LIVEdigitally

Gather round, MMORPG-ers…I want to send out a welcome to McKay, a new writer here at LIVEdigitally. He’s even starting out in the field! Writing from BlizzCon, Blizzard Entertainment’s convention this Friday and Saturday celebrating Starcraft, Warcraft and Diablo, McKay’s going to give all of us a taste of what Blizzard’s cooked up for its fans, from shots and highlights to any other interesting tidbits that cross his path.

Mmmmmm. Gaming. Now if only I could find a way to get some of those freebies!

Government breaks up corporate behemoth, smaller companies fight during their mad-dash for market share, companies start buying one another and soon the founding member is no more…or is it? Gather round, my children, for another story from “American Capitalism: TelCo Edition.”

SBC Communications (currently awaiting federal approval on its January announcement that it would snatch up telecommunications pioneer AT&T) announced today that it realized the name SBC Communications is incredibly boring will take AT&T’s name once the merger goes through.

Yeah yeah, so it’s just a stupid name, right? Not really. AT&T is a serious brand, born as a subsidiary of telephone inventor Alexander Graham Bell’s Bell Telephone Company. Ma Bell’s innovations include the first transcontinental phone call (1915), the first demonstration of television in the U.S. (1927) and the invention of cellular telephony and the solid state amplifier (both 1947). Perhaps it’s stupid to develop some childish level of comfort with a brand, but there’s no need to argue about the value of a such a thing. Companies spend scads of cash every year promoting their identities, and SBC is getting an American brand recognized by millions, giving them an advantage right out of the gate, in addition to the company’s business partnerships, markets, technologies, etc. etc.

[From The New York Times]

Introducing the Titanium Cruzer…

One of the more popular items of the new digital lifestyle is the USB flash drive. This is the easiest way for digital folks to tote files along to wherever they go. As such an essential gadget to have, we have the opportunity to test another of the current crop. This is the Titanium Cruzer, 512 MB, from SanDisk. This company makes a variety of flash memory products, including all types of memory cards, their Sansa MP3 player, card readers, and USB flash drives. The Titanium Cruzer is their flagship drive. Read on to see what the top of their line up can do. (more…)