Tech Today w/ Ken May

Google today announced a significant change to how its search results are delivered. With Knowledge Graph, results will be arranged according to categories.

When I was younger, my parents liked to listen to the big soft rock stations in Los Angeles. Once in a while, the sappy love songs would be interrupted by an emotional dedication from a boy/girlfriend to their significant other. It was awkward, but also kind of beautiful. But mostly awkward. Now it sounds like Pandora has made an impressive gesture toward keeping that tradition alive, while also demonstrating the power of its ad targeting. So yeah, this happened: Someone, specifically someone named Kyle Taylor, used a Pandora ad to propose marriage to his girlfriend of almost six years. You can read the full account in his blog post , but the Pandora-relevant bit begins after Taylor has decided that this is a great idea, and has sent off a customer support request: I started to work with the team at Pandora and they told me this has never been done before, so they would be more than happy to help… that’s when I knew this was going to be it. After working with the creative and technical teams to figure out the best medium, getting passed to their audio advertising team to get a script together and recorded by an awesome voice actress, and once it was finalized it went back to ad trafficking to test out my ad and see if it worked. Of course, it worked out perfectly. (Throughout this whole process, I had to lock down my email account and step out for “unexpected” phone calls a lot – luckily I’m a planning ninja.) That’s the set-up. As for popping the question itself, Taylor decided to do it on the night of his graduation dinner from University of North Texas. It was carefully planned — he picked a restaurant whose driving distance would create the perfect timing for the ad. So he turned on Pandora (which was built in to his girlfriend’s Hyundai Veloster), and as he pulled onto a service road, the marriage proposal started to play. Now, you might be thinking that while this is pretty damn impressive, it was incredibly awkward for anyone else listening. In fact, CTO Tom Conrad says that’s “very, very unlikely” that anyone else heard the ad, thanks to the targeting that’s powering Pandora’s efforts to steal local advertisers from terrestrial radio . In this case, the ad was targeted at “very old listeners” in a “sparsely populated zip code,” Conrad says. So Taylor entered some fake demographic information to put himself, and no one else, in the target. The result? He used Pandora’s advertising to deliver a genuinely personal message. Oh, and by the way: She said yes.

Almost 12 years after the launch of its predecessor, Diablo III has now been released. The game went live last night with over 8,000 midnight launch parties across the world. 2,000,000 players showed up for the beta test prior to launch, including 300,000 concurrently during an open beta weekend, but even so, the login servers struggled for the first few hours after launch. Diablo III had been in the works for quite some time — another example of Blizzard’s notoriously long development cycle — and game director Jay Wilson said it was in “polish mode” for the past two years. “One of our sayings internally is ‘polish as you go.’ We have a belief that when you put a feature in, you should prototype, but then after you prototype you should do the real thing, and you should polish it to shipping quality.” For those of you who are familiar with this type of game, there’s an official game guide in which you can browse class skills, items, and other game information. There are also YouTube videos showing how each of the classes work. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Editor’s note: This is a guest post by  Chester Ng , co-founder and CMO of SweetLabs, makers of  Pokki , an HTML5 app platform for the PC. The tectonic plates in the app world have been shifting quite a bit lately, in ways that will significantly impact developers and users. One major upcoming shift is coming from our friends in Redmond–Windows 8– and yesterday, we witnessed another major shift as  Facebook announced  their new App Center. After sleeping on it and reading dozens of generic blog posts about the announcement, this is what I think the Facebook App Center REALLY means (complete with lame taglines for your entertainment): 1. Throw a cat a bone. The dog has had enough to eat. The App Center is Facebook’s response to the big dog, Zynga, who recently  launched  their own social game portal on  Zynga.com . While  Zynga.com  is Facebook-friendly for now, the threat of independence hangs heavy in the air.  15% of Facebook’s Q1 revenues  were tied to Zynga games. It doesn’t take a genius to see that the App Center is hedging and diversifying. This is, combined with weapons like Open Graph, also about trying to help other “cats” (app and game developers) surface and thrive. The first battle in the social apps/games war is over, and Zynga won. But, as we know (and love), there is a plethora of creative talent out there ready to design, develop, and bring to market the next killer app/game. Facebook wants to make sure that happens within their walls. 2. All apps = social apps. Social apps = Facebook apps. So, all apps = Facebook apps? VentureBeat fell for it, when  describing App Center  as “a place to find social web, desktop, and mobile apps — and not just Facebook apps.” Hook. Line. Sinker. The App Center  guidelines  clearly state that to be eligible, your app has to be on Facebook canvas or use Facebook login. But, it somehow doesn’t have to be “a Facebook app”? Riiiight. Let’s pull the hoodie up off our eyes. Facebook intends to turn every app into a Facebook app, an important step towards global domination. A million apps aren’t cool. You know what’s cool? A BILLION apps. Now, that said, the Facebook App Center is theoretically more “open” and “friendly” to multiple devices than other app stores (iOS, Android, Metro). But it is not universal. This, to me, is further evidence that there is a real need… for an “Application System,” one that is not biased by any particular device, OS, browser, search engine, or social network. One that is all about the apps, not the walls around them. 3. Content is King. The King protects the walls. The majority of content in my Facebook activity stream consists of random updates/links, photos, and content generated by apps (and games). Well, Facebook will always own a monopoly on random updates/links, and they  just paid $1 billion  to gain control of the photo faucet. So, apps (and games) are the next logical faucet to grab hold of. Whether you scoff at or believe in the comparisons of Facebook to the original walled garden, Aol, we all know that those trusty walls collapsed when users flocked to content on the open web. Facebook is trying to get ahead of that possibility by ensuring that users can easily access and discover great content (apps) inside their walls. While I’m not a fan of handcuffs (unless they’re furry), the  quality tilt  is encouraging, if Facebook can leverage its data to improve app discovery. 4. fPhone + fOS is otw. The day will come for the  Facebook phone rumors  to officially die. That day will be the day the Facebook phone is released. Based on yesterday’s news, I’d expect the rumor-to-release cycle will be shorter than Google Drive’s 5 years. Apps sell phones. Phones sell apps. The App Center is paving the foundation for an OS and a phone, one in which “social” is no longer a descriptor or qualifier. It just is. As Facebook charges towards the “largest technology IPO in history,” there are a number of smart, strategic reasons for them to throw down on this App Center. But let’s not kid ourselves here with talk of a new, “open” approach to apps. This is ultimately all about deploying aggressive offensive and defensive measures to bolster their walls and connect everything and everyone to Facebook. Please “like” this post on my Facebook, thanks!

In recent years a flurry of electrified two-wheeled motorcycles and scooters have emerged from companies like Zero, Brammo, Mission Motors, BRD and Evolve. While some are still in the prototype phase (I’m looking at you BRD!), others have shown rapid advancement to meet rider needs, preferences and performance. Though they’re still light years away from their gas-powered counterparts, the release of Brammo’s 100MPH and 100-mile range electric motorcycles later this year will undoubtedly turn some heads. Originally announced in July 2010 , the Oregon-based startup today announced both pricing and availability for the Empulse and Empulse R. During a demo earlier this month in San Francisco, the changes made from the original Enertia were glaringly apparent to me from two feet away. Having ridden the original Enertia, I can say that it wasn’t the most pleasant riding experience. Not that it was uncomfortable by any means but it didn’t feel like any motorcycle I’d ever been on. Geometry on the Empulse is much more akin to something between a Ducati Monster and a supermoto. In other words, I’d have no problem riding the Empulse on the pothole-riddled streets of Manhattan or in the twisties. And if I really needed to carry a passenger I wouldn’t hesitate to throw one on the pillion either, a first for an electric moto. Though I didn’t get a chance to actually ride the Empulse, I’m looking forward to a bit of seat time later on this year. Other than seating position, range and top speed, you might be wondering what else makes the Empulse special. That’s easy to answer, too. For starters, it has a six-speed gearbox and regenerative braking (similar to engine braking) like a normal motorcycle. Brammo’s Brian Wismann, Director of Product Development, told me that he hasn’t had to change his riding style in any way, especially when it comes to entering or exiting corners at speed thanks to upgraded parts like brakes and suspension. He rides a BMW S1000RR, so I’m inclined to believe him. More importantly, the 9.3 kilowatt battery driving the bike can be recharged in 3.5 hours from your standard plug. And the startup process is basically the same as any gas-powered motorcycle. Priced at $16,995 the baseline Empulse is equipped with an assortment of Italian made components similar to those on the Ducati 848 StreetFighter. The Empulse R fetches an additional $2,000 and includes a plethora of carbon fiber farkles like front and rear fenders, headlight shroud, tank and tail. A limited run of the Empulse R will come off the line in June and based on demand could hit full production in Q3. The Empulse, unfortunately, won’t be ready till Q1 of 2013. Check out Brammo.com for more details. Click to view slideshow.

Mark Zuckerberg. Grand overlord of everyone’s internet. He won’t be happy until he has a part to play in every single godforsaken aspect of your miserable lives. More »

An anonymous reader writes “Biochemist Pierre Calleja has a solution to reducing carbon emissions that doesn’t require us to cut back on our use of carbon-producing devices. Calleja has developed a lighting system that requires no electricity for power. Instead it draws CO2 from the atmosphere and uses it to produce light as well as oxygen as a byproduct. The key ingredient to this eco-friendly light? Algae. Certain types of algae can feed off of organic carbon as well as sunlight, and in the process produce carbohydrate energy for themselves as well as oxygen as a waste product. Cajella’s lamps consist of algae-filled water along with a light and battery system. During the day the algae produce energy from sunlight that is then stored in the batteries. Then at night the energy is used to power the light. However, as the algae can also produce energy from carbon, sunlight isn’t required for the process to work. That means such lights can be placed where there is no natural light and the air will effectively be cleaned on a daily basis.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.