Lawn Chairs in Times Square

Native New Yorkers were a tad confused today when they learned that Broadway was shut down between 42nd Street and 47th Street over the long weekend. A new traffic pattern was put in place and a huge number of lawn chairs were placed to give Times Square tourists a place to sit.

Ning’s Social Networks Get Their Own App Platform

Ning, the social network for social networks, recently hit the 1 million networks milestone. But with such a huge user base comes huge user demand for additional features and functionality.

Today, Ning is about to deliver some of that functionality to their 700,000 social network creators with Ning Apps, giving them more than 90 new toys — think apps like Qik, Twitter, Ustream, Box.net,  Tokbox, WordPress, Mailchimp, and PollDaddy — that they can use to enhance their individual networks.

The new apps aren’t just social in nature, but impressively functional, combining passion and purpose for all niche audiences. So groups that want to create their own store or sell items (like music) can select from 10 different e-commerce apps. Networks looking to collaborate can tap into 18 different options like wikis, file storage (via Box.net), docs (via Google Docs), video chat (via ToxBox), and whiteboards (via Huddle).

We’ve included a partial list below, but we think a few key apps of note are Cartfly, Wildfire, and Tickets by Ticketmaster. Cartfly will enable any social network creator to create a custom store front to sell merchandise. Wildfire can be used by the social causes crowds to raise funds and create challenges. And Tickets by Ticketmaster (LiveNation and Amiando have apps too) will make it possible for big (and small) ticket bands to promote their shows and sell tickets.

See more at Mashable.

3-D glasses a sticking point for movie industry

More than a dozen 3-D films will hit multiplexes this year, and theaters are installing thousands of digital 3-D systems amid fervid public approval of the fledgling technology.

If the industry could only figure out how to pay for the 3-D glasses.

Complicated virtual-print-fee (VPF) agreements are in place to fund the rollout of digital hardware, enabling theaters to add the 3-D systems. But until reusable 3-D glasses come into greater use or the $1-per-pair cost for disposables is cut substantially, squabbling will continue over millions of dollars in costs tied to the extra-dimensional eyewear.

With an installed base of fewer than 1,400 domestic 3-D screens, distribution has been limited, keeping the cost of outfitting customers in the low- to mid-single-digits. But once 3-D movies start playing in 2,000 or more theaters at a time, that expense is expected to swell quickly to $10 million or more per release.

Such outlays come on top of about $15 million per picture in extra production costs tied to 3-D, as well as multimillion-dollar VPF payments. 20th Century Fox executives quietly spread the word a couple months ago that they intended to rein in their payments on glasses, but details of a new arrangement have yet to emerge. (more…)

Photos of Chelsea Market

Here are some neat HDR shots (mostly) that I took at Chelsea Market in NYC:

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