Brooklyn

Intern Becomes Real Live Blog Dude–ATD Hires Drake Martinet

Kara Swisher in News on November 9, 2010 at 10:29 am PT

It is always nice when an intern makes good, and that is entirely the case with Drake Martinet, who joins All Things Digital–as of yesterday, in fact. We could not be happier. Plus, we knew he was our kind of geek after he agreed to spend the night in a tent next to Robert Scoble, to cover last year’s Apple iPad release. Drake will be working on a range of things for ATD, from social and multimedia efforts to site analytics to discovering and writing about promising but nascent tech start-ups.

Mark Zuckerberg Really, Really Wanted to Work With Sam Lessin

Peter Kafka in Media on November 2, 2010 at 10:19 am PT

Facebook paid around $20 million for Drop.io, just so it could shut down the service and hire founder Sam Lessin–a deal that’s not terribly unusual. What is unusual: Lessin’s old Harvard classmate Mark Zuckerberg funded the purchase with precious Facebook shares.

How the "Auto-Tune the News" Guys Turned the Bed Intruder's YouTube Fame into iTunes Money

Peter Kafka in Media on September 16, 2010 at 4:00 am PT

How a crime story turned into a viral video, which launched a much bigger viral video, which turned into a sort-of hit song. A Google/Apple success story.

Former Googler Adam Freed Takes COO Job at Etsy, As It Crafts More Funding

Kara Swisher in News on August 27, 2010 at 6:36 am PT

Former Google international exec Adam Freed has taken a job as COO of Etsy, the crafts e-commerce site, which just raised another $20 million in venture funding. Index Ventures is part of the new round, which also includes previous investor Accel Partners. Freed speaks nine languages, which will come in handy at Etsy, since it helps craftspeople globally sell handmade items online.

Video: BoomTown Meets Five Non-SV Techie Dudes in 10 Minutes in Boston

Kara Swisher in News on May 10, 2010 at 5:15 am PT

BoomTown made a trip recently to Boston, where Walt Mossberg and I talked in front of hundreds of East Coast entrepreneurs and investors at an event put on by General Catalyst Partners. The appeal for me: Checking back in with former Excite CEO George Bell, who is now a venture capitalist at GCP. Here’s my interview with him, as well as four start-ups I met with before the event, all of which are not based in Silicon Valley, a relief in and of itself.

Google at the Gallery: Turning Search Results Into Works of Art

Peter Kafka in Media on April 8, 2010 at 4:30 am PT

Ken Solomon turns Google image search pages into something you can hang on a gallery wall. Facebook profiles, too. Pretty cool.

How Google Made Me Feel Better About My Cable Guys

Peter Kafka in Media on February 12, 2010 at 6:09 am PT

Maybe the “YouTube Speed History” chart isn’t designed to make me feel good about my broadband service. But that’s the effect, for now.

Almost Famous: Michael Gregory of Auto-Tune the News

Drake Martinet, Intern, All Things Digital in News on December 18, 2009 at 11:25 pm PT

We went all the way to Brooklyn to visit with, ask some questions of and gather a few pertinent stats about Michael Gregory and Auto-Tune the News, the viral video series featuring mainstream news personalities and hip-hop style singing. No cute cats need apply.

Investors Bet on Another Real-Time Start-Up. Next Up for Hot Potato: Product, Users.

Peter Kafka in Media on October 23, 2009 at 12:16 pm PT

Here’s a good way to get your hands on scarce venture capital money: Create a start-up geared around Twitter-like “real-time” sharing and conversations. The newest entrant: Hot Potato, a buzzy start-up that’s supposed to let users converse about a particular event, whether they’re attending it in person or watching from afar. When it’s up and running, that is. The five-man crew doesn’t have users or a product just yet. But it has just raised around $1 million.

Coming Soon to Your iPhone: Major League Baseball for a Dollar a Game

Peter Kafka in Media on August 28, 2009 at 2:10 pm PT

If you’re out of town and on the move and still want to watch your favorite baseball team, Major League Baseball is about to make you a very interesting offer: The ability to watch a game streamed live to your iPhone, for 99 cents a pop. That will make baseball the first pro sports league to sell mobile access to live games on an on-demand, a la carte basis.