Drewbot

Fantastic summary from the Atlantic Wire. Basically, Level 3 is a jerk, but Comcast could easily be perceived as one. 

Level 3 made a gutsy bet that Comcast protesting against the immense volume of traffic they’re throwing Comcast’s way (remember, Netflix alone is the biggest traffic generator in the US) would be perceived as an anti-competitive action since Level 3’s data compete’s with Comcast’s other products.

This isn’t the clear Net Neutrality battle we’d like. In fact, it threatens to screw Net Neutrality either way it goes. Either Level 3 cedes to Comcast’s bill and potentially establishes precent for traffic metering or Comcast lets Level 3 slide (voluntarily or not) and structures all future deals with this situation in mind, upping costs for smaller start ups to come.

And for the record: I was wrong.

Nick Denton explains the strategy behind Gawker’s redesign and strategic shift. There’s too much here to note, quote, and otherwise cherish. Read the whole thing from start to finish if you work in media, enjoy media, or live on the internet.

Well, Google has the cash to spend and badly needs people who ‘get’ local management. Their local efforts haven’t been killing it: they’re geared towards the San Francisco set (QR Codes, micro-celebrity influencer maps*, naming a product Hotpot) and predictably don’t catch on much outside the 415.

If this does go through, I’d suggest an anthropology or business school student start calling Google to observe the merger for the next two years. You couldn’t ask for two companies with more different cultures. Sure, they have the same quirky sheen (meme in-jokes and funky furniture) but inside you’re looking at one company who is all quants and one who deals in shoe-leather and local hand holding.

* Seriously, if I had a dollar for every brainstorm I’ve been in where somebody suggests the ‘let’s use influencers to show their favorites’ approach, I’d have…tens of dollars. It never works, it’s always wayyy too niche (as the creatives try to out-hip each other and the client takes their word for the zeitgeist), and generally blows the budget on fees before they have a chance to consider the media. While it may work for a small launch in the blogosphere, it’s not a mainstream tactic by any measure.

Along the way, the following things happen:

• Carnage, Electro, Kraven, the Swarm, the Lizard, and the aforementioned Swiss Miss have a supervillain “beauty pageant.”
• Carnage sashays down the runaway the fiercest of all.
• The Geek Chorus cheekily admits to making up Swiss Miss (below) for the show. Swiss Miss has ninja stars for nipples.
• 8-legged spider-monster chorus girls rob a shoe store and sing about high heels. — In the show’s best number (“Turn Off The Dark”), Peter Parker almost has dream sex with Arachne while hanging upside down.
• Spider-Man’s leitmotif plays 100 times.

And that’s just the second act! This sounds like an amazing disaster… One I can only hope to see before they shut it down!

kellysutton:

On November 19, 2010, Comcast informed Level 3 that, for the first time, it will demand a recurring fee from Level 3 to transmit Internet online movies and other content to Comcast’s customers who request such content. By taking this action, Comcast is effectively putting up a toll booth at the borders of its broadband Internet access network, enabling it to unilaterally decide how much to charge for content which competes with its own cable TV and Xfinity delivered content. This action by Comcast threatens the open Internet and is a clear abuse of the dominant control that Comcast exerts in broadband access markets as the nation’s largest cable provider.

Hey, Comcast. Stop it.

I’m moving in two months. I will bend over backwards to avoid using Comcast as my ISP.

(Via Danger Room)

A cheat sheet for iOS fonts which displays how they look on the iPhone and iPad. Spoiler alert: Zapfino works on both.