Online book mega-retailer Amazon.com today announced the “Your Amazon Ad Contest.”  The competition solicits customer-created television commercials, the best of which will win a $10,000 Amazon gift card. “One need only look at the customer reviews for Tuscan Whole Milk and the Three Wolf Moon T-shirt to see how many creative and talented customers we […]

Campaigning for sweeping reform of copyright, privacy and patent laws, Sweden’s Pirate Party this weekend won enough votes in the country’s national elections to secure a seat (possibly two) in the European Parliament. Sweden is accorded 17 representatives in the EU governing legislature, and the Pirate Party’s 7.1 percent showing is enough for at least […]

Internet users viewed a record 16.8 billion online videos in April, representing an increase of 16 percent…..since March!

New York-based Innovative Language Learning Company today announced the launch of Chineseclass101.com, an “online learning system” that makes use of audio and video podcasts, mobile applications, and other digital tools for learning the Chinese language. “Creating content locally in Beijing is a powerful, strategic advantage of Chineseclass101.com. Beijing Chinese is the form of Mandarin Chinese […]

“Social radio network” BlogTalk Radio today announced the launch of two new “premium service packages.” The podcast production and distribution platform is offering enhanced services to talk show hosts (that is, podcasters), whose production needs have outgrown the podcast production and distribution platform’s more basic offerings. The premium and premium plus service packages have monthly […]

Cool/weird iPhone app of the day: Stanton Studio has released ToneTune, a “multiple tuning fork” that helps tune stringed instruments to the correct pitch by ear, “without searching through hard-to-find books or the web.” The application is loaded with standard and alternate tunings, over 60 in all, for guitars and other instruments. Users select a […]

Rocketboom, a long-running daily video podcast, is looking for new talent to anchor the New York-based program, and its new West Coast desk. Rocketboom creator Andrew Baron posted the two job openings today on Internet classifieds site Craigslist under “tv video radio jobs.” Responsibilities for the anchor jobs include “both appearing on camera and contributing […]

Folks who were old enough to watch television in the early 1970s will remember a Reese’s Peaut Butter Cup commercial about “two great tastes, that taste great together”? I was reminded of this today when I discovered a podcast episodes that combines two great topics, robots and stage drama, that seem awfully weird together — […]

And Now For Something Completely Different: some upbeat news from metro Detroit. Putting aside the recent grim news about the automobile industry and its hub, Detroit, Michigan, a story in The Detroit News caught our eye this week. Lacking a youth activity center, the city of Southfield (a suburb of the Motor City) has opened […]

In its first press release since February, online music retailer eMusic announced on Monday that it had inked a deal with giant record label Sony Music Entertainment. eMusic, which offers music downloads by subscription (starting at 24 per month for $11.99), will have access to Sony’s immense music catalog — but only tunes that are […]