Black Web 2.0

San Francisco, Seesmic Says ‘Why Not?’ To $6M More
Just four months after closing its Series A funding, video chat company Seesmic Inc. has raised $6 million in Series B financing from E-Bay Co Founders “Omidyar Network” and Wellington Partners.
http://www.seesmic.com

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It’s seems as if haters have taken their tactics online. According to LvLselect, a group of hackers calling themselves “Anonymous” have started cyber attacks on Hip Hop sites including SOHH and All Hip Hop. It seems as if it all started with some racially charged statements on SOHHs Forums and has escalated to brute force attacks that have seemingly temporarily taken SOHH down. Miss Theda reports that SOHH is working diligently to get the site back on up. Here’s the hate filled Wiki chronicling the hackers intentions for SOHH.

UPDATE ALLHIPHOP.COM STATEMENT via MissTheda.com:

“Urban culture and lifestyle has come under attack by a group of cyber terrorists. AllHipHop and SOHH, two pioneering websites that have been in the industry for over 10 years, are appalled by the unprovoked racist attacks of these cyber terrorists. With all the social strides that we have seen for several years, it is sad to see that this sort of blatant, hateful racism still exists in 2008 - a time of tremendous possibility. Together, AllHipHop and SOHH, are committed to relentlessly pursuing these attackers, using every resource available, to ensure the capture of these criminals and prevention of repeat offenses.”

Chuck Creekmur and Greg Watkins, AllHipHop.com Co-founders

UPDATE ALLHIPHOP.COM STATEMENT via MissTheda.com:

As many of you are already aware, SOHH.com has been under attack by hackers this week. We noticed the first wave of attacks in our vBulletins forums and as of this morning the whole site was compromised.

It appears that hackers are specifically targeting Black, Hispanic, Asian and Jewish youth who ascribe to hip hop culture. Other websites, including AllHipHop and Da Piff forums, have also been compromised or threatened this week.

We are managing this situation on several fronts. We have taken down the server to patch the security breach and put in protections for future attacks. Also, as this is an international issue, it is being addressed by The FBI and the Strategic Alliance Cyber Crime Working Group .

We realize the hackers attacked SOHH.com because of our stature in the hip hop space and the people we serve. Unfortunately, we did a poor job of protecting SOHH.com from imminent threats from people who hate our community simply because of our racial and ethnic makeup.

This has brought to light our vulnerabilities and those of the internet publisher and users as a whole. What’s possible now is for us to join together to identify and eliminate this threat.

If you are under attack and have any information about these attacks please submit a report to the FBI cyber crimes unit here: https://complaint.ic3.gov/ .

Felicia Palmer CEO SOHH.com

Wyclef Jean recently sat down with Voices on Personal Technology which is a video series produced by The Washington Post and Big Think.  It’s a short video that’s a little over 2 and a half minutes where he discusses his thoughts on how the web has changed the music industry.  Stuff most of you guys know already I am sure but it is always interesting to hear an artists’ take on it, enjoy:

Grammy Award-Winning singer, song writer, and producer T-Pain recently launched his much anticipated full digital independent record label Nappy Boy Digital. The label’s mission is to create a direct artist to consumer connection without the constraints of the traditional major labels. Nappy Boy Digital is an obvious next step for record labels who may have finally realized that the Internet is a friend and not a foe. But as I learn more about the label, I can’t help but wonder if T-Pain squandered this opportunity to make a lasting effect in the music industry. (more…)

The American iconic TV program Soul Train, which ceased production in 2006 has been sold to L.A. based Mad Vision Entertainment and the private equity firm Intermedia Partners. This is a hell of a deal in my mind, as there is a tremendous opportunity to resuscitate the legendary Soul Train franchise which includes the longest running Black program in America, along with the Lady of Soul Awards, and the Soul Train Music Awards.

To provide a little more background, Soul Train is recognized as the first black music variety show ever offered on American television, as well as one of the longest running syndicated programs in American television history! The show was created in Chicago in 1969 by the former radio broadcaster turned entertainment industry giant - Mr. Don Cornelius.
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San Francisco, Mochi Media Makes $10M To Monetize Games
With plans to build out its infrastructure to meet demand from game developers for its ad platform, Mochi Media Inc. has raised a $10 million Series B round of funding.
http://www.mochimedia.com

New York Hanger Network Racks Up $10M More
Hanger Network In-Home Media Inc., which distributes ads, coupons and promotional materials on biodegradable coat hangers, has racked up another $10 million from venture investors.
http://www.hangernetwork.com

Seattle, Cozi Gets Cozy With Gannett
Cozi Group Inc., a Web-based service geared toward organizing schedules and other aspects of family life, has received a third round of unspecified funding led by Gannett Co.
http://www.cozi.com

Tulsa, Digital Forensics Detects $1M For Legal Compliance
Digital Forensics Professionals Inc., a company that detects and analyzes digital information stored on computers and other devices, has raised a $1 million round of funding.
http://www.okdfp.com

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The Always on Hollywood event went off big as usual. There were tons of VC’s and institutional bankers there courting the business of the young, and the fresh (hot media start ups).

There were quite a few impressive starts up offering their pitches for rooms full of venture capitalist ready to wage their calculated bets on the next start-up. One of the hottest company’s was Bit Gravity, a new HD CDN operator. The CEO, Perry Wu brought Tom Green in HD quality into the demo for a live chat which was quite effective.

I have to admit, it was the absolute hands down best HD live stream I have ever seen, and rumor is the company is already, or close to moving into the black, and has not yet taken a dollar of VC money, so they should get an excellent valuation, good for them. (more…)

Do you remember when Tamayra Gray was up-and coming?

“A new, musical mini-version of Romeo and Juliet, directed by super-hot fashion photographer David LaChapelle is available for viewing online, only at the H&M website. Featuring Mary J. Blige, “American Idol” staring Tamyra Gray, and up-and coming dancer Gus Carr, the six-minute film was launched earlier this month to kick-off H&M’s fall jeans marketing campaign.”

I wrote that back in 2005, when I was a trend reporter for an international multicultural marketing firm looking for web trends. The microsite was hot. I found myself going back over and over again, sitting through a 6 minute flash page without hitting skip just to hear the music. At the time, it was innovative and enticing. However, while designers, developers and actionscripters try to force feed content down the throats of their audience through elaborate microsites with splash pages that have long since lost the ability to do anything awe inspiring (featuring been there done that interactivity that doesn’t really give any relevant information) I find myself asking, is the microsite dead?

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How important is RSS in your digital life? Well if you’re like me then answer is VERY! I use it to keep up with blogs, news sources, and events; just about everything in my digital life is in one form or another powered by RSS. Being without RSS would mean that I would have to go out to see what’s happening on the web instead of the new happenings on the web finding me. I thought most people within my generation, used RSS like this; that was until I had a discussion with a group of friends about the power of blogging. Our discussion was about how blogs have impacted mainstream media. During the conversation I mentioned RSS as a distribution method and how it revolutionized the way content was delivered; to which I received a bunch of blank stares. After a few minutes of explaining RSS, walking them through my feed reader, and showing them the logo, I realized that they had no clue what RSS was. Keep in mind that this group was outside of my normal “techie” circle, but nevertheless people I would call the typical mainstream black users: late 20’s early 30’s, professional, highly educated, great jobs, computer literate, uses computers for both work and entertainment, and that’s why I was completely shocked that they had no clue what RSS was. So after talking to my friends, I asked “How do you know when your favorite site has a new post?” To which one replied, “I just check it periodically to see.” (more…)

In Episode # 7 of the Black Web 2.0 Show we speak with Chuck Creekmur and Greg Watkins founders of Allhiphop.com. Coined as the “CNN of Hip Hop News”, Allhiphop (AHH) is the number one source for all things Hip Hop. With an average of 5 million visitors and over 100 million impressions monthly, AHH has been a constant force in hip hop since its launch in 1998. AHH features daily updates, interviews, reviews and a fast growing community, sharing news and views of their own. Sources as varied as CNN, The Associated Press, The O’Reilly Factor, XXL Magazine, VIBE and the New York Daily News all regularly use AllHipHop.com’s pages. (more…)