations have not fully embraced the digital revolution. This program is designed to turn out graduates with both the highest caliber of journalism training as well as technical skills ranging from data mining to computational imaging.”
As Eliot Van Buskirk notes on Wired, the program aims to connect the wires between developers and reporters and churn out young people who are fluent in each department’s language.
Everyone knows the problem: Users really don’t know what to ask developers for (or how), and developers have no real idea what their software will need to do in the hands of the users.
“The IT Department [at a news organization] comes up with software programs that the journalists don’t use; the journalists ask for software that is computationally unrealistic,” said Julia Hirschberg, professor of computer science at the Columbia’s Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science. “We aim to produce a new generation of journalists who will understand both fields.” Read more at Wired >
Reid Hoffman intentionally seeded the product with successful friends and connections recognizing that cultivating an aspirational brand was crucial to drive mainstream adoption. (The entire company would have been doomed if there had been massive adoption of have-nots, instead of people who were hiring, recruiting etc.)
In 2003, the pecking order placed VCs at the summit so he refused to meet with potential investors until they adopted LI and ideally recruited their partners as well. Entrepreneurs and aspiring executives would follow their lead.
LinkedIn also deployed an Outlook contact uploader (very painful to build/support) to allow viral spread among professionals. Even today, nobody else has invested energy in this direction despite the 5-10x distribution per inviter you get from Outlook v. Webmail.
LinkedIn also intentionally deferred any features related to revenue or engagement until after the growth path was established, which took nearly 1.5 years.
Invitation reminders that expired after two weeks were another key feature.
Keith Rabois worked at LinkedIn from 2005 to 2007. He is now EVP of strategy and business development at Slide.This post was originally published as an answer on Q&A startup Quora and is re-published here with Keith’s permission.
Sirius XM Radio (SIRI) is about to serve up your Morning Joe.
Four years after XM kicked the network off satellite radio, Sirius is welcoming MSNBC back to their airwaves.
Beginning April 12,Joe Scarborough, Keith Olbermann, Andrea Mitchell and plenty of their other MSNBC (GE) personalities’ shows will be available channel 90 and XM channel 120.
Now Sirius’s shares are “flying high today,” according to Barron’s, in light of the news.
Currently, Sirius is preparing for a hearing before NASDAQ. Their stock has dipped below $1 since September 2008, which violates the exchange’s rules and they will ask the exchange for more time to stay above their minimum dollar.
“We’re thrilled to have MSNBC’s programming available to SIRIUS XM’s millions of listeners,” said Phil Griffin, president of MSNBC in the canned statement. “We know our viewers will appreciate the ability to take MSNBC with them when they’re away from the TV, from ‘Morning Joe’ on the way to the office to our opinion programs on the way home to breaking news anytime.”
Here’s MSNBC’s line-up on the channel:
“Way Too Early” with Willie Geist (Monday – Friday, 5:00 am – 6:00 am ET)
“Morning Joe” hosted by Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski and Willie Geist (Monday – Friday, 6:00 – 9:00 am ET)
“The Daily Rundown” with Chuck Todd and Savannah Guthrie (Monday-Friday, 9:00 – 10:00 am ET)
MSNBC Dayside (10:00 am – 1:00 pm ET and 2:00 – 4:00 pm ET daily) – live news and analysis
Engadget has obtained a picture of a Target inventory handheld listing Amazon’s Kindle. According to Engadget, the Kindle will be in Target starting April 25.
This would be quite a change of strategy for Amazon, which has been the exclusive retailer of its e-book reader since it launched in 2007.
This is smart, because Amazon now has to deal with the fact that the iPad and other e-readers are going to be on display at Best Buy and other stores like Target and Costco. It may not drive sales up significantly, but if the economics work out, it makes sense.
We’ve emailed Amazon to find out if this is legit, but haven’t heard back.
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The black-and-white spot shows Mr. Woods looking directly into a camera. In the background is the voice of Earl Woods, who seems to be talking to his son about the importance of taking responsibility for his actions, people familiar with the matter said.
“I want to find out what your thinking was; I want to find out what your feelings are. Did you learn anything,” the elder Mr. Woods, who died in 2006, says in the recording.
Exactly one month before Iron Man 2 hits the big screen, a viral website has been launched for fictional R&D company AccuTech, “a subsidiary of Stark Industries.”
The site has two videos and a press release detailing the “HazTech Exoskeleton” – what looks to be a new and improved Iron Man suit. The exoskeleton will be unveiled at “Stark Expo 2010″ on May 7th, which is when the sequel is set to debut.
Too bad AccuTech isn’t real though as they really could have helped with this whole unemployment thing.
From their press release: “AccuTech… has grown to become an international knowledge-based group with 4,800 employees in over 30 countries.”
So far in the world of Android, the myTouch has been the most popular series of devices on the market. There are 3 versions available now including the hot “Fender Edition”. Soon, this slider will join the myTouch ranks at T-Mobile.
Engadget has gotten their hands on a spy shot of Radio Shack’s inventory. In the picture the device is listed as coming soon. Initial rumors peg this device for an early May release and looks like it’s on track to meet or beat that. Some are calling this the true successor of the G1 but I’m keeping my hopes up for a real G2 with a full 5 row QWERTY, 1.5 CPU 1GB of ROM and Ram and an AMOLED 3.7 or better screen. I can “Dream” cant I?
We’re all aware of AT&T’s recent Android releases with certain Google apps removed or replaced. These are the most restricted Android devices on the market today. Orange may be following suit with their upcoming Android devices. Google Maps, Youtube, Gmail, Gtalk and possibly Search too will all be removed in their devices.
These core Android apps will be replaced by Orange bloatware. Most people buy Android devices to have access to Google’s apps on the mobile. There is a few things to look forward too from Orange’s Androids. Unlike AT&T, you will be able to install apps from places other than the Android market and the upcoming HTC Desire will include all of Google’s apps.
Statement from Orange:
“We customize the software to phones colors of Orange and we add our own applications, without depleting product features”
- If the mail application (eg Gmail) was actually installed by default, subscribers could exchange e-mails without supplementing their package including a simple formula “Unlimited Internet”. But this is not the case with the Orange software alternative that uses protocols not included in the package Internet access! All calls made from that application are billed out of bundle. Unless you opt for the package “Internet, e-mail and unlimited Wi-Fi, charged 11 euros more … Even in this case, we must make a cross to Gmail. This is exactly the same thing with MSN Messenger which replaces Gtalk …
This seems to be a way for them to sell unlimited internet packages to potential customers. moves like these will sway potential users to go elsewhere for their devices.
How did LinkedIn get initial traction?
before Iron Man 2 hits the big screen, a 
