HOT TEENAGE TECH NEWS!
Our friends at the New York Post and Inside are noticing something that usually only receives comments at our favorite "non-nude" sites: Aimster, the software company that combines peer-to-peer swapping and Instant Messaging, has pictures of a 16-year-old hottie—Aimster developer Johnny Deep’s daughter Madeleine. Her middle name is Aimee, and though the Post credited her with creating Aimster, she’s just becoming the public face of the company, with her middle name subbing for the usual explanation that Aimster is a contraction of Napster and AOL Instant Messenger. And like Napster, playing with her could get you in trouble. On Aimster’s User Boards, there’s a section devoted to discussing her, as well as a fan club section with pictures. Perfect for the self-conscious teenager. Napster never had Shawn Fanning posing in a bikini.
INTERNET STILL EXPANDING
According to the Nielsen//NetRatings’ Global Internet Index, Internet home access grew by nearly seven million people in March, bringing the estimated number of surfers to 379 million. The online-audience measurement service also found that Internet usage grew, rebounding from a drop in February. South Korea leads the 21 measured markets in Net usage, followed by Hong Kong, Germany, Japan and Canada rounding out the top five. The U.S. ranked seventh, just in front of the snooty French. On the web-property side, Yahoo ranked #1 for both audience and page views. AOL Time Warner and MSN followed in the top three for audience. Napster came in 15th, down two places from its February ranking. Hitsdailydouble.com moved up a spot from the previous ranking—we’re now #13,650,453,123, just behind the Mr. and Mrs. Cliff Hackenbush’s online slide show of the family trip to Butte.
DOMO ARAGATO, DADDY-O!
Digital audio and content provider Beatnik, Inc. has announced it will couple its music playback application, the Beatnik Player, with the Japanese version of the Compaq iPAQ pocket PC. Under the agreement, the Beatnik Player will now be shipped with the iPAQ. Compaq Computer Corp. Illustrating the linguistic intensity motivated by such innovation, Manager Shigeru Yuasa calls the co-venture "another new and exciting application for [Compaq] customers." The program also causes the Pocket PC to self-destruct if it disgraces itself.
DIGITAL DESTINY
Movie theater chain AMC and digital distributor TVN Entertainment Corp. will present "Destiny’s Child—Survivor In Concert" this Saturday, May 5. The concert, taped live at Reliant Astrodome in DC’s hometown of Houston, will be transmitted via satellite to digital AMC Theatres in five cities: Phoenix, New York, Houston, Dallas and Kansas City. Each theater will have two showings at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. local time. Remember to stay in your seats and be perfectly silent, kids—that’s good movie etiquette.
