“It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Film Erotica companies would be an early adopter for Google’s new eyewear as porn stars have always been at the forefront of wearable technology,” says Dr. Strangeluv McSlippyfist, a professor of Sexology at the University of Berkeley in California, citing products like the vibrating “Vulva Egg” and “Cock Ring.”

Brazzers CEO Ricky Cucumber tells Helium Magazine that his investment in Google Glass is not about a fashion accessory, but about the accessory’s Point-Of-View video camera. “We instantly saw the potential of the webcam feature in Google’s new product. The POV camera will allow sex to be filmed and experienced in an entirely new way. People will be able to see exactly what the porn star sees creating a real experience unlike anything we’ve ever been done before!”

Mr. Cucumber predicts that by 2015, as much as 80% of porn will be recorded with Google Glass cameras. “This could very much be the next big wave in the Democratization of Pornography,” says Sean Cody Strategist Kinky Ramer. “We already have to leverage free user-submitted media sites like xtube, youporn and redtube. Getting a strong grip on Google Glass can allow us to compete by sending the cameras to potential porn stars all over the world to produce their own material. This could be the end of Porn Studios as we know it,” he adds.

Porn Economist and Harvard PHD Ron (no last name) tells Helium Magazine that porn currently commands 40% of all internet usage but Google Glass could increase that market share to as much at 75% just months after the first Google Glass hits the market.

“Not only will pornography be more sensational than ever before, but Google Glass wearers will literally be able to watch porn all day long and no one will even know with the in-lens screen.”

Story // Matthew Mountford

Helium Magazine // Publisher

April 1, 2013

The post LEAKED: Porn Sites Brazzers And Sean Cody Placed Largest Orders For Google Glass appeared first on Helium Magazine.

The collection will be available for purchase on April 11, 2013 at www.iimuahii.com

Model: Megan O’Neil

Hair: Jaymz Marez

Photography/Styling: Elena Slivnyak

Post Production Editor: Stephen Wheeler

The post Check Out iiMUAHii’s First R2Wear Collection Post-Project Runway appeared first on Helium Magazine.

Creativity, innovation, and the power of film was unleashed at Cinequest 23 this year. And to celebrate the end of 13 days of film, friends, and inspiration, Cinequest held its annual closing night film screening at the majestic California Theatre.

Before the screening of the amazing film, “Midnight’s Children,” based on the novel by Salman Rushdie, co-founder of Cinequest, Halfdan Hussey, introduced the people who made this year’s film festival possible, along with the winning films and their creators. Hussey also introduced three artists whose task was to capture the essence of Cinequest in art-form, and for the first time in Cinequest history, two dedicated volunteers were rewarded with lifetime achievement awards for their perpetual passion and contribution to making the festival one to remember each year. Then, it was on with the evening’s main event.

“Midnight’s Children”, written by the immensely intelligent and talented author Salman Rushdie, is the incredible story of Saleem and a band of children who were born at midnight on India’s historic day of independence from Great Britain. The majesty of this film and the themes that unfold throughout, including how a simple twist of fate—two babies being switched at birth—can shape the destinies of the people involved forever, makes it a truly imaginative and captivating film.

After the film, Salman Rushdie was presented with the Maverick Spirit Award, and sat down for a Q-&-A session to discuss his incredible life and the film adaptation of his book. Mr. Rushdie was asked about his life and the process of adapting his novel for this incredible film. He discussed how his time working in advertising taught him how to use the “economy of words” to skillfully and concisely get a powerful message across through an impactful manner.

He went on to explain that he did not seek financial help from a big production company to produce the film with co-writer and director Deepa Mehta, because they wanted to keep the integrity of the novel’s version in the film as much as possible. As such, they had to have a vision of how the film would develop, because once they knew what they wanted and how they would tell the story on screen, that would allow them to hone in on all the details they wanted to include. This took, as he continued, “a lot of work before we began shooting the film, as we went scene-by-scene in order to get it [film] just right.”

As Mr. Rushdie disclosed, it took 17 grueling days of principal photography shot in 62 locations. But even with this tight schedule, they were able to capture all the footage on budget and on schedule; a grueling task in-and-of-itself. And although the film is an adaptation of his novel, he gives immense credit to director and co-writer Deepa Mehta who collaborated with him on the production of this film.

Upon the cessation of the talk, Cinequest participants were invited to the closing-night after-party held for the second year at the Tech Museum. There, they were able to mix-and-mingle with some of the films’ creators, reunite with old-and-new film-lovers, and enjoy some drinks and hor d’oeuvres. Guests also had the freedom to roam the museum and explore what the Tech has to offer.

Various Silicon Valley businesses were also at hand to show patrons the exciting products they are developing and selling—like TechShop, a workshop where members can use various machines like a 3D printer to bring their ideas to life.

A DJ and several bar tenders were dispersed throughout the museum to help guests celebrate with some bubbly and other tasty concoctions. Guests then danced the night away.

A fun ending to a magical 13 days and nights of film.

For more information about Cinequest, please visit: www.cinequest.org 

Event Review and Event Photos by Sophia M. Papadopoulos

The post That’s A Wrap: Cinequest 23 Ends on a Magical Note appeared first on Helium Magazine.

That began to change last year when, as reported in a story on Product Hyperlinking, retail brands started to notice that customers could find information about brands and prices quicker than retail associates could. The future had almost seemed to force fashion’s hand in catching up to the pack.

Many stores have now launched their own mobile apps offering in-app purchases, product and sale information, but in doing so have introduced an entirely new problem: app overload. While shopping at a mall, a consumer would literally have to have hundreds of apps on their phone to access information for all of the brands that they browse. Those applications may offer a solid control of the brand experience, but they are only likely to be downloaded by repeat customers.

The need for a central fashion shopping resource was dire.

ShopStyle (now POPSUGAR) was the first to enter the competition to be that app and offers one of the most comprehensive resources for discovering new fashion items from your favorite stores. Then Swirl (shown above, right) entered the scene mobile-first with an app that also curated major brands while allowing you to collect and curate your own “collections” of items that you find.

Neither app has bar code scanning and, to date, and neither app has really emerged as the go-to mobile fashion resource.

Launched yesterday in the app store, FashionClyp has now entered the race to become that app. Much like ShopStyle and Swirl, FashionClyp for iPhone allows you to follow your favorite brands and discover the newest featured items in your own personalized fashion feed. It also finds and pulls all of the sales for your brands into one channel and can find the item you are looking for at the nearest store on a map.

While none of the apps have particularly novel ideas or innovative features, FashionClyp has three things that the others do not:

Personality

FashionClyp’s design isn’t dry and chic like Swirl and Shopstyle nor is it futuristic like Instagram and Vine. It also isn’t part of the “Pinterestification of the Web” that every fashion startup like Pose and Stylecaster seem to have bought into. Instead of following the trends, FashionClyp sports its own unique and quirky design that breaks away from the pack. The crooked and “taped” images in the feed give it a very fun vibe while still maintaining legibility and displaying the images well.

Showing a great attention to detail, the UI also includes instructions that explain what the app is doing and how to operate it.

Image Sharing

FashionClyp is truly the first of its kind to merge together fashion item discovery (e-commerce) with user submitted photos. It seems like it might be something of an afterthought as there aren’t any filters, tags or functions that highlight the shared images yet, but the feature combines the shopping discovery process with the sharing of the style that it becomes. It’s going to take a lot of iteration and user analysis to see what this ends up becoming compared to the plethora of photo sharing apps that already exist (including Pose, Trendabl, StyleTag, Snapette, StyledOn, and TagBrand).

Item Recommendation

FashionClyp also comes with a “big data & self learning science engine” that tracks your preferences and learns yours style. The engine is able to suggest new items from different brands that you do and don’t follow to create a more serendipitous shopping experience. Although it doesn’t yet have the most detailed information to go off of, the suggestions browser is a nice way to discover new things without having to venture completely outside of your taste.

In all, FashionClyp is a solid app that shows polishing both in design and code. It doesn’t have any bugs or crashes (all issues were worked out from the pre-launch version that I tested) and the only feature that I’m left dying for is bar code scanning, but it seems that time has not yet come (at least in America).

I worry that FashionClyp’s lack of “wow” features may be a problem in competing against Swirl and Shopstyle. The small startup, founded last year by a team of fashion stylists in San Francisco with some angel funding, needs to have viral growth to raise more funding or strong user engagement to drive profit.

But whether it does or doesn’t, I know that I will be using the app to see whats new with my favorite fashion retailers.

The post APP REVIEW: FashionClyp Takes On Swirl And App Overload With Personality appeared first on Helium Magazine.

Snapchat’s Founder Quarrel

We all saw in The Social Network how Mark Zuckerberg essentially stole the idea of Facebook from the Winklevoss twins. Yes, Zuck was already something of an expert in the space having struck a nerve with his “hot or not” web game, but it was the twin’s who really came up with the idea that he ran with.

It now appears that the tech industry’s hottest new startup, Snapchat, has a similar story. According to an anonymous source in a TechCrunch report today, English major Reggie Brown was in his dorm room at Stanford university in the Spring of 2011 with two friends when he came up with the idea to have a texting app that would instantly delete a “sext” so that the receiver couldn’t save it.

Recognizing it was a genius idea, he ran down the hall to tell his friend Evan Spiegel, a product design major, about the idea. “He just knew [Spiegel] would take him seriously and move forward,” Anon says. Sure enough, Spiegel saw its potential and called on his fellow house-member Bobby Murphy to come in as the programmer.

But by August, the team had a huge blowout over the order of names on a patent that Brown had worked on writing. Horrible things were said. Murphy and Spiegel changed Brown’s login passwords and essentially cut him out of the company completely.

Brown has now filed a lawsuit against Snapchat, who has raised $14 million at a $70 million valuation, claiming that he is entitled to a third of the company. Spiegel and Murphy say that he partied a lot and hardly contributed anything.

The Mythical Idea Founder

The reality is that as an English major, Brown has nothing more to contribute to his own company than he would any other tech startup. Sitting in his dorm room that night, he recognized something that he needed and was smart enough to tell people about it who could actually build it.

Having an idea doesn’t make you a founder. Steve Jobs didn’t come up with the idea for Apple any more than Zuck did for Facebook. The only thing that seems to matter with startups is who can actually execute, and those people are the coders.

This trend doesn’t seem to change at all with startups in the fashion sector. Looking at the 117 companies in our 2012 FashionTech Industry Report, only a few of them were founded by people who had worked in fashion. Most are either corders or MBA grads.

Eyewear startup Rivet & Sway was founded by John Lusk who’s prior startup was inventing a new computer mouse. Monogram founder Leo Chen was a hedge fund consultant. Everlane founder Michael Preysman was a venture capitalist and Stylitics founder Rohan Deuskar was an Amazon Product Manager and MBA grad.

Consignment commerce platform Threadflip was inspired by CEO Manik Singh’s wife. Consignment app Poshmark was also inspired by CEO Manish Chandra’s wife. There’s StyleSaint who’s product/vision/voice/founder Allison Beal is also wife to the CEO and former venture capitalist Brian Garrett. Fashion photo sharing app Pose’s CEO is a UX designer and their competitor, Snapette, was founded by private equity investor Sarah Paiji.

The list of fashion/technology startups that weren’t founded by people who come from fashion goes on and on. According to the Remix philosophy, all of these founders must have stolen and manipulated their ideas from someone else who, unless they were a spouse, didn’t get any credit for it.

The Marketplace of Ideas

With all of this rampant “stealing,” you might feel stronger than ever to keep your startup guarded before launch but the truth is actually quite the opposite. What has made Silicon Valley so successful is that its culture has always embraced “The Marketplace of Ideas.” If you want to know what it is, just ask someone to sign an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) and find yourself being laughed out of a room.

The opportunities that can come from freely networking and talking about your idea will always overshadow the risk of having someone steal it. If you really are the best person to found your company, then you will be the one to do it.

In early stage startups, investors like to say they “invest in the founder, not the idea” because they quite expect the idea to change as the company grows. They embrace the “Lean Startup Strategy” that uses constant iteration from user and consumer feedback to figure out which features or products should be made and shipped first.

With limited resources, startups only value people who can actually produce.

The FashionTech Flaw

If I had $100,000 for every time a new “photo sharing fashion app” was released last year, I would have enough money to found a fashiontech startup that actually did something innovative.

The FashionTech scene, almost above any other, is full of clones and new attempts at old ideas. There’s the virtual closet BLAH, the social shopping BLAH, the Pinterest board BLAH, the collage editing BLAH… Really just a bunch of attempts at getting into the “exciting world of fashion” with only a shallow understanding of how it actually works.

Technology startups can steal ideas until the end of days, but the system has completely broken down when it comes to the fashion space and that’s probably why we haven’t seen any significant disruption yet. The true disruption that I am looking for is someone from the fashion space that steals an idea from the tech world. The person that I’m looking for understands the intricacies of style and class and creativity just as much as he/she understands analytics and business. The person that I’m looking for cannot be copied or replaced.

Perhaps I’m wrong. Perhaps it’s there but just hasn’t shown itself yet. Perhaps there is someone on the verge of declaring themselves the winner.

Perhaps, just maybe, it’s even Sophia Amoruso who has scaled her company Nasty Gal from an eBay store into the fastest growing company in the country.

Artwork by Rodney Pike via DeviantArt.com

The post Your Idea Is Now Mine, You Non-Techincal Swine appeared first on Helium Magazine.

Auther Steve Kemper recounts (via Adam Penenberg on PandoDaily) that Kamen opened the duffel and boxes, removed some components, and used a screwdriver and hex wrenches to assemble two machines. Within 10 minutes, Kamen had both up and running and began to ride one around the room. Bezos grabbed the other and as he tooled around, he couldn’t help but honk-laugh. Kamen offered his to Doerr, who took it for a spin.

Having so much fun, they didn’t notice that Steve Jobs in classic black turtleneck and blue jeans had walked in. He berated Kamen for his plan to introduce two models of the device when it would be better to start with one, and for the design, which “sucks.” The shape was “not innovative,” Jobs said. “It’s not elegant. It doesn’t feel anthropomorphic. You have this incredibly innovative machine but it looks very traditional. There are design firms out there that could come up with things we’ve never thought of, things that would make you shit in your pants.” 

Within a month, the device codenamed as “Ginger,” became of latter-day gearhead folk religion, prompting scads of wild speculation. Also called “IT” which is short for “Individual Transportation,” it was suspected to be a hovercraft of some sort. But kept under extreme secrecy throughout the products development no one would know more until it was revealed as the Segway on December 3rd of 2001.

Over a decade later the Segway has failed to materialize as a disruptive force in transportation much less a success at all. Only adopted by mall security guards, the company was purchased by tycoon Jimi Heselden in December of 2009. The story of Segway essentially ended in September of the following year when Hendersen died in an accident while testing an off-road version of the Segway. The vehicles were banned on British roads for safety reasons.

Flash forward to 2013 and the social mediasphere goes wild when Matt Novak tweeted, “Google Glass is so futuristic it’s like wearing a Segway on your face.”

Much like the Segway, Google Glass is getting a storm of media buzz recognizing it as a breakthrough and innovative product. It’s something that Star Trek would have dreamed up (or maybe even did). But being innovative and futuristic doesn’t make a product a success. Despite being a break-out “futuristic product,” the iPhone was built both on the momentum of existing smart phones and Apple’s framework of iProducts.

In a series called “Everything is a Remix” that we shared last month, Kirby Fergusun does a detailed analysis of major innovative industries like technology, music and movies, and finds that almost every “iconic” moment was nothing more than the right remix of the right features and products at the right time. While history may remember it otherwise, the future only comes in small and steady steps.

In many ways this reveals what Segway’s biggest problem was. Other than bicycles, it wasn’t built on a framework for it to grow in. It didn’t have a slow and steady path of adopting users or a way to help society get used to it.

So what is Google Glass remixing and what makes now the right time?

Much like Apple’s existing iProducts, Google has Android and pretty much a stronghold on the entire internet. They have the power and strength to get the product through it’s proper development process so long as there is truly a need for it.

“Why are we even working on Glass? We all know that people love to be connected. Families message each other all the time, sports fanatics are checking live scores for their favorite teams. If you’re a frequent traveler you have to stay up to date on flight status or if your gate changes. Technology allows us to connect in that way. A big problem right now are the distractions that technology causes. If you’re a parent — let’s say your child’s performance, watching them do a soccer game or a musical. Often friends will be holding a camera to capture that moment. Guess what? It’s gone. You just missed that amazing game.” Glass Product Director Steve Lee tells The Verge.

Glass’s Point-Of-View photo and video recording is merely a stepping stone towards reaching their real goal of removing technological devices as a distraction. While the iPhone solved a lot of problems by creating an inter-connected focus point for our digital existence, it introduced a new problem where we aren’t paying attention to our real lives at all. By bringing the technology closer to our senses, they’re hoping to remove it as an abstraction.

Although being initially distracted by the glass object, The Verge editor in chief Joshua Topolsky didn’t report the graphics being too much of a distraction in actual use. Once upon-a-time people thought that radios would send drivers careening off the highways. Google Glass is hoping to fair better than iPhone texting (which actually does send people flying off the road) but just in case, it should be noted that the same Google department that is building Glass has also built a self-driving car that has clocked over 300 miles on public freeways without a single incident.

In the future, we may be able to both look at the road while texting and not have to drive at all.

Fashion Statement or Fashion Faux Pas

The only obstacle left for Google Glass to overcome is getting people to actually want to wear it. Will it be awkward to wear at work or at school? Will anyone want to use the voice activation or hand gestures when on a bus or in line at Starbucks? It isn’t enough for Glass to be functional bliss loved by the tech industry’s early adopters. Glass has to be sexy.

While Topolsky thinks the current quality is good enough to make people say “Google-level design” instead of “Apple-level design,” the product is anything but attractive. It sticks out like a sore thumb and he even reports that everyone that saw it came within parting lips of asking what the hell it was. To be fair, only a very few select people have ever seen Google Glass. But once everyone does know what it is, will the early adopters be seen as the cool guys with the hot new product or the geek who doesn’t care about looks at all?

Google seems to know that this is their biggest problem. While nothing has been announced yet, rumors have flown around that they could be working with Ray-Ban or Tom Ford to help with the design and the New York Times has reported that Google is speaking to online eyewear company Warby Parker. The actual device currently clips on to the current band so there’s opportunity for a Google Glass owner to transfer the product onto a large product line selection.

Even while the designs are still in prototype stages Google has been hot on marketing stunts that promote the product as a fashion statement. Teaming up with Dianne von Furstenberg to have both her and her models wear Glass on the runway. The marketing video both tells a touching story about von Furstenberg and shows some incredible footage of what it looks like to walk at NYFW.

Google is hoping to have their product on the market for early adopters by the end of the year. While it might seem rushed, tech blogs are also speculating that the Apple Watch could be announced by then as well. Both products have strengths but the Apple Watch is a less risky product with less disruptive prospects. Google’s Sergey Brinn is betting big on Glass being the future of mobile communication.

Let’s hope that he’s right. Let’s also hope that he doesn’t end up dead in a ditch at the hands of said product.

Matthew Mountford
Helium Magazine | Publisher

The post Google Glass Will Either Be Sexy Or A Segway appeared first on Helium Magazine.

Before Mr. Ford came to the stage, a montage of the films he was in was played for the audience. Once the audience was more-than-excited to see one of their favorite actors, Halfdan Hussey, Co-founder of Cinequest, came to the stage to introduce the moderator for the evening—public speaker, filmmaker, actress, and advocate for women, and the wife of beloved former mayor of San Francisco and current Lieutenant Governor, Gavin Newsome—Jennifer Siebel Newsome. Not a stranger to the film industry, Jennifer was the executive producer of the Oscar nominated documentary and the 2012 Sundance Award-winning film, “The Invisible War,” which revealed the tragic rampant rapping of women in the U.S. military.

Upon a brief introduction, Harrison Ford was then welcomed to the stage. Roars and cheers from the audience filled the majestic California Theatre where the event took place. Halfdan Hussey then graciously presented Mr. Ford with the Maverick Spirit Award. Appreciative of the award, Mr. Ford thanked Halfdan, and waved at the audience as they stood to pay homage to this screen legend.

Jennifer then sat with Mr. Ford for a candid Q-&-A session. She asked him about his upbringing, his schooling, and his life as an actor and how he decided to get into the business. The soft-spoken Mr. Ford answered her questions with insertions of humor. Aside from being an actor, Mr. Ford is also a carpenter and a pilot—he flew himself to this evening’s event—and has always been interested in, and appreciative of nature. He sits on the board of directors of Conservation International, and has been a supporter of the cause for many years.

Aside from coming to accept the Maverick Spirit Award, Mr. Ford also spoke about his current role in the upcoming film 42. 42 is the life story of Jackie Robinson, the first African American to be signed to Major League Baseball, and to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Ford plays the role of Branch Rickey, the league’s executive who signed Robinson.

The evening ending with Mr. Ford thanking Jennifer and the audience for their enthusiasm and support throughout the years.

42 hits theaters on April 12, 2013.

For more information on the film, visit: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0453562/

For more information on Harrison Ford, visit: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000148/

For more information on Cinequest, visit: http://www.cinequest.org

Event Review and Event Photos by Sophia M. Papadopoulos 

The post Harrison Ford Receives Maverick Spirit Award at Cinequest 23 appeared first on Helium Magazine.

What I like most about this editorial is that the pose is exactly the same in every picture. If you look at the 13 magazine covers that I have published, they all show completely different people and express completely different moods. And yet, they are all just pictures of people’s faces.

The couple in Rojo’s work don’t change either,which raises the question of how we judge and identity other people. On one hand it breaks down stereotypes by proving how little we are all separated. On the other hand, it shows how much control we have over our identity.

What do you think?

The post Going Firal: One Couple Transformed Into 18 People appeared first on Helium Magazine.

Today, it’s a t-shirt company called “ADHT shirts” that is on its way to the front page of imgur. More than just a witty a name, the designs focus solely on the comedy associated with anthropomorphic animals.

“Wouldn’t it be funny if a (insert animal) was (insert human thing)?”

I think their new “marketing images” explain it better than I can.

The post Going Firal: ADHT Shirts Find Comedy In Anthropomorphic Animals appeared first on Helium Magazine.

I had my beef with the logic but thought the outcome was pure gold and even went as far as wishing I was an investor with a shot at getting a stake in the company.

Alas, proving to be the shrewdest man in fashion AND tech, CEO Michael Preysman has decided to forgo venture capital investing all together and crowdfund Everlane’s expansion instead.

Modeled after a Kickstarter campaign, Everlane launched #CrowdFundCanada yesterday morning to help “raise $100k to cover the costs of growth.” The funding process essentially allows Canadian customers to pre-order their clothes with “credit” (kind of like a gift card) and perks to boot. It’s a call for die-hard fans to get behind the company’s needs. Almost like strategic investors.

#CrowdFundCanada from Everlane on Vimeo.

But the campaign really has less to do with raising funding and more to do with demand generation and metrics. I see the genius of it much quicker this time, but that familiar “mind-fuck” feeling that I described last year is already starting to set in.

Much like the “push to pull” advertising we talked about this morning with TripleLift, Everlane is allowing their customers to set the demand for their product in the new market. Instead of producing a costly marketing campaign and trying to predict how much product they will need for the new market, the “kickstarter” campaign creates a free-range and self-driving platform.

Sure enough, just 24 hours into the 17 day campaign, Everlane has already raised $50k or half of the projected goal. While you might think that’s great for sales to go so far over the predictions, it’s actually a signal that there could have been a disaster.

Imagine if Everlane had only ordered enough product for the expected $100k of sales and instead got hit with what could be 10 times the demand? Their launch in Canada would have been completely botched. A bigger disaster yet would of course be the opposite case where $100k of product is ordered but only $10k is purchased.

Both are recipes for losing a great amount of money which Preysman says a small and young startup just can’t afford to lose.

More fashion brands should consider the crowd funding/preorder model.

The post Sorry Investors, Everlane Is Crowdfunding It To Canada appeared first on Helium Magazine.