AshK Dupre movie?

An article this morning in the LA Times is implying that Miz Dupre’s MySpace profile may be less than reputable. One of AshK’s close childhood friends was interviewed for the article, and she claims that she never heard or saw any evidence of the drug use, abuse, or poverty that was on AshK’s MySpace page. While she saw Ashley infrequently after she left their idyllic hometown, she believes that they were close enough that Ashley would have clued her in on something if there was trouble. A peek into Ashley’s past life reveals that she grew up as a normal teen who enjoyed cheerleading and singing kareoke. Several of the homes in the neighborhood where she grew up retail for $1.5 million. AshK has led people to believe that she grew up in a rough and tumble neighborhood spotted with shady characters and poverty-stricken inhabitants. Far from that, this neighborhood is an upscale development with manicured shrubs and long, winding driveways. Unfortunately, the spotty past makes for a better screenplay. Is this was little Miz AshK has in mind? (She hasn’t done a very good job of hiding it, if it was supposed to be a secret.) Granted, I suppose we could just blame Eliot Spitzer. He’s the one who got caught, anyway. Read the full article here.

Zivity.com: A Sexy Spin on Social Networking?

A website has been launched by Silicon Valley’s own Scott Banister. His vision is a social network, one that connects people via the web. Oh great, just what we need, another Facebook/MySpace/Friendster/Linked In. But wait! Scott has added his own unique twist to the site, zivity.com. The site, which requires a $10 monthly subscription fee, allows nudity No, not only allows it, that is what the site is devoted to. His goal is to drive a competitive profit against those deemed “raunchy porn sites” that host pictures that make the ones on zivity.com tame in comparison. By its own admission, zivity.com is a “community-powered showcase promoting female beauty.” Pornography sites on the web rake in huge profits every month, so why is this site going to be any different? In an interview for ABC News.com, co-founder Scott Banister said “It’s a social network built around who took the photographs. We look at that and we see a huge opportunity to enter that same market, but with a subscription-only model.” The site, which is currently invite only, is similar to Facebook and MySpace in the fact that once you are a member, you meet and become friends with fellow users online. However, the also gain access to the nude photos, and are afforded 5 votes a month to decide award to their favorites. The photographers (because this is all for the photographers…) are paid based on the number of votes they receive. All of the models are paid as well.
Why charge a subscription fee? Well, in order to avoid advertisers, of course! But is that really what subscribers think they are paying for? The website has a waiting list of 30,000 people, according to this article, which is pretty impressive.
What can we learn from this, other than the fact that porn is becoming more sophisticated? Well, that the world of social networking is moving to private communities. That’s right, just like we have gated communities, those big communities that have a guard at the gate, and their own lake, and a private park, social networking communities are starting to move to these “gated communities.” Facebook is cool, but open to everyone (and I am not knocking Facebook, I love Facebook), and pretty soon, invite-only communities are going to become the “place to be.” Could this signify the beginning of the end for my beloved Facebook? Well, I don’t know if this site will survive, but it’s got a pretty good shot-plus, they have just secured funding from BlueRun Ventures and Founder’s Fund, which has bankrolled PayPal and Pogo.com. Read the entire ABC News article here.

Happy π Day!

Yes, today happens to be 3/14/2008, or 3.14, which most people recognize as the universal number for Pi. So, today is Pi Day. It has it’s own website, which you can find here. Pi is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. Math and tech nerds everywhere are celebrating 3.14 in their own way. This website is celebrating by a ceremony called “The Dropping of the Giant Pi.” Think the ball drop on New Year’s Eve, only a lot more geeky. I believe it is slated to drop at 1.59pm, although I couldn’t tell you if that was EST, CST, or whathaveyou (3.14159). The site is currently playing a replay of last year’s pi drop, incase you need to get into the spirit.
Here are some popular Pi jokes, for your enjoyment.
Q: What do you call what happens when you cut a jack’o'lantern by its diameter?
A: Pumpkin Pi!
Q: What do you get when you take green cheese and divide its circumference by its diameter?
A: Moon Pi.
Q:What do you get when you take the sun and divide its circumference by its diameter?
A: Pi in the sky.
You can find more from Professor Al G. Bra here.
Happy π Day from me to you!