Here’s a question for business owners, especially those in the service industry: Are you on Yelp yet? Chances are, you’re customers are. And the content producers among them may have posted reviews of your shop, bar, hotel or restaurant.

According to c|net News.com, Yelp is introducing a service for business owners to help them manage their identity on the site.

Called “Yelp for Business Owners,” the section of the site lets business owners register for special Yelp accounts, which they then need to verify by phone. Once registered, they have access to some analytics (namely to see how many people have been viewing their business page), receive e-mail alerts when they have new reviews, update public data like their hours of operation or contact information, and message the users who have already reviewed their business.

Yelp is the creation of Jeremy Stoppelman and Russel Simmons. The pair once worked at PayPal and are part of the so-called PayPal Mafia, a group of serial entrepreneurs and investors that made their money when PayPal sold to eBay.

Buzzwatch, The Wall Street Journal’s blog, points to Clay Shirky’s piece on deploying the nation’s cognitive surplus in proactive and culturally beneficial ways.

If I had to pick the critical technology for the 20th century, the bit of social lubricant without which the wheels would’ve come off the whole enterprise, I’d say it was the sitcom. Starting with the Second World War a whole series of things happened–rising GDP per capita, rising educational attainment, rising life expectancy and, critically, a rising number of people who were working five-day work weeks. For the first time, society forced onto an enormous number of its citizens the requirement to manage something they had never had to manage before–free time.

And what did we do with that free time? Well, mostly we spent it watching TV.

We did that for decades. We watched I Love Lucy. We watched Gilligan’s Island. We watch Malcolm in the Middle. We watch Desperate Housewives. Desperate Housewives essentially functioned as a kind of cognitive heat sink, dissipating thinking that might otherwise have built up and caused society to overheat.

And it’s only now, as we’re waking up from that collective bender, that we’re starting to see the cognitive surplus as an asset rather than as a crisis. We’re seeing things being designed to take advantage of that surplus, to deploy it in ways more engaging than just having a TV in everybody’s basement.

Shirky is a media critic, consultant, professor at NYU and author of Here Comes Everybody. He makes the point that Wikipedia has about 100 million hours of thought invested by its community of editors. “And television watching? Two hundred billion hours, in the U.S. alone, every year,” Shirky says.

His point is, let’s direct the attention of our citizens toward active, positive solutions, where they can spend, not waste, their free-time, or cognitive surplus.

Remember The WB network? Warner Bros. hopes you do or that you at least remember the string of shows that were the centerpiece of its portfolio before it merged with UPN to form The CW network in 2006.

The new WB is now an online entity called TheWB.com (it’s in Beta at the moment and according the official press release will launch in early May).

The official TheWB.com Facebook page, with its predominant link on the site’s homepage, lays out the mission statement:

TheWB.com’s mission is to allow you to find and enjoy iconic, dramatic video content when, where and how you want it. Whether it’s the shows you know or the new ones that we’ll introduce you to, TheWB.com is the premiere entertainment destination targeted to adults 18-34. You will be able to watch full-length episodes of TV shows such as The OC, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Gilmore Girls, One Tree Hill, Smallville, Friends, All of Us and Veronica Mars, but in an entirely new way by combining it with the latest technology for video mash-ups, synched viewing parties, chat, search, quizzes and games. TheWB.com also offers a line-up of original series, never seen before and made exclusively for the web from some of the top producers in Hollywood. TheWB.com is free and ad-supported–available anytime in the U.S.

The hope is that the older line up of shows will drive the coveted demographic into the arms of all the other online video mash-up fun.

“My 20-year-old daughter and her friends are watching ‘One Tree Hill’ and ‘Pushing Daisies,’ but not on television,” Bruce Rosenblum, the president of the Warner television group, said. “They’re watching on laptops and cellphones. Here’s the interesting part — to them, that is television.”

[via New York Times]

Beginning tomorrow morning, Coldplay will be offering the first single off their new album for free on their Web site.

The free download of “Violet Hill” will be available for a week. After that, it will be for sale digitally. The new album Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends is slated for a June 17th release.

Ever wanted to collaborate with a famous filmmaker and co-create a cinematic masterpiece? Spike Lee and Nokia want to partner with you to create a musical film in three acts with a theme loosely based on “humanity.” The catch is that all the content will come from user’s cellphones.

“You are seeing first hand the democratization of film,” Lee said in a statement on Thursday. “Aspiring filmmakers no longer have to go to film school to make great work. With a simple mobile phone, almost anyone can now become a filmmaker.”

The idea is that Lee is going to “direct” the film using user generated clips from people’s mobile phones that are submitted to the Nokia Productions website. Viewers can then check them out and vote on their favorites. Once the clips are whittled down to the top 10, Spike Lee will choose the winners from each act, and assemble it all into what is hoped to be an enjoyable film.

Text, music, video and photos are being accepted on the site until August 21st.

[via Reuters]

A Washington, D.C., program is taking a cue from car sharing company ZipCar. Beginning next month, people will be able to rent bicycles through an automated sharing system called SmartBike DC.

For a $40 annual membership fee, people in D.C. can take advantage of what is the first program of its kind in the U.S. Similar programs in Paris and Barcelona sprouted up last year and have proved successful.

The low membership fee is expected to attract attention in D.C. Part of the reason for the low cost is that the public/private venture is being partially funded by advertiser dollars. In this case, Clear Channel Outdoor has joined and, in return, they’ll receive exclusive advertising rights in city bus shelters.

The other good news is of course for the environment and traffic congestion. According to a New York Times article:

“There’s a lot of stress on our transit systems currently,” said Jim Sebastian, who manages bicycle and pedestrian programs for Washington’s Transportation Department. Offering another option, Mr. Sebastian said, “will help us reduce congestion and pollution,” as well as parking problems.

Los Angeles-based rock band Run Run Run took a break from their nationwide tour to play the Viper Room’s showcase during SXSW. The guys relaxed in their van and spent time talking with me about a new album and life on the road.

 

 Run Run Run Interview: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Five-piece band Liam and Me have all the makings of becoming the next darlings of the indie music world. They are charming both off stage and on, and drew a big crowd to their set at the Viper Room’s showcase during SXSW. Prior to their show, lead singer Matt O’Dowd talked with me about the group’s plans and an upcoming album.

 

 Liam and Me Interview: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Originally from Norway, Bigbang has found much success in Europe and is on a quest to appeal to American audiences. The group boasts the biggest selling live album in Norway history. Lead singer Oystein Greni talked with me prior to their set at the Viper Room’s Austin showcase during South By Southwest.

 

 Bigbang Interview: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

A six-foot tall blonde in stiletto boots doesn’t usually have much trouble attracting attention, especially when that blonde is Justin Tranter, the frontman of New York City-based glam rock band Semi Precious Weapons.

I had the chance to catch up with Tranter and the other members of Semi Precious Weapons during this year’s Viper Room showcase at South By Southwest.

 

 Semi Precious Weapons Interview: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download