|
Monday, September 25 09:48 PM |
|
How Tragic Will the Internet Be For UrbanMagic?
|
 |
Earlier this year the press became very excited when Earvin Magic Johnson announced that he would launch a well funded urban lifestyle/entertainment web property with inexperienced executives. With no new ideas, technology or content Magic declared that he would capture the urban Internet audience using the power of his name. The website is called UrbanMagic.com, a clever hybrid derived by tacking the word urban onto his nickname. It sounds more like a low-budget version of David Blaine's act then a web-based business.
To help implement Magic's grand vision of Internet redundancy was former Asst. Secretary of Commerce, Larry Irving. Irving provided UrbanMagic with a wealth of telecommunications and technology relationships, a deep knowledge of the industry and a magic calling card, which could open almost any door in new media. Of course, his level of technological competence, industry credibility and Internet experience was far too likely to produce a viable revenue model and innovative ideas. Since these are such unfamiliar concepts at urban portals, Ann Simmons quickly replaced Mr. Irving. Simmons was an entertainment industry executive whose only experience managing a technology venture was programming the VCR's in Russell's Malibu home.
 Adding a whole 2 months of solid AOL email experience to the companies Internet knowledge is former Impact editor Barry Wade. The self-proclaimed Internet strategist has been tapped to run content development for the site. Based on Barry's past accomplishments at One Nut magazine, we expect to see more aspirational features about green-eyed homosexual rappers.
UrbanMagic has retained the services of the Chai drinking brain trust at Scient. Scient, The eBusiness Systems Innovator, a fancy name for building websites, is setting up the strategy for UrbanMagic. This is interesting considering several other Scient accelerated ventures have failed miserably. Ten million dollars may get in but investors wont get a dime out.
UrbanMagic decided to use Scient; a company full of razor scooters riding suits, because they felt it would lend credibility with investors. Scient may bring some business direction and a clear technological vision to UrbanMagic; unfortunately the direction is usually in the wrong way. Scient builds expensive sites that are complex and difficult to maintain then they bill you for the privilege of using their name.
Just when you thought 10-minute flash intros were ubiquitous, UrbanMagic goes against the grain with a page that shows exactly how many ideas they have. The start page for the site looks like Tim Berners-Lee created it. Scient, which gets paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to do the thinking for UrbanMagic, allowed this page to go live. It's a good indication of their dedication to the project and their respect for the audience the project is supposed to reach.
They have already missed several launch windows because of a lack of ideas. No matter what UrbanMagic ends up being, we should be able to get a few Starbuck's coupons out of it and it's easier to type than UrbanKareem-Abdul-Jabbar.com.
|
 Print
this article |
|
|
|
Next up is urbanorenthal.com-O.J. Simpson's entrance into the urban portal market. |
I am looking at the site now, is it supposed to be live? If so, there is nothing but a damn globe on the site. I am going back to www.blackvoices.com/member_photos.
LJ |
what in sam-hill is going on here? what makes magic think that his movie theater "midas-touch" will make it in cyberspace? i'm watching and hoping that this venture will be successful, but i think we all know how this song will end.....bb |
This one won't happen. I'm willing to take bets on it.
|
To the editors at UE - (if there are any)
- The wrong way to use then...
"It sounds more like a low-budget version of a David Blaine's act then a web-based business."
", its unlikely that UrbanMagic will be more then the urban version of the Den."
The right way to use then...
"Scient builds expensive sites that are complex and difficult to maintain then they bill you for the privilege of using their name."
- Other awefully bad sentences for this story...
"The intro page for the looks like Tim Berners-Lee created it."
"On the web, a former ball player is about an exciting as an Episode of the 1900 House."
- Suggestion.. Read your articles out loud than the may have better written articles posted up here then before. Don't worry it will still be an exciting as its always been.
R.I.F. |
yes anon, and the right way to spell awfully is awfully, and as for "Suggestion.. Read your articles out loud than the may have better written articles posted up here then before. Don't worry it will still be an exciting as its always" - i think you should have given that one a quick skim-through yourself; i can't make head or tail of it. |
Eddie...I do believe the errors in Anon's last paragraph were intentional. How could you miss the overt jokey joke? No matter. |
And oh yeah...what in tarnation is going on with this site? Went to check it out and all I saw was a globe with a "U" in the middle. The page just sat there. THREE WORDS: TRY FA LIN'. hmph! |
Yeah, this makes sense.
Maybe Larry Irving woke the fuck up and realized that he could start his own Internet company and beat down all these clowns.
Questions to ask an urban internet executive:
1) Can you a)build a computer, b)tell me what an IP adress is c)find me some hot looking white women to date.
2)How did you get your start in the record industry.
3)Have you had dinner with Puffy lately or are you going to testify at his trial?
4)When was the last time you were at Twilo? Spy? The Tombs?
5)What color are the wheels on your Razor?
6) Did we have sex and when?
7)How many French Blue shirts do you own and where did you buy them?
8)OK, you have a Palm Pilot and I have a Visor. We need to Sync so I know where all the happening parties are this week
9)Your white girlfriend is from Iowa. My white girlfriend is from Sweden. Who has the better white girlfriend?
10)If your server crashes in the middle of the night, what do you do?
a)Beat the shit out your tech support guy with a champagne bottle. b) Send a few of your boys over to beat the shit out of your tech support guy. c)Shoot your server with a 9mm and tell your tech support guy that he better have the motherfucker up in an hour, or he's gonna have to work with a cap in his ass.
11)If you have a flash design that takes too long to load, you
a)are slowing down your website.
b)Need to cutdown the size
c)Are styling and livin' large.
12)If you are losing money, you
a)have a big launch party
b)Take an Italian vacation
c)loan yourself $900K
|
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
116 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
You have got to be kidding. A site that consists of a globe with a U on it.
And they probably paid 6 figures for it.
I could do better with MS Paint and Notepad for Windows 3.1
|
UrbanOrenthal.com is poised to be the premier destination for urban entertainment. Featuring REAL-TIME chats, interactive message boards, and intriguing original content, UrbanOrenthal.com will quickly become the dominant name in urban portals. With O.J. Simpson's business savvy and big-name credibility, UrbanOrenthal.com will quickly garner the majority of the wired urban market. Other features of the site include an interactive archive of Simpson's court records, extensive footage of Simpson and related people (for broadband users), and lots of slick graphic design by the finest names in the business. The soon to be launched e-commerce strategy will include partnerships with existing bricks-and-mortar stores to bring consumers the widest selection of music, urban apparel, and O.J memorabillia. With strong name recognition, provocative original content, and one-stop e-commerce, UrbanOrenthal.com is soon to be the number one destination for the informed urban population. |
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
116 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
Heard Kioken is gonna do the coding for UrbanOrenthal.com
|
Don't pay attention to the dissing; it's just a good page to know about |
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
250 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
So, you ask - what's up with that [*]other basketball star - Shaq and his site, Dunk.net.....
Microsoft OLE DB Provider for ODBC Drivers error '80040e31'
[Microsoft][ODBC SQL Server Driver]Timeout expired
/store/nonssl/loginfo.asp, line 32
|
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
116 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
re:MsInternetAfrique
Which Page are U refering to? |
UrbanOrenthal.com preview:
The often broken Urban-eCommerce channel will consist of:
* Designer knock-offs of the famed OJ gloves, hat, and shoes.
* Hand crafted Knives, specially designed for Comlumbian neck ties
* Amateur movies of Marcus Allen boning the former Mrs Simpson
* Amateur movies of OJ boning Kato.
* OJ’s new romantic instructional book, "What White Women Really Want".
* OJ’s new self help book, "If I Can’t Have Her, Nobody Can"
and... due to to all of the fancy Flash technology used on the site, checking-out after shopping will be as slow as the White Bronco low-speed car chase.
This site is certain to be bloody good! Other features include:
* OJ's psychic hotline;
* OJ's new workout video - key moves include running through a crouded airport with Dingo boots on, and a variation of Taebo in which you use knives instead of boxing gloves;
***Just added*** a live web cam which shows OJ burglarizing his last girlfriend's crib;
Don't miss out. |
techtruth - re Shaq's Dunk.net...
They were a featured fuck a few weeks ago on pud's website. A lot of the staff got slammed and Dunk.net's prospects of making a profit is less likely than Shaq making 10 out of 10 free throws. |
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
250 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
Teckie Geek -
No chance at profits if your site is down. Especially over a problem connecting to your database, which crashes your entire site.
[*]Hey Shaq - I can fix your problem in 10 minutes - for a small fee....
[*]Hey Magic - I can get a real site up and running for you in two weeks, nah - make that two days. Hits guaranteed, man! We just need some photos of you. Articles like -"how I did 18 women after the playoff game". Don't worry, I'll bring my digital camera for the re-enactment of those special how-to scenes.
Love those urban internet exec questions. Gotta use them at the next celebration. |
Mr Mous, You've got jokes. You too see that UE needs H.E.L.P. (dr henry's emergency lessons for people) |
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
250 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
UrbanOJ.com -
E-commerce gives back!
5% of all proceeds go toward finding the real killers! |
Busted...
’ was an apostrophy in word before I copied here to the post a message entry box. 'scuze me for wanting to spell check a portion of my post.
|
TechTruth-
You mean I can save OJ 5% of his e-commerce profits by just sending him a mirror? |
UrbanOrenthal.com's launch party a debacle.
Two stabbings mar high profile event.
UrbanOrenthal.com's launch party was shut down by police following a melee in which two men were stabbed, one critically. Unconfirmed reports place O.J. Simpson, a lead investor and the urban portal's namesake, in another part of the building at the time of the altercation. The Los Angeles, CA bash, held in the exclusive Brentwood Country Club, featured live entertainment by the Hot Boys, E-40, and Made Men, who hold a minority stake in the venture. A huge television screen broadcasted O.J. football footage and Naked Gun scenes. Celebrities such as Marcus Allen, Johnny Cochran, Shaquille O'neal, and BET's Tavis Smiley were among the crowd. Apparently, the violence erupted following Made Men's performance. Fred Goldman, who was protesting outside the venue, said, "Isn't it funy how violence follows this man wherever he goes? [O.J.] belongs behind bars." Despite the brouhaha, O.J. said the event was a success. "We raised awareness for the site, and are confident that the violence affecting a few troublemakers won't be linked to UrbanOrenthal.com." UrbanOrenthal is touted as the premier destination for the wired urban population, featuring music, original content, and e-commerce offerings. |
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
201 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
I implore you to visit urbanmagic.com and
just right click the source code. I almost
pissed my pants. Truly innovative HTML coding
there. This is starting get ridiculous. So, I
am going to say it...
ISN'T MAGIC JOHNSON SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD ALREADY?
Why are we still discussing this poster boy for
AIDS-awareness, since he was never infected and
pulled one of the biggest hoaxes in recent history?
I think they should post his T-cell count daily so
that naysayers like myself can finally put this little
conspiracy theory to rest.
Honestly, look what we've been reduced to: A grown man
named Magic with a wife named Cookie hanging out with Puffy
praying that Sugar (Suge) doesn't get out of jail to beat
their asses. Stupid is as stupid does. I hope this little
tid-bit on information (since its hardly newsworthy enough to
be considered a story) was a typo on UE's part. Your bad.
ON A DIFFERENT NOTE...
I visited fuckedcompany.com and found it a little, okay alot
boring. What's the point? I'd rather read the unsubstantiated
gossip and venomous jibes here over their "content". Annoy...just
because you passed your SAT's and got into community college doesn't
mean we want to hear your grammatical tips, get a fucking life and
stick to the subject. Spellcheck that!
URL suggestion for OJ: ididit.com
|
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
116 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
OJ better have some pics of his daughter the site, and I don't mean his oreo one. |
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
116 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
err....lets try that again, cuz I know how catty y'all get about grammer and such
OJ better have some pics of *his* daughter on the site, and I don't mean the oreo one.
http://www.tightglove-bentknuckle.com |
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
133 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
I swear, I didn't want to just chime in "what the hell?" because there are enough folks here to do it and you're all damn good at it, but this can't possibly be the urbanmagic site, seriously. I mean, seriously. SERIOUSLY. |
Shaan and Leroy,
Funny LOL |
I've been visiting this oage for a few weeks and I have a few questions:
1.) What is the purpose of this site?
2.) How many of you are black (since, as far as I can tell, the stories and posts here seem to be aimed at the ridicule of black internet plays, Steve Rifkind being the exception).
3.) For those of you that are black, why do you ridicule other balcks trying to make moves. There is a difference between demanding black excellence and just being a hater.
4.)Since when did the term "urban" come to mean black. All black people dont come from the ghetto or "urban" areas.
5.) I don't know who owns/runs this site, but it seems as if some non-black person or maybe even a black person w/ low cultural pride is behind all this. I mean why else does this site exist.
maybe someone will be thoughtful enough to respond in an intelligent way. |
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
375 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
SHAAN u are DEAD WRONG for that comment bout MAGIC... HIV is a seriously issue and you should have a little more respect... ive lost a good friend to HIV and its nothing to laugh at.. it affects different people in differtent ways. ... maybe you should check yourself.. |
Shaan,
I have been reading your multiple posts as of late and I have 2 things to say...1) you have way too much time on your hands and 2) why is that you know so much about everything??? But really you know NOTHING.
Furthermore, all your talk about this website SUCKS or this HTML coding SUCKS ...yaddi yaddi yadda..I say stop PISSING in your pants and launch your own website
try...www.Iknoweverythingbutnothing.com.
Oh yeah your not so funny comment about Magic's AID condition...What does that have to do with anything that is being discussed? Can we say haterade?
Lastly, what are you Puffy's homo-watcher....you always have the 411 on P-Diddy when the rest of us could give a F@#K...If I didn't know better I would have thought that you were the scent on his draws!
One
|
anon y. mous : You are odviously a HATER! Get a live and stop spell checking everything. This is Grammer.com |
Steve Gilliard you get 100 popular points!!!! Yo go BOY!!! |
Steve Gilliard : Can you please send Questions to ask an urban internet executive: to Darrien Dash. |
Shakwon,
An honest and thoughtful response to your questions...
1) The purpose of this site is to offer an urban (read, Hip-Hop) audience a toungue-in-cheek commentary on various urban web plays. These commentarys, while not always truthful, are aimed at some form of the truth and most of the time entertaining. In addition, subscribers get to make poignant, witty, venomous or otherwise erswhile comments in response to articles and comments.
2) While no accurate statistics regarding the ethnic make-up of UE subscribers are available at the present, common belief estimates indicate that 85 - 90% of UE web traffic is African-American, Latino, White, Asian, or other.
3) I, for one, hate to see Black people make it if it isn't me. I hate to see anyone make it if it isn't me. That is why I read the Hollywood Tattler, visit UE and watch Jerry Springer. I always feel better afterwards.
*the opinions of this writer do not neccessarily represent the opinions of UE, it's staff, contributors, subscribers, or it's parent company, Vanguarde Media.*
4) Urban came to mean Black, about 3 or 4 years ago. This transformation in definition of a word is a common phenomenon in English vernacular. Similar cases include:Russell Simmon=Lucifer, rapper=representative of hip-hop culture, etc.
5) I dont know who runs this site, but I wish it were the same people who ran BET, then it would be much better run.
Thank you for your insightful questions, and I hope I have been of help to you. |
shakwon - (or is it shook one?)
the answers to most of the questions you pose can be found by reading old posts from the earlier days of this b-board.
this board is not the result of some white-wing consipracy, though no one really knows who is behind it. many people come to this board for different reasons. it is both for entertainment purposes and can be a place for serious discussion about urban (and/or black and latino) web sites. most of the folks up on this board are (or at least they claim to be) of varying shades of brown.
this is not the place for a power to the peoples mentality... it's not for those that wish to suppress the airing of our dirty laundry. it is for discourse on just about anything you want to talk about, with the understanding that each thread is supposed to be about the topics relating to the u.e. article of which it was sparked.
i am black. i am proud of my people when we deserve pride and critical when we deserve criticism. yet neither cultural pride nor low self worth have anything to do with being critical of the stupid business moves, lack of originality, profitability, quality, or the lack of scruples that so often marks this urban internet scene. ultimately, the folks that post here are the voice of the unseen and disgruntled user that these sites are supposed to be serving, but are not. |
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
375 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
James Andrews I thought they blocked your UE access at work? James I have a question for you..Why is the Soul Purpose so wack and how can I unsubscribe? |
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
375 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
Shawkonda: Reading is Fundemental
All news story content in this site is lampoon, and none of it should be taken as fact. Urban Exposé takes no responsibility for people's posted comments, which could be rumors, innuendo or malicious gossip. This site is entertainment. It just barely passes as news. Any similarity between persons living or dead is purely coincidental. Urban Exposé staff does not post in the message areas under any conditions.
|
Y'all americans(?) are way lost.
Ya laughin at'cha own self by dissin and puttin down people who try to ride the web wave...
Put up a website n make some big bucks,,, nahh man. That shit is history.
Ya oughta ride some wireless dick, yaknahmean!!!
|
UrbanOrenthal.com partners with UBO to create the interactive game:
Beat that Bytch with a Bat.
That's right in a 1 million dollar launch party at The Tunnel (put together by David Watkins and including celeberity guest such as Big Lez, Pebo Bryson, and The Taco Bell Dog) UBO is heading up the interactive divison of UrbanOrenthal.com. Flash Animations now load in 20 minutes as apposed to 25 on other UBO sites. UBO is building the Interactive game and animated series entitled "Beat that Bytch with a Bat." UBO's Andy Platinum states "This will the #1 site for African-American men and their white girl friends on the internet."
|
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
201 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
PREPARE TO BE OFFENDED...
Who hasn't lost someone to AIDS/HIV? What's
your point? I lost an aunt, six weeks ago for
your FYI, which is exactly why it angers me to
see the plight of the disadvantaged made a mockery
of by some self-serving ball player who doesn't give
a shit about you or I for that matter.
September Jones, stop trying to keep up with the
Joneses and keep it moving because I'll read your
ass faster than you can run from a Haitian without
deodorant on the 3 train (HBO anyone?)
Shakwon the purpose of this site is to allow people
to vent about the things that piss us off. Relevant
or not. If you can't surmise that by a cursory glance
of the postings you shouldn't visit. No one's input
outweighs anyone eles's. I don't have any allegiance
to bad business practices, if I did I would be trumpeting
the innovative vision of Sylvia Robinson being a pioneer that
signed one of the first rap acts (Sugar Hill Gang) and pimped
the shit out them. Wrong is wrong. Stop all this black vs. urban
nonsense too. No one in this space is stupid enough to equate the two
urban = innercity, and the last time I checked NY was filled with white
people that can't say excuse me on the street (another issue).
Again for those of you that have missed the point, too
much time is being spent discussing people that shouldn't even
matter in this space. I could less than a damn about Magic Johnson
launching a site, especially when there are content rich, innovative
sites without greedy venture capitalist behind them to push the buttons
which get little or no mention here. I'd rather visit:
www.hiphopfanclub.com, because at least there's an effort being made
to advance the space without compromising the niche. Oh, and I stand
behind my Magic Johnson observation...If he's afflicted with such a
malady why is he still walking around? Stop believing everything you
read people!
|
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
375 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
shaan
this thread had nothing to do with HIV ..u took it there. that why u where checked |
THIS JUST IN!!!!!
***************
UBO to Launch TacoBellDog.com as apart of the ICONS platform.
That's right UBO has teams up with Taco Bell in bring the ultimate in cross marketing to the Black and Latino community (Watch out Community Connect Inc.) The TACO Bell Dog will now be apart of the ICONS platform over at UBO. He will join the likes of Big Lez, Marion Jones, and The Williams Sisters, and OJ Simpson. Plans for the site include: a 45 minute loading time Flash Animation, 24 Hour streaming video of The Taco Bell Dog in the lounge of UBO coding HTML whilte the rest of the staff listens to HOT 97 and reads back issues of Soul No-Purpose.
in an interview The TAco Bell dog states, "Me so excited to be working with UBO. They reall seem be on the cutting edge of entertainment and just as they know that Big Lez is a MAJOR super star they had to have me join her. Expect to see me and her in a animated seris on Othervisions.com. I will play the exec. of a urban internet comany and waist 1 million dollars or more on parties and Palm Pilots. Big Lez will do the moves because it's a musical."
It was discovered that The Taco Bell Dog was pissed when he heard that Bjork was doing a musical. So now he is planning his own and says it will blow Bjork's film out of the water. |
Shaan James : GROW THE FUCCK UP! I have 2 members of my family that currently have HIV. You just don't cripple and fold up becaue you have the virus. People are living 20 years or more with HIV.
The technology is going to make HIV treatable just like herpies and other viruses. So have some respect. Be glad that he is an exable that there is HOPE and that HIV is not a death sentance. It people that think like you that make people with HIV become hopeless and crawl up in a corner and die. Don't sell the technology short. There is a cure. |
Shaan,
I refuse to get into an E-battle with you about what the TRUTH really is. The truth IS the thread had NOTHING to do with Magic's HIV/AID'S. Again, sorry to hear about your family drama...buy yet again this thread HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THAT EITHER..RIP to your aunt though...respect for the dead....
The Haitian comment...whatever if you need to resort to ethnic slurs to get your point across I pity you....So on that comment I am going to be the bigger person and let that one go...
Now onto your rationale on your disgust for Magic's self-serving attitude. I guess the man is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. You are probably the same house negro who would have said "that Magic has all that money and he ain't doing jack for his community." "I tell ya they take and take from the community and never give back" Now that he is putting his money in urban neighborhoods, giving people an opportunity to earn a living you have beef. Why is he any different from Sal Marciano who wants to open up a Starbucks coffeee or a Loews movie theater? Give me a break. You can only respond with insults because you have no other valid point.
Who are you to judge or even know if Magic cares or not about "us". Hey I say he cares enough to build movie theaters and Starbuck coffee shops which offer employment to many of the communities countrywide. While his motivation is economics..(and who does not think of the bottom line) he is still creating opportunities which may not have otherwise been available. Lastly, what have you done for your community beside be a THORN on this UE board?
Before you insult someone's efforts why not send us a link to your own organization, company and/or charitable deeds. I would be interested to see your contributions..if any!
One
|
Magic and HIV...
The only thing it proves is, if you catch it early enough and your money is long enough and you take good care of yourself, you can live for a long time with the virus.
But if you are late (because you are too stupid to get tested) and broke (the test is free, but treatment costs dough) then you will be doomed fo sho.
|
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
116 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
Leave Shaan James alone....he had the balls to say what we all know (in either the back of our minds) or too myopic from media brainwashing to realise.
Magic Johnson never had HIV
it's all a scam, like Stevie Wonder being blind or Rudy G's prostrate cancer
and re:blacks making power moves n the rest of us (blacks) hatining?
I think Common said it best:
"If I don't like it, I don't like it, that don't mean that I'm hating" |
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
116 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
wow....can u say Spell Check, on that last message???????
:) |
Magic Johnson never had HIV
I'm sorry but if he never really had HIV I think that is sick and twisted.
Why do you all believe that he never had HIV? What the reason he would come out and say that? That just seems to much to believe. |
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
201 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
ATTENTION HAITIANS
If any of you is of Haitian descent and
was offended by previous remark it was not
meant to offend you personally, it was merely
an inside joke between myself and another poster.
SUPPORT WYCLEF JEAN - I couldn't resist - sorry!
HIV REMARKS
I don't personally believe Magic ever had HIV/AIDS,
I am not alone in that obviously. I think he exploited
and/or participated in the exploitation of a growing
plague for economic gain. AGREE OR DISAGREE you've
at least thought the same thing once or twice.
The truth - I'm sorry to hear about your family members,
but I think you are taking things out of context here.
Unfortunately most people can say they know/knew someone
with AIDS, which deviates from the central discussion
entirely. So, since I led us there let's get back on
track and get on with our lives.
To paraphrase TOO SHORT, "You can't be player hated if
you're not a player. There's no such thing as hater
hating"
YOU MAY NOW RESUME THE VENOM STREAM... |
First I'd like to thank those that replied to the previous post. Let me respond in kind. Hear what I'm saying, maybe it'll strike achord with you, maybe not.
When I question the use of the word urban to mean black, I'm thinking about black people's right to self definition. For example, go into a Tower Sam Goody, or other record store. Ask for urban music, and watch yourself get pointed directly to the black music section hip-hop R&B. why is this point so important? I don't remember the push in our black community to call ourselves "urban", instead I see all types of corporationsusing the term urban to box us in to a little group. And I see us accepting it, and even defending it.
As far as this not being a place for power-to -the people, ok I hear ya. We DO need space to vent. And I agree with the guy who said that he's " ..proud of my people when we deserve pride and critical when we deserve criticism. That's what i meant when I said there is a differnece between demanding black excellence playa hating.
I come from an urban, inner-city background, riased on hip-hop, etc.
I work in the internet industry as a web developer. As a Black man(or any man of color) I find that the support network is not as thick as that of my white peers. What I have found is that at a time when we could be using a forum like this to connect with each other, we just criticize each other unconstructively. Again, I'm not shook. I don't mind airing durty laundry. But let's try to do something constructive I know I can't be the only one here who sees this |
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
201 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
DON'T KNOW YOUR HIV STATUS?
www.alwaysyourchoice.com
NOW SHUT UP! |
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
201 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
Desus Nice,
Thanks for having my back, but STEVIE WONDER
is blind. How do I know? I ran into at Mecca
last year and threw spit balls at him and
he didn't move his head to dodge them.
Yeah, I'm an asshole, but I was curious.
|
Shaan,
Not only do you sound like you've had a brainless day but your banter is long past boring, annoying and offensive. Please take some PMS medicine and get back to us when you have something relevant to say. |
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
150 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
who shocked the monkey? |
Maybe, Magic Johnson saying he was HIV positive was a way to bring more world wide attention to the plight. |
I told you all a while ago that I knew who was behind this site. Perhaps my message was caught among so many others, that no one paid attention to it.
Yes, it is one person. Yes, he is black. Yes, you have heard of him before. For a change, he decided not to draw attention to himself right now, so his online projects were done incognito (I respect that). He told me he also has another site up that will help conquer the digital divide. It is located at http://216.149.170.238
You could look up those numbers in a search tool, or you could just access it through his personal domain, http://www.alsharpton.com
WhineKiller
|
I used to read One Nut magazine from Barry Wade. Thats funny about the gay rappper. Thats all that magazine was known for. Why would you name a magazine OneNut? Real men have two nuts.
It was kinda busted. I wonder if that's what UrbanMagic is going to be about considering they have a man in charge of content that used to call himself Barry-mother-fucking-Wade in his own magazine.
Interesting mental picture. I wonder why Barry departed Impact? Maybe they wouldn't let him say "Motherfucker"
|
shakwon -
i hear ya' on the lack of us black professional teckie geeks not havin any kind of support system like our caucasion coworkers do... and i see your point about the need for us to create our own identity. sorry for the shook one comment, the song was on when i wrote my response and i got a little happy.
that said... urban means a lot of things to a lot of people. as do other lables like black, latino, asian, ethnic, race, the n word, african-american, and minority. the trick is to find one you are comfortable with to call yourself. concede to those you can use for the purpose of argument and liguistic commonality, but when it really gets down to it you won't claim it to be your own. then decide which ones will set you off and under no circumstances will you use it nor allow it to be used to describe you.
i'm black, but my skin is actually brown and i have native american, latino, caucasion and black carribean in my blood line. i was born in asia but i'm an african american on my census, yet my only conscious link to africa was learned from books, television and the netslave african news email. some people may call me urban or minority, but i know am i'm much more than that -- and when people call me a nigger, i punch them in the grill.
but, what is in a name anyway? |
whinekiller -
if that is reverend al's best shot at launching a website http://www.alsharpton.com then he has reason to try to keep a low profile online. he is most definitely not behind this site, although it would be an excuse for some of the poorly written articles and lack of spell check use. anyone go to the second page of that site? nice try.
i'll bet that rev. al's sight, once they finally finish the flash tutorial and figure out how to tween, will have an ecommerce chanel where you can buy:
*rev. al's new line of hair care products (bone straight for men)
*rev. al's dial a lawyer service 1-900-INJUSTICE.
*rev. al's new self help book book, "how to capitalize on any situation"
other features on the site will include: *10 part quiz to find out if you too are being racially profiled.
*animated series staring the rev as a super hero Rev-Man, the self proclaimed protector of the black race.
pah'lease.
ps. get off of pud's nuts. |
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
375 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
Didnt Barry use to be at IMPACT |
The original article here was about Magic Johnson so I don't think it's off topic to talk about his 'health'. Personally, I don't know if he does indeed have HIV or not. Maybe he doesn't and he's a sham, but I can't imagine anyone wanting to do that. Many celebrities take up a cause, he could have been just as involved without having the disease himself. (Brigitte Bardot never claimed to be a baby seal!) Maybe he does have HIV and it's all a testament to the benefits of million dollar medical care and a wife named Cookie. The last possibility and never mentioned is that he doesn't have HIV, he has clever physicians who are squeezing him for cash and giving him a 'cocktail' of placebos. Well, whichever it is, I am glad that Magic is helping to raise cash and donating some of his own as well.
http://www.securethefuture.com/data/letter.htm#040500
http://report.kff.org/archive/aids/1998/05/kh980511.5.html
|
if magic didn't have aids then why did he leave the nba when he still had years to go? his contracts and endorsements as an athelete have got to better than revenues from his wack talk show and now his web play. if he did fake having it, he would have faked a cure or said that the test results were inaccurate when they would not let him pay ball anymore. basket ball was his life and is the only reason why he is famous today. i doubt he would have given that up for a bullshit conspiracy in we he had not much to gain and everything to lose, including his b-ball career, his marriage, and the unlimited ass he got from b-ball groupies. think about it. |
The funny part is that no one even REMEMBERS One Nut Magazine.
I remember it because my boyfriend used to keep one on the floor of his bathroom. We used to step on it.
He is in charge of content. I am sure he is capable, however , he is probably just going to try to do some corny hip-hop magazine rather than anything cool. We already got cool hiphop sites.
|
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
334 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
Don't worry about soul purpose!!! soul purpose is for the babies!! err i mean the children!! err dammit you know what i mean!! |
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
101 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
<<The last possibility and never mentioned is that he doesn't have HIV, he has clever physicians who are squeezing him for cash and giving him a 'cocktail' of placebos.>>
That would be in-fucking-credible...I wouldn't put it past these shiesty HMOs either. |
You only need Al Sharpton when the police kill a relative. Like lawyers, it's OK to make fun of his ass until the shit breaks. You never need a lawyer until you need one, and when you need one, you need the best you can find.
But the reason this site exists is simple: black people avoid honest conversation like the plague.
You question someone's motives, you're no longer black.
The reason we make fun of the people who have built these fucked up urban sites is simple: they suck.
You get a sandwich with rancid mayonaise, do you eat it because a brother made it? I think not.
Well, if you see a shitty site, often executed by the same white Alley firms who rarely hire blacks or latinos, why should they be immune.
Put it succinctly, if you tossed a paint bomb in most Alley firms, you wouldn't be hitting any brothers unless you got the tech support staff.
These people are not exactly going to the community to build these sites. They use the same people white firms STOPPED using around 97-98. They hire consultants who are now jokes in the Alley.
There are competant minority designers, writers and programmers who have their cards filled by white firms from around the US. But when it comes to these "urban" sites, they don't hire us as consultants, they don't look to us for advice and when we do get jobs, they treat us like record company flunkies and forget to pay us.
Look at the rosters of these companies. It's the same crew who fuck and suck each other, have worked together for years and turn out the same crappy content the Voice will no longer run.
A lot of these mistakes would have been avoided if they had talked to the black pros who have been around the Alley for years. But do they do that? Hell no. They use their cronies, act like they know the internet when they don't know shit, and then are surprised when the sites fail.
When thing get really bad, they run to the same network of white consultants who's day has passed them by.
So basically, if they aren't going to support us in our professional goals, why should we treat them any different than a failing white-owned, white targeted site. They certainly aren't putting hundred of thousands of dollars in our pockets.
|
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
116 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
Personally, I know enough designers and programmers (myself included) to say that I would feel somewhat suspect to a persons way of thinking, if they approached me to do an urban website. |
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
116 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
I still have a couple copies of ONE NUT magazine....for a free rag it was good, but if it ever had a price tag......pleaze.... |
I'd like to pose a question. Does anyone have the url of a community based site, whether urban or otherwise, that they feel dosen't suck. I'd like to see someone's idea of a good site, and no, I will not even consider hiphopfanclub. |
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
142 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
Afro Spice, I remember One Nut and Barry Wade. Is it just me? Or is Barry Wade effeminate? Like very much so , for calling himself BarrymotherfuckingWade in each issue of One Nut. He's like from conneticut or something. He used to crack up like a maniac everytime he would say Barrymotherfuckingwade. Evidently , he thought it was very funny. Everyone else just thought he was very effiminate.
UE. That's a very funny picture of Barry Wade. He is attempting to hidehis effiminate ways by posturing with a blunt , but you can still see the gleam in his eye with thoughts of dicks dancing in his head. |
wow...so much writing...you guys need hobbies
|
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
371 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
"I'd like to pose a question. Does anyone have the url of a community based site, whether urban or otherwise, that they feel dosen't suck. I'd like to see someone's idea of a good site, and no, I will not even consider hiphopfanclub."
Well to tell you the truth I don't think there are too many in the "urban" area. Blackplanet is the only one worth the computers they were coded on. Actually, blackplanet's membership base helps their site look better in terms of execution. Maybe if someone tried to do something similar w/out the same membership numbers, then who knows that site might be considered a miserable failure as well.
Funny enough even though blackplanet is asian owned, they do have what seems like a good core of "black" people responsible for the designing, programming, content, execution and marketing of the site. Maybe that's what these other poor excuses for "black and hip-hop portal" plays should try doing one of these days. It could just be that the white guys from razorfish don't really have any respect for your audience, so they put out a half-assed product.
Now as for a site in the "other" category. I've been a member of college club for a while now and I think they are a damn good community oriented site.
http://www.collegeclub.com/
Side note: They too are going down faster than a sinking ship, but it's not because they didn't satisfy their target audience though.
The rule of thumb (for deciding between qualified people) should be if they don't know anything about the people or the culture they shouldn't be hired for your job. If you do hire some white guys to create a hip-hop site, at least let them be hip-hop fans. Now as for them being white and creating a black site, that's just plain stupid -- no excuse for that happening.
|
Shaan -
>Honestly, look what we've been reduced >to: A grown man named Magic with a >wife named Cookie hanging out with >Puffy praying that Sugar (Suge) doesn't >get out of jail to beat their asses
LOFL...I *was* wearing a white shirt this morning, til I spit my coffee over half of it. Thank you. |
excuse my ignorance, but who is sheryl huggins, the pic that is at the top of the page on the right hand side? |
Hey Dilema 32...
What's your idea of a good site. Or do you have your own. Are you the god judging the urban internet space?
Just asking. |
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
371 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
sheryl is winking at me. i think she likes me.
*gets all mushy inside* |
Why is everybody so thirsty for a sip of the urban market. Everybody wants to jump into this market, but few really understand what it is all about. Most (let me re-phrase that) all of these "urban" sites are lacking one thing: CONTENT. I haven't seen any worthwhile content on HOOKT, UBO, THESOURCE, BET or sorry ass 360HIPHOP. I got one thing 2 say. DO YOUR HOMEWORK!!! Get your sh*t tight before you receive your venture capital. And when U receive your money, PINCH PENNIES!!! If Russel would have done his homework and pinched pennies he wouldn't have got BURNED FOR $4 MILLION for a design that someone else could have done for 1/10 the price.
STOP FLOSSIN!!!!!!!!! |
In response to "Gangsta Digital"...
<<< Hey Dilema 32...
What's your idea of a good site. Or do you have your own. Are you the god judging the urban internet space?
Just asking. >>>
Actually, My company has been commissioned to create an "urban site" which we will not yet name. I was simply curious as to what people thought was a good community site so that I could apply it to the one that we're in the process of creating. I was not dissing hiphopfanclub, I think it's a good start, I mentioned the site because the guys are always posting hiphopfanclub all over the site and I wanted an unbiased opinion. I would appreciate any feedback from those posting at this board. You can email me directly. And by the way, we are a young, black company. |
Does anyone know where Larry Irving went after leaving UrbanMagic? I remember seeing him on C-Span years ago when he still worked in the Clinton administration. He was very impressive. Hope the UE editors can fill in this blank. |
I am look for a company to design a website. I do not plan to spend the type of money spent by Mr. Simmons. If you are interested, send all responses to mad@wizard.net |
I posted this before my ID got taken, but I have yet to see anyone comment on any of these sites. We always get off on some flame war. I don't think any of these have been covered by UE, either. People keep asking what sites we like. I LIKE THESE!
"the sites I check on the regular (somebody asked):
daveyd.com
rapstation.com
allhiphop.com
dirtyhog.com
hiphopdx.com
manhunt.com
the411online.com
hiphopfans.com
redbone2000.com
hiphopsite.com
urbanexpose.com
AND
360hiphop.com (pre-launch...when it was just a flash intro with LL's "Ill Bomb" playing. my one guilty pleasure.)
most of these are fairly simple sites that i can count on for updated content. (i see flash...i run...i visited 360 once after launch) it doesn't have to be awardwinning or even original or unique. i just like to get as many perspectives as i can on the music i enjoy and its current events and albums. NBC correspondent John Hockenberry recently said on ZDNet that the web is a medium for "junkies." I guess I'm a hip-hop junkie an internet junkie or both (or just a fan of the underdog)."
|
Very sad that they had to hire Scient to get investor plus points. They may be a good developer, but all the great software won't cut it if you don't have a real business plan behind it.
But to single out Magic for celeb ego isn't too fair - as he hasn't failed yet, even if it seems certain that he will... |
to dilema 32...
I was just asking... it's just that there are some many people on this site with a lot of opinions. I'm sure half of them just figured out how to use outlook yesterday.
good luck on your project. keep us posted.
|
Just in from SPQR Media...
UrbanOrenthal.com has secured it's second round of funding. VC firm Capital Venture Partners, as well as undisclosed private investors, have raised about $14 million. UrbanOrenthal.com aims to be the number one destination for the wired urban market, providing news, entertainment, and community features. Says O.J. Simpson, "We are gonna kill 'em."
Awww, man, UrbanOrenthal.com is gonna be huge. How will people resist content backed by the most infamous man of the last twenty years? I understand that the guys over at Blackplanet and Hiphopfanclub are shaking in their Timbos. I see a huge IPO in the future. |
Aight, the following has absolutely nothing to do with this story. I must point out, however, that I have finally found a site, in urbanmagic.com, more wack than the lameass index page sitting on my server.
Who's the fucker from the last story callin out John Lord? Fuck you, Dick Wigglesworth, small dick, lil wiggly dick...whatever the your name is...you fucker. John's my dawg. He da man! While I'm on this topic.........
Big up to Dave and Ayana..you still my brown suga...haha....Who else?
Shout out to everybody at Vanguarde, especially the Neomedia group.....Shawnee, Victoria, Ali, Michael, Michelle, Eric, Meredith, Catherine, Nikki, Darcy...waaaaaaaaazzzzzzzzzzzuuuuuuuuupppppppp?!?!
oh yeah, big up to bo kemp and guy primus...vanguarde is whoa!
akil - trick daddy aint shit....whats he tryin to pull by flossin in a volvo?!
yeah, fuck nelly too. his sorry ass better stay in "the lou"....dumb fucker, your country grammar shit is more wack than hooked on phonics. how the hell you gonna front with them low-riders up in your video? you aint from the CPT or LBC...youre from ....where the hell are you from?! nobody cares. bring yo ass to poughkeepsie, then well see wassup....P-O WHUT WHUT!
shawnee - i told you 360hiphop wasnt shit!
HIPHOPSTATEOFMIND.COM....YEEEAAAAHHH BABY! look out for that.
seriously tho, vanguarde neomedia 'bout to blow up like the world trade. impact247 shits on the rest of the industry. vanguarde is tha shiznit! if you dont think so, fuck you and your hoe.
bling bling
-v- |
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
371 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
haha
|
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
371 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
oh and to the poster that wants design work done. check out elance.com, they call themselves an intellectual marketplace or some ish like that. anyway freelancers bid on your work.
i hooked up w/ someone via elance a few days ago for a logo and ad creatives for an affiliate program.
|
thanks for the info....all my shit's being done inhouse tho....correction, WILL be done inhouse...i just need to find the time.
big up to the blue devils...NCAA b-ball champs for 2001 season.
P-O!!...and if you aint from the ghetto, then ride out bitch
-v- |
This is kinda off topic but scince One Nut Magazine and Stevie Wonder were both mentioned in this thread I thought I'd mention it...
I used to have an issue of One Nut with an article where the brotha claimed he was chilling with Stevie Wonder at Stevies crib, during the day they happened to go in the sauna and the brotha saw Stevie's dick... and it was big as hell. The brotha asked Stevie how his dick got so big and Stevie says that every nite befor he gets into bed with his woman he bangs his dick against the bed post three times.
So the brotha go's home and that nite as he and his woman are getting in bed he shuts the light off and starts banging his dick against the bed post... just then his woman says "Stevie??? Is that you???"
Anyway, I just figured we neede some more jokes made in porr taste in this thread...
Peace! |
keep an eye on the Urban Broadcasting Company's site, www.e-ubc.com this work in progress, is owned by long time harlem activist, ms. peggy dodson, and will be an interactive data, voice and video site that will also be interactive with the Urban Broadcasting Network, its digital cable television network affilate that will be on air in the 1Q 2001. |
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
101 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
Way off topic but ask me if I care...
<<P4M: ...You admit that you're a novice to the Internet. You don't have any problem with Napster and you haven't checked out your boy Russell Simmons' site yet. But what do you think the Net is all about?
LL: The one thing that's cool about the Internet is that it takes a certain mentality to be on the Internet. The Internet is a place to be where people will give you their true opinion. I think people say what they feel on the Net. But what's funny is I know there are hardcore fans on the Net, but I don't think the hardest of the hard are on the Internet.>>
Thoughts from the peanut gallery? |
Rumor has it MTVi is next with the layoffs. It is also on the FC effed list this morning. |
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
375 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
Its true MTVI layoffs start 2morrow... they are over budget |
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
375 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
when Broadband takes off, then maybe some of these companies based in entertainment on the internet will turn a profit |
if another punk-ass wanna be tight urban internet company (you know who you are) sends me another unsolicited spam-ass email to my email address stolen off of this site, i will be forced to teach them a lesson. i use this email address strickly for this site, so if you send a wack-ass newsletter to me at that address you are playing yourself and you must be destroyed.
as dr bruce banner so eloquently put it, "mr magee don't make me agry... you wouldn't like me when i'm agry."
the geekster |
MTVI lays off 25% of staff
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/cn/20000927/tc/mtvi_cuts_staff_by_25_percent_1.html |
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
375 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
this is the deal on the MTVI situation
mtvi and/or mtvonline are having problems making the website as big as they would like so they want to make it smaller and don't need all the people they have to help put it together.
this is the reason for the layoffs and most of them are FREELANCERS..
how do i know because this is from the inside... |
http://www.thestandard.com/article/display/0,1151,18535,00.html
September 18, 2000
Out With the Old
The trouble with many online entertainment sites is that they're little more than old media disguised as new.
The most common affliction among media executives, even more common than insufficient sleep and attention deficit disorder, is hubris. Over the past year or so, when old-media execs made their high-profile, well-funded new-media moves, the idea they tried to convey was that you can stop worrying, the grown-ups have arrived: Internet-based entertainment is now legitimate, we know what we're doing.
It hasn't turned out that way. Already this month, Pop.com, a site that barely managed to issue three skeletal press releases and zero films over the past year, has shut its doors, despite being brought to you by DreamWorks and Imagine Entertainment. Atomic Pop, the "21st century music company" founded by former MCA head Al Teller, which never sold more than 36,000 copies of any album, "has undertaken a major restructuring" that includes "significantly reduced overhead." The Digital Entertainment Network is gone, Shockwave has laid off more than 10 percent of its staff, and rumors about troubles at other companies are common.
This is nothing new. Anyone paying attention knows that the recent failures are merely the latest in a long line. Pathfinder, Time Warner (TWX) 's expensive attempt to integrate its sundry existing holdings under one online marquee, failed largely because it was a slow-loading, difficult-to-navigate shovelware site without an identity of its own.
When News Corp., parent of 20th Century Fox and sundry other entertainment ventures, purchased the Delphi Internet online service in 1994, the idea was to, in the words of one internal memo, "leverage our synergies." That usually meant digitizing large photographs of Fox characters like the Power Rangers. In many cases, the idea was simply to dump material related to Fox television shows and movies online, without any interest in interactivity or immersion. (I worked at Delphi for part of this period.) During News Corp.'s stewardship of Delphi, more and more resources were poured into the to-be-launched proprietary graphical-environment access-and- content service, which then turned into a to-be-launched Web-based access-and-content service, which then never launched.
Many old-media executives, mostly from television, were hired. All of them were smart people who had succeeded in their previous careers and – as in the early days of other media – most of them sought to graft their previously successful ideas onto the newest medium. Attempts to build interactive applications that celebrated the two-way nature of the Web were, more often than not, rejected in favor of repurposed content. After going through four management teams and, reportedly, many tens of millions of dollars, News Corp. sold the Delphi name and service back to the original owners at a fraction of the price News Corp. paid for them. The original team now has a much more modest but much more solid business, having returned to the company's roots as a collection of online communities.
So it's not news that old-media models don't work on the Internet, whether they be newspaper, music or film models. When you consider the films that Pop.com was supposedly going to release, such as a Flash animation of "a magician who does amazing things but kills his assistant every time" and a show called My Life Sucks, you're grateful that the site never launched at all. There was little evidence of interactivity; it was the typical Hollywood model of "we know what you want, shut up, sit back and enjoy it."
With so much evidence that the companies that thrive on the Internet are those that don't rely on old-media models (eBay (EBAY) and Google, for example, are tailor-made for the Internet), why do so many Internet companies insist on mirroring old-media structures and methods? Some of the useless similarities are merely semantic, like retaining the term "producer" to describe someone with both technical and "content" skills. But at least one other is far more basic.
The engine that runs Hollywood is the production-deal system, in which ostensibly independent entities are funded by the major studios to come up with new ideas that are either picked up or rejected by the Big Boys. That, in a nutshell, also describes the incubator model that's so popular among Internet companies and venture capitalists. This can work reasonably well for investors, who can skim the most-likely-to-succeed businesses off the top and abandon the other ones after a relatively small investment, but it's unclear whether individual businesses fare as well in this model.
Because the incubated companies are being judged in part by how well they work with the other companies (or, as some executives might put it, by how well their synergies can be leveraged), the decision regarding continued funding and potential success is dependent on how the incubated company fits in with all the other incubated companies. Is there too much overlap? Do they compete? It's uncannily similar to how film executives determine which projects to green-light.
In such an environment, it's harder to find reward for innovation. Retreads rule. Just as film producers pitch their ideas in terms of previous successes ("think Die Hard meets The Sound of Music"), Internet entrepreneurs are reduced to backward-looking comparisons ("it'll be the Amazon.com (AMZN) of plumbing supply"). Just as the most successful and iconoclastic films are often those developed without studio interference (can you imagine a Hollywood suit funding The Blair Witch Project?), many intriguing ideas for the Internet still take shape before the VC folks weigh in. Shockwave, because it was started by the software company Macromedia, may be among the most forward-looking of Internet-movie sites, with a good number of its offerings being games and greeting cards that have some level of interactivity (even the disgusting, one-joke Frog in a Blender). Still, like the popped Pop.com, its name acts are directors like Tim Burton and South Park's Trey Parker and Matt Stone delivering one-way animations in a new medium. If what the Web turns out to be for entertainment is simply a new distribution medium for "content" that was developed for other media, what's the point of all this development?
In the end, being a successful entertainment executive comes down to something crucial but mundane: understanding your customer. You might find the latest splatterfest or wrestling vehicle repulsive, but they're successful because, over the decades, film and television have generated timeworn strategies for determining what the audience wants. In the age of the Internet, with no similar tools yet developed for entertainment companies to figure out how to force-feed customers, these executives are forced to go on instinct, on hubris, and that's why they're failing.
At PC Forum early last year, USA Networks (USAI) ' chairman and CEO Barry Diller, then still convinced that he'd added Lycos (LCOS) to his holdings, was asked by conference chair Esther Dyson, "Do you like these people, your customers?" He looked as if he had been insulted, and soon the large room was full of uncomfortable laughter. After stalling a bit, he said, "I've never in my life, in any terms that you can think of, thought of it that way." The most successful Internet companies are those with executives who at least attempt to identify with their customers – understand what they think and need. Until the Barry Dillers of the world think that the wonderful, weird online audience has anything to teach them, until they accept that "new media" is indeed a new medium and not merely an extension of the old, we'll be stuck with lengthy Flash animations worth ignoring and well-funded companies tanking.
Jimmy Guterman is a also a columnist for Inside.com, and he is president of the Vineyard Group, a consultancy.
|
Re: TheStandard 'are tickle'
Thankyou Jimmy Guterman for adding iconoclastic to my vocabulary. What a loooong ass way to some up what we here at the UE b-board have been sayin since early this summer. And Bruce Leroy... do you still possess the power of the glow? or, did ShoNuff the Shogun finally beat your ass?! |
Anyone who makes Stevie Wonder jokes should be beyond ashamed of themselves in every way. Whoever is making these jokes, is a soulless piece of shit and I hope karma has a master plan bigger than Pharoah Sander's for your ass! |
err... that would be "sum up"... in my last post... i have not had enough jolt cola today. my bad. |
Bad Boy Gets "Hookt"
Sean "Puffy" Combs expands his franchise by partnering with urban Web site
By Sonja Brown Stokely
Move over bet.com, thesource.com, and 360hiphop.com -- here comes hookt.com. Though not a new company, Hookt.com's (the site was launched in December 1999), partnership with Bad Boy Technologies, a division of Bad Boy Entertainment, will hopefully take it to another level. Bad Boy and Hookt.com have formed a partnership to sell Sean John clothing online, and to promote Bad Boy's roster of artists and their music. This is an effort by Hookt.com to become the premier Website for urban music, fashion, and culture.
You can link to Sean Combs' current Websites--badboyonline.com and puffdaddy.com-- through Hookt.com. The site will be the exclusive online retailer of Sean John apparel. Combs' other enterprises, including Justin's Restaurant and Notorious magazine will be featured on the site. "I've been studying the online market for a long time looking for the right company to align with," says Combs. "Hookt.com is the embodiment of my ideal online company." Peter Griffith, CEO of Hookt.com, says, "Our partnership with Puffy allows us to keep our finger on the pulse and redefine hip-hop culture and entertainment on the Internet."
The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Combs will have an equity stake in the dotcom company, and he will be on Hookt.com's advisory board.
9/20/00
|
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
201 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
Starfucker,
You slay me with your wit and command
of the English language. Wow! Pharoah
Sanders references and taking up for Stevie.
Oh, you are the coolest person sticking up for
the blind and plugging a shitty artist.
Shut the fuck up idiot. I threw spitballs
at Stevie at Mecca then I paid for his meal and
we cut up about music all night. He was/still is
a cool cat that can take a joke. You are a fucking
idiot with too much time on his/her hands. Stevie
even thought it was funny, but your tightwad ass feels
the need to defend those that can defend themselves. Oh,
you're so ethical. Condescending MF'er.
Karma these nuts in your mouth. Next time direct
your comments to me directly, but you probably forgot
who wrote it since you were so eager to be a part of
the very dated discussion. Oh, and tell your mama
I'll be over at 10 pm and your ass better sleep and I
don't want to hear your daddy snoring even when I'm hitting
her 'John Woo' style. Beeeeeeeyaaachhhhhhhhhh!!!
|
To the techie geeks out there:
Is $5 million a year a reasonable number to maintain a site. I'm not talking about marketing or fulfillment costs. I'm just referring to technology costs - site maintenance and development only.
Just came out of a presentation by Kenny Kurtzman, CEO of luxury e retailer Ashford.com. According to the former McKinsey consultant and Compaq exec, it cost them $5 to build the site and it costs $5 mil a year to maintain. He has an in-house it department, no Kioken's or Scient's here.
Check it out. Do you think its worth it? |
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
371 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
Well I'm not entirely a techie geek, but I do pay for IT services.
Forrester Research estimates that building out five 9’s reliability in-house would cost at least $6 million and $3 million per year to maintain.
fyi: five 9's means 99.999% uptime.
Anyway 5 mil a year for a site like ashford.com is a little bit too much. they shouldn't require a large technical staff. I guess they feel that they need to roll out their own systems -- different strokes for different folks.
If they were to outsource their hosting (the most expensive IT item for an ebusiness) to a tier 1 provider (like conxion or exodus), they would pay less. |
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
371 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
oh and for those of you that didn't have the pleasure of seeing vinsanity jumping over that 7'2" frenchman. here is some video footage:
http://www.gotvinsanity.com/olympics/video/olympics_dunk_france5.mov
http://www.gotvinsanity.com/olympics/video/olympics_dunk_france5.avi |
5 mil to build and 5 mil to maintain is not unreasonable. The design is butt ugly, but otherwise I think they got their money's worth.
For a site that size the range is 2-7, programming only, not scoping, design, hardware, software or deployment..
Add 1.5 mil for hardware, software & deployment, and 1.5 mil for scoping, architecture and design and you are at 5 mil.
5 mil a year in mainentance is not bad either. Hosting at tier 1 with heavy duty support is 2 million. Add 1 million for vendor support and 2 million for upgrades and wham! 5 million. You can cut the pie different ways, but it all adds up about the same.
In-house/out source, its about the same either way at this size project
True, there may be smarter ways to get 90% of the effect for a whole lot less money. But if ashford.com is exactly what you want, and you don't want to take a lot of risks, then its 5 & 5 |
Urban Box Office editor responds to Salons article on the company
http://www.salon.com/business/feature/2000/09/28/ubo_response/index.html |
I'm an urban internet executive...so let me answer those questions
build a computer -- NO. yes, i know what an IP address is
don't know what white women you could date. but there's plenty running around.can't you handle that yourself?
i got started in the record industry as an intern but since i do music related content, doesn't that make sense?
i have had dinner with puffy but i was interviewing him at the time
what is twilo or the tombs or spy, damn i must be out of touch
my 6 year old niece's Razor has red wheels i think
We haven't yet met, but I might be open are you cute?
French Blue?
No Palm, I'm hopelessly old fashioned so I use Outlook
I personally think you should have a Brazilian girlfriend right now to be right on the cutting edge of whitegirl dating
My server crashes? shit if it would get things fixed more quickly so I could get my work done I'd opt for (c)
Flash is fast, Flash is cool, you did mean Grandmaster Flash, right?
Keep it real, if I had 900,000 to loan myself, I'd do it This is the Net, that same 900,000 could be $9 the next day so I'd take the money while it was hot!
Steve most times I love your posts, but that one seemed very geared toward MALE internet execs. You do realize their are female ones, and we're probably too busy working 12 plus hours a day to care about any of those things you mentioned |
Mgr27Robinson,
As a techie geek I always consult the egg heads at Gartner Group when I have questions like that. You can check them at www.gartnergroup.com
That's where we go to find out the industry standard software, processes, methodolgies, norms. When I have to explain to my sr mgt how we are to get an ROI on the multi-million dollar software i am resposible for... that's the joint.
|
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
157 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
Hey Gangsta Digital
To answer your question:
"what's your idea of a good site? Or do you have your own? Are you the god judging the urban internet space? "
I ran blackindex.com since 1996 as a space for Blacks to register their web site. I have millions of users and awards to validate my opinion of the Black urban executives out there. Oh and blackindex.com consistently made a profit that paid for the site off the e-commerce side and advertising. Also my day job has been an Internet consultant since 1995 and worked at many Fortune 100 firms as an Internet architect, not a HTML desiger. Just want to qualify myself to answer your question.
Now to answer your question, my ideal of a good site is simple : it solves problem or make things more efficient for the business or their consumers. I haven't worked at one Internet consulting job that didn't require that to happen. Now for judging urban Internet space, I'm not God but I have seen thousands come and go for over 5 years and manage my own for that period of time to say what I'm about to say about these urban Internet executives.
To sum it up - style over substance. None of the web sites and I'll call them out Blackplanet(a real privacy policy please?), Netnoir(life support), UBO (I live in chicago/atlanta and don't even know or care that this site exist), BlackVoices(tribune commodity), BET.com(a f*cking joke), Digital Mafia(talking loud and saying nothing) etc are not solving a definable problem for the black community. Instead all they have to offer is entertainment which is nothing but a zero commodity in the Internet realm (and they wonder why they are not profitable?). Their strategy is simple: gather black people and sell this ideal they have an audience to paying corporate advertisers and investors. That's a cute concept except in reality, (1)only sites with an audience bigger than the African-American population (40MM++) can substain off that model.(2) firms historically do not advertise or invest in racial or cultural space unless they can influence the content. (3) the only viable Internet business are exchanges which makes perfect sense (that is what the Internet is).
Back to the exchange part. This is why these urban Internet firms in my expert opinion are doom to failed (or already failed and trying to cover it up). None of them are willing to work with other Black Internet firms. Most of them are ran by Black fair-skinned aristocrats who is preaching the digital divide or our people are too stupid and they are the messiah, not implementing Internet-based solutions. None of these firms will create a realistic solution that allows Blacks to freely exchange thoughts or commerce (or MP3s). Most of these sites are one-way streets - they preach to you BS content and you cannot reply - just view it so they can count you as another eyeball. That is why urbanexpose is so progressive - they allow feedback on articles.
About me, Blackindex.com is going away, I'm launching iBlaq.com an CMGI like firm that will launch Blaklife.com(self-publishing ezine) and Fooky.com(next generation blackindex.com that is using open directory and collaborative filtering) and I hope to provide definable solutions for the Black community( "urban space" is a PC term for white investors and advertisers)
|
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
157 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
Oh and one more thing...since when did getting financing become a fashion statement? Everybody from Bill Gates to Shawn Fanning programmed their shit from a broken down space without all the fanfare and hype...
Funny how I can walk into the same Burlingame,CA office and see a fresh set of broke-ass Asian/White boys programming in a tight office space and 6-12 months later, sell their business for 100 of millions while our people are bragging about a loan they got to lease office space and hire marketing people. |
Venus Williams wins her second gold in Sydney in two days -- this one with her sister, Serena, in the women’s doubles event on Thursday, Sept. 28. The sisters defeated the Boogert/Oremans doubles team of the Netherlands 6-1, 6-1. |
Ed Dunn broke it down like a pup tent after the camping trip. Informative, thought provoking, insightful and educational, his post was one of the best I have ever read. We like you and your kind in here. Stay for a while, and keep us posted on your business(es). |
Okay, Shaan...here I come directly at your small ass nuts, that my mouth could easily regurgitate 5 times over.
EAT MY SHORTS YOU FUCK!
I have met Stevie a couple of times in my musical travels and I am sure that the only reason he was cool with you after treating him so disrepectfully was because he pitied your sorry ass. Come to think of it I pity your sorry ass, and you know what GOD PITIES YOUR SORRY ASS AS WELL. Why don't you go play Bingo with your mama and leave the intelligent species to themselves. Go immolate yourself. |
OH, AND SHAAAAAN (was that direct enough for you needledick?)
As for hitting my mama John Woo style, bitch you couldn't hit water standing in a puddle of muck. Take your testoterone laden ass away from these boards and Earth if at all possible.
And if my with didn't slay you enough, continue being a prick and see how much my wit affects your sorry ass then.
Oh, and have a lovely day. |
*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*
September 29, 2000
Los Angeles, CA.- urbanorenthal.com, the online urban media venture powered by Oranthal James Simpson of NFL fame and late of murder suspect infamy, has just announced the consummation of a deal which will include a new round of VC funding to be provided by Ray Caruth also of NFL fame and murder suspect infamy. "Ray and I have several things in common" OJ stated Thursday, " One is, I didn't kill my wife either. This site will be dedicated to the purpose of finding the killers of our wives...I think Ray knows who killed his wife though, since he was sitting accross the street when it happened...that was dumb, he should have asked me...." This latest infusion of venture capital brings the total to an astounding $45,000,000. OJ says that still is not enough though. "When wives act like hoes and sleep with people you know, and publically embarrass you and try to make you pay for babies that may not be yours, bad things happen to them. urbanorenthal.com wants to be the place those husbands can turn to to find the killers of their wives, should anything bad happen to them. That takes alot of money." Sources say former NFL player, Fred Lane, now deceased, had been in negotiations to invest in urbanornthal.com, but those talks broke off abrubtly last summer. Although no explanation was given, ironically, diedralane.com announced plans to launch later this month. |
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
201 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
Ed Dunn,
That was the hottest post I've read
here in weeks. Keep it coming. I digs.
Star Fucker,
You are clearly 'clueless in nirvana'
I can't make heads or tails out of your
barrage of insults. When exactly should
I eat your shorts? Before or after I piss
in your face?
LET'S TAKE A LISTEN...
"testoterone laden" - Whew! you got me all
willy nilly and fried my keys with your
command of the written word. Did your mommy
help you write that? She's still vexed that
I came on her favorite bedspread and wiped my
balls with your father's t-shirt, huh? Aaah!
"GOD PITIES YOUR SORRY ASS AS WELL" - A clear
indication that an argument is coming unglued
making references to the Creator and using
profanity in the same sentence. Whoa! Too easy.
You put out your hand, so I'm about to bite you...
On second thought let's leave that alone, I'll
just finish you off with a quote from the guy you
met at the club last week... (You know how it be in
the club)
"TURN AROUND I HATE LOOKING AT YOUR FACE. YOU'RE
THROWING OFF MY CONCENTRATION" STOP LOOKING AT
ME."
Here's a domain name for you:
www.strobelighthoney.com
Tell your daddy to make sure my Guiness is frosty and
be sure he eats out that load I left in your mama this
morning.
Love your Step Daddy,
AKA
Long Dick from the back
|
Shaan,
Only that senator on the commercial can say "Willy Nilly"
What state does he represent? It is real isn't it? |
Ed Dunn...gotta hand it to you: incisive POV, experience to back it up, and you are 1000% correct re funding. All the best things come from garages and skunkworks, not from throwing yrself lavish parties at, say, Ellis Island...
With all your experience, though, I gotta ask you this: why not maintain consistency of branding between iBlaq and Blaklife (i.e. iBlak-Blaklife or iBlaq-Blaqlife))? Seems like you're squandering an easy opportunity.
They taught us in the Army (five years' Psyop work) that diffusion of message is the success-killer, that the only way to get a signal through a noisy channel is hammering it repeatedly (or, as Neville Brody might say: "Consistency, consistency, consistency.") Is it too late to lock these two into place together? |
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
157 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
Adam,
iBlaq is the parent company similiar to idealab (parent of eToys) and CMGI (parent of AltaVista).
All of the sites I'm launching are totally seperate entities with the common goal: provide a way for Blacks to self-empower themselves with Internet technology.
From what I'm seeing I'm probably one of the few Black Internet entrepeneurs out there that read 'Message to the Black Man' and not 'How to make a million exploiting black people online' |
Ed Dune:
Exceellent article however I must disagree with one point. You seem to argue that there is no place for entertainment on the internet which is basically a utility. Your right about the Internet being a utility and that the content most of the urban sites produce is a waste (with the exception of blackplanet which really only provides tools and the users make the community and content). But if you look at the phone, which is a utility but has spawned all sorts of entertainment opportunities, form Phone Sex to chat lines. Cell phones are the same a utility which has me addicted to playing snake all day. The Internet like any othr utility can and will be used for entertainment when people are smart enough to produce entertainment that works on the utility. No one, except possibly urbanexpose, has been smart wnough to do this so far.
I cant wait to see what iblaq.com will look like and on my brief visit to blackindex.com I rediscovered Black Mirages and so your site has been of huge value to me alread!
Artisha
art4short |
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
157 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
Art,
I didn't say there is no place for urban entertainment on the Internet, just said it has no value and it is silly to launch a business and expect to profit off something with no value.
Since people aren't buying stock in dotcom IPOs like crazy anymore, these urban space firms are a day late and a dollar short..they missed the opportunity to even become profitable..should been around when the Globe IPO'd....
|
Listen Afro Spice, Bitch!
What the fuck is all of this homophobia about?!!
Are you saying that effeminate men are inherently assholes? Cuz it sounds like it.
Not that BmotherfuckingWade is effeminate.
Oh. and ya. He's like from conneticut or something. And?!
So look, Afro Spice. Cut the homophobia out. Wanna say something intelligent about B. Wade. Go ahead.
Mindless hatred does not say anything except tell us that you have a problem.
By the way, that photo was taken at a smoker. He wasn't trying to be anything.
.
|
Shaan
The reason you are "long dick from the back..." is because there is a convenient shadow upon you which prevents others from crying at your sorry little dick from the front.
The fact that you would even have to hit my mama for sex, indicates that you can't get pussy from your contemporaries (which mind you could be 75 year old gumming your cock cause they have no teeth bitches), but I guess most of us twenty/thirty somethings don't wanna get near your stanky ass. So, I guess that would make you the original "mother fucker," and not in the John Shaft sense of the word.
Now, have fun throwing your immature spitballs at someone who isn't blind and would be happy to kick your impotent ass back, when you do. Throw a few spit balls at someone like Shawn Kemp, and see if you are still standing up. You'd be paying for a hell of a lot more than his meal then, fuckface. |
brown all over is obviously barry wade.
You seem angry barry wade. You only seem tough in print. In person you seem a little light in the loafers. I'm not accusing you of being gay by no means. You always keeps a little dog faced girl by your side.You guy act soft... your skin is tender like a new born baby. Your hands are palmolive soft.
I've wrestled with toilet tissue brands that are rougher than you. You act effiminate, but hide behind the name Barry-Motherfuckering-Wade |
|
Name:
|
|
Clout:
201 |
|
Company:
|
|
|
Starfucker,
You win! I guess you told me. Oh, I'm
so afraid now. Please stop insulting me.
I can't take it. M.Y.O.B. next time and
you won't get chin-checked. I won't quantify
your remarks with a response, since I've moved
on to a new thread. Have a productive day.
Love ya' |
barry wade is by no means gay... well not in the conventional sense of the word. He probably kissed a another man before, but he's probably not 100% gay. He's effeminite because he's just one of those "sensitive" men. I'm sure he still has homosexual thoughts...
By the way Barry... tell us about Erick Sermon!
and another thing... you know Magic Johnson doesn't have to worry about Cookie ever cheating on him... |
Barry Wade.. how did you know about the gay rapper anyway? How did you gain his confidence? How did you get to learn his most intimate secrets? How were you privy to all the decadence on his tours?
Barry Barry Barry. We know. |
Magic Seeking to Move Into the Bronx:
http://www.nydailynews.com/today/News_and_Views/Media_and_Business/a-83559.asp |
Oh I applaud you on such an excellent story. What an efficient use of space. I'm glad the "Experts" at UE had the gracious consideration to attack another site so I wouldn't have to waste my time supporting it. But than this is what I guess I can expect from U.E. I thank you |
I hate coming into threads on the back end of things, but here goes...
Shaan, I HOWLED laughin when I saw your comment...Magic is alive thanks to modern technology...and more of this money he ain't got nuthin better to do with.
*sidebar to Shakwon-Babes, I don't think folks are 'hating'...they're just plain disgusted. Somebody told me a long time ago, that anything Black people try to do in THIS world cannot be anything less than 200%-100% just for doing right and then 100% for being BLACK and doing it right. This brother ain't even cruisin on 50%. I believe Alibi summed up the rest.*
At this time, I nobly offer myself as a designee for all this money Magic is tossing around...I know I'd make better use of it than he is. I'm a starving college student, for Pete's sake. Somebody call Magic's people for me...*they know my voice and won't answer the phone anymore.*
p.s.-shaan and star, play nice. LMAO. |
Is this a website?
What does it mean?
This is the dopest shit on the net.
When I think Urban and Magic this site is what I feel.
I am Tyler's backward's baseball cap. |
I truly love Magic and the leadership he has shown in his other ventures. However, I do think that UrbanMagic's performance is indicative of the state of many of his businesses. Great initiative...poor execution. He has been successful in flipping several breakthrough deals, but has not been as interested in maintaining the product quality. His theater in SW Atlanta is filthy and he has not marketed his Starbucks properties adequately to be successful. |
I can't believe they used opened up BBEdit to do that page. Truly triflin' ...
Do you really need connections and millions upon millions of dollars to build and run a site that a lot of people can really use?
Well, I know the inverse - you CERTAINLY can spend millions of dollars on a piece of shit website - and 404s don't serve ANYONE ... oh my Black people ... |
I used to work with One Nut Magazine as a street promoter. I enjoyed my time with the mag, but it served its purpose and folded.
I give Narry Wade his props and yes, I do agree, we will always be remembered for the gay rapper article. |
|
|
