4 posts and columns on Akon

Zynga Drops the Beat With Dr. Dre in Mafia Wars

in Commerce on December 17, 2010 at 1:52 pm PT

Zynga has formed a partnership with rapper Dr. Dre, who is using the social gaming phenomenon to promote his first album in more than a decade.

Video Scenes From YouTube Live: Obama Girl, Chad Hurley and Free Hugs

in News on November 24, 2008 at 12:01 am PT

Here’s a video I did while attending YouTube Live on Saturday–well, live–at the Herbst Pavilion at the Fort Mason Center, right on the San Francisco Bay. The last time I had attended a big tech industry event here, it was the launch of Windows 97 from Microsoft–which was quite a different scene than this entertaining but freaky show, in which online celebrities jumped a little shakily into the analog word.

YouTube’s Big Live Debut: Pretty Small

in Media on November 23, 2008 at 8:30 am PT

Did you watch YouTube Live last night? Odds are you didn’t. The video site’s first attempt at a live-streamed event drew a peak audience of 700,000 people. That’s a lot for a Web event. But if it was a TV show, it would have been canceled.

Obama Girl, Fred, the Movie Reenactment Guy and Other Online Phenoms at YouTube Live

in News on November 21, 2008 at 1:40 am PT

This weekend, YouTube is going analog, showing off a bunch of the freaky people who have become online phenoms, at YouTube Live, its “first ever official live community celebration.” Taking place in San Francisco on Saturday, BoomTown and thousands more are going. And, frankly, I am not sure I want to meet some of these folks, including the truly warped Fred Figglehorn (the No. 1 most subscribed channel in YouTube history), Obama Girl and Brandon Hardesty, the guy who does movie reenactments. Will I be shooting online video? Oh, yes, my fellow freaks.