I’ll try and stay as upbeat as possible today. After a roundup of how people uniting for Japan and how you can give back, I cover SXSW shenanigans, Nelson Mandela’s new fashion brand, and Time Warner’s new iPad app. Plus, how to set up your own hipster traps!
First, Happy Ides of March!
1. Japan is in crisis. It is horrifying to image what these people are going through. Updates: [ION]
[Officials checked for signs of radiation on children from the evacuation area near the Fukushima Daini nuclear plant in Koriyama. NYT via ION]
- Why you should join the Japan Relief Effort. [GofG LA]
- Workers strain to retake control after blast and fire at Japan blast. The latest from the [NYT]
- Japan coverage in images [NewYorker]
- AT&T, Spring and Verizon are all offering free texts and calls to Japan from the U.S. [Mashable]
- Bows for Japan: [Krispayne]
- Uniqlo Donates $25.6 Million to Japan. [BlackBook]
- Japanese officials have said that nuclear levels are falling at the Fukushima plant after this morning’s fire, which caused a dramatic strike in radiation, was extinguished. [Reuters]
- Apple does the right thing in Japan. [KevinRose]
- Germany and Switzerland freeze development of nuclear reactors. [RS]
- Glenn Beck thinks the catastrophes in Japan are a message from God. Does not go over well. [MM]
- The “witness tag.” Really good idea from Jeff Jarvis.”It would be terribly useful if there were a separate convention for tweets from witnesses to major events so their reports can be separated from the discussion that follows. How about !jpquake for witnesses vs. #jpquake for discussion?” [BuzzMachine]
2. SXSW: With all of the social media nerds tweeting about their Austin whereabouts, Glynnis MacNicol points out the obvious:
“For the first time I can recall, Twitter’s reaction to current events totally insufficient.”
I too was in Austin and had a lovely stay at the St. Cecilia’s hotel. I also made it out to Lockhart, TX for a pretty big BBQ adventure. Catch my tweets HERE. Our photographer Ben Gustafsson was ALL over the place capturing the festivities, like the one at right of a group of us at the VYou party on Sat night. Check out his albums:
[The Idealist + Representation at the Hotel Cecilia]
[The Barbarian Group & StumbleUpon Present TOS Violation]
[SXSW Foursquare Party Day Two]
[SXSW Ignite Social Media Party Day One]
- Abolish SXSW! A rant by Mike Taylor for the [Observer]
- Did SXSW give us all a peak at what the post PC world looks like? [CNet]
“Best thing I’ve seen at SXSW hands down – a monkey using an iPhone.” (left) [@jennydeluxe]
“Looking down is the new looking up.” [WSJ]
Barry Diller spoke about the growing tech bubble at SXSW: “So is there a tech bubble, as evidenced by the paper valuations of companies like Facebook, Groupon, and Twitter? “Well, we’re puffing it up pretty nicely,” Diller said, calling the multibillion-dollar valuations of companies with high user engagement but unproven long-term revenue “mathematically insane.”[CNet]
Ogilvynotes has done a FANTASTIC job of sketching out the conferences best panels [Ogilvy]
The Foursquare party, like most every party at sxsw this weekend, looked like this: (read: too packed to move). [NM]
3. Sen. Chuck Schumer demands NTSB oversight of discount buses after fatal bronx crash. [NYDN]
4. Game Changing. How to watch live TV anywhere in your house with Time Warner Cable’s New iPad App. FINALLY. [BI]
5. A million bucks just isn’t what it used to be. How much money do rich people need to feel rich? A heck of a lot. $7.5 million to be exact. [WSJ]
6. Someone is setting up “hipster traps” around NYC. The one pictured is baited with Pabst Blue Ribbon, American Spirits, a bike chain and neon-pink Wayfarers. These are super funny and also would have worked all over Austin this weekend. [Gawker]
7. Nate Silver provides his insights in the advancement probabilities of teams in the NCAA basketball tournament. [NYT]
8. The Bachelor’s Brad Womack picked his woman last night. Emily Maynard, the 24-year-old blond event planner from Charlotte looks strikingly similar to Holly Madison. [Caroline]
9. Google is reportedly going to unveil a new social network called “Circles” sometime in May. [TNW]
10. 46664 Apparel. Nelson Mandela and his AIDS charity (46664- named after the number he wore in jail) are launching an international fashion line this year, which includes brightly colored polo shirts with contrast trim, loose-fit shorts, and—according to the press release—even couture garments. [Independent]
11. Below, a photo of a massive, tightly-packed schools of fish in the waters off of Acapulco, Mexico, a phenomenon thought to have been caused by the recent tsunami. [ION]
12. NYC subway trains all have their own twitter accounts. A really simple and effective way to check in on your commute delays each day. Thanks @rachelsterne! [Twitter]
13. The 2011 most influential restaurants in the U.S. At least in the land of social media: [Socialcoco]
14. For those of us who could never actually commit to branding themselves with tattoos (myself included), check out these Tattoo tights by Rodarte for Opening Ceremony. [Vie]
15. “Twitter has had a number of logos but this was the first.” [@jack]
16. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is trying to convince women in his country to say “no” to breast implants and augmentations. His comments come at a time when Venezuela has emerged as one of the world’s leading markets for breast augmentation. [NYT]
17. Anonymous leaks Bank of America files. Who doesn’t love reading documents about mortgages? [VF]
18. A woman was killed, another sexually assaulted at a Bethesda Lululemon store. [WaPo]
19. New York Public Radio joined the Tumblr bandwagon. Is this the beginning of the end or a new beginning? [WNYC]
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20. Opening Ceremony has partnered up with shoe company Timberland and has unleashed some poppy sliders for Spring at $95 a pop. I can’t tell if I like this idea or not, so I’m posting it on here to let you guys decide for me. [OC]
21. Check out the 2011 best gadgets from the guys at [Details]
22. The web has finally surpassed newspapers as source for American’s news. [ReadWriteWeb]
23. The New Yorker. In this week’s issue: David Remnick on Obama and the Middle East ; Paul Tough on poverty and illness; D. T. Max on Magnus Carlsen; Dana Goodyear on a Hollywood therapist; John Lanchester on modernist cuisine; James Surowiecki on the N.F.L. labor dispute; Ian Frazier on New York’s seals ; James Wood on Rana Dasgupta; Peter Schjeldahl on Glenn Ligon; Nancy Franklin on “The Chicago Code” and “Breakout Kings”; Anthony Lane on “Battle: Los Angeles” and “Paul” ; fiction by Ben Marcus; and more. [NY]
24. “Wear It Now: Grace Coddington.” On Vogue.com today, The Creative Director lets us in on her loves: [Vogue]
25. Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel may have called it quits but the two still remain supportive of each other. And of our friend Scott Harrison’s efforts. Jessica is donating her 29th birthday to Charity:Water, and is close to reaching her goal of $10k. Check out JT’s tweet: [@jtimberlake]
26. There is a point, people. Check out this slide show of wacky royal wedding memorabilia, like these nail decals of the couple. [Today]
27. The Pope is getting his own Facebook page. But, not the current Pope, the old one: John Paul II who has already passed away. What’s the use? His beautification efforts by the Vatican of course! Is it odd that this makes sense to me thanks to my Catholic School upbringing (it ‘aint easy becoming a saint. duh.) [AP]
28. Check out these 18 old photos that you won’t believe aren’t photoshopped, like this photo taken in Colorado in 1928 of a bunch of Ku Klux Klan members whooping it up on the Ferris Wheel. [Cracked]
29. Last week the Times wrote about Alvin Wong, the happiest person in America based on the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index data. Well, now you can meet the least happy American: a 4’10″ middle-aged Muslim woman without children and no husband. [NYT]
30. PepsiCo unveils first ever “All-Plant Bottle.” Take that, Coca-Cola. [AJC]
31. Meet UK’s youngest ever alcoholic. He’s three-years-old. [AP]
32. 5 pregnancy myths debunked. Old wives tales and pregnancy go hand and hand, but more likely than not, they aren’t backed by science. [LATimes]
33. Will leave you with this “Fun House of the Day.” House with slides in place of staircases have been quite popular as of late, but, check out this House with a WATER slide in the bedroom! [SHS]
Well, that’s all for me today, do you have something to include in tomorrow’s reading list? Email me! Rachelle@guestofaguest.com!
