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Tag: Sean Parker

  • Ellen DeGeneres: Did She Cheat on Portia de Rossi?

    Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi have been in the headlines for weeks, with headlines of divorce rumors, meltdowns, and a stint in rehab for Portia thrown straight into the public eye. Now one source says Ellen cheated on Portia right before that rehab stay. It seems Portia believes that Ellen had an affair with a mutual friend right before she headed off to rehab in May.

    Ellen DeGeneres reportedly wants her save her marriage, however–she hasn’t publicly admitted to this affair–and the two have long been engaged in couples therapy.

    “It’s going to take a lot for Portia to trust Ellen again,” the source said. “They kept up with the therapy after Portia got out of rehab, but they still have a long way to go.”

    Meanwhile it seems Ellen DeGeneres has just cashed in on the A. Quincy Jones-designed Brody House on Los Angeles’ Westside. Napster co-founder Sean Parker bought the home for $55 million, meaning Ellen made a tidy $15 million on the flip. She bought the home last winter for $40 million. She and Portia de Rossi are known for flipping homes. This particular house was reportedly named as among the reasons behind a recent blow up and Portia’s return to drinking. It seems she shouldered most of the renovations to the home–ones that she and Ellen were supposed to do together.

    Ellen DeGeneres, of course, is steering clear of any of these personal issues when addressing the media. Her on-air persona hasn’t changed, nor has her apparent compassion for what’s going on in the world around her. On Friday, what would have been Nelson Mandela’s birthday–Nelson Mandela Day–she shared her thoughts about the late, great leader.

    Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi are likely making headlines in part because of Ellen’s constant media presence. The talk show host and comedienne is known for being kind, generous, loving, and funny. Is this how she behaves behind closed doors or is there a side of Ellen that very few people have seen? This is no doubt a very intriguing aspect of the Ellen and Portia debacle–at least for those on the outside looking in.

    It would be sad to imagine Ellen DeGeneres isn’t who she is on TV. Hopefully time will prove these rumors to be just that–unfounded rumors–and Ellen and Portia de Rossi will wind up living their happily ever after–both in the Hollywood celebrity realm and behind closed doors.

    Image via YouTube

  • Zuckerberg’s FWD.us Immigration Reform Group Snags Bill Gates, Sean Parker, and More

    Zuckerberg’s FWD.us Immigration Reform Group Snags Bill Gates, Sean Parker, and More

    Mark Zuckerberg’s immigration-focused political advocacy group is getting the help of a few more tech heavyweights.

    Today, FWD.us announced a couple of new members: Microsoft founder BIll Gates, current Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Microsoft EVP Brad Smith and Sean Parker, of Napster and later, Facebook fame.

    “We’re thrilled that Bill Gates, Brad Smith, Steve Ballmer, and Sean Parker – longtime advocates for vital policies like comprehensive immigration reform that will grow our economy – are joining FWD.us’ efforts to organize and engage the tech community,” said FWD.us President Joe Green. “We’ve been excited by the momentum we continue to see as more members of the tech community contribute to the national debate to improve our economic future, and support the bipartisan policies that will boost economic growth and continue to grow the knowledge economy.”

    FWD.us officially launched on April 11th when group founder Mark Zuckerberg penned an op-ed in the Washington Post, giving a basic outline of what the group hopes to accomplish through immigration reform.

    Officially, FWD.us is “a new organization founded by leaders of our nation’s technology community to focus on these issues and advocate a bipartisan policy agenda to build the knowledge economy the United States needs to ensure more jobs, innovation and investment.”

    The group already had some major tech clout – Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, former Groupon CEO Andrew Mason, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, SpaceX’s Elon Musk, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt, and Instagram’s Kevin Systrom. But adding Gates, Ballmer, and Parker is a significant boost for the group.

    Zuckerberg has called for comprehensive immigration reform that starts with effective border security and also allows a “path to citizenship.” He also calls for higher standards in schools and “investment in breakthrough discoveries in scientific research and assurance that the benefits of the inventions belong to the public and not just to the few.”

    FWD.us currently has two U.S. offices, one in Silicon Valley and one in Washington D.C. The goal, obviously, is to affect legislation. Having the names that it has attached to it – well, it’s a good start.

    [via All Things D]

  • Sean Parker and Lars Ulrich Are Buddies Now

    Sean Parker and Lars Ulrich Are Buddies Now

    In the year 2000, Metallica’s Lars Ulrich was fuming over the fact that an unfinished Metallica track had wound up on the Sean Parker-founded filesharing service Napster. That led to a famous lawsuit and the eventual demise of Napster as we knew it.

    Now, in the year 2012, Lars Ulrich and Sean Parker are partners and apparent new buddies. Yesterday, Spotify announced that the entire Metallica catalog is now available on the streaming music platform. Now, if you so choose, you can listen to Ulrich’s drumming without paying a dime (you just have to listen to some ads). It’s just funny how things work.

    Sean Parker has been tweeting about a meeting the two just had, and it serves as an odd bit of closure from a saga that we all remember so vividly (even the younger Napster users among us).

    It’s not like Lars Ulrich just recently dropped the hostility toward the internet’s role in music distribution. Years ago, he pretty much said that he was cool with a Metallica album being shared. But there you have it. Napster co-founder Sean Parker listening to Metallica on a streaming music service that he invests in. Amazing.

    [h/t All Things D]

  • Sean Parker and Shawn Fanning’s Airtime Launch

    Airtime, the next big thing from Napster Co-founders Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker officially launched to the public today. The service is a Facebook web application for person to person calls, similar to Skype, but with a trwist. Airtime focuses on matching people with common tastes through access to your Facebook likes pages, not necessarily people you already know.

    The app has been in production for nearly two years, with obvious ancestry dating back to chatrroulette. Only this time, the conversations will be closely monitored and linked back to your Facebook account. So if you act inappropriately, you will be booted. You still have the option of removing your name from the chat feed. The other person may not know who you are, but Airtime does. If a member complains, you could be in trouble.

    The launch event today saw the likes of Olivia Munnn, Joel McHale, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Ad Helms, Snoop Dog and Jim Carrey all plugging the new service.

    According to The Huffington Post, Airtime “failed one user-interaction test after another” during the public demo, with all the celebrities standing by. They joked with the crowd during the fiasco, amusing at least one person: Sean Parker. “I can’t actually thank you guys enough,” he said at the end of the session, “because you took a completely fucked-up situation where everything was going to shit and actually salvaged it.”

    An Airtime representative tried to save face after the launch demo failed miserably. “The glitches from this morning’s launch were generated by a custom built intranet for the event, not Airtime. We are happy to report the Airtime network is working and running smoothly.”

    Airtime was two years and $35 million in the making. Right now it is unclear if people will use it, and after today’s problems we have to wonder if it will be technically sound as it moves forward.

    As long as it actually works, it does offer some interesting possibilities. For starters, The app automatically brings up common interests between both parties. What may start of as an awkward encounter between too strangers, can quickly turn into a conversation about common interests. This could be anything from music to books to your favorite viral videos, which can be seen simultaneously on the bottom of the screen.

    The idea is to make the internet more human, by eliminating the trolling, the disgusting behavior chat roulette was known for, and making it easier for people to connect in a real way. Seeing someone’s facial expressions and gestures is key to determining a persons mood and becoming more intimate. The idea of showing common interests immediately will make you instantly drawn to someone who shares those same interest. Especially if it is something that you may be shy about admitting, but secretly want other people to like too.

    Sean Parker spoke to TechCrunch about the possibilities his new project offers when compared to the Facebook way of doing things:

    “I spent 10 years with identity trying to create the one true social graph, but no one is asking how do you rewire it to more ideally connect people. We’re taking everything I’ve spent 10 years working on and turning it on its head, doing the opposite. There’s no reason not to continue meeting new people.”

  • Spotify Gets Sean Parker’s Approval…In a Big Way

    Spotify Gets Sean Parker’s Approval…In a Big Way

    It’s always interesting when past voices in a particular area talk about the up and coming, brand new thing. It was interesting when MySpace’s Tom Anderson discussed Google+ shortly after it launched. And today, it is even more interesting to read what Sean Parker has to say about Spotify.

    Of course, you know Justin Timberlake Sean Parker, right? Mr. Napster. I thank Sean Parker every night in my prayers for allowing me to be the cool kid in middle school with all the bitchin’ tunes. Seriously.

    On the American launch day of the previously Euro-limited streaming music service Parker wrote a Facebook note that could be described as “excited.”

    Absolutely beside himself with excitement, more like it.

    Check out his note, in its entirety below –

    My thoughts on Spotify launch…

    Today represents the realization of a dream. For a decade I have waited for a music service that could rekindle my excitement about music by enabling music to be shared freely across the world — all the while empowering artists to reap the economic benefits of selling their music.

    Spotify is the service I have been waiting for.

    Since Napster the recorded music business has been steadily declining and, until now, there has been no light at the end of the tunnel. Today’s historic announcement marks the reversal of this downward trend and the beginning of a return to growth by the recorded music business.

    Spotify promises to get people excited about music again, and the result will be a new golden age of music–more people discovering and listening to more music than ever before. Spotify is removing the barriers to sharing music with friends so that music can move freely and find its fans organically. In this hyper-efficient system great music will find its natural audience. This means that more artists will find success, more fans will discover them, and artists will make more money selling their music than they thought possible. The rusty gears of the record business will turn again.

    Since Spotify takes music viral, listening to music online is finally going to be a social experience. (Just like it’s always been offline.) And by making music social the experience of discovering and listening to new music will be more fun than ever before. While Spotify can be downloaded and used or free on the desktop, users of Spotify will need to purchase content when they want to take music with them “on the go” via their iPod or iPhone. In this sense, Spotify is the answer to piracy: migrating millions of piracy-based music fans to a legitimate platform where their consumption of music can be monetized and the artists who dedicate their lives to creating music can finally get paid.

    So, Parker thinks that Spotify is not only a wonderful, fun, smooth experience, but that it also the savior of the music industry. Parker also hits the point that stood out too me when I first got my hands on Spotify – the social presence. Spotify truly wants its service to be about sharing – from the integration with Facebook and Twitter to the “gifting” of songs to friends.

    But is it the answer to piracy, as Parker says?

    I don’t know about all that.

    Check out my hands-on first look at Spotify here.

    [Hat tip to Tech Crunch]

    [Image Wikipedia]

  • The Social Network Receives 8 Academy Award Nominations

    The Academy Awards nominations list has just been released, and everybody’s favorite Facebook movie is up for 8 awards. These include: Best Picture, Best Direction, Actor in a Leading Role, Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Film Editing, Sound Mixing, and Music (Original Score). 

    Having heard about two decades worth of Trent Reznor’s musical offerings, I think the word "original" is a bit of a stretch these days, but the score did work for the film, if you ask me. 

    Earlier this month, The Social Network won 4 Golden Globes for Best Director, Screenplay, Best Score, and Best Picture, Drama. It  had been nominated for 6. 

    Jesse Eisenberg, the actor who portrayed Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network, was nominated for the Best Actor, Drama award, but lost out to Colin Firth for his performance in the film, The King’s Speech. Andrew Garfield, who played Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, was nominated for Best Supporting Actor, but lost to Christian Bale for his performance in The Fighter. 

    The Social Network

    The real life versions of some of the characters in the film have been making headlines over the past week. Sean Parker (portrayed by Justin Timberlake) has been talking to the press, calling the film "fiction" (not unlike Facebook’s official position). Mashable quotes him as saying:

    "The part of the movie that frustrated me is actually the scene at the end where the character played by Justin Timberlake — who happens to have my name — basically writes a check to Eduardo – who I’m also, I consider Eduardo a friend of mine, and I’m one of the few people at Facebook who still interacts with Eduardo – and throws it in his face and has security escort him out of the building. And I mean, that’s just rude. This guy in the movie is a morally reprehensible human being."

    Saverin  has also been in the news, having invested in startup Qwiki, which just launched in public Alpha this week. 

    The awards show takes place on Sunday, February 27. See all nominees here.

    Read my review of The Social Network here.