I’ve run websites with millions of monthly visitors, built mobile apps with hundreds of thousands of downloads, created online learning communities with over half a million registered users, and eaten a 24-oz peppercorn steak in one glorious sitting.

I’ve led product management, spoken internationally at conferences all over the world, blogged for over a decade, and built my own CMS. I live in Vancouver, Canada, play ice hockey, and subscribe to the VentureBeat statement of ethics.

FOR PR REPS:
I primarily cover Apple for VentureBeat. In addition, I also cover greentech and marketing technology.

As a PR pro, you’re totally aware that my inbox is totally flooded. If I don’t answer, it’s not because I’m rude, hate you, or just plain evil. At least, generally not. Short is most definitely sweet, and please keep pitches to my beats, unless we know each other.

stories by John Koetsier

OK, new Flickr, you got me. I’m back.

Sure, it's Pinterest-ic and Tumblr-y. But if you love images and imagery, the new Flickr displays photos immeasurably better that the previous iteration.

iPhone 5S near? Best Buy offers $50 off iPhone 5

The first rule of iPhone is that it never, never goes on sale. The second rule of iPhone is that when iPhone does go on sale, it's only last year's model, or even older. The third rule of iPhone is that when this year's model goes on sale, a new model is coming soon.

Apple CEO Tim Cook’s employee approval rating dips, but still high in spite of issues

Which doesn't mean that working at Apple is easy. Or, that working for Tim Cook is easy.

Guilty until proven innocent: Judge already siding against Apple in pretrial hearing

Presumption of innocence is a fundamental component of law in many nations, including Canada, France, Russia, and yes, even, yes, the Islamic Republic of Iran. It is not however, enshrined in the constitution of the United States of America.

Sir Jony Ive’s new iOS7: ‘black, white, and flat’

That's a massive change from the original colorful, shiny, semi-transparent iOS development language, which tries hard to make virtual controls and objects look and feel and act like real controls and objects.

Hooked Media turns in an entirely new take on app recommendation — one that Apple can’t kill

App recommendation engines are getting booted from Apple's app store because they suck, according to a new player in the app-finding business. But Hooked Media has come up with an entirely new take on app recommendation that has two unique qualities.

Samsung Galaxy S4 hits 10M sold in first month, selling ’4 units per second’

In other words, the giant that sold almost 400 million phones last year is getting bigger. And faster.

Google reduces App Engine cloud costs by up to 25% (Amazon, next move is yours)

All that's missing are the streamers, balloons, and cheesy Best Price Ev-ah signs. Because the price competition between Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Rackspace is heating up so fast, the cloud market could be a massive virtual used car lot.

Marissa Mayer and Yahoo are on fire, acquiring gaming company PlayerScale

If I can paraphrase a popular Alicia Keys song, this woman is on fire. Marissa Mayer is clearly moving Yahoo back into the center of the Silicon Valley tech conversation.

Social commerce is like a unicorn: beautiful, alluring, and almost totally imaginary

Call it the unicorn problem: beautiful, alluring, magical, and totally non-existent. Social commerce, according to the latest Monetate e-commerce report, is almost as elusive.

How to join the virtual march on Washington for immigration reform

There are two key problems that require immediate remediation in Congress, according to the coalition of companies, politicians, and nonprofits: jobs, and fairness.

No!! Father of Graphics Interchange Format says it’s pronounced JIF, not GIF

Worlds are shaking as the father of the Graphics Interchange Format, ye trusty old bitmap image standby for animated images on Cheezburger and Reddit and every where geeks wanna have fun, says it's pronounced JIF, not GIF.

Why Apple believes keeping billions in cash overseas is fair, and why Congress largely disagrees

"I am not an unfair person," Apple CEO Tim Cook told lawmakers yesterday. "Apple is not an unfair company."

Fashion & beauty startup Zalora scores $100M investment to grow in Southeast Asia

It is indeed an honor when a year-old startup with two or three million dollars in annualized revenue scores a $100 million investment. An unusual honor, as well. But there's method behind the madness.

Ireland: We’re no tax haven … but … yes, Apple did pay 2% tax

The head of the Irish agency designed to promote foreign investment in the country strongly denied that Ireland is a tax haven. But when questioned by Ireland's RTE News, he could not deny that Apple has paid an effective tax rate of just two percent, much as Senator Carl Levin said yesterday in hearings on Capitol Hill.

Twitter granted pull-to-refresh patent that everyone already uses (and sort of gives it away)

The developer of pull-to-refresh was so concerned about how Twitter would use his patent that he asked Twitter to agree with him -- as part of the terms of the sale of his company -- that it would never use the patent offensively.