Tecca is a consumer electronics content and commerce startup based in Santa Monica, CA. We’re building a new online destination in the personal technology space and are looking for smart and creative folks to be a part of our freelance writing team.

Want to know more about Tecca? Read about us on GigaOM or check out socalTech’s interview with CEO Mickie Rosen.

About you

You should have lots of interest in technology as well as ideally some experience producing content in the realms of personal technology and consumer electronics. You should enjoy working in a fast-paced publishing environment and have the self-discipline to work effectively in a distributed virtual office. You’ll be expected to be able to talk about a broad range of technology topics (or a smaller set of topics in depth) to all levels of technology consumers, from the experienced to the technophobic. You must have a fun, friendly, and positive attitude, and should love helping others solve technology problems and learning more about the industry.

Writers

You will be part of a large team crafting fun, easy to understand guides and original feature columns about topics in consumer electronics. You’ll be covering both the buying process and usage after purchase. We expect you to both tackle assigned tasks and bring your own original ideas to the table.

We are particularly looking for writers with expertise in:

• Audio/Music Players
• Cameras/Camcorders
• Car Tech/GPS
• Home Theater
• TVs and Video

News Editor

We’re looking for a motivated news editor to cover current technology news for a primarily mainstream audience. You will be tasked with selecting major tech stories that are worth bringing to our readers as well as writing them up in an easily accessible format.

How to apply

Send an email to apply AT tecca DOT com with the following information:

• Message title: please indicate which position you are applying for in the title of your email (news editor or writer)
• Your background: let us know what you’ve been working on, what you feel your skills are, what your experience in the realm of personal technology/consumer electronics is, and what interests you about this position. If you have special expertise in any category of CE, be sure to let us know. Keep in mind that mobile and gaming are very popular topics almost everyone wants to write about, so if you can demonstrate knowledge and enthusiasm for any of the other areas listed above it will improve your chances of becoming a contributor!
• Your contact information: full name, email address, phone number, instant messenger handle, where you’re located, the best methods and times to reach you, and your general amount of availability for freelance work.
• Example work: 3 or more bylined writing samples linked somewhere online. No attachments, please!
• For writers, column pitch(es): You are also encouraged to pitch us on an original feature column idea (or several). For each column you’d like to pitch, please give us the overall theme and title for your column and between 5 and 10 example topics you would feel confident covering that fit within the overall theme.
• For news editors, news posts: We’d like to see 3 write-ups on current news topics of your choice. These should be geared towards a mainstream audience of readers who may not be tech experts.

We look forward to reading your application!

Tecca is a consumer electronics content and commerce startup based in Santa Monica, CA. We’re building a new online destination in the personal technology space and are looking for smart and creative folks to be a part of our freelance writing team. Do you love gadgets and call writing your craft? Read on for details on how to apply.

About you

You should have lots of interest and expertise as well as ideally some experience producing content in the realms of personal technology and consumer electronics. You should enjoy working in a fast-paced publishing environment and have the self-discipline to operate in a distributed virtual environment. You must have a fun, friendly, and positive attitude, and should love helping others solve technology problems and learn more about the industry.

Writers

We are building out our team of freelance contributors. We need people who can speak to all levels of technology consumers, from the experienced to the technophobic. You will be part of a large team crafting fun, easy to understand guides to and original feature columns about topics in consumer electronics. You’ll be covering both the buying process and usage after purchase. You’ll need to excel at working in a virtual environment and covering a broad range of topics (or a smaller set of topics in depth, if you have expertise in a particular area: home theater, mobile, car tech, etc.). We expect you to both tackle assigned tasks and bring your own original ideas to the table.

How to apply

Send an email to apply AT tecca DOT com with the following information:

• Your background — let us know what you’ve been working on, what you feel your skills are, what your experience in the realm of personal technology/consumer electronics is, and what interests you about this position. If you have special expertise in any category of CE, be sure to let us know.
• Your contact information — full name, email address, phone number, instant messenger handle, where you’re located, the best methods and times to reach you, and your general amount of availability for freelance work.
• Example work: 3 or more bylined writing samples linked somewhere online. No attachments, please!
• Column pitch(es): You are also encouraged to pitch us on an original feature column idea (or several). For each column you’d like to pitch, please give us the overall theme and title for your column and between 5 and 10 example topics you would feel confident covering that fit within the overall theme.

We look forward to reading your application!

• You should have lots of interest and expertise as well as ideally some experience producing content in the realms of personal technology and consumer electronics.
• You should enjoy wearing multiple hats, be flexible as roles and duties shift, and thrive on working in a fast-paced startup environment.
• You must have a fun, friendly, and positive attitude.
• You must either be in the Los Angeles area or willing to relocate.

About us

We’re a startup based in Santa Monica, CA. We’re building a new online destination in the personal technology space and looking for smart and creative folks to be a part of our editorial team. Our work environment is fun and energetic, and we offer competitive pay with benefits.

Here are the three positions we’re currently hiring:

Producer

This role will work closely with our in-house programming staff as well as help oversee a geographically distributed freelance team of writers and content creators. You will be responsible for helping to program major content areas within the site, contracting new writers, ensuring a high level of quality and accuracy in editorial, and using analytical tools to evaluate content performance. We would expect you to bring vision to our editorial direction, be able to iteratively craft original content strategies based on performance, have cogent ideas and methods for building an audience, and be able to execute on them.

The ideal candidate should have managerial experience as well as experience working with virtual teams.

Editor

This role will work closely with our in-house programming staff to develop and execute compelling original content as well as assist in the overall programming of major content areas within the site. You will be responsible for helping assign and approve creative content ideas as well as bringing a keen editorial eye to overall quality and voice. You should be extremely detail-oriented yet always be able to keep the big picture goals in mind.

The ideal candidate should have previous experience in an editor-level role as well as a significant background in writing for a web audience. Experience working with virtual teams is a plus.

Designer/Developer

This position will play a key role in helping define a visual style for content within programmatic sections within the site as well as handling front end coding duties as assigned. You should have a flexible toolkit of skills across design and web standards-based development in XHTML/CSS/Javascript, plus be a strong multi-tasker with the ability and enthusiasm to tackle a changing assortment of projects from small to large. You should have a flair for “making things look awesome” but also enjoy touching code and “making things work.”

The ideal candidate will have handled design and/or development duties for one or more high-trafficked new media sites and have experience working with content management tools. Server-side skills aren’t strictly required in this role but if you can bring any, it would be gravy.

How to apply

Send an email to barb AT project-austin DOT com with the following information:

• Your background — let us know what you’ve been working on, what you feel your skills are, what your experience in the realm of personal technology/consumer electronics is, and what interests you about the position you’re applying for.
• Your contact information — full name, email address, phone number, instant messenger handle, where you’re located, and the best methods and times to reach you.
• Bylined writing samples (Producer and Editor positions) or portfolio (Design/Dev position) — preferably linked, or alternatively as an attachment.
• Your resume — linked or attached, as well as your LinkedIn URL if you have one.

Please include the title of the position you’re applying for in the title of your message. If you’re sending us writing samples, portfolio, or any other part of your application as an attachment, please make sure to tell us something about yourself via text in the body of your email. Don’t make us launch Microsoft Word just to get a sense of who you are!

It’s been an incredible past year at Mashable, action packed with more peak experiences than I can name here. I was blessed with the opportunity to attend the unparalleled TED conference in Long Beach along with a multitude of other excellent events from CES to CTIA, SXSW to E3 and many more. I got a chance to interview amazing folks undertaking innovative and interesting projects in social media and technology, from Tears for Fears’ Curt Smith to The Roxy’s Nic Adler, iPad DJ Rana Sobhany to cancer activist Clark Harris (aka @SilentClark), forward thinkers like Nokia’s Henry Tirri and inspiring prodigy Adora Svitak.

On top of all that I had the opportunity to speak at events including CES, Gravity Summit, and the SXSW Tweet House as well as speak to students at Emerson College’s #ESM Social Media class and make media appearances on Nikki Sixx’s Sixx Sense show, Marsha Collier’s excellent Computer and Technology Radio program, NewsTalk 1010, co-host This Week in Android and more. I also got a chance to meet the cast of Simon Fuller’s If I Can Dream, promote independent and social media-aware music and artists in the long-running Free Music Monday series, meet veritable boatloads of brilliant people working in the SM/tech space, and even enjoy the surreal experience of attending a reality show wedding.

In short, it’s been a wild ride. I will greatly miss the team and plan to continue cheering on the Mashable brand from the sidelines. I’ll be hitting the ground running at the new gig this coming Monday, heading up content programming and strategy at a new CE destination I look forward to being able to tell everyone more about as we get closer to actually launching! In the meantime: stay tuned and stay in touch! And to my dearest Team Mash: so long and thanks for all the lolcats. We’ll always have Twitter. And Facebook. And Flickr. And Posterous. And… gosh, this social media thing is awfully convenient, innit?

The internet is trying to kill us, people. Set the Cute Threat Level to RED!

Also, is that a kitteh or an Ewok? Srsly.

Posted via web from Barb’s posterous

resume as a D&D character sheet. brilliant.

[via Neatorama]

Posted via web from Barb’s posterous

Love. These. Folks.

Posted via web from Barb’s posterous

Along with that big move news, and actually completely unrelated, is another change: I’ve accepted an offer to take on the role of Senior Editor at Mashable.com. I’m excited to be returning to a focus on social media and social tech and working with a top-notch team at a destination that’s been in my daily feed reading since 2005.

It’s been a great year working with the fine folks at Crowd Fusion and I wish the team there all the best. I can’t really talk yet about some of the cool things coming up there and how it might mean some continued involvement with the platform, but rest assured we are parting on good terms and I have high hopes for the continued success of the company.

In between NY and CA I managed to squeeze in a bit of on the road Kerouac-style vacation, driving coast to coast in my trusty ’98 Toyota Corolla whose awesome gas mileage had me going 8 hours at a stretch before a refill with those pesky non-renewable fossil fuels. I was 13 days on the trip and only had 1 night of hotel (richly enjoyed in Deadwood, SD), staying with friends and family along the way and having many memorable adventures. The last time I made a cross-country trek was back in the Triassic Period of 1997, and this trip shared with it 2 very important pit-stops: Chicago, and Wall Drug, SD. If you’ve ever been to Wall Drug, or if you’ve even just driven on 90W through South Dakota, you know what I’m talking about.

In the “I get by with a little help from my friends” Acknowledgements section I must extend heaping amounts of gratitude to all the folks who helped make this move possible: Julia, Jackie & Joe, Mrs. Perrone (who performed the very vital role of cleaning supervisor), Chris Willett and Bobby the plumber, the affable Sears repair dude, the last-minute roofer who also regaled me with stories about his recent cross-country trips, Dounan (ice cream and heavy lifting), Meryl (fire-starter), Shane and Scott at Certified Properties, Jason and Danielle my awesome tenants, Leah and Amelia (refreshments and PA system adoption), Laura Darlington (LA intelligence ground team, Bowflex consultation), Eliot (interim home office), Dan, Diane, Erin and Ryan O’Halloran (adopted family in (too) sunny Burbank), Judith (encouragement and shared brain matter), CK (covering for my vacationing ass, etc.), Daddy Bowen (spiritual road-trip presence), Mom and Jo-Jo, Ruby (Cleveland party planner), Sam Axon (provider of Chicago food, pad, improv and Kerouac library), Tam and Lauren (Presidents of the Minneapolis Secret Spoon Society), Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane, Sarge (Denver hail and smoke), Dad and Joy (Albuquerque welcoming committee), Dawn (Vegas MC and encouragement), ABF U-Pack, WestSideRentals, Peter’s Movers, Rory the super super at Carseka Apts., Clotho and the Norns, and everyone else whose inclusion would turn this section into a paperback novel.

If you’re in the LA social tech scene, I look forward to meeting you! One such opportunity happens to be coming up this Friday at the Mashable Hyatt4Good Tweetup Tour — I’ll be there with bells on, etc. If you’re not in LA but have occasion to visit, give me a shout and let’s meet up! I’ll be here whenever I’m not travelling to events, trying vainly to Do Everything Cool — a Sisyphean task if ever there was one. If you know of anything in town I Absolutely Must See, let me know that too!

Below is a track by Kenny Mosher set to video produced by Showdown Productions. After the break is “Love, Love, Love” by Reyna Perez.

Music Video Shot on iPhone from Kenny Mosher on Vimeo.

“His death may have stunned the world of music, but those who knew Michael Jackson say the warning signs of his fading health were clear. They claim his long-term addiction to painkillers is the obvious underlying health issue which – combined with the considerable pressure of attempting a showbusiness comeback – may just have claimed his life. Only last month, the Daily Mail reported that Jackson was struggling to make even a handful of the rehearsals for the comeback tour which was due to start in July at the O2 in London. He had been to just two out of more than 45 rehearsals.”

(via Did painkiller addiction and pressure of re-building sullied reputation kill Michael Jackson? | Mail Online)

He’s steeped in my memory from childhood but I lost total interest during the creepy years (which, sadly, were the majority of the past 2 decades). Why is it then that his death finds me suddenly fascinated by such a strange personality and bizarre larger-than-life life — a sad, twisted product of childhood abuse and resulting psychological disorders, the intense pressures of superstardom, almost continuous medical treatment morphing into 25 years of prescription drug addiction, a disturbing obsession with plastic surgery and the peculiar two-sided coin of unrelenting media scrutiny combined with a reclusive, self-delusional private fantasy world enabled by wealth and a sycophantic entourage of opportunistic handlers.

Michael Jackson was a completely and utterly fascinating icon of the ravages and consequences of the American supermedia machine and resultant hyper-celebritism. He was also a phenomenally talented musician, singer, songwriter, dancer and entertainer who was loved around the world and broke so many records we’ve lost count. Whether he really was a child abuser or simply a psychological and emotional child himself unable to grow mentally into adulthood due to physical and emotional abuse from his father from a young age and complete sheltering from adult reality (or both), it was a sad and terrible long decline for a star once so bright. Whatever he became, it’s clear he so long and so desperately wanted to become someone else. It’s a mad, mad, mad, mad world.