mortarandpixel http://mortarandpixel.com/blog the findings and observations of a Digital Channel Strategist Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:14:34 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Censoring, err ‘Filtering’, comes to Twitter http://mortarandpixel.com/blog/2012/01/censoring-err-filtering-comes-to-twitter/ http://mortarandpixel.com/blog/2012/01/censoring-err-filtering-comes-to-twitter/#comments Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:14:34 +0000 Mickey Slater http://mortarandpixel.com/blog/?p=233 If we call it Filtering then it sounds like a ‘Feature’

Starting today, we give ourselves the ability to reactively withhold content from users in a specific country — while keeping it available in the rest of the world. We have also built in a way to communicate transparently to users when content is withheld, and why. – via Twitter’s Blog

Forbe’s Response Article

Original Annoucement

]]> http://mortarandpixel.com/blog/2012/01/censoring-err-filtering-comes-to-twitter/feed/ 0 Meet Evi, the cycloptic Siri for everyone else http://mortarandpixel.com/blog/2012/01/meet-evi-the-cycloptic-siri-for-everyone-else/ http://mortarandpixel.com/blog/2012/01/meet-evi-the-cycloptic-siri-for-everyone-else/#comments Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:19:13 +0000 Mickey Slater http://mortarandpixel.com/blog/?p=229 Have you been pining for the ability to talk to your phone and have it respond but don’t have one of those shiny new iPhone4s? Well fret not anymore. Meet Evi. Evi is Siri for everyone else. Available for both iPhone and Android platforms it uses the same language engine as Siri but makes claims of being even better than Siri for a variety of queries.  It costs $0.99 to get it on your phone which, while not free, is still cheaper then a new phone/contract.

At the moment Evi’s servers are being hammered by publicity and are not responding but expect those to get fixed up shortly. View Evi in AppStore

What time is it in Paris

 

 

]]> http://mortarandpixel.com/blog/2012/01/meet-evi-the-cycloptic-siri-for-everyone-else/feed/ 0 The art and competition of growing a beard. http://mortarandpixel.com/blog/2012/01/the-art-and-competition-of-growing-a-beard/ http://mortarandpixel.com/blog/2012/01/the-art-and-competition-of-growing-a-beard/#comments Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:45:22 +0000 Mickey Slater http://mortarandpixel.com/blog/?p=226 This past saturday Portland played host to the West Coast Beard & Mustache Championships. And yes, it is what it sounds like and yes it is pretty awesome.

The rules are simple: Mustache wax and hair spray are the only haircare products permitted. But there are almost as many categories as there are competitors. Natural mustaches. Styled mustaches in two divisions: Smaller than, or greater than, 6 inches wide. Muttonchops. Full beards and partial beards, with or without styled mustaches. And, of course, the anything-goes freestyle mustache and freestyle beard categories.

Click through to read the full story and see photos via Wired

]]> http://mortarandpixel.com/blog/2012/01/the-art-and-competition-of-growing-a-beard/feed/ 3 It’s been a while. http://mortarandpixel.com/blog/2012/01/its-been-a-while/ http://mortarandpixel.com/blog/2012/01/its-been-a-while/#comments Mon, 23 Jan 2012 18:37:32 +0000 Mickey Slater http://mortarandpixel.com/blog/?p=220 It has been a while since I last posted an update to this blog but I was recently inspired to give it another go. I will be posting about everything from dogs, digital musings, bikes, movies, to gadgets, to my various side projects. But i have faith that after a couple of weeks I will find a nice rhythm to it all.

 

M

]]> http://mortarandpixel.com/blog/2012/01/its-been-a-while/feed/ 0 The future is faster then you can imagine http://mortarandpixel.com/blog/2010/03/the-future-is-faster-then-you-can-imagine/ http://mortarandpixel.com/blog/2010/03/the-future-is-faster-then-you-can-imagine/#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:16:28 +0000 Mickey Slater http://mortarandpixel.com/blog/?p=217 We know that the future will be faster, bigger, stronger… but sometimes its hard to quantify by how much.

Cisco introduced a new router today, that will become the new backbone of the Internet, it delivers 322 terabits of data per second.

This speed translates into the entire printed collection of the Library of Congress being downloaded in a second. Put another way, it would enable every single person in China to make a simultaneous video call, or deliver every movie ever made in 4 minutes.

Makes you wonder what we will do with all that bandwith…

Cisco Router Delivers 322 Terabits per Second – Reviews by PC Magazine.

]]> http://mortarandpixel.com/blog/2010/03/the-future-is-faster-then-you-can-imagine/feed/ 0 Twitter Blog: Measuring Tweets http://mortarandpixel.com/blog/2010/03/twitter-blog-measuring-tweets/ http://mortarandpixel.com/blog/2010/03/twitter-blog-measuring-tweets/#comments Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:35:37 +0000 Mickey Slater http://mortarandpixel.com/blog/?p=211 whooooooooooaaaaaa!!!1!   50million tweets a day!!

The Twitter analytics team is sharing some of their usage data and its a beautiful example of exponential growth.

Folks were tweeting 5,000 times a day in 2007. By 2008, that number was 300,000, and by 2009 it had grown to 2.5 million per day. [ ... ] Today, we are seeing 50 million tweets per day—that’s an average of 600 tweets per second.

Tweets per day is just one number, but a pretty interesting one to look at.

Twitter Blog: Measuring Tweets.

]]> http://mortarandpixel.com/blog/2010/03/twitter-blog-measuring-tweets/feed/ 0 A real-time sharing stream of activty http://mortarandpixel.com/blog/2010/03/a-real-time-sharing-stream-of-activty/ http://mortarandpixel.com/blog/2010/03/a-real-time-sharing-stream-of-activty/#comments Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:48:24 +0000 Mickey Slater http://mortarandpixel.com/blog/?p=209 Have you been waiting for a realtime stream of what people are sharing on the web? Wait no more, ShareThis just launched the ShareThis Stream which does just that.

Is it cool? Sure.
Will i blog about it? Yea.
But will I use this to find out about cool stuff? No.

Sharing Stream, Real-time Sharing, Trending Shares – ShareThis Stream.

]]> http://mortarandpixel.com/blog/2010/03/a-real-time-sharing-stream-of-activty/feed/ 2 Adidas Augmented Reality shoe brings gaming to your… feet? http://mortarandpixel.com/blog/2010/02/adidas-augmented-reality-shoe-brings-gaming-to-your-feet/ http://mortarandpixel.com/blog/2010/02/adidas-augmented-reality-shoe-brings-gaming-to-your-feet/#comments Tue, 23 Feb 2010 21:23:56 +0000 Mickey Slater http://mortarandpixel.com/blog/?p=206 I have seen Augmented Reality (AR) on in magazines, on beer coasters, on playing cards, on boardgames, on mobile phones… and on shoes.

Kinda cool, but personally i would have given it a twist so people without the shoes could play with some of the AR’y goodness as well.

Check out the video to see it in action for yourself.

]]> http://mortarandpixel.com/blog/2010/02/adidas-augmented-reality-shoe-brings-gaming-to-your-feet/feed/ 0 Video preview of Prototype Android tablets http://mortarandpixel.com/blog/2010/02/video-preview-of-prototype-android-tablets/ http://mortarandpixel.com/blog/2010/02/video-preview-of-prototype-android-tablets/#comments Tue, 23 Feb 2010 21:12:20 +0000 Mickey Slater http://mortarandpixel.com/blog/?p=204 In the even that you want a tablet, but Apple’s iPad just doesn’t do it for you, check out these prototype tablets running Android.

And if you want to tinker with it today, there is a $400 developer kit you can get.

Video: Prototype Android tablets powered by NVIDIA Tegra 2 multi-core processors.

]]> http://mortarandpixel.com/blog/2010/02/video-preview-of-prototype-android-tablets/feed/ 0 is.it.raining.indubl.in ? http://mortarandpixel.com/blog/2010/02/is-it-raining-indubl-in/ http://mortarandpixel.com/blog/2010/02/is-it-raining-indubl-in/#comments Fri, 19 Feb 2010 20:41:14 +0000 Mickey Slater http://mortarandpixel.com/blog/?p=202 What’s weird, is how I often find myself asking this very question.

Is it raining in Dublin?.

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