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Thursday, December 14 12:26 PM
Site Roll-Up On The Hookt; Will Buyers Bite?
Hookt is in the process of acquiring Platform and some assets of AKA. Using the same strategy Chas uses to squeeze his bulk into his brand-new green Porsche, Hookt will squeeze all 3 companies assets into their warehouse location in the city. Evidently, they are trying a roll-up strategy to make a hip-hop network that someone will acquire. Is there anyone in the market to acquire a low traffic, high maintenance web property with no buzz?

Peter and Chas currently have a convoluted deal with Puff Daddy where his websites are a part of the Hookt network and Bad Boy promotes the Hookt brand in association with Bad Boy artists and events. Their logo appears on Bad Boy releases really small in the corner of the liner notes. Hookt will provide excellent reviews for Shyne albums that will appear buried deep on Hookt's site with the rest of the content. Hookt gets to hang up expensive banners at Bad-Boy events. Unfortunately, jet-setters at these parties typically don't read anything not in the trades or accessible by their two-way pagers.

The core of the deal is structured around this fact: Peter and Chas have paid Puff Daddy to hang out with him. The deal requires for Puffy to acknowledge them 10 times a year at events of his choosing. A typical night at Justin's can find Peter and Chas trying to get Puffy to nod their head at them so that they can tell girls, "See, that's my man! I know him!"

We mentioned last month that Hookt was closing a round of financing. However what's interesting to note is that they only secured $5 million. Evidently Warburg Pincus is the only investor in this round. They couldn't attract any new money to this round, so they invested just enough to keep the company afloat through the next 2 quarters. This should cover the cost of giving executives Range Rovers for their success in developing sites that get 5000 unique visitors a month.

Buying traffic by acquiring other web properties has always been a risky proposition. Suburban skater kids, who buy gear from Platform, may have a hard time justifying buying a circular nylon halter-top to wear while doing no B.S. kick-flips. Equity swaps for buying the embattled Platform and the failed AKA networks will of course mean layoffs for redundancy. Hookt has been quietly laying people off to avoid being labeled as a company in trouble. They are hoping that Platform's development and tech crew lead can fix their current site troubles. Ironically, now if Hookt disappears, so does Platform.

Mitigating Factors: Entertainment Weekly referred to Hookt as a "Hip-Hop heavy design firm", which burns Peter and Chas, who prefer to think of themselves as entertainment moguls. Yo, bro!




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Related Past Articles:

> Hookt and Platform Join Forces. Employees Take Losses.

> Hookt and Platform Sitting In A Tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G.

> Adam Kidron and UBO Gets Hookt: Wonder Twin Powers, Activate!

> Hookt.com Gets $12 mil in Financing, That's $1,000,000 Per Visitor

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Name:
Know Wan Clout: 4
Company:
Zend  

Whats this about range rovers? I guess Hookt is not on the Hook since UBO is out of the picture. How did Chas get a new Porche when his company has delayed paying its freelancers for more then a month.

Know Wane
Name:
techtruth Clout: 250
Company:
fresh idea factory  

[*] No hits = No revenue
[*] No revenue = No more investors
[*] This company will be dead Q3 2001 without a miracle. At least someone else paid for them to brown nose Puffy's a$$. Problem is he won't shit green for them when they need it next year.
Name:
tokachu Clout: 371
Company:
Neptune's Jewels  

<<
A typical night at Justin's can find Peter and Chas trying to get Puffy to nod their head at them so that they can tell girls, "See, that's my man! I know him!"
>>

haaahaaaaa

anyway platform would be really stupid to get acquired by these clowns. unless of course they are getting all the cash from hookt's recent round of financing. then i would take it and could care less what happened.

and hookt is the dumbest name i've ever heard. no wonder they get 5k visitors a month, their potential visitors probably can't even type the address in correctly.
Name:
Chuck Jones Clout: 7
Company:
Looney Tunes, Inc.  

How could Chas fit into a Porsche? I feel sorry for the car.
Name:
Bootney Lee Farnswor Clout: 44
Company:
Freak Beeyatch Porn Emporium  

hookt.com?

what's that?
Name:
Shaan James Clout: 201
Company:
eCritical iMinded  

This will be interesting to watch... Now that
Bad Boy has been reduced to being Naughty Girl
and P-Diddy is about to hear muscular inmates
taunt him with, "Bad Boy come out and plaaaay"
in the showers. I'm just curious as to what
assets AKA has to acquire since those banners
don't generate any significant revenue and their
branding strategy fails to distinguish them from
chicks making cat calls on Black campuses in green
and pink sweaters. AKA (as known as) let's see...
worthless. Yep, that about sums them up. The
gumption of thinking party shout outs and banners
will bring you users is as far fetched as acquiring
the debts of a party promoter and hiring the same to
run your marketing initiatives. Sound familiar?
I smell stupidity in progress. Hookt has continued
to grasp at imaginery straws (users) and keeps coming
up ass out without learning from their mistakes. If
you're struggling with branding you don't hook up with
Hip Hop's poster boy for excess particularly when his
star is rapidly on the decline. You roll up your sleeves,
do some market research (sorry that doesn't mean handing
out flyers doofus) and build your brand the old fashion
way, one user at a time. I could fix their whole branding
problem (for a fee of course) and the first thing that would
have to go is that logo (is that what they're calling it these
days?). Any VC that's stupid enough to fund their second round
deserves the ROI they receive. Nil. For those that are currently
looking for a lifeboat as this ship sinks remember that UBO
also thought they were "on top of the world" before ending up
like Leonardo DiCaprio assed out in the ocean. Don't wait for water
to flood the decks, get those life jackets on and swim like you've
never swam before. I predict (check the tread I'm seldom wrong about
these things) this puppy will be asleep before Memorial Weekend.

P.S. Anyone in the market for a green Porsche, just hold on for about
six months there'll be one on sale - Dirt cheap!

Name:
Bernie Taylor Clout: 30
Company:
Nortel  

I've been a viewer for a long time, and I've seen the way that UE visitors bash away at urban sites. However, the closings at urban sites is nothing in comparison to the closing of majority sites like psuedo.com, boo.com, fastv.com, and more.

Furthermore, UE visitors stay away from other Black Sites like the blackwebportal.com, twbt.com, and blackenterprise.com that will be around long after the fad urban sites are gone. I guess the language used at these sites are about business and not the "scene."

Well, you'll hear a lot more from me, I am about to get the real party started.
Name:
dale Clout: 81
Company:
hit em up.com  

We look forward to that BERNIE!!!!

Bring it on.
Name:
dLo2 Clout: 20
Company:
______  

Ironically, now if Hookt disappears, so does Urban Expose.

hahahaha
Name:
Dilema Clout: 212
Company:
Rapsheet.com  

Hookt is crap. When they were advertising before they had the actual site up, the preview site showed promise. What went wrong? This has got to be one of the worst hip hop sites around.

For a few laughs check out....

http://www.ighetto.com/
http://pimpdaddy.com/
http://www.gangstagold.com/

And my personal favorite because they didn't hire me at the time and didn't even call to say that I didn't have the job (i guess it was a blessing)

http://www.hiphophut.com

I want to see their faces when I unviel the site I've been working on in January.
Name:
dale Clout: 81
Company:
hit em up.com  

dLo2:

Ironically wrong!!!!! because with all this talent on this site, trust me. UE will re-invent itself somehow and you will still come to it. which is a lot more than we can say for all those faltered DOT-COM properties that failed this year.

peace
Name:
andrew jackson Clout: 130
Company:
binz.com  

Hookt.com tags $5M in new money - but Viacom says f___ off!

http://www.thedeal.com/cgi-bin/gx.cgi/AppLogic+FTContentServer?pagename=FutureTense/Apps/Xcelerate/Render&c=TDDArticle &cid=TDDKATKIPGC&preview=true
Name:
thuglite Clout: 375
Company:
u cant hande the truth  

I like hookt better than UB HO
Name:
thuglite Clout: 375
Company:
u cant hande the truth  

andrew VIACOM does not invest in failures....
Name:
andrew jackson Clout: 130
Company:
binz.com  

Infinity/Viacom better re-sign Howard Stern otherwise their whole radio division will start to crumble
Name:
celess Clout: 34
Company:
mine  

If handled correctly, Hookt can actually hit a lick with the whole Bad Boy/P-Diddy angle.

Bad Boy has a large young, white teenage audience. (i.e. P-Diddy's new pop group, Dream) With a water-downed urban formula, actual ecommerce offerings and just a little marketing knowledge about their "real" target audience, Hookt could milk that cash cow for tons of unique views and loot.

An audience with lots of access to computers, plenty of money to spend and a strong need to be "down and urban"? What?! Now that's a viable B-plan!

If Hookt is a fo' real' biz and is fo' real about making money, damn trying to keep it real to high minded urban professionals who want better content and navigation or a the small number of urban kids with limited and slow Internet access. Act like a real biz and get some real ROI.

Unless of course, Hookt is keeping it "real" and merely existing for the love of all that is urban. Oh, yeah that must be it.

Holla.
Name:
Ed Dunn Clout: 157
Company:
iblaq  

I'm thinking of launching blackweather.com and might need a partner. I hope to be the first and largest African-American web site dedicated to weather reports. The site will feature:

*Free Email
*Free Homepages
*Member of the day pics
*Club Chats
*Urban Weather Store

I hope to raise millions in venture capital to spend on parties and upscale office space

Anyone down?
Name:
Ed Dunn Clout: 157
Company:
iblaq  

I still need to figure out the weather part....
Name:
celess Clout: 34
Company:
mine  

Ed,

Would the site only involve weather in "urban" areas? Urban weather is quite different from mainstream weather, right? Would we have real time streaming video of storms in every major city? (Although we know our target audience couldn't possibly access it.) I think you have idenitifed a key, underserved target audience.

I'm down with helping if the chat boards are filled with fine "urban" weathermen, and if I can get a window office in that upscale office space.

That way, I'll can keep an eye on changes in our industry and post them two days late or just totally disregard them.
Name:
Shaan James Clout: 201
Company:
eCritical iMinded  

Ed,

Once your sites up and running I'll give you six
months of free advertising on my newest endeavor
babydaddy.com "Where finding your baby daddy is
our eBusiness". At babydaddy.com we provide our
user with a unique interactive experience where
they beat the shit out of their no-good babydaddies
after we locate them and stream the event to our
subscribers. This week: Keisha finally catches up
with Kevin's trifling ass at the swapmeet.


Dilema,

gangstagold.com is hilarious! I spit juice through
my nose when I saw that family with the jewels. Thanks!
Name:
Dilema Clout: 212
Company:
Rapsheet.com  

It's funny, but it's sad. Did you peep Troy with the fake "00" Fubu shirt on? Ha!!!

After months of making me laugh out loud, I thought I'd return the favor.
Name:
Dilema Clout: 212
Company:
Rapsheet.com  

Ed,
What's up with Blaq Life? I've really been checking for it! Is www.blacklife.com yours?
Name:
Isidro Otis Clout: 5
Company:
TCOMG, Inc.  

Shaan and Dilema,

Stop making me laugh. My sides hurt.
Name:
Shaan James Clout: 201
Company:
eCritical iMinded  

Dilema,

Check out flychica on gangstagold.com. WHOA!
What a hottie. I'm ripping up my phone book
right now, because she's going to be my wifey.
Name:
Dilema Clout: 212
Company:
Rapsheet.com  

She reminds me of, "Sunshine", from that movie, Harlem nights.

"Honey, tell the kids I love 'em cause I'm never coming home again... ever"

Ha!!!
Name:
BklynQn Clout: 14
Company:
MineMineMine  

Let me ask a question: If P-Did supposedly has started his own advertising/marketing agency (Blue Flame. What a GAY ASS name.) and has gone so far as to hire Jameel Spencer to run it, why would he even need Hookt to deal with his websites? Doesn't he have an interactive division of his new company? Hmmm. Label cats just love to spend money, dude.
Name:
moralmajority Clout: 25
Company:
self  

UE must definitely be on AOL/TW/HBO's jock because you have yet to blast that sorry ass Volume.com.

UE's integrity as a site that sticks it to anyone has been forevermore tarnished.

Name:
BklynQn Clout: 14
Company:
MineMineMine  

Prediction: Jermaine Hall- begging XXL for a job in 6 months.
Raquel Cepeda- opening a storefront ifa divination shop in Washington Heights in 6 months.
Kovas- hitting in the studio.
Lynn Daniels- hr job at telecommunications company.
Malany Hill- revamping Stephen Marley's website.
HOOKT- acquired by iced media in a so-called hostile takeover.
Name:
Chuck Jones Clout: 7
Company:
Looney Tunes, Inc.  

Bottom line is that Chas Walker and Peter Griffith are a bunch of punk-ass wannabees. They have absolutely no concept of how to monetize their "network" of PIECE OF SHIT sites that continue to cannibalize each other and the niche dollars that they have NO FUCKING IDEA how to acquire.

These guys are so arrogant, that all they do is sit around and have meetings about which hot chick to hire next as a receptionist. She is kinda hot, by the way....;-)

I'm very glad that Warburg has invested in them since it's good for the space, but there's one thing that everyone is overlooking. The reason Hookt needs money is because THEY AREN'T GENERATING ANY SIGNIFICANT REVENUES. Nice banner ads guys!!! You know the ones that promote your own PIECE OF SHIT sites and generate no revenue!!!! Can anyone say SayShe.com! Say what!!!!????

Guys, gone are the days when eyeballs matter. Save Warburg's money and stop buying sites that have the same eyeballs as you do. Maybe it's time you actually stopped to think about QUALITY OF PRODUCT, and not QUANTITY OF SHIT SITES that no one want to buy.

GET A FUCKING CLUE....You big fat self-indulgent gluttonous fuck and his lacky never-was sidekick.

Peace,

I'm out....see you on the fucking cheese line.

Adam Kidron (former UBO CEO/currently waiting for you on the cheese line...see you there in Q101)
Name:
ohsokool Clout: 179
Company:
soulCHASER.net  

Ed..

Let me hold things down, represent, and keep it real by doing the Old School Urban Weather report..i can give updates on the weather conditions of say.. back in the 80's and what not...yunno..kinda a nostalgic look at how far urban weatehr had come within the last decade and change..
I would interview urban types as the recollect and describe what the weather was like when they first saw P-Diddy dancin in a Stacy Lattisaw video...

..now thats first generation urban baby..
Name:
dale Clout: 81
Company:
hit em up.com  

This is something that these so-called urban sites should have done. How come it takes the "non-Urban" sites to put something like this together. I bet this gets a shit load of press and even benefits the community. and I bet it doesnt cost 1Million to do. Just some FYI for a good cause.


Greetings!

At this special time of the year, iLounge would like to express
its sincere gratitude for your attendence & support throughout
the past year.

To celebrate, iLounge is organizing a special event of holiday
fun and good cause and cordially invites you to
***The iLounge Holiday Bash***
at Limelight to benefit InterFaith Neighbors and raise money for
their computer training program for at-risk children in East Harlem.
Interfaith Neighbors:
http://www.ifneighbors.org

DETAILS
Date: Thursday, December 21st
Venue: Limelight, 47 w20th St (corner of 6th Ave)
Free Admission: 7:00pm - 10:00pm
SUGGESTED DONATION: $10 (ALL proceeds go to charity)
Music: DJ Tuesdae http://www.tuesdae.com
Open Bar: 8pm-9:30pm
Coctail Reception: 7pm-8pm (complimentary Grey Goose Vodka)
RSVP Required @ http://www.iloungenyc.com/rsvp.html

Best wishes for a happy holiday season & new year!

Claudia Chan
mailto:claudia@iloungenyc.com &
Dylan DeSantis
mailto:dylan@iloungenyc.com

iLounge LLC

Name:
real_deal_holyfield Clout: 159
Company:
r12  

I have been a Platform fan forever and always thought that it was a hot site and they were ahead of their time. And even the business model, although humble, always seemed to make sense to me. They really do bring together a lot of young urban entrepreneurs and try to make it happen.

But it seems that they have always been underfunded -- which in hindsight was probably lucky for them. They are the smallest company of any and seem to actually produce the most content and sites etc ... they always had to pull up their boot straps. That kind of resourcefulness doesn't happen when you have 30 million dollars in the bank. Hmmmm.

I've know Russell and UBO and lots of people wanted to Platform at different times-- but it seems they didn't fall for the hype. Again, in hindsight that was probably smart too.

I think Hookt is pretty lame and the content and design doesn't hold a candle to Platform, but at the end of the day it seems like Hookt has the LOOT!

So I guess at the end of the day with funding sources drying up a Hookt/Platform merger seems to make some sense. I just hope that they don't keep the Hookt name and that the Platform content doesn't suffer. If Hookt was smart they would migrate more towards the Platform model and use the Platform content.

Name:
fuck the police Clout: 2
Company:
unemployed  

i am pretty sure that real_deal_holyfield owns platform.

Stupid.
Name:
willy Clout: 3
Company:
hiphop101  

blackweather.com is the most enlightened concept for a site I have heard in a long time. The demand for a site catering to urban weather news and liftestyle is tremendous. How can i be down?
Name:
playa p Clout: 19
Company:
dusoldiers.com  

danm this is really sad, hookt.com gets $5 mil for 5000 unique visitors?!?!?!?!?!?!?! and thats with advertising

mysite, we've done know advertising except word of mouth, one college party. And approximately 5000 unique visitors this month already. And its only December 14th.

Name:
kevlon A. Blaque Clout: 150
Company:
netzero@thahalf.com  

fuck hookt...dem mawfukas need to get off the crack--and get hooked on phonics.

fake fucks.
Name:
Desus Nice Clout: 116
Company:
Straight out of lowcash  

Yo! I was on the west side highway last night and I seen kids putting up blackweather.com ads! Damn, that site is gonna be successful as hell. I need to hook up with em cuz I'm nasty with Dreamweaver 2. Just let me know where to send my resume and the color two way I want.

oh yeah: it would be cool if we had a section interviewing rappers about their favorite weather. Or if we charged users to download mp3s about the weather. Like we could charge $2 to download Raekwons "Rainy Dayz".....Word Word I got madd plans, get at me
Name:
Know Wan Clout: 4
Company:
Zend  

Completely Off Topic, but very funny:
http://www.thedeal.com/cgi-bin/gx.cgi/AppLogic+FTContentServer?GXHC_gx_session_id_FutureTenseContentServer=248f7ba13e7897e5&pagename =FutureTense/Apps/Xcelerate/Render&c=TDD Article&cid=TDDQ3M0YQGC&preview=true
Name:
Summa Sedes Clout: 43
Company:
Illegitimis Non Carborundum  

NEWS BRIEFS

Hookt.com Gets $5 Million Funding

Amidst the urban-portal deathwatch, Hookt.com has
received $5 million
from Warburg Pincus. The money from the investment
company is the
third round of funding for Hookt.

With a dwindling number of so-called urban sites,
Hootk.com avoids
the fates of a now-bankrupt Urban Box Office; AKA.com,
which laid off
half its staff; and 360Hiphop.com, recently hawked off
to BET. The
year-and-a-half-old Hookt.com is a network of hip-hop
related sites,
including Eminem's SlimShady, Shesays, and the web arm
of Sean
"Puffy" Combs' record label Bad Boy.

So why has Hookt.com survived?

"We've run a lean operation," said CEO and co-founder
Peter Griffith,
who added that the new funding would be used to
establish strategic
alliances and further Hookt's business course.

"We haven't had a significant cash burn," said
Griffith. "I'm not
sure I feel that the other [urban portal] businesses had
a
sustainable business model, and maybe they didn't have
the right
financial partners."

Hookt's business model includes an e-commerce arm,
content
syndication, banner advertising, and sponsorships. But
the site's
most important partnerships include a deal with mogul
and rapper
Combs. Combs' clothing line is sold exclusively through
Hookt.com,
while the deal is an equity partnership, as opposed to a
revenue-sharing partnership.

Bo Kemp, president of Vanguarde Media, which has an
advertising deal
with Hookt.com, said that while $5 million "isn't a huge
amount," the
funding shows that VCs don't think that every Internet
business is a
bad business.

"It's a huge vote of confidence for Hookt.com," said
Kemp. "Warburg
is one of the oldest VCs, they have more money than God,
and this
investment speaks volumes."

Name:
Raid Clout: 4
Company:
A Dot-Com Failure  

I like the idea of blackwheather.com. Sounds veryyy!! interesting. I would somehow like to be a part of it too. Maybe I could be the one wh attract millions of dollars from Big-Wig Investors and sit on pointless board meetings and Organize your 10 Million Dollar launch party.

I thinking of organizing it in some amazing Banquent Hall with different rooms and each room has been affected by the different type of wheather. You'd have a room where it would be artificially raining throughout the party then another room with snow etc...

Trust me it'd be one bangin' Launch Party. And we will invite artists such as "Earth, Wind and Fire" and "Rainmen" etc...

so what do y'all think??


peace
Name:
Maxamilian Clout: 1
Company:
urban247.com  

Blackweather.com. Sounds good. If you can get a committment from Stacy Dash to do the weather report on streaming video, I am definately in for as much as you need.
Name:
Bernie Taylor Clout: 30
Company:
Nortel  

Volume.com had at minimum $60 million in backing according to Kevin Dowdell, former dept. head, now CEO of the operation, yet their site doesn't even approach the level of integration and intensity that BlackPlanet has. So I must agree with moralmajority in that you bash sites uniquely black owned and fail to attack an obviously majority owned site. "Hey, I work for corporate America"
Name:
celess Clout: 34
Company:
mine  


Now that we have the launch party planned, and our high-level strategy for BLACKweather.com in place, I guess we can at least START thinking about content and strategic partnerships.

After studying our target market and totally disregarding what they are looking for in a urban weather website, and paying a few 21 year old white consultants a cool million to tell me what our competitors are doing, I went out on a limb and developed a few ideas of my own:

Hire Prodigy to write a piece on the best Tims/hoodies to wear while you're out in elements servin' the block all day. (I feel a print ad campaign coming on)

Partner with ganstagold.com for an informative article on how to clean your new "gold grill" to get that maximum bling on a sunny day.

Develop an alliance with STANK.com to sell STANKY rain and snow apparel. (Just because there's a foot a snow doesn't mean you can't wear that halter shirt with the back out.)

Now, if someone could just create our tag line, we're ready for the IPO, fuck the first or second round of funding.
Name:
Afro Spice Clout: 98
Company:
urban but not urban  

Know what's funny...

Didn't UBO go out of business spending money on ads on AKA.com that didnt do anything for their traffic?

So why is Hookt advertising on AKA.com like there is no tommorrow?



Name:
tokachu Clout: 371
Company:
Neptune's Jewels  

<< Benie Taylor wrote:
So I must agree with moralmajority in that you bash sites uniquely black owned and fail to attack an obviously majority owned site.
>>

which uniquely black owned site does UE bash more than the "majority" owned sites? Maybe the sites you think are "black" owned aren't really "black" owned.

most of the sites that get bashed here aren't "black" owned. shoot blackplanet isn't even "black" owned.

ya'll just need to stop talking out your asses.
Name:
ohsokool Clout: 179
Company:
soulCHASER.net  

Since im doin' the Old Schol Weather Report for BlackWeather.com..I want my theme intro to be "Walkin In The Rain" from Oran Juice Jones. I'd like to hire a clueless, but foine hottie to pass me my cue cards, get my evian water and pick up my invites for the launch party...And I want all of my suits to be nice and shiney...

content?..
ahh fuck that.

I can have my boys design the dopest Flash Intro and set up chat rooms and personal pages..yunno,, kinda like BP.
We can have forums that discuss weather, wind barometers, and cloud precipitation with cats across the USA, and give a weekly Top 10 listing of the most popular/unpopular weather conditions.

We also need promo T-Shirts, and biz cards....and ....

a mascot!

What do you think about a 500 Black Sumo Wrestler?
oh..thats been done...shit.
Name:
scorchio Clout: 28
Company:
mtv  

A couple more ideas for blackweather.com:

seasonal T-shirts
winter: "1st Generation Brick" in snazzy royal blue or red

summer: meeno I'm that HOT nigga in fetching green

Howzabout a special Indieweather section with blackweather.com's charismatic "Stuttering Stud" giving youth the low-down, with his cherished catch-phrase "Sc-sc-sc-sc-sc-screw the major weather system".

Whaddya think?

BTW, good luck UE!
Name:
tokachu Clout: 371
Company:
Neptune's Jewels  

blackweather.tv

would be better since you gotta have streaming video.
Name:
tokachu Clout: 371
Company:
Neptune's Jewels  

New York-based telco powerhouse Verizon Communications is betting big on portal sponsorship, announcing a three-year, US$3 million pact with BET.com. The deal with Black Entertainment Television's Web portal officially names Verizon as the site's preferred telecom partner. Source: AtNewYork

http://www.atnewyork.com/news/article/0,1471,8471_529321,00.html
Name:
Desus Nice Clout: 116
Company:
Straight out of lowcash  

Yo YO Yo Yo!!!

I'm saying, blackweather.com should offer Internet service for 19.95 a month. We could sell like 56k connections, cuz u know how peeps in the hood check the weather thru the net rather than tv or radio.

oh yeah, for the print ads how about we get Lil Wayne? He could be like "Wodie, now MORE than the Block is hot!"

I don't think blackweather.tv is good because our target group is easily confused by the difference between .tv and .com, u know how those minorities are.....
Name:
Ed Dunn Clout: 157
Company:
iblaq  

tokachu,

Regarding Bernie Taylor comments, he seem to have this attitude that we cannot bash black-owned firms...who gave black-owned firms immunity from criticism?

Is that why I can't complain when I get my clothes fucked up at a black-owned dry cleaner?

Is that why I can't ask for a refund when the black-owned barber give me a Sam Cooke haircut when I asked for a fade?

Also I was seriously considering creating blackweather.com as a parody of 'urban' sites with generic content..no technology blackplanet or bet has on their site that I can't piss out on a whim,domain is still available and I can use the same weather engine that fooky.com (my other site I'm launching 1/1/01) using and sell branded unbrellas, raincoats and sunglasses
Name:
Tinkerbell Clout: 24
Company:
tinkerbell  

thought every one would want to see this. the Ny times wrote an article about libel law and sites like this.

"What this case demonstrates is that people can be held accountable for what they post on the Net even though they posted anonymously," said Lyrissa Barnett Lidsky, a professor at the University of Florida's Levin College of Law and an expert on defamation in cyberspace.


Aliases Subject of Internet Libel Case
BY CARL S. KAPLAN

http://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/14/technology/15CYBERLAW.html
Name:
CashStill Clout: 2
Company:
GhettoMillionaires.com  

First All, I would like to give props to the UrbanExpose for presenting a website of some substance and not a lot of flashy ass designs!

Second Of All, I would like to think UBO for going out of business (even though they owe me money along with everyone else)!

One less sorry ass "wanna be" uraban website my company has to view as a competitor.

My company is strictly for Entertainment purposes but I have gain a lot of respect from urban Web Surfers looking for something a little different in content and design.

With all that out the way, I honestly see HookT, Platform, AKA all going belly up due to their "brillant" strategic alliance.

HookT gets less traffic then my website and I don't even do any National Advertisments, AKA is still huriting from losing all their revenue from the Inventory Ad Sales, and Platform is just plain stupid to ink the deal.

Platform, in my opinion was the only site out of all the above that could have really materialize into a viable force on the web.

I'm still learning how this whole E-Commerce world tick but I can tell you this having a basic common sense and applying the K.I.S.S. methodolgy you can surely develope a high traffic and highly profitable website with a little time and effort.

These other sites are big on money, low on brains cells.

Name:
ohsokool Clout: 179
Company:
soulCHASER.net  

hey!..brilliant me ...i just thought of somthing..

why would anyone go online to check the weather, when they can just stick their head out the window?

i think we need to have our first weekend retreat / meeting, complete with laptops, assistants & bags of funk to discuss this..

i say we do a lil jacuzzi action while were at it ...

seasonal t-shirts..im feelin that....but we still need a mascot
Name:
Chuck Jones Clout: 7
Company:
Looney Tunes, Inc.  

Yo Hookt!! Robert Downey Jr. is also seeking a partnership deal, and he's a convited felon too. You should sign him up, now! He would fit your current deals with Puffy "I don't and never have owned a gun" Combs and Marshall "I bitch slapped my wife/mother" Mathers. Isn't Shyne going to jail soon too!? Maybe Chas and Peter can go visit ALL of their spokespeople in jail and do some live cyberchats from their cells. Meantime, they can deliver them some special Hershey Highway surprises!!!

You and Warburg deserve each other! Dumb-asses!

A. Kidron
Name:
Bernie Taylor Clout: 30
Company:
Nortel  

Ed, what have you created that was so great? I wasn't saying that we couldn't comment on something, I was piggy-backin' off of what MM said. Bro, you are out their! And where is this iblaq thing?
Name:
tokachu Clout: 371
Company:
Neptune's Jewels  

dog, we just gotta have that spotlight interview chick on ghettomillionaires (oxymoron). she has a nice rack and i damn sure ain't getting in any jacuzzi unless it's filled with chicks with nice racks.
Name:
tokachu Clout: 371
Company:
Neptune's Jewels  

ghettomillionaires,

your Platinum PlayGirlz&#8482; Pic Of The Day chick looks like she has hairy thighs and legs. ewwwwwwwwh
Name:
Ed Dunn Clout: 157
Company:
iblaq  

Bernie,

If you claim you been a viewer on the Internet the long time and don't know what I created, that's your problem..I don't answer to people like that....I get millions of viewers and plenty of feedback to show the great shit I've done with my black site including hating from blackwebportal, kicking it with tbwt when I'm in baltimore and being published in blackenterprise...who the fuck are you Bernie?

And I mentioned plenty of times that my site will not be up until Monday Jan 1 2001

Bro, where is your clout?
Name:
Ed Dunn Clout: 157
Company:
iblaq  

CashStill,

Yo man nice site but from where I'm sitting during the day, you need to throw up a warning or something...could have lost my next paycheck...
Name:
hooktwilltank Clout: 2
Company:
Hookt AKA Platform, Inc.  

Why am "I" tanking? Please e-mail me! hooktwilltank@hotmail.com
Name:
hooktwilltank Clout: 2
Company:
Hookt AKA Platform, Inc.  

has anyone registered hooktplatform.com yet?
Name:
Bernie Taylor Clout: 30
Company:
Nortel  

Ed, I'm just a software developer watchin the web and checking out the scene. (I plan to build a search site that will thump everyone in the black arena) I ran across this site while searching on info about UBO and found it a little different from all of the other tight little sites out there. No, I don't know what you do or who you are, and since I'm new to this board I am sure you'll give me some leeway on this. So, who the fuck are you again anyway?
Name:
Bernie Taylor Clout: 30
Company:
Nortel  

Another thing...I like the TBWT, but the design is kinda rough. The blackwebportal is alright, though they need a lot of interface work. A lot of it! blackenterprise, well, they are holding their own with the info they provide.
Name:
Ed Dunn Clout: 157
Company:
iblaq  

Yeah, you're right....I'm nobody Bernie..can't wait until you launch your search site that will dump everyone in the Black arena....look forward to seeing that happen....
Name:
falxwon Clout: 159
Company:
random midtown PR agency  

Ed,
dude Bernie is obviously a lurking retard. His clout is nonexistent. Give him the chin checkin' of a lifetime and be done with it. I chin checked the shit outta Modoe and his ass has never been seen again.

blackweather.com should be about how chickenhead's hair wil act in the climate and how much dookie brown gel they should slather into hold that ghetto curl. If you could get all the corny ass black weathermen to defect the networks that would be the coup de grace. Al Roker at the helm and shit with Spencer Christian (I think that's his name) and famous local yocals) as his backup man. have them on the roofs of PJ's in hoods across the USA... OR BETTER YET, have Al Roker dress up like Ghost Dog and do his reports from the pigeon coops of East Harlem finer PJ's.
ED you gotta winner, I am on board for the PR... I'll come up with a strategy over the weekend....
holla
Name:
Desus Nice Clout: 116
Company:
Straight out of lowcash  

Why would anybody want to stick their head out the window to check the weather when they can spend the time to boot up their computer and dial in on their modem to check the weather. Cmon man, what are u living in the 20th century?????????

Ps: Maybe we can get Magic Johnson to fund this thing....
Name:
dLo2 Clout: 20
Company:
______  

Random observations as UE begins it's slow descent into the dotcom graveyard.

Im laughing at the riff between Bernie and Ed.

Black sites don't deserve any less credit for success nor do they deserve to be exempt from critisms.

I applaud all the black folks in the companies failed or not that got some VC loot. No matter how bad their execution was they certainly managed to get some loot out of the whole deal.

Hold up. Let me correct myself, sites that claim to serve black people. Cause Blackplanet is proudly Asian-Owned like your neighborhood corner store.

I also think it is funny when people preanounce shit.

Drop your shit. Keep it on point. Maintain some ownership. I'll give you props like I gave BET.com props till they sold out...
Name:
Bernie Taylor Clout: 30
Company:
Nortel  

falxwon, little do you know. I can develop the shit out of anything w/o the need for big time financing that blackweather.com will probably need. As an expert with Oracle and Cold Fusion (I've design many of Nortel's internal sites) I bet that I could put together a cool site before you could construct a proper sentence!! Ed, maybe I don't know you, and the sites that you have done, but if you have talent, so be it, I am not one to knock a brother who is on the up-n-up :-).
Name:
Ed Dunn Clout: 157
Company:
iblaq  

dLo2

VC loot is only good when you can buy shit you want or know you need in order to launch the firm...most VCs will give you funds and then try to tell you how to spend every dollar which isn't fun at all...

I won't bother with this Bernie guy who sounds like an urbanmagic.com spokeperson....not even on my level..besides I already have announced shit out there....
Name:
Ed Dunn Clout: 157
Company:
iblaq  

Bernie your true colors is showing

<<
As an expert with Oracle and Cold Fusion (I've design many of Nortel's internal sites) I bet that I could put together a cool site ...
>>

Oh with your expertise with Oracle and Cold Fusion? I guess marketing, advertising, acquiring partners and putting together a b-plan for financing don't mean shit???? You obviously never worked in a dotcom shop or startup where you had to do multiple shit to get the firm off the ground....Keep your comfortable corporate day job kid.......it's some guys here that will contradict your ego about your dotcom skills anytime of the day...
Name:
ohsokool Clout: 179
Company:
soulCHASER.net  

Desus Nice ...tru dat...problem solved, so no need for a meeting of minds...but we should still do the retreat thing anyway, or hold a pre-launch luncheon or pre-pre party or sumthin lke that, before the actual launch party...
Name:
tokachu Clout: 371
Company:
Neptune's Jewels  

<<
I can develop the shit out of anything w/o the need for big time financing that blackweather.com will probably need.
>>

dude, blackweather is just a joke.

anyway if you're as good as you say you are. you shouldn't necessarily create another "black" search engine. there are already a lot of sites out there fighting for so few ad dollars and traffic.
Name:
Bernie Taylor Clout: 30
Company:
Nortel  

I can't give everything away can I. Yeah, I have a few bucks tucked away for a biz (about $300k) and my day job is kind of boring nowadays. I still have some thinking to do and maybe this UE thing can give me a few ideas. I'll be watching the web for good ideas, and then....I will do it.
Name:
chris pelate Clout: 27
Company:
dayscar.com  

So I'm getting bombarded with email for Igetznoplay.com ...Is that in anyway related to the blackweather.com launch?

If you really wanna see some cool black-owned shit that's going unnoticed check out www.pineapplecolours.com
very UBO like. (all flash, no cash)


i am tyler's urban storm...
Name:
Desus Nice Clout: 116
Company:
Straight out of lowcash  

Yo, I'm already planning the pre-launch-party-pre-party, but I don't want to do Ellis Island....too lowkey for a site that breaks open so many paradigms the way Blackweather.com will (NOTE: we should also register blakweatha.com & blacwhether.com because I've heard many from my friend Darrien that some people of color can't spell.)
N e way, We were thinking of renting out the whole Island of Ibiza....money ain't a thing, cuz we make up the costs on banner ads on the first day alone.
Name:
Dilema Clout: 212
Company:
Rapsheet.com  

Okay Shaan, Ed, Darqbrown, Tokachu...
I'm finally ready to let you guys preview what I've been working on. It's not finished by a long shot but I'm letting people see it to beta test it...
Before you do, I'll go into the problems and what it's missing...
1)the sotre is not yet finished - have some backround things to do.
2)The "standard site: is having problems in netscape - working on it.
3)The audio and video are having problems in both browsers on the Mac. (and I;m using a mac to create the site) - working on it.
4)Having some formatting problems in explorer on the Mac - working on it.
5)I haven't yet included the contact info - I will though.
6)The news section is kinda thin - well it's not finished yet.
I've been working on this, alone, for about 2 months doing all the graphic work and backend database programming. I took a cue from someone on this board who suggest the audio should be embedded in the site. I'm taking another cue from a board member who said instead of using email links for contact, use a form instead for those surfing at the library and such. I will admit that I've spent more time on the enhanced version and the standard was more an afterthought but I'll get to designing a better standard site.

But my thing is that I've created this site with about $5000 tops. With the money that UBO was spending in a week, I could use for a year. If the projects taught me one thing, it's how to make something out of nothing.

Okay enough with my rantings and excuses, you can view the site at:
http://www.rapsheet.com (note the domain transfer hasn't fully taken place yet).

Let me know what you think. Real critisim you can email me as well so that I can refer to it while I'm finishing it....

PS:If you try to logon, you'll see a picture of me in the log-in screen. My vanity got the best of me.
Name:
HipPriest Clout: 32
Company:
Hey There Fuck Face!  

We should feature streaming media of people sticking their heads out the window to check the weather. We will need to advertise on television. BUT we should make sure that the commercial doesn't give any clues to what the site is about. And of course we will plaster phone booths and bus shelters with posters...
Name:
tokachu Clout: 371
Company:
Neptune's Jewels  

aiiight Dilema,

[*] I like the standard version more. I don't like sites that launch in a pop up. I didn't like boo for that, and I don't like a lot of these "hip-hop" sites for that as well. But, you do a good thing by providing a link to the standard version, giving your users the option of using the enhanced version is way better than forcing that on them (unlike some sites).

[*] This page is screwed up:
http://64.160.218.35/links.hts

You need to line up the links directory table with the navigation bar.

[*] When a user visits one of the pages from the navigation bar, deactivate that link and make it a different color so they can know what section they're in. I visited the lifestyle page http://64.160.218.35/lifestyle.mv and went away from my comp for a while and when I came back I didn't know where I was, until I looked at the address bar. The deactivating of the links and changing the color of the image to match the page also applies to the second level of links that appear.

[*] Your title tag should reflect the navigational path of the site. All the pages I saw said: "The Rap Sheet.Com - Unifying The Hip Hop Universe Through The Web"

maybe you might want to just use that on the opening splash page and the home pages of the standard and enhanced versions. But when users start drilling down in your site the title tag should match where they are. e.g. "RapSheet.com : Lifestyle : Features"

Another thing don't put a space in between the Rap and the Sheet. if you want to call the site Rap Sheet call it that but don't imply that a user can get to the site by going to Rap Sheet.com. the minute you put in .com in the name of the site all spaces go out the door.

[*] Since you have a "sheet tv" section you might want to register rapsheet.tv as well. it's only like 50 bucks for a year. (they have a special holiday price of $35 going on now).

[*] The radio buttons for your rap sheet poll aren't aligned.

[*] Why is your features section in a frame? Actually all the second level Lifestyle links are frames pages. Based on what I see there, you don't have any real reason to do that. Those could be frameless like they are throughout the rest of the standard site -- like this page, which is fine: http://64.160.218.35/rapsta.mv. Rid the standard version of stuff like that.

[*]This has nothing to do with usability, etc., but I'm just curious -- is "The Only Black Owned National Hip-Hop Publication" their slogan or something? I find it very interesting, because when I see stuff like that I get skeptical because it seems like they are trying to give me reasons other than outstanding content to support it. That's something you should read in an article or something singing their praises, but it shouldn't be the reason why someone should support you. By the way I would say the same thing if had said Asian, Hispanic or whatever.

Someone else can review the enhanced version, I'm too biased to be objectionable. I'll tell you this though it reminded me of one of the earlier versions of 360hiphop.

By the way I don't know when last I saw HTML script in use. I played with it a few years back, but it never grabbed me. That's very interesting. You like miva a lot huh?
Name:
tokachu Clout: 371
Company:
Neptune's Jewels  

oh and my system specs are as follows:

Win 98
1024x768 res
32-bit true color

Browser specs:
IE 5.5
Name:
tokachu Clout: 371
Company:
Neptune's Jewels  

sure.

how come your last post has all the posts in this thread?
Name:
tokachu Clout: 371
Company:
Neptune's Jewels  

oh and i didn't really get to understand your reply because it was all over the place. i only read the part about e-mailing me.
Name:
Dilema Clout: 212
Company:
Rapsheet.com  

Okay, I'll try again. I don't know what the hell happened there...

*] I like the standard version more. I don't like sites that launch in a pop up. I didn't like boo for that, and I don't like a lot
of these "hip-hop" sites for that as well. But, you do a good thing by providing a link to the standard version, giving your
users the option of using the enhanced version is way better than forcing that on them (unlike some sites).


--- Yea I gave a choice, I just like pop-up windows which is why I used it for the enhanced site.


*] This page is screwed up:
http://64.160.218.35/links.hts
*] The radio buttons for your rap sheet poll aren't aligned.

---This should be fixed now.

[*] When a user visits one of the pages from the navigation bar, deactivate that link and make it a different color so they
can know what section they're in. I visited the lifestyle page http://64.160.218.35/lifestyle.mv and went away from my
comp for a while and when I came back I didn't know where I was, until I looked at the address bar. The deactivating of
the links and changing the color of the image to match the page also applies to the second level of links that appear.

[*] Your title tag should reflect the navigational path of the site. All the pages I saw said: "The Rap Sheet.Com - Unifying
The Hip Hop Universe Through The Web"

-- valid point.

*] Why is your features section in a frame? Actually all the second level Lifestyle links are frames pages. Based on what
I see there, you don't have any real reason to do that. Those could be frameless like they are throughout the rest of the
standard site -- like this page, which is fine: http://64.160.218.35/rapsta.mv. Rid the standard version of stuff like that.

--- All the sections are framed because they all link to the enhanced pages. This was so I could get a standard version up quick. I plan to fully develop the standard version later.

*]This has nothing to do with usability, etc., but I'm just curious -- is "The Only Black Owned National Hip-Hop
Publication" their slogan or something? I find it very interesting, because when I see stuff like that I get skeptical
because it seems like they are trying to give me reasons other than outstanding content to support it. That's something
you should read in an article or something singing their praises, but it shouldn't be the reason why someone should
support you. By the way I would say the same thing if had said Asian, Hispanic or whatever.

--- Darryl James (the editor and publisher of Rap SHeet) has had that tagline for 4 years now. I think it's equivalent to putting up a "black owned" sign in a store in Harlem or Compton. It has the same relevance.

Someone else can review the enhanced version, I'm too biased to be objectionable. I'll tell you this though it reminded
me of one of the earlier versions of 360hiphop.

---Fair enough. Actually, I had this design before 360 even appeared. It was going to be a site for another company that I was working for, but fuck them. Actually I did something similar for a site I designed in 97.

By the way I don't know when last I saw HTML script in use. I played with it a few years back, but it never grabbed me.
That's very interesting. You like miva a lot huh?


---It was one of the first languages I learned and it's really grown alot. It allows me to add interactivity very simply. I like it better than php. But that's just me.

Thanks for the tips and the help. I tried to email you at the address in your post but it bounced back. Maybe you could drop me a line. I really don't want to spam this board so anyone else with comments should email me as well. You can post em, but email me as well.
Name:
Steve Gilliard Clout: 74
Company:
Netslaves  

Bernie,

I write about programmers with good ideas every day. Their employees hate them, they're in bankruptcy court and they fucked up their businesses.

Unless you know about something more than code, don't expect to just lurk and then kick ass. It takes YEARS to build a business.

So, save your world beating for those dinners where you and the rest of your coder buddies are talking shit. Until you actually put up a site and make a profit without sucking on Nortel's tit, then you can talk.

We're out here hanging by our balls without those resources and you rolling in here and saying you can teach us? Yeah, right.

Name:
Tinkerbell Clout: 24
Company:
tinkerbell  

During the last six months many companies shut down because of executives who wasted money on things that would make them look 'richer.' It's a shame that hard workers with good ideas lost jobs because a few people at their companies had bad ideas. But these executives are happy. They made their mistakes and aren't even on the No Buzz 100.
Name:
Bernie Taylor Clout: 30
Company:
Nortel  

Netslave, you're talking nothing but shit. The market losses are my gain, since I have watched others lose their money and party it up, I plan on hiring a small crew, setup a few systems on a cable connection, and do it for myself. I am sorry that failure has been the norm, but with my bizplan in hand and 300K in my pocket, and I am still employed, I am more than ready to enter the market. Don't worry, I will not let you know who I really am. And, since this board is full of a little thing called JEALOUSY AND HATE (aka Ed Dunn, hateBlaq and Yourself) you would have never thought to ask...Bernie, need any help?

In the meantime, peace and respect to you all.
Name:
Ed Dunn Clout: 157
Company:
iblaq  

Bernie,

What do you have that I'm jealous of or even bother to hate? For all I know you just another shit-talking loser trying to get someone here to listen to your demo and your breath smells like shit.....

You keep mentioning this 300K shit like you got some carrots or everyone else here is a 9 to 5, $65K nerd like your corporate ass..who the fuck would want to work for or with you anyway? Your 300K wouldn't last 1/2 week because it 99.9% of it will be spent on ignorance that you are obviously displaying here...

If you got a plan, then drop it....I'll be the first to give you props..in the meantime, everything else you post here is is nothing but booooollllllshit.........
Name:
Dilema Clout: 212
Company:
Rapsheet.com  

Bernie,
I usually stay out of beefs, but I wouldn't call those guys haters. True, there are alot of haters on this board but what better place to test your theories than here. Hell, I admit I was alittle nervous when I posted alink to the rapsheet.com site that I'm currently working on. But to my surprise the result has been overall favorable and the critisim insightful. Remember, what dosnen't kill ya can only make ya stronger. I think the problems you're having with certain members of this board arose when you first posted. Not meaning to diss you but, you came off a little pompus! From what I've seen these are some great guys. Plus if you need help, don't be afraid to ask. I did....

Good luck with business, man!!!
Name:
Ed Dunn Clout: 157
Company:
iblaq  

Dilema,

I liked the site and didn't have a problem with the regular version or flash version - I usually choose regular version when I get prompted for that choice.

I'm not really into evaluating other people sites..to me, ebay looks like shit but they are making mad loot so looks are not everything

As long as you have a mailing list to keep your readers coming back like Manhunt and other marketing/partnership channels like AKA was doing, that's what really counts in this space..to me...
Name:
Ed Dunn Clout: 157
Company:
iblaq  

Fuck Bernie,

Somebody probably didn't know whether to name his sesame street ass Bert or Ernie

He come here popping shit like he got the demo that will blow everyone in the industry away and dissing other people out there who done and got more than what he want to claim here...anyone can talk shit and Bernie falls into that category...

Bernie should check a post I made a couple of weeks ago that states anybody can copy an ideal but it takes a good management to make ths shit successful...obviously Bernie don't even have an iota of that management skills...good managers don't come on bbs talking shit about what they gonna do..they fucking do it..they don't come dissing others..they make partners..enemies accumulate..

Bernie probably turned off a lot of urban media execs and venture capitalists who monitor this site on a low-key basis and will probably laugh at his ass when he will need them for a partnership and don't know why.....great job Bernie, you really know how to break into the urban space....
Name:
O. Abiola Akintola Clout: 29
Company:
Clarity Media  

FOR ADARIO STRANGE FANS: HIS BLACKPLANET INTERVIEW.

Conversation with Lynne d Johnson

Best known for his work as Editor-in-Chief (1994-97) of The Source magazine, Adario Strange is a Webpreneur, futurist, multi-media artist, science-fiction writer, and information engineer.

When he stepped down from his post as editor of The Source, he continued to pen a science and technology column for the magazine entitled "D? Strange in the 21st Century," reporting on issues regarding the Internet, nanotechnology (a branch of engineering that deals with the design and manufacture of extremely small electronic circuits and mechanical devices built at the molecular level of matter), and biotechnology.

Since 1994, in addition to his publishing activities, Strange has been performing as a technical consultant and world wide-web/multi-media developer. Currently, he is head of Humbis Labs (http://www.HumbisLABS.com), a multi-media digital studio producing cutting-edge film and music projects.

Strange and I met up for lunch at a Sushi Bar in the East Village to discuss technology, hip hop, drum n` bass, electronica, writing, and whatever else came to mind. Following is a brief summary of our conversation. To learn more about Adario Strange and his work, join BlackPlanet.com on Thursday, December 14, 1 PM, EST for a live chat with him.

Lynne d: How were your holidays?

Adario Strange: I was out at my cousin`s house for Thanksgiving with my family, and like 50 percent of whatwas going on in my mind I couldn`t even talk to them about because none of them are on computers. There`s a whole world about which I could not talk to them. I had to just put that on the shelf and get analog with them.

Lynne d: I know. I was talking to my mother about my work, and she gave me this spacey look. Then she was like, I know, "W-W-W-dot-com." But the look was like, "What are you talking about?"

Adario Strange: I know that look. And, the thing about it is those people are the first, when you read about dot-com failures in the paper, to say, "Look, see, I don`t have to know about that."

Lynne d: Yeah, I know. How did you get interested in technology anyway?

Adario Strange: My grandfather was an engineer at IBM. I would always go to his house, and he would have all these computers, and cutting-edge stuff. You know like the stuff that comes out in Japan first? Back in the `70s, it would come out in Japan, and then a few years later it would get here. Plus, he and my uncle were just big Asimov heads. That`s how I got introduced to science fiction and tech. I was about 8 or 9 years old.

Lynne d: But how did you get to writing about tech, weren`t you a music guy?

Adario Strange: I came to the music industry as an artist. I was DJing at WBAU. One day, a DJ brought in The Source, and I was cocky about it. So, I went to them and told them I wanted to write. So, I turned in some old Thelonius Monk type stuff, real crazy. Chris Wilder gave me the first chance, and I worked with John Shecter after that. I never meant to be an editor or a journalist. I wanted to learn the business from the inside. While writing for The Source, I also got the opportunity to work with MCA Records, with The Bomb Squad, Hank Shocklee and them. In `94, I got to be Editor-in-Chiefat The Source.

Lynne d: I noticed your writing. I had penned a couple of Ear to the Streets for John in `91-`92. But then, I saw you going the tech route. When did that happen? What made you decide?

Adario Strange: Well, the science fiction thing has always been the most consistent string throughout my life. I`m like a little kid to some extent. I look at the world as if it is a science fiction book. There was this character in the `70s, Kolchak. He was this reporter who would get sent on these assignments, and it was always this supernatural or science fiction stuff. He was this goofy, harried, vulnerable character. I always dug that. So, when I found out about the World Wide Web. This guy I know started talking about the IRC (Internet Relay Chat), and that was like `90, `91. I put my first Web page up in `94 with the nuschool.

Lynne d: The nuschool magazine -- a little poetry, jazz publication? I remember that. Think I still have an issue. That was yours?

Adario Strange: Yeah, the site was a trial.

Lynne d: Were you using it as a marketing tool for the print publication, or were you looking at it as a form of media itself?

Adario Strange: I first wanted to see if I could do it and The Source at the same time. We meant to integrate the two. There was some parity of the online and offline.

Lynne d: Did you build any other Web sites after that?

Adario Strange: Yes, I launched Hip-HopOnline in `96. I know SOHH.com likes to say, whatever. But we were the first commercial hip-hop site on the Web. We had ads. And as a matter of fact, when Biggie Smalls died, we broke the story. We were a true media outlet, online.

Lynne d: Do you think the Internet is a good vehicle for hip-hop?

Lynne d: Do you think the Internet is a good vehicle for hip-hop?

Adario Strange: Yeah, but I don`t think in terms of hip-hop. I think niche audiences. Hip-hop, jazz, people who like dogs, people who are into Japanese restaurants.

Lynne d: So you believe in the community model?

Adario Strange: That`s organic to the Web. The Web is viral. On the cultural side of things, if you make it simple and easy, the community does the work for you. The biggest challenge for a lot of Web companies out there is getting out of your own way. Some ideas are just too broad. On the Web, being a one-note performance site is a good thing. People who want to do the uber site, it might be a good idea, but it isn`t going to work.

Lynne d: I always thought the Web was about empowering individuals. It gave you an opportunity to showcase your stuff. Put your writing online, your music online. The idea of bricks-and-mortar companies on the Web was always questionable for me. I follow this new media critic, Douglas Rushkoff, who kind of insinuates that big business on the Web is a bad thing.

Adario Strange: I think I agree with him. I`m about to publish a book through X Libris called The Art of Secrets, subtitled, Pirates, Robots, and Beats. It`s basically me broaching all of these various areas in the field of science, technology, and future culture. I make my conclusions up front. Then I offer anecdotal tales. One of my statements in the beginning is that the Web community loves small business. Amazon is kicking ass right now, but if someone came who was a rebellious, boutique Amazon - it would do well. The community likes that. They love intimacy. They want to feel special - like they`re in a niche, part of a select group.

Lynne d: We skipped a lot of stuff here though. What about the column in The Source? Then we can talk about this book.

Adario Strange: I started it while I was editor. It started from when I wanted to do this Year 2000 issue. At the time, like `95, hip-hop was the thing, most native youth culture to port into this technological revolution. We did this big Year 2000 issue. I started the column as SurvivingTheGame.Com, and people thought it was a Web address. Doc Strange in the 21st Century became the column and I continued it with Mars Magazine.

Lynne d: What was you intention with the column?

Adario Strange: It was to speak in layman`s terms about science and technology. I wanted to do it with the whole Kolchak, Night Stalker thing. This is me and my misadventures with science and technology. Weave it around an anecdote, or make it episodic. I got so many e-mails showing love for that column.

Lynne d: Now the book. When do you expect it to drop?

Adario Strange: Mid-December. I should tell you something about Mars Magazine. The focus of Mars has changed. Remember Omni?

Lynne d: But wait, what happened to the hip-hop site?

Adario Strange: I did this all on my own money. There were no IPOs at that time. After nine months, I stopped doing it. I wasn`t feeling hip-hop that much anymore anyway. As an entrepreneur, whenever you embark on something, you should be incredibly passionate about it.

Lynne d: So how did Mars Magazine come about?

Adario Strange: You remember Omni? It was a magazine started in the `70s by the wife of Bob Guccione, who was the publisher of Penthouse. It was about science, technology, and science fiction. It went out of print. Then they started doing a Web site. Then the site went down. WIRED was good when it started. It was about future culture. Now it`s about business.

Lynne d: But, what about Artbyte?

Adario Strange: They have the right idea. I know DJ Spooky, and he told me about what they are doing. I like it. But with Mars I`m trying to include what I felt these other magazines weren`t. That`s electronic music. It has always been the soundtrack to science fiction. None of these magazines have integrated that.

Lynne d: When did you start Mars?

Adario Strange: This year. And it`s only online www.marsmagazine.com. Now I see that the successful Web ventures create brand visibility on the Web, and then take that into the offline world. The offline world is where the real money is being made. I am applying that ethos to the Mars situation. Mars is going to be and idea lab for visual media - everything from film, digital film, and Flash features.

Lynne d: Where do you see Black folks in future culture, in terms of their relationship with technology?

Adario Strange: It doesn`t look very good. I use history to forecast the future. We innovate often, but often what we do is innovate existing technology. And I know as soon as I say this, someone is going to say, "Oh, but we invented the refrigerator. The stop light. How you going to say that black man?" No doubt. But on the path we are on, I see us more as consumers as opposed to the people in Korea who have become this force in hardware and electronic manufacturing, and clothing manufacturing. Quietly they have become this force. We don`t seem to have that going on except for in music. We`ll continue to produce some incredible people, incredible artists, thinkers, academicians, business people, and so on and so forth. I know some incredible programmers and technologists, black cats, who are samurai. But as a whole, I see us as consumers. That`s how we are acculturated.

Lynne d: That`s an interesting way to look at it. But you, your hands are in everything. You have your plate full. Now you`re doing film, video, music, the book?

Adario Strange: Hold on a minute. Let me break this down for you. Mars Magazine has officially slowed down. The book is my wrapping it up as a journalist. I don`t tend to do much more journalism. I plan to write books - science fiction. Then there`s TokyoNYC.com. It started as a community I was building for people in Japan who are into NYC and people in NYC who are into Japan. TokyoNYC is what I will use to put out film, Flash features, and animation through. And, music, of course. Our catch phrase is the future of the world. We look at Tokyo and NYC as the hubs of the globe. This is where cultures intersect and create all these mutations. With the book, The Art of Secrets, there is going to be a single from a group called Robotstar, that`s a drum n` bass group. It`s going to be a free downloadable MP3 that will accompany the book. There`ll also be TheArtofSecrets.com. And, a documentary about pirate technology. I filmed people who are working on Superstring theory - a theory of everything -- that brings together all theories into one.
Name:
dillema Clout: 2
Company:
CartelGrafix  

[*] This page is screwed up: http://64.160.218.35/links.hts You need to line up the links directory table with the navigation bar. ---you're the first to tell me that. It's funny how different people get different results. Email me a screen shot. That's what I tell everyone. It's looks perfect on the Mac. I've tested it in windows but not at that resolution. The monitors I'm using are only 800x600. *] When a user visits one of the pages from the navigation bar, deactivate that link and make it a different color so they can know what section they're in. I visited the lifestyle page http://64.160.218.35/lifestyle.mv and went away from my comp for a while and when I came back I didn't know where I was, until I looked at the address bar. The deactivating of the links and changing the color of the image to match the page also applies to the second level of links that appear. [*] Your title tag should reflect the navigational path of the site. All the pages I saw said: "The Rap Sheet.Com - Unifying The Hip Hop Universe Through The Web" ---good advice. I'll work on it. *] The radio buttons for your rap sheet poll aren't aligned. ---Again, on the monitors I've tested on it was perfect. Send a screen shot, please. *] Why is your features section in a frame? Actually all the second level Lifestyle links are frames pages. Based on what I see there, you don't have any real reason to do that. Those could be frameless like they are throughout the rest of the standard site -- like this page, which is fine: http://64.160.218.35/rapsta.mv. Rid the standard version of stuff like that. ---These sections are in frames because they are basically calling the same page in the enhanced version. I didn't want to recode them yet. Name: Know Wan Clout: 4 Company: Zend Whats this about range rovers? I guess Hookt is not on the Hook since UBO is out of the picture. How did Chas get a new Porche when his company has delayed paying its freelancers for more then a month. Know Wane Name: techtruth Clout: 111 Company: fresh idea factory [*] No hits = No revenue [*] No revenue = No more investors [*] This company will be dead Q3 2001 without a miracle. At least someone else paid for them to brown nose Puffy's a$$. Problem is he won't shit green for them when they need it next year. Name: tokachu Clout: 331 Company: hahahaa We Luv Deez Hoez << A typical night at Justin's can find Peter and Chas trying to get Puffy to nod their head at them so that they can tell girls, "See, that's my man! I know him!" >> haaahaaaaa anyway platform would be really stupid to get acquired by these clowns. unless of course they are getting all the cash from hookt's recent round of financing. then i would take it and could care less what happened. and hookt is the dumbest name i've ever heard. no wonder they get 5k visitors a month, their potential visitors probably can't even type the address in correctly. Name: Chuck Jones Clout: 4 Company: Looney Tunes, Inc. How could Chas fit into a Porsche? I feel sorry for the car. Name: Bootney Lee Farnswor Clout: 43 Company: Freak Beeyatch Porn Emporium hookt.com? what's that? Name: Shaan James Clout: 201 Company: eCritical iMinded This will be interesting to watch... Now that Bad Boy has been reduced to being Naughty Girl and P-Diddy is about to hear muscular inmates taunt him with, "Bad Boy come out and plaaaay" in the showers. I'm just curious as to what assets AKA has to acquire since those banners don't generate any significant revenue and their branding strategy fails to distinguish them from chicks making cat calls on Black campuses in green and pink sweaters. AKA (as known as) let's see... worthless. Yep, that about sums them up. The gumption of thinking party shout outs and banners will bring you users is as far fetched as acquiring the debts of a party promoter and hiring the same to run your marketing initiatives. Sound familiar? I smell stupidity in progress. Hookt has continued to grasp at imaginery straws (users) and keeps coming up ass out without learning from their mistakes. If you're struggling with branding you don't hook up with Hip Hop's poster boy for excess particularly when his star is rapidly on the decline. You roll up your sleeves, do some market research (sorry that doesn't mean handing out flyers doofus) and build your brand the old fashion way, one user at a time. I could fix their whole branding problem (for a fee of course) and the first thing that would have to go is that logo (is that what they're calling it these days?). Any VC that's stupid enough to fund their second round deserves the ROI they receive. Nil. For those that are currently looking for a lifeboat as this ship sinks remember that UBO also thought they were "on top of the world" before ending up like Leonardo DiCaprio assed out in the ocean. Don't wait for water to flood the decks, get those life jackets on and swim like you've never swam before. I predict (check the tread I'm seldom wrong about these things) this puppy will be asleep before Memorial Weekend. P.S. Anyone in the market for a green Porsche, just hold on for about six months there'll be one on sale - Dirt cheap! Name: Bernie Taylor Clout: 7 Company: Nortel I've been a viewer for a long time, and I've seen the way that UE visitors bash away at urban sites. However, the closings at urban sites is nothing in comparison to the closing of majority sites like psuedo.com, boo.com, fastv.com, and more. Furthermore, UE visitors stay away from other Black Sites like the blackwebportal.com, twbt.com, and blackenterprise.com that will be around long after the fad urban sites are gone. I guess the language used at these sites are about business and not the "scene." Well, you'll hear a lot more from me, I am about to get the real party started. Name: dale Clout: 70 Company: hit em up.com We look forward to that BERNIE!!!! Bring it on. Name: dLo2 Clout: 6 Company: ______ Ironically, now if Hookt disappears, so does Urban Expose. hahahaha Name: Dilema Clout: 32 Company: CartelGrafix Hookt is crap. When they were advertising before they had the actual site up, the preview site showed promise. What went wrong? This has got to be one of the worst hip hop sites around. For a few laughs check out.... http://www.ighetto.com/ http://pimpdaddy.com/ http://www.gangstagold.com/ And my personal favorite because they didn't hire me at the time and didn't even call to say that I didn't have the job (i guess it was a blessing) http://www.hiphophut.com I want to see their faces when I unviel the site I've been working on in January. Name: dale Clout: 70 Company: hit em up.com dLo2: Ironically wrong!!!!! because with all this talent on this site, trust me. UE will re-invent itself somehow and you will still come to it. which is a lot more than we can say for all those faltered DOT-COM properties that failed this year. peace Name: andrew jackson Clout: 101 Company: binz.com Hookt.com tags $5M in new money - but Viacom says f___ off! http://www.thedeal.com/cgi-bin/gx.cgi/AppLogic+FTContentServer?pagename=FutureTense/Apps/Xcelerate/Render&c=TDDArticle &cid=TDDKATKIPGC&preview=true Name: thuglite Clout: 335 Company: u cant hande the truth I like hookt better than UB HO Name: thuglite Clout: 335 Company: u cant hande the truth andrew VIACOM does not invest in failures.... Name: andrew jackson Clout: 101 Company: binz.com Infinity/Viacom better re-sign Howard Stern otherwise their whole radio division will start to crumble Name: celess Clout: 8 Company: M1 If handled correctly, Hookt can actually hit a lick with the whole Bad Boy/P-Diddy angle. Bad Boy has a large young, white teenage audience. (i.e. P-Diddy's new pop group, Dream) With a water-downed urban formula, actual ecommerce offerings and just a little marketing knowledge about their "real" target audience, Hookt could milk that cash cow for tons of unique views and loot. An audience with lots of access to computers, plenty of money to spend and a strong need to be "down and urban"? What?! Now that's a viable B-plan! If Hookt is a fo' real' biz and is fo' real about making money, damn trying to keep it real to high minded urban professionals who want better content and navigation or a the small number of urban kids with limited and slow Internet access. Act like a real biz and get some real ROI. Unless of course, Hookt is keeping it "real" and merely existing for the love of all that is urban. Oh, yeah that must be it. Holla. Name: Ed Dunn Clout: 182 Company: iblaq I'm thinking of launching blackweather.com and might need a partner. I hope to be the first and largest African-American web site dedicated to weather reports. The site will feature: *Free Email *Free Homepages *Member of the day pics *Club Chats *Urban Weather Store I hope to raise millions in venture capital to spend on parties and upscale office space Anyone down? Name: Ed Dunn Clout: 182 Company: iblaq I still need to figure out the weather part.... Name: celess Clout: 8 Company: M1 Ed, Would the site only involve weather in "urban" areas? Urban weather is quite different from mainstream weather, right? Would we have real time streaming video of storms in every major city? (Although we know our target audience couldn't possibly access it.) I think you have idenitifed a key, underserved target audience. I'm down with helping if the chat boards are filled with fine "urban" weathermen, and if I can get a window office in that upscale office space. That way, I'll can keep an eye on changes in our industry and post them two days late or just totally disregard them. Name: Shaan James Clout: 201 Company: eCritical iMinded Ed, Once your sites up and running I'll give you six months of free advertising on my newest endeavor babydaddy.com "Where finding your baby daddy is our eBusiness". At babydaddy.com we provide our user with a unique interactive experience where they beat the shit out of their no-good babydaddies after we locate them and stream the event to our subscribers. This week: Keisha finally catches up with Kevin's trifling ass at the swapmeet. Dilema, gangstagold.com is hilarious! I spit juice through my nose when I saw that family with the jewels. Thanks! Name: Dilema Clout: 32 Company: CartelGrafix It's funny, but it's sad. Did you peep Troy with the fake "00" Fubu shirt on? Ha!!! After months of making me laugh out loud, I thought I'd return the favor. Name: Dilema Clout: 32 Company: CartelGrafix Ed, What's up with Blaq Life? I've really been checking for it! Is www.blacklife.com yours? Name: Isidro Otis Clout: 41 Company: TCOMG, Inc. Shaan and Dilema, Stop making me laugh. My sides hurt. Name: Shaan James Clout: 201 Company: eCritical iMinded Dilema, Check out flychica on gangstagold.com. WHOA! What a hottie. I'm ripping up my phone book right now, because she's going to be my wifey. Name: Dilema Clout: 32 Company: CartelGrafix She reminds me of, "Sunshine", from that movie, Harlem nights. "Honey, tell the kids I love 'em cause I'm never coming home again... ever" Ha!!! Name: BklynQn Clout: 5 Company: MineMineMine Let me ask a question: If P-Did supposedly has started his own advertising/marketing agency (Blue Flame. What a GAY ASS name.) and has gone so far as to hire Jameel Spencer to run it, why would he even need Hookt to deal with his websites? Doesn't he have an interactive division of his new company? Hmmm. Label cats just love to spend money, dude. Name: moralmajority Clout: 24 Company: self UE must definitely be on AOL/TW/HBO's jock because you have yet to blast that sorry ass Volume.com. UE's integrity as a site that sticks it to anyone has been forevermore tarnished. Name: BklynQn Clout: 5 Company: MineMineMine Prediction: Jermaine Hall- begging XXL for a job in 6 months. Raquel Cepeda- opening a storefront ifa divination shop in Washington Heights in 6 months. Kovas- hitting in the studio. Lynn Daniels- hr job at telecommunications company. Malany Hill- revamping Stephen Marley's website. HOOKT- acquired by iced media in a so-called hostile takeover. Name: Chuck Jones Clout: 4 Company: Looney Tunes, Inc. Bottom line is that Chas Walker and Peter Griffith are a bunch of punk-ass wannabees. They have absolutely no concept of how to monetize their "network" of PIECE OF SHIT sites that continue to cannibalize each other and the niche dollars that they have NO FUCKING IDEA how to acquire. These guys are so arrogant, that all they do is sit around and have meetings about which hot chick to hire next as a receptionist. She is kinda hot, by the way....;-) I'm very glad that Warburg has invested in them since it's good for the space, but there's one thing that everyone is overlooking. The reason Hookt needs money is because THEY AREN'T GENERATING ANY SIGNIFICANT REVENUES. Nice banner ads guys!!! You know the ones that promote your own PIECE OF SHIT sites and generate no revenue!!!! Can anyone say SayShe.com! Say what!!!!???? Guys, gone are the days when eyeballs matter. Save Warburg's money and stop buying sites that have the same eyeballs as you do. Maybe it's time you actually stopped to think about QUALITY OF PRODUCT, and not QUANTITY OF SHIT SITES that no one want to buy. GET A FUCKING CLUE....You big fat self-indulgent gluttonous fuck and his lacky never-was sidekick. Peace, I'm out....see you on the fucking cheese line. Adam Kidron (former UBO CEO/currently waiting for you on the cheese line...see you there in Q101) Name: ohsokool Clout: 110 Company: ohsokool@hotmail.com Ed.. Let me hold things down, represent, and keep it real by doing the Old School Urban Weather report..i can give updates on the weather conditions of say.. back in the 80's and what not...yunno..kinda a nostalgic look at how far urban weatehr had come within the last decade and change.. I would interview urban types as the recollect and describe what the weather was like when they first saw P-Diddy dancin in a Stacy Lattisaw video... ..now thats first generation urban baby.. Name: dale Clout: 70 Company: hit em up.com This is something that these so-called urban sites should have done. How come it takes the "non-Urban" sites to put something like this together. I bet this gets a shit load of press and even benefits the community. and I bet it doesnt cost 1Million to do. Just some FYI for a good cause. Greetings! At this special time of the year, iLounge would like to express its sincere gratitude for your attendence & support throughout the past year. To celebrate, iLounge is organizing a special event of holiday fun and good cause and cordially invites you to ***The iLounge Holiday Bash*** at Limelight to benefit InterFaith Neighbors and raise money for their computer training program for at-risk children in East Harlem. Interfaith Neighbors: http://www.ifneighbors.org DETAILS Date: Thursday, December 21st Venue: Limelight, 47 w20th St (corner of 6th Ave) Free Admission: 7:00pm - 10:00pm SUGGESTED DONATION: $10 (ALL proceeds go to charity) Music: DJ Tuesdae http://www.tuesdae.com Open Bar: 8pm-9:30pm Coctail Reception: 7pm-8pm (complimentary Grey Goose Vodka) RSVP Required @ http://www.iloungenyc.com/rsvp.html Best wishes for a happy holiday season & new year! Claudia Chan mailto:claudia@iloungenyc.com & Dylan DeSantis mailto:dylan@iloungenyc.com iLounge LLC Name: real_deal_holyfield Clout: 158 Company: r12 I have been a Platform fan forever and always thought that it was a hot site and they were ahead of their time. And even the business model, although humble, always seemed to make sense to me. They really do bring together a lot of young urban entrepreneurs and try to make it happen. But it seems that they have always been underfunded -- which in hindsight was probably lucky for them. They are the smallest company of any and seem to actually produce the most content and sites etc ... they always had to pull up their boot straps. That kind of resourcefulness doesn't happen when you have 30 million dollars in the bank. Hmmmm. I've know Russell and UBO and lots of people wanted to Platform at different times-- but it seems they didn't fall for the hype. Again, in hindsight that was probably smart too. I think Hookt is pretty lame and the content and design doesn't hold a candle to Platform, but at the end of the day it seems like Hookt has the LOOT! So I guess at the end of the day with funding sources drying up a Hookt/Platform merger seems to make some sense. I just hope that they don't keep the Hookt name and that the Platform content doesn't suffer. If Hookt was smart they would migrate more towards the Platform model and use the Platform content. Name: fuck the police Clout: 2 Company: unemployed i am pretty sure that real_deal_holyfield owns platform. Stupid. Name: willy Clout: 3 Company: hiphop101 blackweather.com is the most enlightened concept for a site I have heard in a long time. The demand for a site catering to urban weather news and liftestyle is tremendous. How can i be down? Name: playa p Clout: 12 Company: dusoldiers.com danm this is really sad, hookt.com gets $5 mil for 5000 unique visitors?!?!?!?!?!?!?! and thats with advertising mysite, we've done know advertising except word of mouth, one college party. And approximately 5000 unique visitors this month already. And its only December 14th. Name: kevlon A. Blaque Clout: 236 Company: netzero@thahalf.com fuck hookt...dem mawfukas need to get off the crack--and get hooked on phonics. fake fucks. Name: Desus Nice Clout: 85 Company: The Corner of 233rd & White Plains Yo! I was on the west side highway last night and I seen kids putting up blackweather.com ads! Damn, that site is gonna be successful as hell. I need to hook up with em cuz I'm nasty with Dreamweaver 2. Just let me know where to send my resume and the color two way I want. oh yeah: it would be cool if we had a section interviewing rappers about their favorite weather. Or if we charged users to download mp3s about the weather. Like we could charge $2 to download Raekwons "Rainy Dayz".....Word Word I got madd plans, get at me Name: Know Wan Clout: 4 Company: Zend Completely Off Topic, but very funny: http://www.thedeal.com/cgi-bin/gx.cgi/AppLogic+FTContentServer?GXHC_gx_session_id_FutureTenseContentServer=248f7ba13e7897e5&pagename =FutureTense/Apps/Xcelerate/Render&c=TDD Article&cid=TDDQ3M0YQGC&preview=true Name: Summa Sedes Clout: 38 Company: Illegitimis Non Carborundum NEWS BRIEFS Hookt.com Gets $5 Million Funding Amidst the urban-portal deathwatch, Hookt.com has received $5 million from Warburg Pincus. The money from the investment company is the third round of funding for Hookt. With a dwindling number of so-called urban sites, Hootk.com avoids the fates of a now-bankrupt Urban Box Office; AKA.com, which laid off half its staff; and 360Hiphop.com, recently hawked off to BET. The year-and-a-half-old Hookt.com is a network of hip-hop related sites, including Eminem's SlimShady, Shesays, and the web arm of Sean "Puffy" Combs' record label Bad Boy. So why has Hookt.com survived? "We've run a lean operation," said CEO and co-founder Peter Griffith, who added that the new funding would be used to establish strategic alliances and further Hookt's business course. "We haven't had a significant cash burn," said Griffith. "I'm not sure I feel that the other [urban portal] businesses had a sustainable business model, and maybe they didn't have the right financial partners." Hookt's business model includes an e-commerce arm, content syndication, banner advertising, and sponsorships. But the site's most important partnerships include a deal with mogul and rapper Combs. Combs' clothing line is sold exclusively through Hookt.com, while the deal is an equity partnership, as opposed to a revenue-sharing partnership. Bo Kemp, president of Vanguarde Media, which has an advertising deal with Hookt.com, said that while $5 million "isn't a huge amount," the funding shows that VCs don't think that every Internet business is a bad business. "It's a huge vote of confidence for Hookt.com," said Kemp. "Warburg is one of the oldest VCs, they have more money than God, and this investment speaks volumes." Name: Raid Clout: 2 Company: A Dot-Com Failure I like the idea of blackwheather.com. Sounds veryyy!! interesting. I would somehow like to be a part of it too. Maybe I could be the one wh attract millions of dollars from Big-Wig Investors and sit on pointless board meetings and Organize your 10 Million Dollar launch party. I thinking of organizing it in some amazing Banquent Hall with different rooms and each room has been affected by the different type of wheather. You'd have a room where it would be artificially raining throughout the party then another room with snow etc... Trust me it'd be one bangin' Launch Party. And we will invite artists such as "Earth, Wind and Fire" and "Rainmen" etc... so what do y'all think?? peace Name: Maxamilian Clout: 74 Company: urban247.com Blackweather.com. Sounds good. If you can get a committment from Stacy Dash to do the weather report on streaming video, I am definately in for as much as you need. Name: Bernie Taylor Clout: 7 Company: Nortel Volume.com had at minimum $60 million in backing according to Kevin Dowdell, former dept. head, now CEO of the operation, yet their site doesn't even approach the level of integration and intensity that BlackPlanet has. So I must agree with moralmajority in that you bash sites uniquely black owned and fail to attack an obviously majority owned site. "Hey, I work for corporate America" Name: celess Clout: 8 Company: M1 Now that we have the launch party planned, and our high-level strategy for BLACKweather.com in place, I guess we can at least START thinking about content and strategic partnerships. After studying our target market and totally disregarding what they are looking for in a urban weather website, and paying a few 21 year old white consultants a cool million to tell me what our competitors are doing, I went out on a limb and developed a few ideas of my own: Hire Prodigy to write a piece on the best Tims/hoodies to wear while you're out in elements servin' the block all day. (I feel a print ad campaign coming on) Partner with ganstagold.com for an informative article on how to clean your new "gold grill" to get that maximum bling on a sunny day. Develop an alliance with STANK.com to sell STANKY rain and snow apparel. (Just because there's a foot a snow doesn't mean you can't wear that halter shirt with the back out.) Now, if someone could just create our tag line, we're ready for the IPO, fuck the first or second round of funding. Name: Afro Spice Clout: 65 Company: urban but not urban Know what's funny... Didn't UBO go out of business spending money on ads on AKA.com that didnt do anything for their traffic? So why is Hookt advertising on AKA.com like there is no tommorrow? Name: tokachu Clout: 331 Company: hahahaa We Luv Deez Hoez << Benie Taylor wrote: So I must agree with moralmajority in that you bash sites uniquely black owned and fail to attack an obviously majority owned site. >> which uniquely black owned site does UE bash more than the "majority" owned sites? Maybe the sites you think are "black" owned aren't really "black" owned. most of the sites that get bashed here aren't "black" owned. shoot blackplanet isn't even "black" owned. ya'll just need to stop talking out your asses. Name: ohsokool Clout: 110 Company: ohsokool@hotmail.com Since im doin' the Old Schol Weather Report for BlackWeather.com..I want my theme intro to be "Walkin In The Rain" from Oran Juice Jones. I'd like to hire a clueless, but foine hottie to pass me my cue cards, get my evian water and pick up my invites for the launch party...And I want all of my suits to be nice and shiney... content?.. ahh fuck that. I can have my boys design the dopest Flash Intro and set up chat rooms and personal pages..yunno,, kinda like BP. We can have forums that discuss weather, wind barometers, and cloud precipitation with cats across the USA, and give a weekly Top 10 listing of the most popular/unpopular weather conditions. We also need promo T-Shirts, and biz cards....and .... a mascot! What do you think about a 500 Black Sumo Wrestler? oh..thats been done...shit. Name: scorchio Clout: 3 Company: mtv A couple more ideas for blackweather.com: seasonal T-shirts winter: "1st Generation Brick" in snazzy royal blue or red summer: meeno I'm that HOT nigga in fetching green Howzabout a special Indieweather section with blackweather.com's charismatic "Stuttering Stud" giving youth the low-down, with his cherished catch-phrase "Sc-sc-sc-sc-sc-screw the major weather system". Whaddya think? BTW, good luck UE! Name: tokachu Clout: 331 Company: hahahaa We Luv Deez Hoez blackweather.tv would be better since you gotta have streaming video. Name: tokachu Clout: 331 Company: hahahaa We Luv Deez Hoez New York-based telco powerhouse Verizon Communications is betting big on portal sponsorship, announcing a three-year, US$3 million pact with BET.com. The deal with Black Entertainment Television's Web portal officially names Verizon as the site's preferred telecom partner. Source: AtNewYork http://www.atnewyork.com/news/article/0,1471,8471_529321,00.html Name: Desus Nice Clout: 85 Company: The Corner of 233rd & White Plains Yo YO Yo Yo!!! I'm saying, blackweather.com should offer Internet service for 19.95 a month. We could sell like 56k connections, cuz u know how peeps in the hood check the weather thru the net rather than tv or radio. oh yeah, for the print ads how about we get Lil Wayne? He could be like "Wodie, now MORE than the Block is hot!" I don't think blackweather.tv is good because our target group is easily confused by the difference between .tv and .com, u know how those minorities are..... Name: Ed Dunn Clout: 182 Company: iblaq tokachu, Regarding Bernie Taylor comments, he seem to have this attitude that we cannot bash black-owned firms...who gave black-owned firms immunity from criticism? Is that why I can't complain when I get my clothes fucked up at a black-owned dry cleaner? Is that why I can't ask for a refund when the black-owned barber give me a Sam Cooke haircut when I asked for a fade? Also I was seriously considering creating blackweather.com as a parody of 'urban' sites with generic content..no technology blackplanet or bet has on their site that I can't piss out on a whim,domain is still available and I can use the same weather engine that fooky.com (my other site I'm launching 1/1/01) using and sell branded unbrellas, raincoats and sunglasses Name: Tinkerbell Clout: 18 Company: tinkerbell thought every one would want to see this. the Ny times wrote an article about libel law and sites like this. "What this case demonstrates is that people can be held accountable for what they post on the Net even though they posted anonymously," said Lyrissa Barnett Lidsky, a professor at the University of Florida's Levin College of Law and an expert on defamation in cyberspace. Aliases Subject of Internet Libel Case BY CARL S. KAPLAN http://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/14/technology/15CYBERLAW.html Name: CashStill Clout: 2 Company: GhettoMillionaires.com First All, I would like to give props to the UrbanExpose for presenting a website of some substance and not a lot of flashy ass designs! Second Of All, I would like to think UBO for going out of business (even though they owe me money along with everyone else)! One less sorry ass "wanna be" uraban website my company has to view as a competitor. My company is strictly for Entertainment purposes but I have gain a lot of respect from urban Web Surfers looking for something a little different in content and design. With all that out the way, I honestly see HookT, Platform, AKA all going belly up due to their "brillant" strategic alliance. HookT gets less traffic then my website and I don't even do any National Advertisments, AKA is still huriting from losing all their revenue from the Inventory Ad Sales, and Platform is just plain stupid to ink the deal. Platform, in my opinion was the only site out of all the above that could have really materialize into a viable force on the web. I'm still learning how this whole E-Commerce world tick but I can tell you this having a basic common sense and applying the K.I.S.S. methodolgy you can surely develope a high traffic and highly profitable website with a little time and effort. These other sites are big on money, low on brains cells. Name: ohsokool Clout: 110 Company: ohsokool@hotmail.com hey!..brilliant me ...i just thought of somthing.. why would anyone go online to check the weather, when they can just stick their head out the window? i think we need to have our first weekend retreat / meeting, complete with laptops, assistants & bags of funk to discuss this.. i say we do a lil jacuzzi action while were at it ... seasonal t-shirts..im feelin that....but we still need a mascot Name: Chuck Jones Clout: 4 Company: Looney Tunes, Inc. Yo Hookt!! Robert Downey Jr. is also seeking a partnership deal, and he's a convited felon too. You should sign him up, now! He would fit your current deals with Puffy "I don't and never have owned a gun" Combs and Marshall "I bitch slapped my wife/mother" Mathers. Isn't Shyne going to jail soon too!? Maybe Chas and Peter can go visit ALL of their spokespeople in jail and do some live cyberchats from their cells. Meantime, they can deliver them some special Hershey Highway surprises!!! You and Warburg deserve each other! Dumb-asses! A. Kidron Name: Bernie Taylor Clout: 7 Company: Nortel Ed, what have you created that was so great? I wasn't saying that we couldn't comment on something, I was piggy-backin' off of what MM said. Bro, you are out their! And where is this iblaq thing? Name: tokachu Clout: 331 Company: hahahaa We Luv Deez Hoez dog, we just gotta have that spotlight interview chick on ghettomillionaires (oxymoron). she has a nice rack and i damn sure ain't getting in any jacuzzi unless it's filled with chicks with nice racks. Name: tokachu Clout: 331 Company: hahahaa We Luv Deez Hoez ghettomillionaires, your Platinum PlayGirlz&#8482; Pic Of The Day chick looks like she has hairy thighs and legs. ewwwwwwwwh Name: Ed Dunn Clout: 182 Company: iblaq Bernie, If you claim you been a viewer on the Internet the long time and don't know what I created, that's your problem..I don't answer to people like that....I get millions of viewers and plenty of feedback to show the great shit I've done with my black site including hating from blackwebportal, kicking it with tbwt when I'm in baltimore and being published in blackenterprise...who the fuck are you Bernie? And I mentioned plenty of times that my site will not be up until Monday Jan 1 2001 Bro, where is your clout? Name: Ed Dunn Clout: 182 Company: iblaq CashStill, Yo man nice site but from where I'm sitting during the day, you need to throw up a warning or something...could have lost my next paycheck... Name: hooktwilltank Clout: 2 Company: Hookt AKA Platform, Inc. Why am "I" tanking? Please e-mail me! hooktwilltank@hotmail.com Name: hooktwilltank Clout: 2 Company: Hookt AKA Platform, Inc. has anyone registered hooktplatform.com yet? Name: Bernie Taylor Clout: 7 Company: Nortel Ed, I'm just a software developer watchin the web and checking out the scene. (I plan to build a search site that will thump everyone in the black arena) I ran across this site while searching on info about UBO and found it a little different from all of the other tight little sites out there. No, I don't know what you do or who you are, and since I'm new to this board I am sure you'll give me some leeway on this. So, who the fuck are you again anyway? Name: Bernie Taylor Clout: 7 Company: Nortel Another thing...I like the TBWT, but the design is kinda rough. The blackwebportal is alright, though they need a lot of interface work. A lot of it! blackenterprise, well, they are holding their own with the info they provide. Name: Ed Dunn Clout: 182 Company: iblaq Yeah, you're right....I'm nobody Bernie..can't wait until you launch your search site that will dump everyone in the Black arena....look forward to seeing that happen.... Name: falxwon Clout: 101 Company: random midtown PR agency Ed, dude Bernie is obviously a lurking retard. His clout is nonexistent. Give him the chin checkin' of a lifetime and be done with it. I chin checked the shit outta Modoe and his ass has never been seen again. blackweather.com should be about how chickenhead's hair wil act in the climate and how much dookie brown gel they should slather into hold that ghetto curl. If you could get all the corny ass black weathermen to defect the networks that would be the coup de grace. Al Roker at the helm and shit with Spencer Christian (I think that's his name) and famous local yocals) as his backup man. have them on the roofs of PJ's in hoods across the USA... OR BETTER YET, have Al Roker dress up like Ghost Dog and do his reports from the pigeon coops of East Harlem finer PJ's. ED you gotta winner, I am on board for the PR... I'll come up with a strategy over the weekend.... holla Name: Desus Nice Clout: 85 Company: The Corner of 233rd & White Plains Why would anybody want to stick their head out the window to check the weather when they can spend the time to boot up their computer and dial in on their modem to check the weather. Cmon man, what are u living in the 20th century????????? Ps: Maybe we can get Magic Johnson to fund this thing.... Name: dLo2 Clout: 6 Company: ______ Random observations as UE begins it's slow descent into the dotcom graveyard. Im laughing at the riff between Bernie and Ed. Black sites don't deserve any less credit for success nor do they deserve to be exempt from critisms. I applaud all the black folks in the companies failed or not that got some VC loot. No matter how bad their execution was they certainly managed to get some loot out of the whole deal. Hold up. Let me correct myself, sites that claim to serve black people. Cause Blackplanet is proudly Asian-Owned like your neighborhood corner store. I also think it is funny when people preanounce shit. Drop your shit. Keep it on point. Maintain some ownership. I'll give you props like I gave BET.com props till they sold out... Name: Bernie Taylor Clout: 7 Company: Nortel falxwon, little do you know. I can develop the shit out of anything w/o the need for big time financing that blackweather.com will probably need. As an expert with Oracle and Cold Fusion (I've design many of Nortel's internal sites) I bet that I could put together a cool site before you could construct a proper sentence!! Ed, maybe I don't know you, and the sites that you have done, but if you have talent, so be it, I am not one to knock a brother who is on the up-n-up :-). Name: Ed Dunn Clout: 182 Company: iblaq dLo2 VC loot is only good when you can buy shit you want or know you need in order to launch the firm...most VCs will give you funds and then try to tell you how to spend every dollar which isn't fun at all... I won't bother with this Bernie guy who sounds like an urbanmagic.com spokeperson....not even on my level..besides I already have announced shit out there.... Name: Ed Dunn Clout: 182 Company: iblaq Bernie your true colors is showing << As an expert with Oracle and Cold Fusion (I've design many of Nortel's internal sites) I bet that I could put together a cool site ... >> Oh with your expertise with Oracle and Cold Fusion? I guess marketing, advertising, acquiring partners and putting together a b-plan for financing don't mean shit???? You obviously never worked in a dotcom shop or startup where you had to do multiple shit to get the firm off the ground....Keep your comfortable corporate day job kid.......it's some guys here that will contradict your ego about your dotcom skills anytime of the day... Name: ohsokool Clout: 110 Company: ohsokool@hotmail.com Desus Nice ...tru dat...problem solved, so no need for a meeting of minds...but we should still do the retreat thing anyway, or hold a pre-launch luncheon or pre-pre party or sumthin lke that, before the actual launch party... Name: tokachu Clout: 331 Company: hahahaa We Luv Deez Hoez << I can develop the shit out of anything w/o the need for big time financing that blackweather.com will probably need. >> dude, blackweather is just a joke. anyway if you're as good as you say you are. you shouldn't necessarily create another "black" search engine. there are already a lot of sites out there fighting for so few ad dollars and traffic. Name: Bernie Taylor Clout: 7 Company: Nortel I can't give everything away can I. Yeah, I have a few bucks tucked away for a biz (about $300k) and my day job is kind of boring nowadays. I still have some thinking to do and maybe this UE thing can give me a few ideas. I'll be watching the web for good ideas, and then....I will do it. Name: chris pelate Clout: 15 Company: dayscar.com So I'm getting bombarded with email for Igetznoplay.com ...Is that in anyway related to the blackweather.com launch? If you really wanna see some cool black-owned shit that's going unnoticed check out www.pineapplecolours.com very UBO like. (all flash, no cash) i am tyler's urban storm... Name: Desus Nice Clout: 85 Company: The Corner of 233rd & White Plains Yo, I'm already planning the pre-launch-party-pre-party, but I don't want to do Ellis Island....too lowkey for a site that breaks open so many paradigms the way Blackweather.com will (NOTE: we should also register blakweatha.com & blacwhether.com because I've heard many from my friend Darrien that some people of color can't spell.) N e way, We were thinking of renting out the whole Island of Ibiza....money ain't a thing, cuz we make up the costs on banner ads on the first day alone. Name: Dilema Clout: 32 Company: CartelGrafix Okay Shaan, Ed, Darqbrown, Tokachu... I'm finally ready to let you guys preview what I've been working on. It's not finished by a long shot but I'm letting people see it to beta test it... Before you do, I'll go into the problems and what it's missing... 1)the sotre is not yet finished - have some backround things to do. 2)The "standard site: is having problems in netscape - working on it. 3)The audio and video are having problems in both browsers on the Mac. (and I;m using a mac to create the site) - working on it. 4)Having some formatting problems in explorer on the Mac - working on it. 5)I haven't yet included the contact info - I will though. 6)The news section is kinda thin - well it's not finished yet. I've been working on this, alone, for about 2 months doing all the graphic work and backend database programming. I took a cue from someone on this board who suggest the audio should be embedded in the site. I'm taking another cue from a board member who said instead of using email links for contact, use a form instead for those surfing at the library and such. I will admit that I've spent more time on the enhanced version and the standard was more an afterthought but I'll get to designing a better standard site. But my thing is that I've created this site with about $5000 tops. With the money that UBO was spending in a week, I could use for a year. If the projects taught me one thing, it's how to make something out of nothing. Okay enough with my rantings and excuses, you can view the site at: http://www.rapsheet.com (note the domain transfer hasn't fully taken place yet). Let me know what you think. Real critisim you can email me as well so that I can refer to it while I'm finishing it.... PS:If you try to logon, you'll see a picture of me in the log-in screen. My vanity got the best of me. Name: HipPriest Clout: 24 Company: Hey There Fuck Face! We should feature streaming media of people sticking their heads out the window to check the weather. We will need to advertise on television. BUT we should make sure that the commercial doesn't give any clues to what the site is about. And of course we will plaster phone booths and bus shelters with posters... Name: tokachu Clout: 331 Company: hahahaa We Luv Deez Hoez aiiight Dilema, [*] I like the standard version more. I don't like sites that launch in a pop up. I didn't like boo for that, and I don't like a lot of these "hip-hop" sites for that as well. But, you do a good thing by providing a link to the standard version, giving your users the option of using the enhanced version is way better than forcing that on them (unlike some sites). [*] This page is screwed up: http://64.160.218.35/links.hts You need to line up the links directory table with the navigation bar. [*] When a user visits one of the pages from the navigation bar, deactivate that link and make it a different color so they can know what section they're in. I visited the lifestyle page http://64.160.218.35/lifestyle.mv and went away from my comp for a while and when I came back I didn't know where I was, until I looked at the address bar. The deactivating of the links and changing the color of the image to match the page also applies to the second level of links that appear. [*] Your title tag should reflect the navigational path of the site. All the pages I saw said: "The Rap Sheet.Com - Unifying The Hip Hop Universe Through The Web" maybe you might want to just use that on the opening splash page and the home pages of the standard and enhanced versions. But when users start drilling down in your site the title tag should match where they are. e.g. "RapSheet.com : Lifestyle : Features" Another thing don't put a space in between the Rap and the Sheet. if you want to call the site Rap Sheet call it that but don't imply that a user can get to the site by going to Rap Sheet.com. the minute you put in .com in the name of the site all spaces go out the door. [*] Since you have a "sheet tv" section you might want to register rapsheet.tv as well. it's only like 50 bucks for a year. (they have a special holiday price of $35 going on now). [*] The radio buttons for your rap sheet poll aren't aligned. [*] Why is your features section in a frame? Actually all the second level Lifestyle links are frames pages. Based on what I see there, you don't have any real reason to do that. Those could be frameless like they are throughout the rest of the standard site -- like this page, which is fine: http://64.160.218.35/rapsta.mv. Rid the standard version of stuff like that. [*]This has nothing to do with usability, etc., but I'm just curious -- is "The Only Black Owned National Hip-Hop Publication" their slogan or something? I find it very interesting, because when I see stuff like that I get skeptical because it seems like they are trying to give me reasons other than outstanding content to support it. That's something you should read in an article or something singing their praises, but it shouldn't be the reason why someone should support you. By the way I would say the same thing if had said Asian, Hispanic or whatever. ---Darryl James is the publisher, and that's the tagline he's always had on the magazine. Someone else can review the enhanced version, I'm too biased to be objectionable. I'll tell you this though it reminded me of one of the earlier versions of 360hiphop. ---Fair enough. Actually, I had this design before 360 even appeared. It was going to be a site for another company that I was working for, but fuck them!!! By the way I don't know when last I saw HTML script in use. I played with it a few years back, but it never grabbed me. That's very interesting. You like miva a lot huh? ---Yea, it's one of the first languages I learned, and for the time being I can accomplish everything that I need in it. I plan to learn php and maybe cold fusion when I get the time. Thanks for the help. Anyone else wanting to respond should email me because I don't really want to spam this site. tokachu , would it be alright if I contacted you by email to help me work out the bugs? `pp
Name:
Dilema Clout: 212
Company:
Rapsheet.com  

Hey guys. What's going on here, I didn't repost after the Adario Stange story. how did that get there and the clout was reset to 1. Technical difficulties?
Name:
dillema Clout: 2
Company:
CartelGrafix  

NEW STORY ON UBO + ADAM KIDRON

FROM SILICONALLEYDAILY.COM

the rush to build a dot-commune--where like-minded businesses may someday network under the same roof--may have already resulted in some favoritism. Urban Box Office, a vertically integrated community space located at Starrett for the past year that's staffed mainly by minorities, was kicked out in June in what it claims was a racist action.

"They said they didn't like the 'quality of people' we brought to the building," says CEO and co-founder Adam Kidron. "Seeing as our kids are amazing quality, and have won numerous awards, and they've done great work, we can only assume that when he was talking about the quality of the person, it was about their race."

Unlike most of the existing tenants, UBO was paying market rate for its space, $30 per square foot. The company is also relatively flush with $27 million in capital, so there was no financial incentive to kick them out, Kidron says.

UBO's version of the timeline goes something like this: In July 1999, Tomar Studios legally sublet its office to UBO, and in November, 601 West handed UBO keys and gave it permission to expand into an adjacent office on Starrett's south side. This expansion occurred with the understanding that 601 West was in the process of drafting a new lease that would allow UBO to reside in the Starrett for 10 years.

Two months later, 601 West served UBO with an eviction notice, charging that UBO employees were illegally smoking and gathering in the hallways.

When UBO refused to leave, 601 West sent in the fire department to bust them for overcrowding, but--according to Kidron--after almost 10 fruitless inspections, "most of [the inspectors] were more interested in getting the phone numbers of the girls who work here."

Kidron also claims the landlords refused to clean their hallway bathroom (as dirty as the one in Trainspotting, according to another disgruntled employee), and the elevator operators wouldn't stop on the 12th floor, where the office was located.

When the eviction notice didn't work, 601 West resorted to extortion, according to Kidron. The company turned off the electricity to the office for a two-week period in May, and said it would only turn the power back on if Kidron offered them warrants for 2 percent of the company (and even then, UBO would only be allowed to stay in the Starrett until the end of the year). Kidron said no.

Finally, Kidron agreed to move out if 601 West would give them back electricity immediately.

"[601 West head Harry Skydell] was basically God in that building," Kidron says about the stand he took. "And you can't let God become the devil."

Skydell himself didn't return calls seeking comment for this article, but as far as building manager Broyde is concerned, there's no bad blood between 601 West and UBO.

"I happened to like the company, personally," he says, even though he insists that that UBO's original lease with the Tomar Studios was never approved.

Still, there were disagreements. "They did things that were not beneficial to the building," Broyde says. "One thing is, they had meetings all over the building, and on the roof, where they weren't supposed to."

Kidron scoffs at this suggestion, saying staffers once gathered on the roof for a memorial service for co-founder and former Motown Records president George Jackson--and had full permission to do so.

"It shows me that if you can be so inhuman to use someone else's death as a negotiation play, you're better off not having negotiations," Kidron says.

UBO is currently housed on Avenue of the Americas and West 31st Street in an 18,000-square-foot space (which is 4,000 square feet bigger than the company's Starrett space, contrary to some reports) until December, when the company will relocate to 126th Street and Amsterdam in Harlem.

And even though the company is enjoying some momentum right now--four new animated UBO channels are now hitting the Internet airwaves, with live action programming scheduled for the fall--Kidron is still seething about how the Starrett treated his company.

"I'm not at all happy with the chapter's being closed," Kidron says. "I wouldn't be [commenting for this article] at all, if it wasn't to warn people that this [Skydell] is a bad guy."

There are many employees who share Kidron's dislike of their former landlord, but at least one UBO employee isn't so sure that 601 is entirely in the wrong.

"If I were a landlord, I could certainly see 100 different reasons why I wouldn't want these people in my building, and it would [have] nothing to do with the fact that it's a largely minority-staffed company," says an employee of UBO channel IndiePlanet. "[UBO] is the most rambunctious, uncontrolled group I've ever been around in a professional setting," the source says.

A look around the building shows that UBO isn't the only company unhappy with its treatment. In the past year, tenants have filed at least 12 lawsuits against the landlords, mostly arguing that they're losing money or being unfairly displaced because of the renovations.

ABC Die Cutting owner Irving Fox, for one, can't afford the new jacked-up rents. Fox, who has been in the building for 16 years--long before it was a New Economy hot spot--had been paying only $6.10 a square foot, before the IT outfits swept in.

"They claim I'm making too much noise," says Fox, whose manufacturing facility occupies the floor above Martha Stewart's space. "But it's like the judge said in the case: At what point between $6 and $40 did I start making too much noise?"

Fox also claims 601 West is punishing him in the meantime by reducing the number of operating freight cars in the building from five to three, and the number of truck elevators from three to two. In addition, trucks now have to come through the narrow basement entrance, which means any vehicle longer than 28 feet can't get in.

Someone who shares Fox's pain is Spiros (he would give only his first name), owner of the 12-year-old Starrett Restaurant on the Starrett's mezzanine floor. Spiros says 601 West is currently trying to evict him, even though he's been dealing with them in good faith--he gladly relinquished 3,000 square feet of space so 601 West could construct the towering lobby. In exchange for the space and other concessions, 601 West was supposed to lower Spiros' rent, a promise that was never fulfilled.

"They play all these games," says Spiros, who wouldn't elaborate because of his ongoing lawsuit against 601 West. "We went to court to open the glass doors [leading to the restaurant], then they opened them. Now, they closed them again."

Embattled Chelsea Moving & Storage owner Jerry Saidon finally raised the white flag on June 15 and moved out of the Starrett after four years. 601 West officially evicted Saidon from his 9th floor location for having installed illegal metal security gates, but Saidon claims it was really to cash in on the building's newfound popularity. Saidon was paying only $7 a foot for space that can now command at least four times that.

"I'm mad more about the way they dealt with me," says Saidon, who maintains that his short-lived battle cost him $100,000 and his health. "Nobody has the guts to go after them."

Saidon blames new arrivals like Martha Stewart for his eviction. Like many of those forced out, he's angry that 601 West has pushed so aggressively (and unethically) to get the right mix of content-producers, webheads, and Netizens into the Next Big Space.

"If you pay someone to shoot someone else, you are still guilty. Martha Stewart watched from a hill while they shot me," Saidon says. "I don't believe this can happen in America. If this happens in another country, we send in the Marines."


Name:
amanda Clout: 1
Company:
 


The Real UBO NewS

from DotComScoop.com


Judge throws out AKA.com contract with UBO.net. UBO looks to void Harlem lease.


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Name:
Desus Nice Clout: 116
Company:
Straight out of lowcash  

How about u just post the URL to these long ass articles instead of the whole joint? These verbose articles are slowing down loading speeds like a motherfunker
Name:
illadelfix Clout: 1
Company:
MD rocks!  

I'm in possesion of genuine Eygptian papyrus art I'm selling for 10-25 dollars a drawing. If anyone's interested, email me privately.

;)

we know who you are.
Name:
quantum1 Clout: 2
Company:
brand agency pro  

After reading about the demise of the latest problems with an 'Urban' site(Hookt), it appears that the problem is much bigger than just the lack of understanding regarding producing compelling content, a viable revenue model and the all important issue of creating and building a brand.Corporate America is still sold on the idea that we are a bunch of 'party today, to hell with tomorrow' people who care only about flossing and chicks in skimpy outfits. Thus the strategy and benefits of co-branding (as in Hookt and Bad Boy) loses its value simply because the way to generate traffic, loyalty and revenue has nothing to do with visibility at parties, inclusion in the liner notes of Bad Boy releases or anything remotely similar. Until we get rid of this idea that the way to engage the black audience is through parties, bottles of Cris, million dollar videos and copious displays of iced out wrists and necks, we're gonna be inviting our own demise. Funnily enough, because we still don't control the access to investment capital, we are at the mercy of the VC's who still see us in that very same party mode and the longer we feed into that viewpoint is the longer we'll continue doing business starting from that same bullshit premise...hardly the accepted prototype for building a successful business venture. Do the owners of these sites know that it is possible to build traffic without the lame, obvious attempts to simply 'piggyback' existing events which are on the downslide anyway? Maybe that's the real issue..Maybe there should be a Marketing Collective, specifically designed to provide access to advertising/marketing and other integrated strategies which are mandatory for these sites to employ if they hope to survive(anyone interested, hit me back !!)..Let's just state for the record, BRANDING 101...Branding occurs (ONLY !!) when a user or consumer has, through personal interaction with a product or service,a satisfactory experience which confirms the implied promise communicated by the advertising or marketing in such a way that they are motivated to repeat their interaction with that product or service.What does that mean? You have to have some content on your site which is gonna make people WANT TO repeat their visit to your site after being informed in some way, that there was a REASON to go to your site in the first place. So, no compelling content...no repeat users. No innovative and/or memorable advertising to stimulate traffic...no new traffic.Generic schemes to gain visibility by connecting with the 'party du jour' to get banner placement is seriously opening yourself up for the ridicule of the 'urban' audience who knows about and understands the concepts of guerilla marketing but who are jaded to the 'banner placement at the party' method because they've seen it all before from back in the days with companies who helped pioneer that whole strategy usage in this generation like Shabazz Brothers Urbanwear, Fubu, Mecca as well as various record labels. Stop thinking that this audience is comprised of stupid people who don't know something good when they see it...Your failures to generate revenue prove just the opposite...If you just want to cash out though, get the ill whip and floss...then hang in there !!! Starting and running a poorly managed site is the new cash cow strategy for that !!!
Name:
chris pelate Clout: 27
Company:
dayscar.com  

This is the worst chat room I have ever been in.

i am tyler's blackplanet whore
Name:
Tinkerbell Clout: 24
Company:
tinkerbell  

Do you want "music editor" Selwyn Hinds to produce your demo tape? Visit his site:

http://216.156.6.238/pie/default.htm

I went to this site--

http://remus.rutgers.edu/~andreasf/why.html

and read the following from a Causasian woman who went to school with the "editor" and "Internet big willie" who claims to report objectively on the very same industry he's trying to enter. This is what the woman wrote about Selwyn.

"Sssshhhh!...Funkiness does happen at Princeton (don't tell).
Currently, I am shopping a music demo produced by Princeton Grads Mark Hines PU '95 and The Source music magazine executive editor, Selwyn Sefu Hinds PU '95 and their production company, Poisoned Ivy Entertainment. The demo is pop/R&B'ish - I play guitar, sing and songwrite on it. The Poisoned Ivy client roster so far (besides me) includes Chuck D. of the rap group Public Enemy and jazz great Donald Byrd among others.
[On March 10, 1997, Selwyn was asked to comment on the shooting of rapper Notorious B.I.G. by MSNBC and several other news services. Besides being an authority on the subject of rap, he actually was several cars behind Notorious B.I.G.'s at the time of the shooting - his head was kissing the floor of his car and he didn't see a thing - for the record. He really spoke from his heart about the experience, as he always does. Nice, because with his Princeton training as an English major, it is so easy to De-construct an event instead of just being Real.]"
Name:
Tinkerbell Clout: 24
Company:
tinkerbell  

Special! This Week Only! Selwyn Hinds will produce your demo and another "music editor" will write the bio.

http://www.universalmusic.pl/main_cat/pop_old/artist/jay_e.html

This is the media? Let's put these clowns where they belong. At the top of No Buzz 100!
Name:
Tinkerbell Clout: 24
Company:
tinkerbell  

From:

http://www.washingtonparkdistrict.com/new_page_2.htm

"BOOT SKOOTIN BOOGIE LINE DANCING
Instructor: Sheryl Huggins
Come and learn all the latest moves as you boot, skoot and slide your way to a great time. Bring your boots and enjoy the music with the great country beat. Fun for all ages.
When: Thursday Evenings, October &#8211; March
Where: Washington Township Building
Time: 7:45 &#8211; 8:30 p.m.
Fee per month: $35 Resident Discount: $26"

Name:
Miranda Jane Clout: 19
Company:
MJ  

I can really see this whole BlackWeather.com thing working for you. Basically hit up all the urban record labels for part of their marketing budget. They can print up special umbrellas for you, and you can give those away on the site.

Tell them you're adding value to their artists promo $$$, because hey - EVERYONE needs an umbrella sometime or another.

Hmmmm....
Name:
Miranda Jane Clout: 19
Company:
MJ  

Ummm. I have to add more.

Rap Sheet is a Black-owned rap and Hip Hop newspaper published monthly in Los Angeles. The publisher's name is Darryl James.

I don't think you can use that name, because they've been around for eons...

Just FYI.

emjay
Name:
sosueme Clout: 1
Company:
 

full story from DotComScoop.com

UBO Wins One In Court, Files Another Motion

A Federal Bankruptcy Court ordered the contract between AKA.com and UBO.net rejected today. The agreement called for UBO to be the exclusive advertising sales representative for AKA. AKA had claimed they were owed $1.6 million from UBO at the time of that company's bankruptcy filing in November. Today's ruling means that AKA can no longer claim creditor status. AKA, which was reportedly purchased by Hookt.com, can appeal the ruling.
UBO also filed a motion today seeking their lease agreement with Janus VII LLC to be rejected. UBO signed a 10-year agreement with the company for a Harlem office space in May. At that time, UBO posted a $1 million security deposit. UBO is asking that Janus take approximately $100,000 of the deposit for rent covering the month of November, and hold the rest of the money in an interest bearing account until the court situation is settled.
Name:
tokachu Clout: 371
Company:
Neptune's Jewels  

my e-mail address works fine.

<<Mirand Jane wrote:
Rap Sheet is a Black-owned rap and Hip Hop newspaper published monthly in Los Angeles. The publisher's name is Darryl James.

I don't think you can use that name, because they've been around for eons...

Just FYI.
>>

the site does belong to Rap Sheet (darryl james).

http://www.networksolutions.com/cgi-bin/whois/whois?STRING=rapsheet.com

------

oh and Dillema, if Rap Sheet is a trademark of DARRYL JAMES COMMUNICATIONS INC. then he should request that the folks who own rapsheet.net turn it over.

anyway this thread is all fucked up. so i'm out.
Name:
thuglite Clout: 375
Company:
u cant hande the truth  

tinkerbell.... LOL... stop playing
Name:
falxwon Clout: 159
Company:
random midtown PR agency  

OK gang to get off the subject just a tad, I would like to pose a question... what the heck is an urban site? Is an urban site one that addresses issues in urban areas like
www.btio.com,
or one that exploits it like
www.revike.org ?

Now also, I saw some idiot post that this is the worst chatroom he's ever been to. I agree, BECAUSE THIS AIN'T NO CHATROOM DOOFUS. This is called a message board, get to know it. If you love BP so much go there, stay there. And stop biting lines from Fight Club (you are Tyler's whore, indeed).
And who the fuck is selling papyrus on UE? What kind of ignant shit is that? Buddy, get a website (www.papyrus.com) or sell it on 42nd street. That shit doesn't fly here.
And as far as Bernie's pompus ass goes, my Granny used to say to me that "you can't polish shit". You jump in the UE forum like you're Marcus Garvey 2.0 here to take us little dumb coons to the next plateau. Check what is said here on this site about the state of dot com enterprise. You need more than 300K to be a balla in the game Bern. You better know more than Oracle or Nortel or whatever the fuck you say you know. That shit matters not.
Solid B-plan
Solid Team
Efficiency in execution
Grassroots support
VC (I know that hurts to hear it, bern)
and for the love of God.... CONTENT.

That is the abridged version for you Bern. Anyone can promise the moon and stars until the end of time. You aren't going to tell us who you are? Great, your site will fail because all of your ideas are inbred and you will be surrounded by yes men.

Holla if ya hear me
Name:
Asia Monroe Clout: 1
Company:
 

More UBO news...there's even a mention if UE!!


http://www.nydailynews.com/today/News_and_Views/Media_and_Business/a-92764.asp
Name:
Isidro Otis Clout: 5
Company:
TCOMG, Inc.  

Ed,

Along with Blackweather.com we gotta go with Latinweather.com, Redneckweather.com, Asianweather.com.....
You get the idea.
Name:
Chuck Jones Clout: 7
Company:
Looney Tunes, Inc.  

Anyone know where I can find a copy of the UBO business plan? Is it on-line anywhwere?
Name:
thuglite Clout: 375
Company:
u cant hande the truth  

the UBO business plan was sold on EBAY to the highest bidder
Name:
nine4impala Clout: 23
Company:
Chevrolet  

hey, Dilema with one L, does rap sheet even exist anymore? i ain't seen it in a minute. thought it shut down. oh and miranda, he was upfront about being associated with d to tha j.
Name:
Dilema Clout: 212
Company:
Rapsheet.com  

Yea, he had s short hiatus for a minute. Business stuff. But he's back and in January 2001 you should be hearing ALOT more about him!!! I'm not one to make idle boasts but he really has some hot s**t going on! I've only known him for 3 months but he's mad cool and I'm glad to be a part of it.
Name:
Maxamilian Clout: 1
Company:
urban247.com  

Should there be a moratorium on all ingnant, misinformed, maladjusted posters on UE??? If you dont know, ask. And if you dont ask, dont speak. I won't call names but we all know who I am talking about. You are new and have been spared the brunt of ire that many who have done less have endured. Take your good luck and retire to your workroom.

BTW...Blackweather.com has to include up-to-the-minute updates on car wash weather, and road hazzard reports so we know which roads to avoid when we are pushing our dropped 6-4s and gangsta whips, na mean? I have talked to McGuires and Turtle Wax about sponsoring these twice-daily updates. They sounded extremely excited and interested. They told me that I shouldn't worry about calling them back, they will call me soon.

I am the gaping hole in the back of Tyler's head.
Name:
Dilema Clout: 212
Company:
Rapsheet.com  

Though this does not deal with an urban site. I think it will provide an interesting read....

http://www.thestandard.com/article/display/0,1151,20779,00.html
Name:
Desus Nice Clout: 116
Company:
Straight out of lowcash  

www.discoverhiphop.com


nuff ced'
Name:
BeatTycoon Clout: 23
Company:
corporatethug.edu  

Okay, even with all of the problems it's obvious that music subscription services are the future of the music business and how we will purchase music.

Where do the independents fit in all of this?

What is the future of music promotion?

Does anybody have an article or any insight on what's being done to make sure that independent labels and distribution will still thrive?

Name:
chris pelate Clout: 27
Company:
dayscar.com  

Falxwon-
Y the bitterness? You see, that's the problem with most Urban websites...no subtly. Saying that this was a fucked up chat room and calling myself a BP whore was obviously an insult at Black Planet. It was a Joke.
And I'm not biting lines from Fight Club. I am sampling.
But I still got love for you. BlackWeather.com is looking for a PR firm and you seem like the man for the job.

You are still Tyler's favorite joke...
Name:
Bernie Taylor Clout: 30
Company:
Nortel  

Ed, you're right, I do know how to jump into Cyberspace, and yes, I know you're the creator of a truly hip site called BlackIndex.com, however, be sure to renew your account with Network Solutions.
Name:
celess Clout: 34
Company:
mine  

Beat Tycoon,

Check out this link:
http://www.business2.com/content/magazine/indepth/2000/12/04/23296
Name:
tokachu Clout: 371
Company:
Neptune's Jewels  

yes he does need to renew his account and he needs to get that header.asp file into fooky's include dir
Name:
nine4impala Clout: 23
Company:
Chevrolet  

what about subscriptions to rap sheet? i clicked on the ad on your site and it took me back to the home page.
Name:
Dilema Clout: 212
Company:
Rapsheet.com  

You'll be able to sucsribe online as of next week. I'm putting the eccommerce in place this week. I'll contact you by email with the address and amount to send your check to. So hopefully that's your real email address.
Name:
thuglite Clout: 375
Company:
u cant hande the truth  

rap sheet subscriptions is that like a soul purpose subscription? and what did JAMES ANDREWS do with the SOUL PURPOSE mailing list ? Did he sell it to the highest bidder? have you been getting unwanted email as of late in your mailbox?
Name:
Dilema Clout: 212
Company:
Rapsheet.com  

Nah, it's nothing like a Soul Purpose subscription. You can't put a man who's been handling his business for 8 years, in the same category as a fly by night website. Big difference.
Name:
chris pelate Clout: 27
Company:
dayscar.com  

Music Business Post

One Point-Two Examples

The music business is doing what many urban websites are doing...ignoring the consumer. Make it simple, not more complicated.

Example One-
We live in an age of choice. Folks can choose between 500 sattelite channels but you guys want to put together a one label only subscription service?!?! You must be on crack.

Example Two- First I download the song to my harddrive. Then I gotta make a CD/R to able to listen to it on the go. Unless I download it on to my Rio MP3 player. Too many steps. Until the tech is available to allow me to listen to what I want when I want the subscription model is just smoke up the consumers ass.

Don't worry about subscription services. Find some decent bands.The age of first mover advantage is dead for the next 2 years anyway.


(Here's a cool story on what the Major Labels are thinking)
http://www.inside.com/jcs/Story?article_id=18014&pod_id=9

Some well researched stuff.

I am Tyler's Napster fetish...
Name:
Steve Francis Clout: 4
Company:
 

somebody fix the scrolling on
this bitch, please.

or at least enter when you
post.

too hard to read.
Name:
falxwon Clout: 159
Company:
random midtown PR agency  

Thank you Chris for making my day seem a little brighter. I will enroll myself into an anger management class because you have found the fatal flaw in my character. Thank you for the "I still got love for you" you have given me hope beyond hope.

Oh, and Chris, Bernie Taylor wants his sense of humor back.

You are the Swiss Beats of Fight Club quotes.

Name:
thuglite Clout: 375
Company:
u cant hande the truth  

IT WAS ALL A DREAM by DREAM the new joint venture group on BAD BOY.... what a orignal title huh?
Name:
Ed Dunn Clout: 157
Company:
iblaq  

tokachu and Bernie,

Do you got a life? I was at my web hosting provider replacing fooky.com on blackindex.com last night from 11:30 to about 5:30am in the in the morning ..that's call sys admin..what porn site were you guys getting off on while you was browsing and hating my site dowtime 2:30am in the morning?????

Name:
Ed Dunn Clout: 157
Company:
iblaq  

Oh and I had over 8,300 unique visitors (loyal users I had all over the world) since 5:30am this morning anticipating our leap from a black search engine (what Bernie want to be so bad) to the first dedicated bookmarking/web portal hybrid on the market. So for argument sake, I can claim I brought something unique as an African-American web entrepeneur. That's more than what most can even claim....
Name:
ojs Clout: 1
Company:
ohhman.com  

I am looking for somebody to assist me in beta-testing and feedback on a content delivery unit I am developing. It is designed for the urban market utilizing streaming technology.

Thanks,
OJS
Name:
Dilema Clout: 212
Company:
Rapsheet.com  

Gotta love those numbers, Ed. That's definitely more than Hookt and Rap Sheet( for now). But I'm gonna cath ya...
Name:
Dilema Clout: 212
Company:
Rapsheet.com  

And ojs,
Make a MAC version....
Name:
Isidro Otis Clout: 5
Company:
TCOMG, Inc.  

Ed Dunn,

Good Luck with Blackindex and Fooky. I hope you help and make millions.
Name:
Maxamilian Clout: 1
Company:
urban247.com  

Steve Francis,

Do you play for the Houston Rockets?
Name:
Sean Conner Clout: 7
Company:
independent  

I think there needs to be a new story for cats to focus on pretty quick; the sharks are turning on each other and the board is filling up with blood...
Name:
nine4impala Clout: 23
Company:
Chevrolet  

rap sheet is a magazine, folks. not an email list. its nothing like soulpurpose. it was around before xxl, blaze, vibe, etc. its a magazine, but its printed on newspaper. and yes thats my real email.
Name:
nine4impala Clout: 23
Company:
Chevrolet  

come on. hookt get more than 5000 unique vistors per month. i'm not slighting what ed's doing. 8300 is a nice start. but hookt must get that, right? hey, anyone know whats up with rap pages?
Name:
nine4impala Clout: 23
Company:
Chevrolet  

i am reminiscing about the goold old days of print media. i apologige if i'm infringing on what this site is all about, but i'm new.
Name:
thuglite Clout: 375
Company:
u cant hande the truth  

OJS ...lol hit me up im down
Name:
Miranda Jane Clout: 19
Company:
MJ  

From the last UE article.

>>>there's a little print rag called Rap Pages, used to be a dope print venue owned by
Hustler-In-Charge Larry Flynt... It's now a liquor store rag, I believe it comes free with a 40 ounce of
Colt 45, Olde English 800 and/or Crazy Horse? ( I dunno, I don't drink that shit). Please, expose this for
us<<<

I know some, but not all, of the (c)rap pages expose. however there are folks who know WAAAAAY more than I do. Actually, this would be a two-part expose. The first would be to expose some of the naughty things that happened while it was still an LFP property, the second would be to talk about the debacle that is the "new" rap pages. I'll give you a hint...they had an LL cover recently with the headline "The G.O.A.T. You Can't Make Into Curry". Further, the launch issue featured a bic-bald Samuel L. Jackson on the cover with the headline "Rap Pages, We're Back Like Shaft".

Yikes.

Plus, the magazine's graphic design looks like Pen and Pixel on crack. They've been without an editor-in-chief for MONTHS, and no freelancer worth their salt will touch them with K-Ci's dick...

So. Like I said, worthy of an expose.

mj

p.s. Shaan, I forgot to mention to you how much I am enamored of this particular offering of yours..."Now that
Bad Boy has been reduced to being Naughty Girl
and P-Diddy is about to hear muscular inmates
taunt him with, "Bad Boy come out and plaaaay". that is classic fucking material, b.
in the showers"
Name:
dLo2 Clout: 20
Company:
______  

hmm
<<<
error 'ASP 0115'

Unexpected error

/Default.asp

A trappable error occurred in an external object. The script cannot continue running.
>>>
Name:
dLo2 Clout: 20
Company:
______  

Anyone know of a good colo or dedicated server provider?

500 Pent or better
256 MB Ram
1 x IDE for OS
2 x 9.1 GB SCSI Drives (RAID 5)

I have already looked at
Superb
Dialtone
Rackspace
Name:
Cook K. Clout: 2
Company:
Feed The Hungry  

Nice piece on Urban Expose in this week's Village Voice. Print version and television "partners" on the way, "eh". I just hope that the mysterious disease/syndrome that seems to affect Black folk once they get "big" doesnt spread to UE. I for one, still cherish those business entities that refuse to sell out no matter what. Adam Clayton Powell comes to mind. He parlayed, he played the game but he never stopped representing for the Black race.

BlackGirl Magazine.
Name:
Ed Dunn Clout: 157
Company:
iblaq  

dLo2,

That 'ASP 0115' belongs to me. Thanks for visiting blackindex.com, I guess any publicity is great publicity......

You will see in big red letters that the site is in beta and will be launched on Jan 1st. The ASP '0115' error is very blunt: Unexpected. Anyone that deployed a site before comes across things like this. I have before and is not worried that it will be resolved soon.

I don't mind the criticism at all, I been criticized for over 5 years running the previous site, working in dotcom jobs and all it did was made me learn something new. I find senseless criticism humorous - that's why I frequent this site....

But one thing I do is keep my stuff open because I know I have many brothers and sisters out there I'm mentoring without my knowledge. If I can teach someone out there how to launch their own dotcom firm and they see me handle the shortcoming like this (this is nothing), I did something fucking better than cheesing in the Standard or the Alley newspapers and talking about the vc money I'm burning with shit to show for....

So what you are typing is the real shit I want everyone to see happens in this business...staying up all fucking night with the service provider, debugging errors, then you will see establishing a loyal audience, advertising politics, getting hated on by wannabes like Bernie who has nothing to offer but talk and getting the loot. I'm a pure professional in this biz, and like any other professional on this level, we can do our shit in the open for your review......

So I'm going to end this crazy ass thread on this note. Happy holidays and my sites will be up and running on Jan 1st....watch and learn
Name:
Bernie Taylor Clout: 30
Company:
Nortel  

Ed your site is pretty cool, I hope that it gets the play it deserves. Now, I am not knockin' anyone in this board and you all have proved that this man got something to learn (observing is one) .
Name:
tokachu Clout: 371
Company:
Neptune's Jewels  

<< dLo2 wrote:
Anyone know of a good colo or dedicated server provider?

500 Pent or better
256 MB Ram
1 x IDE for OS
2 x 9.1 GB SCSI Drives (RAID 5)

I have already looked at
Superb
Dialtone
Rackspace
>>

I was with Dellhost for about 5 months and then some clown in Billing was rude to me so I left.
I'm now with a company called Cybercon.

Specs for Server 1 (main beta testing server)

Dual Intel Pentium III 800mhz CPU
512MB SDRAM
2 - 9GB Ultrawide SCSI harddisk (RAID1)
2 - Intel PCI 10/100mb network cards
$519 per month

Specs for Server 2 (non-ip-addressable "sensitive data" server)

Intel Pentium III 500mhz CPU
128MB SDRAM
2 - 4GB Ultrawide SCSI harddisk (RAID1)
2 - Intel PCI 10/100mb network cards
$389 per month


They build the server to your hardware specifications, the base price is $368 per month.

They have a 100% Network Uptime Guarantee. With Dell I had a 99.99% uptime guarantee and they sure used up their .01%. I don't like to talk about uptime and stuff because I'm afraid I might get jinxed. Anyway so far we haven't had any outages. *knock on wood (3x)*
Name:
tokachu Clout: 371
Company:
Neptune's Jewels  

Oh and the setup fee is $480 per server, but you get a discount when you order multiple servers.

<<Ed Dunn wrote:
tokachu and Bernie,

Do you got a life? I was at my web hosting provider replacing fooky.com on blackindex.com last night from 11:30 to about 5:30am in the in the morning ..that's call sys admin..what porn site were you guys getting off on while you was browsing and hating my site dowtime 2:30am in the morning?????
>>

actually I never go anywhere between 11:30 pm - 5:30 am on a Monday night/morning. After monday night football (great game i might add) I came to peep the scene.

and I wasn't "hating" your site. someone said that you need to renew your blackindex.com domain and I agreed. and there was an include file missing when i went there so i pointed that out too, damn. there weren't any big bold red letters at that time.

It's 2:18 AM now. I don't feel right if I go to bed before 5 AM so I don't. You would think I was hanging around here on a Friday or Saturday night or something. When I'm not busy I come and post.

oh and system administration is the actual maintaning of the system not uploading scripts to the server. They don't let you do sys admin shit on a shared hosting account -- you're doing "web dev" shit.

anyway i'm out. i'll check your site out Jan 1, so I won't see the stardust and have to point out an error (which is the point of beta by the way) that gets you on the defensive. good luck.
Name:
Summa Sedes Clout: 43
Company:
Illegitimis Non Carborundum  

UE GOES LEGIT???
from Silicon Alley Daily

Urban Expose Plans to Go Legit


by Dakota Smith

Urban Expose is going straight. After six months of anonymously critiquing and often skewering urban websites, Urban Expose is planning to launch a bona fide media business. Crispus Attucks, Urban Expose's editor, and the rest of the site's producers, all plan to reveal their identities.

"The time has come for us to shed our anonymity," said Attucks in a phone interview with the Daily. "We've had a tremendous amount of success, but with a move into other media platforms and the growth we want to do, you can't do that with anonymity."

Set for relaunch early next year, Urban Expose will examine all sections of urban media, from television and film to radio and publishing, and, yes, all the new sections will include Urban Expose's now-famous message boards. An accompanying print magazine is also being considered, according to Attucks, who said Urban Expose would bring in revenues through advertising banners and conferences.

Urban Expose has already scheduled a Jan. 30, 2001 conference at a yet-to-be-named Brooklyn location. The one-day free event, billed as a town hall to discuss the urban space, will feature panels of speakers from urban portal companies, according to Internet strategist Siddiq Bello, who is acting as a liaison between Urban Expose and the proposed speakers.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"We've had a tremendous amount of success, but with a move into other media platforms and the growth we want to do, you can't do that with anonymity."
---Crispus Attucks

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


As far as his identity, Attucks said he would unmask himself sometime before the Jan. 30th conference. Exactly who the Urban Expose editor is has become something of a parlor game in Silicon Alley. Even Bello, working to set up the conference, said he doesn't know the editor's identity, and that the two men's communications have largely been through IM and e-mail.

In July, Inside.com fingered McLean Greaves, formerly of Volume.com and Cafe Los Negroes, as Crispus Attucks. But Inside.com quickly retracted the statement and issued an apology to Greaves.

Asked if Greaves had threatened to file a suit against Inside.com or reached a settlement with Inside.com, Theodore Weis, Greaves' attorney, declined comment on the case. Inside.com also refused to comment, stating that they could not talk about legal matters.

Kevin Dowdell, CEO of Volume.com, declined to guess Attucks' identity, but he did say that, despite the sometimes blistering articles published on the site, Urban Expose has provided a much-needed critique of urban sites.

"I go to Urban Expose and listen to the feedback and respond to it," said Dowdell. "Sometimes the harshest critics can be your best friends."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I go to Urban Expose and listen to the feedback and respond to it. Sometimes the harshest critics can be your best friends."
---Kevin Dowdell, Volume.com CEO

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Dowdell said it would be difficult to speculate on whether Urban Expose could pull off transforming itself into a moneymaking business.

"I would guess that the challenges to being successful in the urban space are pretty clear by now," said Dowdell.

If the new, revamped Urban Expose sounds like a ho-hum media business, rather than the provocative news and gossip site that it is now, Attucks argues that his site has already given away millions of dollars in free consulting advice and has a built-in audience. Indeed, Attucks is sounding more like a seasoned new-media executive than a renegade editor.

"The urban space is tight now," said Attucks, who said his new re-launched site would cut costs by running on a small staff. "But there's a lot of potential, a lot of money out there, and great promise for the space. People think we just cover urban new media, but we've just started."




Name:
dLo2 Clout: 20
Company:
______  

<<
I was with Dellhost for about 5 months and then some clown in Billing was rude to me so I left.
I'm now with a company called Cybercon.
>>

FUCK YES!
if you don't listen to anything else I say remember:
NEVER HOST WITH DELL.
DELL HOST SUCKS ASS.

I'm about to buy "dellhostsuckass.com"
and put up a message board. That's how bad they suck.

Golf ball through a garden hose suck.
Vanessa Del Rio suck.
I could go on and on, but hopefully you get the point.

Thanks for the look out on Cybercon.
They seem tight.
Especially in choice of OS!!!!

Name:
thuglite Clout: 375
Company:
u cant hande the truth  

Former N.W.A. and Eazy-E manager Jerry Heller won an appeal in Los Angeles's Second District Court Of Appeals last week in his libel action against publishing house Doubleday and Mark Flores, also known as author Ronin Ro.

The Second Appellate District court found that the book Have Gun Will Travel: The Spectacular Rise And Violent Fall Of Death Row Records, which was published by Doubleday (a division of the Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group) and written by Ro, contained a false statement about Heller that was "libelous per se" because it exposed Heller to contempt and had the tendency to injure him in his occupation.

The ruling clears the way for Heller to pursue his suit against Doubleday, which he filed in 1998.

Name:
Spooky White Clout: 1
Company:
Conspiracy Theory, Inc.  

food for thought?

Gabe Tolliver
Name:
dLo2 Clout: 20
Company:
______  

Look Ed.
I feel you on the entrepreneurial tip.
That shit is cool.

I feel you on the mentoring tip.
That shit is cool, when I get my new system up I’ll take you up on the mentoring advice.

My main point by posting the ASP error is HOW ANNOYING your constant, incessant, ceaseless self-promotion is.

Half your posts in this thread talk about my site blah blah blah blah blah blah.

After all that promotion I go to the site and get an error.
Name:
dale Clout: 81
Company:
hit em up.com  

I told you haters that UE would re-invent itself. Even bigger than you thought. huh???????????
Name:
Shante Clout: 3
Company:
Amnesty International USA  

It's no surprise that posers get paid. It's happening all over hip-hop. reminds me of Black Star's "Hater Playas". It's like teh Hip-Hop exhibit at teh Brooklyn Museum...UGHHH!! Can you say mainstreamist bullshit? And why are Eminem and Jay-Z's shoes in teh same case as BIG, PAC, Afrikaa Bambataa, Fab Five Freddy?!!!!!??? I was disgusted. They had like TWO women in the whole shoe...damn. the onle good thing was they did do some invetigation into the misogynistic and homophobic side of hip-hop...anyway, hoot is wack so are most of the hip hop sites, save SOHH and OK Player..and a few others..i want to see this crazy baby daddy site!!!
Name:
dLo2 Clout: 20
Company:
______  

dale
Is there a purpose to your constant proping-up of UE?

Mentioning "haters" and the like...

What the fuck? Labeled as a hater for critising UE? LOL.. okay buddy.

UE is decent sure, if you notice though the quality and topicality of the posts has SIGNIFICANTLY declined.

All people do is hype their favorite sites.
Name:
dale Clout: 81
Company:
hit em up.com  

I dont post on here that often, but every once in a while when some ASSHOLE makes a comment like:

"Ironically, now if Hookt disappears, so does Urban Expose.

hahahaha "-- sound familiar


i cant help but comment because that is some player-haten type shit. if you post it, be prepared to back yo' shit up.

If UE disappears YOU may not have a life anymore, dude.

Your above statement is not criticizing UE it's plain old "hatin"

you sound rather intelligent dude, dont come too close to me- the simple fact that i observe things and dont post doesnt mean that i dont know what the fuck i am talking about. learn to react and not act on every situation.

you'll live longer and be a much happier camper.

peace
Name:
AlphaPoet Clout: 5
Company:
 

damn, i didn't read this whole thread... but, i hope i don't NEVA piss dale off. *snickers*
Name:
dLo2 Clout: 20
Company:
______  

<<
i cant help but comment because that is some player-haten type shit. if you post it, be prepared to back yo' shit up.
>>
Evidently you didn't read the post about the quality of posts.

quality down.
way down.
advertising up.
way up.

<<
If UE disappears YOU may not have a life anymore, dude.
>>
You're right I'll have to get by on slash, fuckedcompany, etc. for my daily dosage of bullshit.

<<
you sound rather intelligent dude
>>
Really? thanks... I always thought myself a bit of an asshole.

<<
dont come too close to me- the simple fact that i observe things and dont post doesnt mean that i dont know what the fuck i am talking about. learn to react and not act on every situation.

you'll live longer and be a much happier camper.
>>

I'm not quite sure what that means.
I guess I'm not urban enough.

Plus, you never did answer my question.

Name:
Isidro Otis Clout: 5
Company:
TCOMG, Inc.  

Dale and dlo2,

If ya'll let me promote it, we can do a UE Fightnight (no Tyler sayings).

Matter of fact, with all the different posters who have beef, we can have a weekly card. Anybody with me?
Name:
thuglite Clout: 375
Company:
u cant hande the truth  

change is GOOD!
Name:
Ed Dunn Clout: 157
Company:
iblaq  

Talk about going off on a tangent..With me partially to blame, this is the most fucked up thread on this site and it is becoming obvious....

no one here really gives a shit about hookt.......I think you know you got to start moving into other media areas..who visit a commercialized hip hop site anyway? seriously?

but I bet it's fun watching dotcom schoolkids talk a bunch of shit..the vc/urban exec gods must be laughing...
Name:
nimmy_2 Clout: 133
Company:
brick and mortar  

Crispus, I'm surprised at you. What's up with the wacky margins? The constant scrolling doesn't make me eager to read through any of this (and I'd like to, as the flaming is getting mad interesting). I know you're busy but c'mon, remember the readers. Don't play us cheap.
Name:
Bernie Taylor Clout: 30
Company:
Nortel  

Like I said in the beginning, UE spends a lot of time bashing folks. No, I am not a newbie, but just hanging around the place you find a lot of hate going around. Ed, cool out, your stuff is tight, who cares about errors, we all get 'em. Tokachu, keep analyzing sites, it is what we need. If UE is to be the board it is supposed to be, then let it be.

I was told that this site was the place to find out more about the urban scene, but all I got for the last 7 days was a diatribe on BlackWeather! This is NOT cool!

I am looking for a place that wants to cover the top black and urban sites: You know, like

Bet.com, Ubo.com, fubu.com, tbwt.com, blackplanet.com, netnoir.com, blackvue.com, blackvoices.com, melanet.com blackwebportal.com, hookt.com, and more.

I expected to learn a lot, but hatin' from here, and there is not going to do it. If this is the way that UE is going the play the game, then I'm out. By the way, I actually worked for 2 of the sites listed above. I am in the game already, but in order not to be bashed, I had to play. Good luck all, I am sure we've learned a whole lot. Hating each other by crushing one anothers dreams is not the way to go.

Soft reaction, but a real one.
Name:
ohsokool Clout: 179
Company:
soulCHASER.net  

hello Bernie?


Its the end of the year now...aint much shit to talk about in any biz except what was.
Lighten up, deck your hall with a bow of holly-and fa la la la la, la la la la..

Im sure come mid first quater 2001, convo here about the dotcom biz and all forms of media will pick up.
Name:
Money Matt Capone Clout: 5
Company:
Film  

WOW What the hell happened in that first article? This is the funniest thing I have seen sinse Charles in Charge!
Name:
Jonn Nubian Clout: 19
Company:
Brown Eyed Intelligence  



...And it goes a little something like this...

The following is an interpolation from the 10 Crack Commandments by the Notorious B.I.G. keep that beat in your head as you read:

10 DOTCOM COMMANDMENTS

I been in this game for years
It made me a animal
There's rules to this shit, I wrote me a manual
A step by step booklet, for you to get
Your game on track, not your dot com pushed back

Rule number one, always play this game for fun
Watching the Matrix while programmin cold fusion dont make you The One
Cashing a big check dont mean that you catchin wreck
Listen to what the Wu said and just protect ya neck

Number 2, never let 'em know your next move
Don't you know bad boys move in silence with silence
Take it from your highness, uh huh
I performed mad Jedi mindtricks on these "urban" cats, for they ram and chips

Number 3, never trust nobody
Your CEO set that ass up, properly gassed up
Hoodied and masked up, for that fast buck
he be layin in the conference room to light that ass up
Friends and co-workers have things they afraid face to face to say,
Uploaded next day on Urban Expose

Number four, know you heard this before
Dont believe the hype, of your own MS Word type

Number five, always know the terms of the deal
A signed piece of paper aint worth $20 mil, trying to keep it real
Nino Brown ran the Carter so Phuck that ex-Navy seal
Urban is defined as pertaining to the characteristic of the city
Trying to control it and not know it ,makes it a pity
Level playing field , come with what whatever you got
You cant define us with them 3 W's or that muthaphucking dot

Number six, never ever fall for tricks
I know plenty websites with the same free javascripts,
SVPs/Web Producers all cocky and bold, never taught but always told
need to back their shit up with the basic knowledge of HTML code

Seven, this rule is so underated
Keep your fly women and business completely separated
Money and sex don't fit , like two male serial cables, and no interconnect bitch
Find yourself in serious shit

Number eight, never keep no ones New Jack dream alive for except for you
Them british cats that wish they were blak can hold nightmares true
Its a Thin Line Between Love and Hate to wait
4 days to announce the companys bankruptcy fate

Number nine should've been number one to me
If you ain't with due diligence, stay the fuck from VC's
If niggas think you slippin, they ain't tryna listen
youll be settin up for hiring
They Waitin to start firing

Number ten, a term called set new trends
Strictly for live sites, not for wacksites
If you ain't got the next shit vision, say hell no
Cause investors gonna' want they money , rain, sleet, hail, snow

Follow these rules, you'll have mad bread to break up
If not,no IPO on the wake-up
Empty box office, watch your frames shake up
Brown Eyed Intelligence with code and rap
Back my mindspray up on Operation: FILETAP
Was down with UBO from the start until it fell,
But im ok cause I can still think and link my thoughts up in html

Gotta go, gotta go, more files to hack up
Peace

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, Ten

 
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