Instagram: 18 Months + Some Luck = $1 Billion

I came upon an interesting Inc.com article about Instagram and it's rapid rise to success. The start-up, was just over a year and a half old when it sold for $1 Billion to Facebook and here are some interesting highlights:

- Instagram had zero revenue when it was sold
- The app took only eight weeks to build
- After two and a half months, the app was downloaded one million times
- There were 12 employees at the time of sale
- Founder, Kevin Systrom, studied and worked in Silicon Valley (Stanford, Twitter, Google)
- Kevin randomly met his first investors at another start-up company's cocktail party, got $500k and quit his job to focus on Instagram

Here's the part that I like the best. The first interation of Instagram was called "Burbn" and it was similar to what Foursquare is today. There were a ton of features and if there's one thing you should keep in mind in product development it's that if you can't explain what your thing does in one line, it's probably too complicated.

MUST SEE Awesome Mashup of Top 50 Pop Songs [Video]

*Updated with "The Making Of"

So, I'm not sure how you get around all the copyright issues on YouTube but Daniel Kim has created a really awesome mashup of over 50 top pop songs from 2012.  He's actually been doing this for a few years so I've put in his previous mashups from 2011 and 2010.

Daniel must be learning from his previous tries as 2012 does seem to be the best one yet. His "making of" is quite interesting as the process he used to make the video is quite technical and if you don't know anything about audio engineering techniques, it would be close to impossible to replicate.

Check it out, they sound really good. Well done Daniel Kim!

Novak Djokovic The Soccer Player

Here's something we don't see too often: a sports star playing another sport. I read somewhere that any injury sustained outside of their "official" sport is not covered by the team's insurance but I guess when you're a tennis player, you don't have anyone paying you a salary. (Video below)

Movember 101

If you haven't heard about this, then you've been living under a rock. Movember is an annual event that takes place in November to raise awareness of prostate cancer and other general male health issues. The goal is to increase early cancer detection to prevent the loss of loved ones.

Here are the rules for participants:

What Is Marketing?

I'd like to shed some light on what many people think marketing is about and what marketing is really about. As someone with a Bachelor of  Commerce (Major in Marketing), an MBA from HEC Montreal and six years of experience in various Product/Brand/Marketing Manager roles, I will try to compare marketing theory with common misconceptions. I'm sure a lot of people in my industry feel the same way so I'd like to explain to those on the outside, the differences and subtleties of the trade.

What Is Marketing?
I remember my interview for a Marketing Intern Position at Schering (now part of Merck Frost) and I was asked by the Director of Marketing what I thought marketing was. My exact words were:

"Marketing is the solving of a customer want or need by offering a solution at a profit". So, you find something that someone needs or wants, figure out how to satisfy them and get paid for the work that you do. It was a win-win situation.

Now ask the same question to someone outside of marketing and you'll get a bunch of answers like marketing is sales or advertising.

From Dilbert.com: Perks of Being in Sales :)

New Iron Man 3 Trailer

The first Iron Man film was awesome and the second...no comment (meh). The Avengers was great and Iron Man 3, we'll have a look for yourself with the latest trailer. Looks cool.

Is Intel the Next RIM (Blackberry)?

www.intel.com

As we all know, Intel is famous for its processors and I remember back in the day when I went from a 386-Mhz PC to a Pentium II (thanks Mom!) and then after working a summer selling Rogers Cable TV and internet, to a Pentium 4 with hyper-threading. Yes I sometimes like to skip a generation of tech, especially when you're a student and you don't have one or two G's laying around. You would have to fast forward five years to see my current PC with a Core i3 processor that I got three years ago.

runtastic PRO App Review

Ok, so I was on the track & field team in high school back in the day but long distance running was never my cup of tea. I started off running cross-country simply because it was the first event of the year when I was a freshman and I turned out to become a sprint hurdler. Fast forward to now, where I am starting to run again, although the motivational effort is gargantuan. I'm a numbers guy so I want to see progression and I started off by just timing my runs and figuring out the distance with Google Maps.

Then came along the Google Play 25 Billion Download Sale where the runtastic PRO app was available for $0.25. Not much risk at that price so I gave it a shot.

So not long after Rovio released "Bad Piggies", a pretty unexpected rumor has been confirmed to be true. Two mega franchises are working together to bring you the latest incarnation of Angry Birds this November in a true geek fashion: Star Wars. Wonder if they would wander off to other spin-offs like for Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter just like what Lego has done. See the teaser video below.

Guy Thinks His Sister Is Hot

This is an EPIC video that you will want to watch twice. Don't ask questions, just WATCH. I wouldn't post this if it wasn't worth it.

:)

McDonald's Answers YOUR Questions & Urban Legends

In an effort to be more transparent about its business practices, McDonald's Canada came up with a publicity campaign to answer every question from the public. There are tons of urban legends out there and even though the answers sometime skirt the issue, it's still pretty interesting to watch. I worked at Mickey D's for two years in high school so I have some good insight about how things work at the restaurant level.

Here are some questions with video responses.

This video was interesting because the chef actually shows you how to make a Big Mac, including the sauce, at home. He says that the recipe is all over the internet anyways which is probably true.

Finally, The Pigs Strike Back: Bad Piggies (Angry Birds Spin-Off)

From our sister blog, Mobile Quirks, the new Rovio game, "Bad Piggies":

"For those of you who have slaughtered your fair share of pigs in Angry Birds, check out the game from the pigs’ point of view! You can create crazy vehicles to travel across the landscape to reach your goals. From the Google Play site:

Everything Gangnam Style: Ellen, Today Show, SNL, Call Me Gangnam

*Updated with old school Nintendo style 8-bit video!

Ok, so I had to post about this ridiculously viral video by Korean Pop Star PSY. Gangnam is apparently the uber-rich part in South Korea, similar to I guess Beverly Hills in LA. PSY appeared as a sneak guest on The Ellen Show with Britney Spears and was also on The Today Show. There was a great spoof of Gangnam Style on SNL (Saturday Night Live) last weekend, a fun remix with Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe" and lipdubs by the US Navy and Gandalf.

At first, I didn't like the song at all. Call it brainwashing but if you hear something often enough and learn the words, you know what, it grows on you. Just like The Macarena or Justin Bieber.

Check out the video/clips below:

Carly Rae Jepsen vs. PSY - Call Me Gangnam

Andy Murray Wins The US Open over Novak Djokovic!

Andy Murray prevails over Novak Djokovic 7-6, 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2. Murray's win comes after losing his first four Grand Slam finals (lost three US Open finals to Federer, one Australian Open final to Djokovic). I've been watching Murray play a lot and although he is a counter puncher, he does have some nice shot making ability. We saw Murray destroy Federer at the London Olympics and I'm sure he gained a ton of confidence with that win.

Murray had a lot of scares in this final. He had a 4-0 lead in the second set only to get broken twice. After leading 2-0 in sets, he went on to lose the next two sets that led to a dramatic final set (remember the US Open ends 5-setters with tiebreaks at 6-6) . There were a lot of 30-shot rallies and overall it has a really entertaining match. Novak's legs seemed to really cramp at the end as he was barely moving and kept stretching them out.

Congrats Andy, you've shown all the underdogs in the world that one day, your time to shine will come!

iPhone 5 Video From Aatma Studios

Possible iPhone 5 (From Techradar)

The iPhone 5 in this videos looks exactly like what other sites have been posting about. Aatma shows wireless charging capabilities, fingerprint scanning and "rubberband electronics".

It seems like Aatma Studios is trying to make a name for themselves and you'll have to watch the video to see what I mean. :)

Samsung Pays Apple $1,051,855,000

Wow, what a sad day for competition in the mobile world. Apple and its oodles of $$$ has sued Samsung for over a billion dollars, and won. The lawsuit was based around Samsung copying the look and feel of Apple's iOS. Here is interesting comment from a Mobile Syrup reader:

"20 page jury form with 700 questions in 33 categories. The jury was required to reach consensus on any ‘guilt’ findings and then determine damages for each. Does 1.5 days of deliberations see [sic] a little fast to have 9 people agree on all of that?"

It does seem suspicious that the jurors came to a unanimous decision so quickly. It makes you wonder if the outcome would have been the same if the case was held in Korea or in a neutral territory instead of in California (Apple's home state while Samsung is a Korean company).

Usain Bolt and 7 Really Fast Other Guys

Bolt wins the marquee 100m Olympic finals in 9.63s and defends his Olympic title. He looks forward to winning 2 more gold medals (200m and 4x100m relay) which he is favored to do. What's amazing is that 7 people ran sub 10s. It would have been 8 if Asafa Powell didn't pull out (he ran the most sub 10s times races in history, 87 times!). The field was stacked with multiple WR holders and top contenders.

Andy Murray Wins Olympic Gold in Wimbledon

Andy Murray finally wins a big tournament after coming up short in three Grand Slams finals. It was 6-1, 6-2, 6-4, against no other than the great Roger Federer, who beat Murray just a month ago in the Wimbledon final. Roger looked flat from his marathon semi-final vs. Del Potro and couldn't convert any break points against Andy. In fact, Roger barely held serve and on grass, a rarity. This reminds me a bit of when Federer lost the 2009 US Open final to Del Potro by having one of those "missing everything" type of days.

London 2012 Summer Olympics - Day 1-3

Here are some of the wins and fails from the first few days of the London Olympics:

Federer 17 Grand Slams Tribute Video

Amazing Tribute...you must watch if you are a tennis fan.

Futurama: Live Action Opening Sequence

Pretty cool live action version of the Futurama opening sequence. Also funny to see them put the Fry meme seen on 9gag.com (see bottom image) in the intro of the show this season.

Federer defeats Murray, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 for 7th Wimbledon Title

How many more can Roger Federer win? Also, would Roger have won if he had to beat his arch-nemesis Nadal? Regardless of all these questions, Federer has once again impressed the tennis world by regaining his #1 ranking after losing it after the week of June 6, 2010.

Murray played extremely well, starting off by winning the first set but after there was a rain delay and the Centre Court roof was closed, Federer's level increased tremendously. Roger started to take advantage of Murray's predictable second serve (to Roger's backhand) and went on to win a 19-minute game on Murray's serve.

Serena Williams defeats Agnieszka Radwanska to Win 5th Wimbledon Title

Serena cruised through the first set 6-1 and then lost an error-filled second set, 5-7 and rebounded to win the third 6-2 to win the 2012 Wimbledon final. It was no surprise given Serena's dominance in the game when she isn't out due to some weird injury (stepping on broken glass?!?). Radwanska apparently had an "upper respiratory illness" which is really bad luck given her fierce opponent and career-making opportunity.

Amazing Spider-Man Exclusive 4 Minute Video and Movie Trailer

The new Amazing Spider-Man movie opens this week and it's the second Marvel blockbuster hit after The Avengers. The series reboot, which starts off the with origin story again, looks to be darker than the first trilogy which is probably a good thing. Will Spider-Man be able to top The Avengers or the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises this summer?

Here is an 4 minute sneak peak of the movie:

EuroCup 2012: Spain Demolishes Italy...

After Italy powered their way in great form to the EuroCup finals, they seemed flat footed in the final. Italy made England and Germany look like bad teams which isn't easy to do. The first half was not bad, Spain knocked in two goals but it was far from over. Then, Italy tried to change it up and used up all their subs. Unfortunately for them, one of the subs got hurt, leaving them a man down for most of the second half.

Google Glass: What You See in Every Sci-Fi Movie

[See video below] Google Glass was announced this week at Google I/O. It's exactly what you think it would be: glasses that allow you to harness the power of a computer. It can be used to record what the user sees, make use of augmented reality and whatever else developers can think of. Here is a synopsis from Engadget:

My Wimbledon Experience: What To Expect & How to Get Tickets

So I was lucky enough to get tickets for the first two days at Wimbledon this year and after reading up on various forums and travel sites, I've created a guide on what to expect for those who are thinking of visiting the All England Lawn Tennis Club.

How To Get Tickets

Wimbledon: How Far Can Milos Raonic Go?

For all you Canadian tennis fans, I'm sure you have been keeping an eye out on Milos and his rise in the rankings. The winner of two tournaments this year and with victories over #4 seed Murray and #9 Tipsarevic, Milos has some great things ahead of him.

Raonic also faced Federer three times already this year, each going to a third decisive set. With Wimbledon just around the corner, there's a good chance that he bests his performance of last year where he reached the second round.

Miami Zombie Attack

This is what happens when you pretend that there are zombies in real life...pretty funny, especially the end.

French Open: Nadal Wins Over Djokovic

Nadal won a record seven French Open titles today by defeating Djokovic in 4 sets. This is not too surprising given Nadal's historical reign on clay courts and his two clay court titles earlier this year, both over Djokovic in the finals. His lefty spin that kicks high to the backhand, super speed and consistency make him virtually impossible to beat at Rolland Garros. Novak did beat Rafa in the last three Grand Slam finals so I'm sure Nadal wasn't going to take it too easily.

Undercover NBA Pro Plays Pick-Up Basketball As "Uncle Drew"

This is what happens when an NBA pro (Kyrie Irving - Rookie of the Year) goes to a public park and pretends to be an old man named "Uncle Drew". This PepsiMAX viral video is pretty funny although you'd expect a bit more crazy highlights given the scenario.

Kyrie pretends to be shooting a documentary on another bballer, "Kevin" at the court, when Kyrie himself decides to join in.

Madrid Open: Federer vs. Berdych...and WILL SMITH

Did you see Will Smith everywhere during the Madrid Finals? Will Smith was in the crowd and they showed him like every 5 minutes. He was even on stage at the trophy ceremony and presented Roger a framed Men-In-Black suit. Not sure if this is some mega-promotion with the movie studio (Will is on a promo tour for MIB 3) and tennis but you would think that you were watching a Will Smith movie during the finals. Mr. Smith presented the frame in what seemed to be pretty good Spanish. Nice effort for the locals on his behalf, I must say.

Iron Man Fan-Made Costume (Cosplay)

With The Avengers movie premiering tonight, I couldn't help posting this really cool Iron Man cosplay video. It looks REALLY impressive. Check it out below:

Looper (Movie)

Here is an interesting trailer for a new movie starring Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt that I stumbled upon. Gordon-Levitt's character is a time-travelling assassin called a "looper". It seems like some organization is sending unwanted people back in time to be taken care of by "loopers" but things get messy when Gordon-Levitt's character realizes the target is his future self.

Looper hits theatres September 28, 2012.

Google Drive Now Available

For those who don't know about applications like Dropbox of Google Drive, you should read this article and consider getting one of the services. They are essentially the same at this point, giving users 5GB of free online storage (you can pay $4/month for an extra 20GB with Google Drive).

Both services allow you to have a regular folder on your computer that automatically syncs with anywhere the service is installed. So if you work on a laptop and a desktop, instead of using a USB key to transfer files and confusing different versions of a file you're working on, all you have to do is install Google Drive on both systems. Folders on both your laptop and desktop will automatically update and to have identical content. Unlike uploading to an FTP, Google Drive allows you to drag and drop files into a folder, which makes it a lot more user friendly than any upload toolbar.

Bryan Adams - Bell Centre, Montreal 2012

*Update: Unfortunately, YouTube just pulled ALL the Bryan Adams videos from its site, so the videos do not work.

Bryan Adams gave a fun and energetic performance at the Bell Centre in Montreal this week. He played all the hits that you would expect and to please the Montreal crowd, he sang "Here I Am" ("Je Suis Là" in French) in both French and English. The band hardly took any breaks and electrified the crowd with a simplistic, but entertaining, set up. The stage had a giant LCD screen that looked like it was 20 times the size of a cineplex screen and some basic lights and lasers. In keeping with the theme of simplicity, the giant screen played mostly black and white visuals until the end where there was some color.

Video Games: Foosball 2012 Playstation 3

I played a lot of foosball (aka soccer table, biardini) as a teenager and it seems that 3Division and Grip Games created a "realistic" PS3 video game version that can be played with either the controller or the PlayStation Move add-on. I know that pass renditions of virtual foosball games, like on iOS, were horrible but it could be interesting with the Playstation Move.

In addition to saving all the space that a real table takes up, the cost of a $60 video game is a lot cheaper than an $800 table.

Roger Federer On A Roll, Wins Indian Wells

Roger Federer has been on a roll since last year's US Open. He's won 39 of his last 41 matches (unfortunately both losses in Grand Slams) and won four of the last six tournaments he entered. His win at BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells, ties Nadal for the record at 19 Master 1000 titles. Federer also leads the South African Airways ATP Ranking Race to London which is no surprise given his recent victories.

Book: Rafa, Rafael Nadal's Autobiography

Here is my take on Rafael Nadal's autobiography "Rafa". Being a huge tennis fan, I found it interesting to read what went on in Nadal's head throughout his career up until the end of 2010. It's kind of funny for someone to have an autobiography when they're only 24. I guess someone in his entourage really wanted this project to go through and it did.

Fun Facts

• Rafa was born and raised in Manacor, Mallorca, a town of 40,000
• Rafa feels closer to Mallorcans compared to other Spaniards (he speaks Mallorqui, dialect of Catalan and incomprehensible to Spanish)
• Mallorca is the only place Rafa can be in peace, people leave him alone with the notion that everyone is equal. A quote from a book that describes the culture of Nadal's hometown well, "Dear Mallorcans", tells us, “Anyone who tries to raise their head above the rest will immediately have it chopped off.”  
• Nadal literally mean "Christmas" in Catalan 
• Rafa cut out running from training (says he runs enough in practice/matches) Wow! 
• Uncle Toni did not get paid for his time as a coach but he owns half of Rafa's father's company and takes half the profits without doing any work. 

Manacor on Google Maps

AWESOME FOOD Update: Cacao 70 New Menu (Montreal)

If you haven't seen my original post on Cacao 70, click here.

Cacao 70 recently changed it's menu. Prices are a bit higher but there are new items that we tried that were very good. They added a few dishes, like the Strawberry and Cheesecake Crepe seen below and my personal favorite, the Black and White Waffle. The cheesecake is softer than what I am used to but still tasty. The waffle is basically a pound cake in the shape of a waffle and with the addition of extra ice cream (used to be one scoop which wasn't enough) and crunchy chocolate wafer balls, it's the best you can get.

TEDTalk 2023: Prometheus (Film)

Here's an interesting TEDTalk that I just saw from 2023. That's right, the future.

New Scenes and Trailer for The Avengers

If you haven't seen the latest trailer for Marvel's Avengers Assemble, and you are somewhat of a comic book fan, than you should definitely click the video below. What's interesting to note is that the German version of the trailer has a few extra scenes not seen in the English version.

TEDx Talks: Jack Horner, Shape Shifting Dinosaurs

There is a cool TED Talk [see video at the end] by dino-guru Jack Horner about why we never find "small" dinosaurs. It seems that paleontologists often find "new" species of dinosaurs when in reality, they really find a juvenile dino of a species that has already been discovered. Horner claims that this is due, in part, to the ego of men and their claim to fame in discovering and naming a species. His hypothesis about why many "different" dinosaurs are really just one dinosaur at various stages of its life is pretty compelling.

FOOD: Seoul Chako (Montreal)

The rather new Korean BBQ place in Montreal is located at 1824 rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest. If you're not familiar with Korean BBQ's, the concept is based around cooking your own food on a grill. Seoul Chako's decor is nice and the restaurant is pretty spacious.

Kickstarter: Double Fine Adventure

For those who are unfamiliar with Kickstarter, here's how Wikipedia defines it:

Kickstarter is an online crowdfunding website for creative projects. Kickstarter has crowdfunded a diverse array of endeavors,^[1]ranging from indie film and music to journalism, solar energy technology and food-related projects.^[2]

Basically, this means that you, or anyone, can create a project on Kickstarter, and hope that everyday people from around the world will "back" up the project's development. The idea is that small amounts from a large "crowd" can generate sufficient funding, thus reducing the dependency on traditional investors (VC, banks...). Backers are usually compensated with the first production samples, a limited edition item or a behind the scenes look at development. Kickstarter takes 5% of projects that reach their fund raising goals (projects that don't reach their goal receive no money) and Amazon Payments takes an additional 3-5%.

LEGO Mini Figurines: Lord of the Rings and More

LEGO has long dominated the land with huge licenses for its iconic construction sets (scroll to see DC Universe, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, Toy Story and more). The latest and greatest upcoming LOTR theme is timed to coincide with the release of The Hobbit. Here are some cool images of some of the mini-figs, a must for all LOTR and LEGO fans!

Tennis: Australian Open 2012, Djokovic vs Nadal Rivalry

Novak Djokovic does it again to win his fourth Grand Slam title. What's interesting to note is that he now owns Rafael Nadal (he won his last seven matches against Nadal, three in Grand Slam finals) after starting off with a mediocre 30% win percentage in their first 23 head-to-head matches over a five-year span.

*Just added at the bottom, a video of Nadal and Djokovic about to collapse after playing for six hours at the Aussie Open Final and having to listen to the long winded sponsors and admin speeches. Pretty funny.

What's interesting about this rivalry, compared to say Federer vs Nadal is that the tide has completely shifted. Federer never owned Nadal, in fact, Nadal went from beating Federer half the time, to almost beating him every time (just like how Federer owns Roddick). Even though Federer destroyed Nadal (6-3, 6-0) in the 2011 year ending Championships in London, he hasn't beaten the Spaniard in a Grand Slam in five years.

Technology: Samsung's Transparent Smart Window CES 2012

After introducing some cool new tech like the Flexible AMOLED Screen, Samsung revealed it's Transparent Smart Window at CES this year. Dubbed by many online reviewers as the "Minority Report" screen, the screen acts as like a one-sided pane that allows you to use widgets and to block out sunlight like regular blinds on a window. It will go into mass production this year but its size seems to be a bit smaller than most windows I know of.

My question is: Will future architects start to plan their designs around these more sophisticated devices?

AWESOME FOOD: Kiss Grill (Montreal)

All "Kiss Grill" photos courtesy of Whirl256 (Josie)

We tried this place for my birthday after reading good reviews. I like grilled food so didn't think I could go wrong. The best too is that the service is REALLY fast so you get your appetizers right away and your main 5-10 mins after that. We ordered a bunch of things and here is what I tasted:

Appetizers:
- Japanese Vegetable Salad
- Spicy Julienne Salad
- Duck
- Won ton soup
- Grilled Chicken Wings

TRAVEL GUIDE: Saint Lucia - Soufriere, Marigot Bay, Castries & Rodney Bay

Petit and Gros Piton: UNESCO World Heritage Site

What better way to escape the cold than by going to the Caribbean for some sun? Here is a travel guide for anyone considering a trip to Saint Lucia based on my recent trip.

Quick Overview:


- Saint Lucia [pronounced LOO-SHA] is a British Commonwealth country that changed hands between the English and the French 14 times since 1660
- Tourism is the main economic activity (although some sites say UK-bound bananas is still first but declining quickly)
- English the the official language but 95% of locals speak a French-based Creole (called Patois)
- Most of the cities and beaches are on the west coast. The middle of island has a rain forest and is mostly untouched by man
- Roads are extremely narrow, full of blind turns (hairpin turns up/down steep hills every 10 seconds). Drivers honk when turning a curve and although there aren't many cars on the road, it's intimidating for non-locals. The east coast road is easier to drive but parts of the road were collapsed due to landslides from last year's hurricane.
- Negotiating is part of the culture, especially with taxi drivers. In some places, all the drivers are together so it's hard to get a good price (collusion) but in the cities, you can walk a few blocks and easily find another cab. I will outline the rates we got in the taxi descriptions below for each city.
- EC$ (East Caribbean) is the local currency and pegged at 2.71EC$ = 1 USD. USD were accepted everywhere so there is no need for EC's but most people accept USD at a rate of 2.5 EC= 1 USD so you lose a bit. I will quote all prices in USD.
- Local buses cost less than $1 (2.50 EC) but there is no schedule so good luck getting one. They also don't stop unless you wave them down on the highway. They are also more like vans than buses and we tried to get on one once but every bus was filled to capacity. At that price, it makes sense that buses are always full.