Within Huffington Post Celebrity you will now find: PopEater articles. AOL News is already consolidated into the Huffington Post and Politics Daily has been rolled into HuffPost Politics. Kitchen Daily will become HuffPost Kitchen, Parent Dish will become HuffPost Parents, AOL Black Voices will become HuffPost Black Voices, and so on. HuffPost Music, HuffPost Small Business, and HuffPost Kids will all be new.

Outside of the Huffington Post, the power brands that will remain are:

AOL.com
Autoblog
Engadget
Joystiq
Mapquest
MMA Fighting
Moviefone
Patch
Stylelist
TechCrunch
TUAW
AOL Autos
AOL Healthy Living
AOL Industry
AOL Money & Finance,
AOL Music
AOL Search
AOL Travel
AOL Video

• The Advertising Collective: AOL, Yahoo and Microsoft Join Forces – November 9, 2011
• Infographic: RIM vs the World – May 17, 2011
• AOL Closing Over 30 Sites and Laying Off 900 Employees – March 23, 2011
• Did AOL Really Buy The Huffington Post for the Great Content? – February 8, 2011
• AOL Acquire the Huffington Post for $315 Million: Internal Email – February 7, 2011

AOL Consolidating Blog Brands into 20 Power Brands! originally appeared on: Crenk
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It seems that news on this search engine just does not die. Recently reported on TechCrunch, Michael Arrington writes that Cuil is finally closing its doors for good…unofficially at least. According to the report, what few employees that are still with the company have not been paid, which is never a good sign. While they look for green pastures the future for the search engine is almost certain. With its line of successive failures, perhaps now we can finally lay it to rest.

So what say you? Did anyone in the Crenk community ever use Cuil? The few that commented on past articles were not impressed, but if you actually liked it, we’d like to hear why.

Photo Credit slimmer_jimmer

• Cuil – The Google Killer? – August 2, 2008
• Breaking: Google Release New Search Design Worldwide – June 30, 2011
• SearchBlox: Amazing Search Engine Tool for Your Linux Computer – June 10, 2011
• How to Add Google +1 Button to Your Website – June 6, 2011
• Infographic: How Massive is Google? – February 7, 2011

Goodbye Cuil, We Barely Knew You…Literally originally appeared on: Crenk
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According to a great article on TechCrunch, the policies are changing, and it’s going to affect a large swath of apps already approved in the app store. The zero tolerance on “sexual content” has been passed and we’ll soon see those apps gone entirely from the store. Some of these apps were developed as the foundation for business, so Apple is essentially putting them out on the streets. While many of us may not agree with what we see, is Apple doing the right thing by running them out?

According to the article, the developer of Wobble has outlined the following change of policies:

1. No images of women in bikinis

2. No images of men in bikinis!

3. No skin

4. No silhouettes

5. No sexual connotations or innuendo: boobs, babes, booty, sex – all banned

6. Nothing that can be sexually arousing!!

7. No apps will be approved that in any way imply sexual content

Anyone want to share their opinion? Seems pretty ridiculous and perhaps a little overreaching, but it is Apple’s sandbox. If you want to play in it you follow their rules. Leave your comments and let’s chat about this.

• Kazaa Music Streaming App Now Available in App Store – September 21, 2011
• Create Your Own Native Looking iPhone and iPad App Using HTML, CSS and Javascript – April 8, 2011
• Android Market Now Has Over 250,000 Apps: Grown by 100,000 in Last 30 Days.. Really! – March 21, 2011
• Global Mobile Application Store Rankings: Apple App Store Killing the Competition – February 21, 2011
• Sony’s New PSP Phone Threatens Apple? – August 12, 2010

App Store Not Skinemax, Policies Changed originally appeared on: Crenk
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But here’s a story that only a few sites have picked up on. I first noticed this when I saw the presentation via an iPhone recording, but confirmed when I saw the photos, Apple’s new ebook front was a total copy of Will Shipley‘s Delicious Monster. Now if you go to TechCrunch you can read an extensive article on their conversation with Shipley and his frustration on several points. First that Apple had strategically hired several of his former employees, and then secondly lift the look and feel of his design for their purpose. An imitation situation that was not flattering one bit.

So while I expect Will to take some action against Apple for the design, it begs the question…why? Why not hire Will directly if you’re hiring his employees? In Will’s words “they can’t afford me.” That might be so, but to so blatantly lift the look and feel without any attribution or agreement seems really heavy handed.

Do companies like Apple work outside the boundaries of standard practice? They seem so concerned when people encroach on their territory that it would seem appropriate that they would be wary of doing the same to others. While Shipley’s application does do more than just books, covering all types of media, I definitely think we’ll be hearing more on this in the days and weeks to come.

Photo Courtesy of TechCrunch

• IPHDAVAD The All In One HDMI and USB Port for Your iPhone and iPad – November 28, 2011
• Watch YouTube Playlists on iPad – November 27, 2011
• iPad Features Are Terrible When Compared to HP TC 1100 from 2003 – September 29, 2011
• iPad Joystick from Atari – September 6, 2011
• Free Safari Alternatives for iPad – August 10, 2011

Apple’s Imitation is not Flattery originally appeared on: Crenk
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I think that’s the real question. For those of you that have followed the MySpace Acquisition of imeem and the eventual realization that users could not access their playlists, Crenk is wonders if people still care. There was no doubt that users of the imeem music service were dedicated to the platform and infuriated at how MySpace handled the acquisition.

With no warning at all the entire platform was shut down leaving developers and users in the dark. A lot of users left for other music sites, sites that appeared to be more stable. Now acquisitions can happen at any time, but two things were for sure. First users wanted to know where their music was and were unhappy with the response by MySpace, and secondly that many users detested the MySpace music platform and did not want to be affiliated with it.

Still, it’s nice to see that MySpace as still followed through with its promise of bringing back the playlists and there will be no doubt that users will migrate and begin to engage one another again, just on a different platform. Now it’s only fair to note that MySpace was not officially responsible for the imeem platform going down. Users were unawares that money had run out and services were on their way to being shut down with or without MySpace’s involvement.

For full reports and a step by step process to access your music accounts, take a look at the article from TechCrunch.

• MySpace Assures imeem Users, Playlists Are Safe – December 22, 2009
• Web Cupcake Icons – September 20, 2011
• AOL Consolidating Blog Brands into 20 Power Brands! – July 4, 2011
• Where Would We Be Without Facebook? – April 29, 2011
• Myspace Music Testing out Social Network Aggregation Tool – April 4, 2011

MySpace Breathes New Life into imeem Playlists originally appeared on: Crenk
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The Songsmith commercial caused a ripple of laughter when the painful commercial made its rounds on the internet. Viewers lamented on the lack of acting as well as the blatent use of an Apple laptop throughout the entire promotion. You can vew the entire promotion here.

Recently, several Songsmith parodies of popular songs have been released using the Songsmith application.Both TechCrunch and This Week in Tech (TWiT) covered these interesting adaptions that almost appear to come from a bizarro world.

Here is “Roxanne” by The Police via Songsmith.

If you’d like to see other tunes mutilated by this Microsoft inception, visit the the article posted over on TechCrunch. Prepare to laugh, cry, or a mixture of both!

• Microsoft Makes Worst Commercial Ever – January 18, 2009
• Foxconn Parent Company Announces Soaring Revenues – March 17, 2011
• Microsoft Buying Adobe? – October 9, 2010
• Microsoft Discourages PC Users from Buying Macs – August 12, 2010
• Bing Replacing Google on iPhone 4? – June 1, 2010

Microsoft Songsmith Provides Musical Mockeries! originally appeared on: Crenk
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We have all heard of the popular social networks like MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Ning, etc. But there are a lot of networks out there that cater to a more specific market, no matter if you’re into music, television, knitting, dating, marbles, or candles, there is a group for you. BookSprouts is the newly developed social site for book clubs. The site is a amongst a few competitors that claim to be a space for readers, but BookSprout is different in that the actual design is easy to navigate at the layout is welcoming to new users with little confusion. Every step for you is laid out so that users can get started immediately without getting lost in the site.

I had time to explore the site and came across the same problem the write of the TechCrunch article did. Only two of the books I listed had actual groups connected to them. This was rather limiting since those books were not considered favorites of mine, so it left me little desire to join that discussion. While I won’t blame this entirely on BookSprout, this is a user generated community, unless someone starts a group for the book, I have little time to manage one on my own.

I like how the site is free of ads. Though one might question the ability of the site to sustain itself, other social sites like Ning are free of advertisements and function perfectly well without all the advertising. The ability to purchase what other users are reading straight from the site is nice with an easily accessible Amazon link, but might be too limiting considering that there might be other places offering the book cheaper. For that you might want to check out my post on Booksprice.

Here is a video that details what Booksprice offers and what they’ve done for their users. Pick a couple of books, sign-up, and enjoy!

• Social Networking Site for Collectors – June 29, 2009
• Social Media Demographics – July 9, 2010
• Online Tribes Can Avoid GigaTribe – November 10, 2009
• Web App Buffers Timely Online Communication – November 6, 2009
• TinyChat Upgrades Amazing Video Chat Application – June 1, 2009

Book Worms Unite with BookSprouts originally appeared on: Crenk
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The New

Zemanta has always offered what it thinks you will need in terms of photos and links, but today Zemanta is launching their public API which will now allow users to build a “user suggestion engine.”

Funding for the company has come from Union Square Ventures, Eden Ventures and The Accelerator Group, along with its win at the fist SeedCamp, this announcement has come out of LeWeb in Paris, France. This announcement is sure to increase not only the number of users, but also the dependency that online writers will have on this dynamic tool.

The Future

Zemanta has now opened itself to a huge reception in the world of online content creators. By opening their API, they can approach content creators to leverage their unorganized with the system, and the users are able to access the content for various needs.

In an article by TechCrunch, they state that “usage of the API is free for up to 10.000 API calls per month, and for a subscription fee above that.” So not only has Zemanta found a way to integrate user input, but they also find a way to monetize their efforts for content creators to get organized.

Zemanta has a bright future ahead of it. I have just recently connected with one of the Founders for Zemanta on Twitter @andraz. He’s easily approachable and seems to be keen on connecting with users around the world.

• Audio Blog with Audio Boo on iPhone – December 15, 2009
• Zemanta Levels Blogger Playing Field – December 8, 2009
• AOL Consolidating Blog Brands into 20 Power Brands! – July 4, 2011
• WWDC 2011 By Numbers – June 7, 2011
• Pingdom API Has Gone Public: Track Your Sites From Anywhere – March 22, 2011

Zemanta Launches Public API originally appeared on: Crenk
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How bad is this? Well, pretty bad considering that most tech startups are staffed minimally to keep costs down. Some companies have been forced to cut as many has 1/3 of their staff, some up to 50%.

I were Chicken Little, the sky would definitely be falling right now!

• TechCrunch Creates Layoff Tracker – October 20, 2008
• AOL Consolidating Blog Brands into 20 Power Brands! – July 4, 2011
• Goodbye Cuil, We Barely Knew You…Literally – September 20, 2010
• App Store Not Skinemax, Policies Changed – February 21, 2010
• Apple’s Imitation is not Flattery – January 28, 2010

“Danger Will Robinson…Danger” originally appeared on: Crenk
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Image via CrunchBase

• Book Worms Unite with BookSprouts – December 30, 2008
• “Danger Will Robinson…Danger” – October 25, 2008
• Yammer is Top Prize Winner at TechCrunch50 – September 11, 2008
• Twitter Photo Sharing Service is Growing Fast: Third Party Services are Struggling – November 10, 2011
• 10 Twitter Hashtags to Live a More Frugal and Sustainable Life – October 27, 2011

TechCrunch Creates Layoff Tracker originally appeared on: Crenk
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Arrington reports that like any other site, their numbers fluctuate. Weekends are slow, but mid-week is their best time period. Still, even with the fluctuations, fans stay for the news and are even offered various ways to stay in touch with what is happening in the world of technology; Twitter, RSS Feed, FriendFeed, are just as few examples of how TechCrunch stays in touch with their readers.

Recentlly TechCrunch held their TechCrunch50 event which has been covered on Crenk here and here. Because of Arrington’s love for start-ups, he offers some of the best in the world a stage for them to highlight their products, network with VC’s and other interested high profile people, and in turn gives a little back with the success he’s achieved.

I highly recommend businesses to take a look at TechCrunch because as investors, you could be a part of the next big thing in the tech world!

• Goodbye Cuil, We Barely Knew You…Literally – September 20, 2010
• TechCrunch50 Showcases Startups – September 2, 2008
• Crenk is Getting Greatly Improved! – October 18, 2011
• How to Take Your Blog to the Next Level – July 16, 2011
• AOL Consolidating Blog Brands into 20 Power Brands! – July 4, 2011

TechCrunch Hits 1 Million Milestone originally appeared on: Crenk
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Yammer is a Twitter based internal corporate communications tool for businesses. They provide a great model for companies to use Twitter inside their company in a closed and private way where employees can sign up and communicate with their co-workers across the company’s network. This is an excellent idea and looks to unite people across different departments without having to pick up a phone or physically walk to them.

The catch to their monetization process is this, if the company itself wants full control of the chatter and its employees, that’s when the model turns profitable and businesses pay into the service. TechCrunch‘s article states “There is such a huge demand for this type of service that 10,000 people and 2,000 organizations signed up for the service the first day it launched on Monday.”

Pretty amazing numbers that only look to go up in the coming months as internal corporate communication tools will be a necessity for day to day operations. If you’re in a business looking to building community amongst your employees, definitely check out Yammer.

• Book Worms Unite with BookSprouts – December 30, 2008
• TechCrunch Creates Layoff Tracker – October 20, 2008
• Twitter Photo Sharing Service is Growing Fast: Third Party Services are Struggling – November 10, 2011
• 10 Twitter Hashtags to Live a More Frugal and Sustainable Life – October 27, 2011
• Awesome New Twitter Follow Buttons & Icons – August 22, 2011

Yammer is Top Prize Winner at TechCrunch50 originally appeared on: Crenk
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The event gives the startups an opportunity to share, explain, and possibly have their ideas funded. Companies have a high chance of being launched at this event, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Thanks to all the sponsors who help support and foster an event where these startups can find growth and a possible future!

Keep track of this event, and check back here for some of the highlights of the event.

• TechCrunch Hits 1 Million Milestone – September 14, 2008
• WikiLeaks Needs Your Help To Take Down Corrupt Banks – October 24, 2011
• Crenk is Getting Greatly Improved! – October 18, 2011
• Share and Listen to Music on Facebook with Spotify – September 23, 2011
• AOL Consolidating Blog Brands into 20 Power Brands! – July 4, 2011

TechCrunch50 Showcases Startups originally appeared on: Crenk
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