By Patrick Clark 2/12 7:47am

Linkages

Celebrity Sightings In New York City - February 19, 2012

Booting Up: Mark Zuckerberg At Top of List for Giving it Away

Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, were at the top of the list of the biggest U.S. philanthropists for the second consecutive year. The couple donated $500 million to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation in December, making them the country’s second largest donors, behind Warren Buffett, who gave away $3.1 billion last year. [CNET]

Twitter and American Express announced a plan to turn the microblogging service into an ecommerce platform: Details are vague, but it sounds like the partnership will allow users to link their Amex to their Twitter feeds, than make a purchase by posting a message. What will you buy with your subtweets? [WSJ]

We guess Michelle Obama won’t be buying a Surface Pro anytime soon. Apple CEO Tim Cook will be a guest of the FLOTUS during President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address this evening. Last year, Steve Jobs’ widow Laurene Powell Jobs joined Ms. Obama for the State of the Union. [Mercury News]

The residential real estate website Trulia crunched some numbers ahead of Valentine’s Day. If you’re looking for a man, try Las Vegas, Honolulu, Palm Bay, Florida, San Jose or Gary, Indiana; if you want the highest percentages of women living alone, try Bethesda, Maryland, Washington, D.C., Boston, New York or Raleigh, North Carolina. [NYT]

What do you get a tech billionaire for his birthday? Books, apparently. But of the electronic or dead tree variety? [Business Insider]

By Patrick Clark 1/31 8:17am

Linkages

zuck original

Booting Up: Looks Like Notorious Club Kid Mark Zuckerberg Was at a Rave

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg raved about his company, declaring the social media giant a “mobile company” during a conference call discuss quarterly earnings. [Betabeat]

More importantly, is that a picture of the Zuckster at a rave? According to the DJ shown in the image at left, the photo was taken three years ago. [Gawker]

Note to BlackBerry: Next time you launch a big new product, maybe better to firm up your release date before you hire Alicia Keys to sing your praises. [Bloomberg]

Sometimes matching a business model to a celebrity founder is like picking out the right pair of shoes to go with a pair of new pants. ShoeDazzle, the online shoe-seller cofounded by Kim Kardashian, dropped its subscription model a year ago. Now the subscription package is back. [AllThingsD]

A man was shot dead in Georgia after a GPS error lead him to the wrong house. [Gizmodo]

By Kelly Faircloth 1/30 6:00pm

It's Zuck's World We're Just Living In It

(elitedaily.com)

Facebook Execs Stop Just Short of Tap Dancing in Celebration of Mobile Revenue

Doesn’t it seem the Facebook IPO was just yesterday? And yet here we are at the company’s third earnings release, which brings promising news. In fact, we’re a little surprised the Facebook execs on the earnings call didn’t punctuate their remarks with jazz hands.

That’s because, 23 percent of the company’s $1.33 billion in Q4 ad revenue came from mobile. That’s a jump from Q3, when it was about 14 percent. And it’s a big jump from last year, when it was basically zero. Overall ad revenue was also up 40 percent.

“Today there’s no argument — Facebook is a mobile company,” crowed Zuck in this afternoon’s earnings call. Read More

By Nitasha Tiku 1/24 12:00pm

Political Animals

Screen Shot 2013-01-24 at 11.14.41 AM

Mark Zuckerberg Will Host a Fundraiser for Republican Gov. Chris Christie in His Palo Alto Manse [UPDATED]

If you’ve ever wanted to check out the “music alcove” in Mark Zuckerberg’s Palo Alto pad or dip a toe in his salt water pool, next month might be your chance. Buzzfeed reports that Facebook’s CEO is hosting a fundraiser at his 5,000 square ft. home to raise money for Republican Governor Chris Christie’s reelection.

Back in 2010, Mr. Zuckerberg, Mr. Christie, and Newark Mayor Cory Booker famously graced Oprah’s couch to announce the billionaire’s carefully-orchestrated $100 million donation to Newark’s public school system. They’ve continued to work together on that education initiative, “earning the praise of reformers, and ruffling teachers unions.” Read More

By Patrick Clark 1/11 9:25am

zuck's world

(Mashable.)

Messaging Mark Zuckerberg: Facebook Founder Charges $100 to Stay Out of His ‘Other’ Box

Oh, Zuck. We know you have a busy schedule, especially now that you’re running a public company, and we imagine that if you were to ever hang up your CEO boots, you’d have no shortage of speaking engagements that paid you princely sums for a little of your time. Still, the idea that there’s a Facebook fan out there who’d pay the company $100 for the privilege of sending you a message fairly boggles the mind. Read More

By Kelly Faircloth 12/20/12 4:40pm

It's Zuck's World We're Just Living In It

You know who. (Photo: flickr.com/prospere)

Facebook May Let You Pay Your Way Out of the ‘Other’ Inbox Purgatory

Mark Zuckerberg is on an absolute roll this week. First, he was forced to withstand abuse from scores of outraged Instagram users. Then, word escaped that Facebook is plotting the introduction of video ads (with autoplay!) into your newsfeed, inspiring at least one outraged user to threaten to flee into the waiting arms of Myspace.

And today, the company announced a new feature, currently being tested on a small group of users, that would make it easier for randos to reach you–and for you to reach randos. For a price, of course: Read More

By Kelly Faircloth 12/19/12 1:51pm

It's Zuck's World We're Just Living In It

SO unfair to poor Beast, who is just doing his doggie best to herd that animal.

The Latest Victim of Instagram Rage: Poor Beast Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg’s adorable moppet of a puppy is all grown up and herding sheep these days, it seems. But even his charming resemblance to a dirty mop can’t keep him safe from the Instagram backlash.

Three days ago, Facebook founder posted an Instagram image of his canine companion chasing a barnyard animal. The first comments were limited to Beast’s cuteness. But when TOSgate erupted, the photo of the magnificently filthy monster was flooded with comments from infuriated Instagram users, venting their rage at the man they consider directly responsible for Instagram’s new terms of service. Read More

By Patrick Clark 12/19/12 8:49am

zuck's world

(Cyan Banister.)

It’s Been a Good Year for Mark Zuckerberg, and He’s Closing It Out With a $500 Million Donation

Some have suggested that philanthropy came back in 2012, at least in New York, where local institutions received eight and even nine-figure donations this year. Well, New Yorkers aren’t the only ones feeling generous.

According to a post on his Facebook page, Mark Zuckerberg is donating 18 million Facebook shares to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, a gift worth about $500 million at current stock valuations:  Read More

By Kelly Faircloth 12/18/12 2:09pm

It's Zuck's World We're Just Living In It

Video

Ain't care. (Photo: Facebook.)

And Now Facebook Reportedly Wants to Put Video Ads In Your Newsfeed–With Autoplay

Caught your breath from Instarage yet? We sure hope so, because here comes another move that’s sure to inspire another round of e-riots on Planet Zuck. Ad Age reports that Facebook is prepping to launch video ads by April of next year. They’ll appear both on the desktop and mobile versions of the site.

Worst of all, sources tell Ad Age they’ll be set to autoplay. Bold move, Mark! Facebook might even enable the audio, which would probably be the most annoying thing Mr. Zuckerberg has done since, well, ever. Read More