But keep it short, willya?

Desperation may be driving innovation with  http://www.myidea4ca.com/ where the California governor is asking for ideas to help solve the budget crisis among other things. All you have to do to participate is tweet your idea and include the hashtag: #myidea4ca

Although many of the ideas involve, well… pot and Harvey Milk Day, you can vote ideas up and down, and one will hope the cream will rise to the top!

Apparently Apple was unawares that Yelp had snuck in a feature to it’s iPhone app that essentially shows you in real time through your iPhone 3gs video camera Yelp ratings of establishments you point your camera at… Demo’d by Mashable here:


It’s an unofficial “easter egg” activated by shaking the phone thrice when in the Yelp app, and it’s pretty darn cool.

Mashable article here

There’s been much talk recently about Apple’s approval process for its App Store. Many have attacked the apparent irregularity with which Apple either approves or denies submitted apps. Or, in some cases, approves then yanks them.

Apple has stayed mum on the subject, offering little to no explanation on the process—until recently. With a little nudging from the FCC, Apple was forced to explain the reasoning behind the rejection of Google Voice. Apple’s response on Friday went a little like this:

“Contrary to published reports, Apple has not rejected the Google Voice application, and continues to study it. The application has not been approved because, as submitted for review, it appears to alter the iPhone’s distinctive user experience by replacing the iPhone’s core mobile telephone functionality and Apple user interface with its own user interface for telephone calls, text messaging and voicemail.”

Read more about the Apple app approval saga here, here, and here. Really, can we squeeze in any more words that start with “app”?

CNN released an interesting, highly-investigative report today on the “12 most annoying types of Facebookers,” breaking them down into different categories of users.



Sure, we all know a “Self-Promoter,” a “Bad Grammarian,” even a “Lurker” or two. But is the author merely bitter because he has less than 300 friends? Or perhaps on the receiving end of some not-so-flattering photo tags? Either way, he seems to be in on the joke. And so are we.

An interactive video player in the pages of a magazine can’t be cheap. So will readers respond? CBS and Pepsi are hoping so, with an exciting promotion to hype their fall lineup. A paper-thin video player will be inserted into the pages of the Sept. 18 issue of Entertainment Weekly loaded with video content touting CBS’s fall shows.

Perhaps if you want your message to jump off the page, you gotta make it creative. This innovative approach comes at a critical time for CBS who is battling (along with other networks) a ratings erosion due to increased digital options.

Read more about the promotion here.

Is the exclamation point really necessary? It seems that anything related to Twitter these days is getting extra punctuation, including this upcoming third-party application, coming soon from Thing Labs.

We happen to love the mascot: an adorable bear in what appears to be a dead Twitter bird suit.

Chirp, chirp.

Check out this 90-second video explaining some of Brizzly’s features:

A bear in bird’s clothing or a robust new Twitter client?  Read more about Brizzly here and here, and tell us what you think! You can also sign up at the site to receive an invite once Brizzly is live.

Hey, who invited that guy?

Melissa Brandts and her husband were in Banff National Park recently and set their camera to autotimer to snap a quick shot, when this little bugger showed up.

Since being posted on National Geographic’s site, the squirrel crasher has gone viral. The whole thing is nuts! The Canuck crasher is appearing all over the web. Check out Mashable’s top 10. And, because it’s Friday, we welcome him to the Asylum too.

CNET asks, “Can the Twitterati help sell your soda pop?” The answer, it appears, is a resounding yes.

@mtn_dew's Twitter feed

The folks at PepsiCo, parent company of Mountain Dew, took to a bowling alley in a hipster-heavy Brooklyn neighborhood to promote their newest product release. Mountain Dew Ultraviolet was mixed with vodka and distributed to the alley chock full of Twittering partygoers.  INSTA-TWITTER-TASTE-TEST! And not without incentive: random tweets with the designated hashtag were eligible for prizes like an HDTV or a casino weekend package.

Results? A shocking lack of negative responses and a whole lot of buzz…Or should we say fizz?

Wanna win a makeover trip to NYC? Um, yeah. How ’bout getting exclusive new Gossip Girl content like a music video, iPhone wallpapers, buddy icons, badges, and screensavers? Not bad, eh?

Check out the Warner Bros. Facebook Makeover Takeover app we created here.

Gossip Girl Facebook Makeover Takeover App

We love it! XOXO

You may think we have an unnatural fascination with Lego. But it turns out our Lego love affair is really an indication that America’s favorite blocks are in the zeitgeist. Seems that Warner Bros. is toying with plans to develop a Lego movie.

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Not to be outdone, Hasbro and Mattel have recently thrown around a slate of ideas based on Monopoly and Candyland, among others. Lego my movie!

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