June, 2011

All Things Digital on the shrinking of the non-social web:

When you exclude just Facebook from the rest of the Web, consumption in terms of minutes of use shrank by nearly nine percent between March 2010 and March 2011, according to data from comScore. And, even when you include Facebook usage, total non-mobile Internet consumption still dropped three percent over the same period.

We’ve known that social is growing lightning fast — notably, Facebook consumption, which grew by 69 percent — but now it’s clear that Facebook is not growing in addition to the Web. Rather, it’s actually taking consumption away from the publishers who compete on the rest of the Web.

Read the rest here.

Amazing Super Powers

Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda liked Hasan Minhaj’s “Wednesday Was A Good Day” so much that he remixed it to include more of the Ice Cube track that inspired it.

OfficialMikeShinoda

Via

Scala & Kolacny Brothers, who acquired mainstream fame for their “Creep” cover that was featured in the trailer for The Social Network, reinvent classic rock and indie songs as elegiac hymns. Their video for “Use Somebody“, while extremely well-done, will definitely be the most depressing music video you’ll see this week.

OfficialScala | Via

The After Hours gang debates the consequences (and motivations) of Batman’s actions.

Katie needs to shut up.

Cracked

SMBC

With Game of Thrones gone until next Spring and the last season of A Couple Glorious Minutes Here And There Of Emmanuelle Chriqui starting this July, season 2 of Boardwalk Empire definitely looks like it’s going to be a breath of fresh air this September.

Boardwalk Empire | Via

xkcd

5 Movie Fan Theories That Make More Sense Than the Movie – [Cracked]

LulzSec Calls It Quits, Anonymous Takes Over – [Boing Boing]

As noted on Boing Boing over the weekend, LulzSec has called it quits, amid increasing efforts by the FBI and other agencies to track them down—and amid a steady stream of doxing and leaked IRC logs by hacker foes. One LulzSec member told the AP they weren’t quitting because of pressure from law enforcement, but because they were “bored.”

Google Notches One Billion Unique Visitors Per Month – [WSJ]

Google’s websites had more than a billion unique visitors in May, the first time an Internet company has hit that benchmark, according to comScore data released Tuesday.

Over the past year, Google’s unique visitors per month have increased 8.4% to just over one billion. During the same period, Microsoft maintained the No. 2 position with 905 million unique visitors in May, up around 15%, while Facebook’s count surged by 30% to about 714 million visitors. In May, Yahoo saw 689 million visitors, up 10.8% over the past year, though it was surpassed by Facebook in October.

Why Are Text Messages Marked Up 7314%? – [Consumerist]

Verizon and other cellphone companies mark up the cost of text messages by at least 7314% when compared to their rates for data transfer services.

North Korean Children Begging, Army Starving – [The ABC]

Footage shot inside North Korea and obtained by the ABC has revealed the extent of chronic food shortages and malnutrition inside the secretive state.

The video is some of the most revealing footage ever smuggled out of the impoverished North Korean state.

Shot over several months by an undercover North Korean journalist, the harrowing footage shows images of filthy, homeless and orphaned children begging for food and soldiers demanding bribes.