News

May 13, 2006

CubeBreak.com Announces Top Ten Bored Cities
Where You Live Impacts Boredom As Much As Where You Work

Philadelphia, PA (PRWEB) May 13, 2006 --
When it comes to boredom, where you live is as important as where
you work. CubeBreak.com has identified the top 10 bored cities on the
globe -- where English-speaking residents are using search engines
to tell the world they are bored.
Cities in the United Kingdom top the global charts, and boring U.S.
cities include Dayton, Ohio, Wichita, Kansas, and Raleigh, North
Carolina.
“We surveyed more than 1,100 of our visitors in April and watched web
logs and search-engine keyword performance closely,” said
CubeBreak Founder Kevin Nalts. “When we ran that data against
Google Trends analysis, we identified some cities with residents that
are clearly bored stiff.”
Half of all Americans today say they are not satisfied with their jobs,
according to a recent report by The Conference Board. “Rapid
technological changes, rising productivity demands and changing
employee expectations all contributed to the decline in job satisfaction,”
according to a report titled “U.S. Job Satisfaction Keeps Falling.” The
East South Central region has the most content workers with 59
percent of residence in these states claiming they are satisfied with
their jobs.
“Our hypothesis was that boredom was a function of the employer not
the region,” said Nalts. “But this data suggests that certain cities are
simply more dull than others.”
CubeBreak.com was founded to provide bored office workers with an
escape from their office cubicles. The most popular video content on
CubeBreak is humor – especially the new prank-call series in which
Nalts telephones online video companies and CEOs as various
characters. Two of the most viral videos yet include a prank call to
Revver’s CEO and YouTube’s head of public relations.
“After porn and news, humorous online videos have the highest appeal
to cubicle prisoners,” said Nalts. “We thought our traffic from the United
Kingdom was indicative of the English sense of humor. Now we
conclude that it is because the U.K. is plainly the most bored nation on
the planet.”
According to WordTracker and Overture data, individuals are
increasingly using search engines to escape office boredom. The
number of searches in the “bored” category has risen steadily with
hundreds of thousands of searches each month. Frequently searched
terms include “bored,” “I am bored,” “I’m bored,” “bored site,” and
“bored at work.” “UK Bored Housewives” is one of the top-10 terms
searched in the boredom category.
With increasing workplace boredom and the availability of broadband
video, CubeBreak.com’s has seen dramatic growth of bored visitors
since its launch in March, 2006. The site features a “CubeBreak Video
of the Day,” and a “Boss Alert” button that reveals a fake Excel sheet to
prevent cubicle workers from getting caught looking for an escape from
their daytime drudgery. CubeBreak.com is powered by Revver.com, so
content submitters get paid half of the advertising revenue when
viewers click a single ad frame at the end of each video.
CubeBreak.com’s Founder KevinNalts also manages a blog for
amateur video creators who want to make money from their viral videos.
WillVideoForFood.com provides tips on the emerging world of online
videos, advertising and video contests.

CubeBreak.com’s Top 10 Bored Cities
1. Dayton, Ohio
2. Edinburgh, United Kingdom
3. Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
4. Wichita, Kansas
5. Raleigh, North Carolina
6. Birmingham, United Kingdom
7. Dublin, Ireland
8. Sidney, Australia
9. Brewton, Alabama
10. Perth, Australia

April 9, 2006

CubeBreak.com Selected as
New Media Pick of the Week

MasterNewMedia.org selected
CubeBreak.com as one of its
10 "New Media Picks of the Week."

April 5, 2006

"Captive Eyes" by Web 2.0 Search

Would you call hundreds of thousands of bleary-eyed office workers
with nothing to do except stare at a computer screen for 8 hours a
market that’s ripe for the picking? I would. Who can imagine a more
captive audience than 25+ males and females bored out of their
minds with no work to do (yes, there are people who are paid to just sit
around) or who spend half their day pretending they are working.

Not surprisingly, I know a lot of people who do nothing at their jobs
and have made a pseudo-career out of finding entertaining content on
the web. Apparently Cube Break, a new start-up, has identified the
potential of this group of people as well, and their avarice for video
breaks from their mundane days. (read more).

March 28, 2006

CubeBreak.com Gives Bored Office Workers an Escape. New Viral
Video Site Launches With Exclusive Video of Microsoft CEO Steve
Ballmer (PRWeb Release)

A new generation of online video sites gives amateur film makers the
ability to profit from advertising. CubeBreak.com, which launched this
week with an exclusive video of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, is
designed for bored office workers. The site is powered by Revver.com,
which shares 50% of the advertising revenue with content creators.

Philadelphia, PA (PRWEB) March 28, 2006 -- Search engines like
Google and Yahoo receive hundreds of thousands of searches each
month for the word "bored." CubeBreak.com -- which launched this
week with an exclusive video of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer -- is
giving bored cube workers an escape from the doldrums of office life.
Eighty to 85 percent of employees who use computers to do their jobs
also regularly use them for personal tasks or fun -- as much as 3.7
hours per week, according to the National Technology Readiness
Survey by the University of Maryland.

One of many new viral video websites, CubeBreak.com is dedicated to
office workers who need mental stimulation during the workday. The
site is populated with videos in such categories as "funny,"
"interesting" and "bazaar." Unlike other video sites, CubeBreak.com is
powered by Revver.com so video creators get 50% of the ad revenue
generated by work.

CubeBreak.com launched with a recent video of Microsoft CEO Steve
Ballmer preaching the future of MSN as "Advertisers, Advertisers,
Advertisers." Ballmer's statement was in response to a question
asked by CubeBreak Founder Kevin Nalts at an Avenue-A Razorfish
Client Summit in Miami, Florida on March 17, 2006.

"Ballmer's infamous 'Developer, Developer, Developer' video is one of
the most interesting viral videos in the past 5 years. The fact that
Ballmer is now emphasizing advertisers is an indication that
advertising revenue is as vital to MSN as it is to sites like CubeBreak.
com and Revver.com," said Nalts. Other feature videos on CubeBreak.
com include "America's Funniest Bloopers," a spoof on America's
Funniest Videos, in which Nalts, his family and neighbors are exposed
to dozens of fake accidents.

According to a San Francisco Chronicle article on March 23, the
Internet is reshaping how we get our video entertainment. "The online
video phenomenon is producing a new generation of amateur
filmmakers... who are able to capture thousands if not millions of
viewers online, rivaling some television shows," wrote Chronicle Staff
Writer Ellen Lee. Nearly half of all Internet users -- about 34 million
homes, if not more -- have watched video streamed online, according
to Forrester Research, a technology research firm.

"One of the most exciting aspects of 'Web 2.0' is that it's now incredibly
easy for amateur videographers to share videos, and viewers are
flocking to viral pieces from the "Numa, Numa Kid," JibJab and a video
called "Breakup" which had nearly 200,000 views on YouTube in just 4
days last week," said Nalts. "Unfortunately, most popular sites aren't
sharing their advertising revenue with creators, so these creators get
fame but no money for their viral work. That's what differentiates
CubeBreak.com and Revver.com. Ultimately, the best content will find
its way to sites that allow amatuer video creators to profit the viral
power of their work."

CubeBreak.com requires video creators to first submit their videos to
Revver.com, so they can receive cash if viewers click the single ad
frame that follows their video.