Mashable: Latest 22 News Updates - including “iMaxi: Finally, the iPad Gets the Protection it Deserves [FUNNY]”

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• iMaxi: Finally, the iPad Gets the Protection it Deserves [FUNNY]
• Gmail Retires 5 and Graduates 6 Labs Features
• CodeOrgan Translates Web Sites Into Music
• Chatroulette Explained: 71% Male, 15% Female, 14% Pervert [VIDEO]
• Lobby Group Says Open Source Threatens Capitalism
• Conan O’Brien Officially Joins Twitter
• Google Adds Facebook Pages to Real-time Search
• 25% of Vevo’s Visitors Only Have Eyes for Lady Gaga
• Random Viral Whatsit of the Day: My Little Pony Musical [VIDEO]
• Milestone: iTunes Breaks 10 Billion Song Downloads
• Mashable’s Weekly Guide to Social Media Job Openings
• 10 Essential Chrome Extensions for Web Developers
• Compare Social Media Performance Head-to-Head with uberVu
• Nintendo DSi XL Set for March Launch in U.S.
• Coming to SXSW? Add Yourself to Austin Realtime!
• 10 Ways to Trick Out Your Barnes & Noble Nook
• Calling All Romantics: Chatroulette Now Has Its Own Missed Connections
• YouTube: Rickroll Removal Was a Mistake
• Apple Could Bring Sexy Back to the App Store With New “Explicit” Category
• Half of Public Wi-Fi Connections Aren’t From Laptops [STATS]
• Bloom Unveils Its Game Changing Energy Box [PICS]
• Scribd Makes Online Documents E-Reader and Smartphone-Friendly
• The Science of Building Trust With Social Media

iMaxi: Finally, the iPad Gets the Protection it Deserves [FUNNY] Posted: 25 Feb 2010 03:02 AM PST When it comes to branding their products, Apple is one of the most successful companies in the world. iPod has all but replaced the words “MP3 player”, and iPhone, MacBook, iMac and most of their other products are equally as successful. The iPad, however, invokes an obvious joke, and that obvious joke just got very literal with the introduction of iMaxi, the protective case for the iPad that looks, well, like a completely different kind of pad. Funny or not, this joke obviously isn’t going away, and when someone fashions it into a real, preorderable product, you have to admire the effort. The $40 price seems a little steep, though. Tags: apple, iMaxi, ipad, Tablet

Gmail Retires 5 and Graduates 6 Labs Features Posted: 25 Feb 2010 12:54 AM PST Gmail Labs, the experimental Gmail playground in which every Google engineer can write a Gmail feature, sometimes retires features that aren’t used very much, and graduates commonly used features, turning them into regular Gmail features. Today, Gmail has retired five features and graduated six others; over the next couple of days, you’ll see the retired features disappear from the Labs. I haven’t really used any of the retired features; if you’ve used any of them and are sorry to see them go, please share it in the comments. The six Labs features that graduated are: 1. Search Autocomplete 2. Go To Label 3. Forgotten Attachment Detector 4. YouTube Previews 5. Custom Label Colors 6. Vacation Dates The five features that were retired are: 1. Muzzle 2. Fixed Width Font 3. Email Addict 4. Location in Signature 5. Random Signature The features that graduated from Labs are either no-brainers, such as autocomplete for Gmail’s search and previews of YouTube videos in emails, or nifty little details, like the Forgotten Attachment Detector which alerts you if you wrote “I’ve attached” in your message but haven’t actually attached a file to it. Tags: gmail, labs

CodeOrgan Translates Web Sites Into Music Posted: 24 Feb 2010 10:30 PM PST File under “strange and delightful” — CodeOrgan is a Flash app that turns any web page into music. It analyses the text in the body of the supplied URL and follows an algorithm to render that site into a musical composition. It chooses a drum pattern, synth style and key based on the contents of the page, and plays back the associated music via the “Play this website” button. After analyzing your URL, you have the option of sharing your results on Facebook and Twitter. The creators, UK-based ad agency DLKW, also report being busy working on an embeddable version of CodeOrgan as well. Mashable is sounding downright jazzy, according to CodeOrgan. What do your favorite sites sound like? [via Make Use Of] Reviews: Facebook, Mashable, Twitter Tags: codeorgan, Flash, music, software, web sites

Chatroulette Explained: 71% Male, 15% Female, 14% Pervert [VIDEO] Posted: 24 Feb 2010 08:41 PM PST The random videoconferencing sensation Chatroulette has been all the rage lately, but we can’t blame you if you haven’t actually given it a try just yet. Casey Neistat approached the new site for a more scientific breakdown of what might be found there, confirming much of our suspicion and hesitation: the average composition on a weekday afternoon includes 14% of users doing things you really don’t want to see. If you’re unfamiliar with the Chatroulette concept, the video below is certainly an entertaining introduction. Be warned there’s some NSFW language in there, although thankfully any truly offensive visuals were left out. chat roulette from Casey Neistat on Vimeo. Have you used Chatroulette? What’s your opinion of the site? [via The Awl via Holykaw] Reviews: Vimeo Tags: chat, chatroulette, nexted, social media, video

Lobby Group Says Open Source Threatens Capitalism Posted: 24 Feb 2010 06:39 PM PST Does advocating the use of open source software make one an enemy of capitalism? Yes, according to a U.S. intellectual property lobby group. The Guardian reports that the International Intellectual Property Alliance, a lobby group broadly representing the RIAA, MPAA and others, has requested that the U.S. government put countries including Indonesia, Brazil, and India on the “Special 301 watchlist.” Special 301 is a report that concerns the “adequacy and effectiveness of intellectual property rights” around the globe. Being put on the associated watchlist effectively puts those countries on a shortlist of governments considered “enemies of capitalism” who aren’t doing enough to protect intellectual property abroad. The reason the IIPA is so concerned about the aforementioned countries? They apparently have the audacity to either use or advocate the use of open source software either in government departments or in state-owned businesses. The lobby group has asked the U.S. Trade Representative to accord countries like Indonesia Special 301 status because they feel that encouraging the use of open source threatens the software industry and devalues intellectual property rights. The IIPA’s recommendation to the USTR includes the following text: “The Indonesian government’s policy… simply weakens the software industry and undermines its long-term competitiveness by creating an artificial preference for companies offering open source software and related services, even as it denies many legitimate companies access to the government market. Rather than fostering a system that will allow users to benefit from the best solution available in the market, irrespective of the development model, it encourages a mindset that does not give due consideration to the value to intellectual creations. As such, it fails to build respect for intellectual property rights and also limits the ability of government or public-sector customers (e.g., State-owned enterprise) to choose the best solutions.” Countries apparently don’t even have to officially legislate the use of open source software; Indonesia has drawn the ire of the IIPA for merely recommending open source software in a circular to government departments. We’re somewhat astonished at the implications of this. What do you think: does open source software somehow inherently threaten intellectual property? Should countries who make use of it in government departments be sanctioned for weakening the software industry? [img credit: David Erickson] [via Computer World UK] Tags: Brazil, india, Indonesia, intellectual property, mpaa, open source, piracy, Political, riaa, software, special 301, trade

Conan O’Brien Officially Joins Twitter Posted: 24 Feb 2010 04:37 PM PST Former The Tonight Show host Conan O’Brien — aka “Coco” — has officially become a Twitterer. A few hours ago, we noticed a new Twitter account, @ConanOBrien, had become active. We contacted Twitter to find out whether this account was the real deal. They told us that they thought it was likely, but were still verifying his identity. Now it’s official: Conan O’Brien is part of the Twitterverse, and his following is growing rapidly. In just a few hours, he has grown to over 50,000 followers and 1000+ lists. Conan gained huge support after an NBC shakeup forced Conan O’Brien out of The Tonight Show. Major Facebook campaigns helped him win the hearts and mind of the Internet. It’s reasonable to believe that he will flourish on Twitter, although we don’t know whether he can surpass Bill Gates’s rapid Twitter growth. Are you going to follow Coco? How should he use his Twitter account? Let us know what you think in the comments. Reviews: Twitter Tags: conan o'brien, social media, trending, twitter

Google Adds Facebook Pages to Real-time Search Posted: 24 Feb 2010 04:26 PM PST Google has announced that it has added a new content source to its real-time search feature: Facebook Pages. Google launched real-time search in December, providing a real-time feed of information from Yahoo Answers, Twitter, blogs, news websites, and other sources for hot or trending search results. Two integrations have lagged though: MySpace and Facebook. Eight days ago, Google added MySpace updates to its stream. And now Google has added Facebook Pages to the mix. Still, Google’s stream doesn’t include public Facebook profiles, something only rival search engine Bing can access. This limits the usefulness of today’s update, but we still welcome the addition. Reviews: Bing, Facebook, Google, MySpace, Twitter Tags: facebook, Google, real-time search

25% of Vevo’s Visitors Only Have Eyes for Lady Gaga Posted: 24 Feb 2010 03:45 PM PST YouTube and Universal’s joint venture music video site Vevo attracted 35 million unique visitors in its first month of existence (per December comScore data), but apparently one-fourth of those visitors are there for Lady Gaga and Lady Gaga alone. According to Ted Mico with Interscope Geffen — part of the Unversal Music Group family — the pop princess’ music videos account for a quarter of Vevo’s total traffic. That staggering statistic was recently revealed by the executive at the Digial Music East conference. While quite remarkable, there does appear to be a self-explanatory reason for this rhyme. CNET writes that, “each time someone searches for a Lada Gaga clip on YouTube, they are sent to a Vevo Web page,” and it does appear that if you search for and select an official Lady Gaga clip, you’re served Vevo’s version of the music video. Without knowing how much traffic YouTube sends to Vevo it’s hard to say whether or not Vevo’s mind-blowing traffic data is all just smoke in mirrors (they’re apparently now seeing billions of page views). One thing does seem to be evident: the relationship between Lady Gaga and Vevo is anything but a bad romance. Reviews: YouTube Tags: Lady Gaga, music, universal music group, vevo, youtube

Random Viral Whatsit of the Day: My Little Pony Musical [VIDEO] Posted: 24 Feb 2010 02:09 PM PST Often, whilst trolling through the feeds, we come across viral sensations that don’t really fit anywhere — aside from lodged in the pleasure center of our fevered brains. Today, that odd puzzle piece something is this video, depicting live-action My Little Ponies singing show tunes. When I happened upon this video yesterday, it had hit maybe 8,000 views on YouTube. Now it has been seen more than 60,000 times and has found its way onto many a video blog. Why? Because it’s freaking weird, that’s why. There’s really no explanation. Personally, I have yet to make it all the way through this video — my hatred of show tunes mingled with my encroaching ADD are both viable reasons — but why don’t y’all take a look and let us know what you think of this viral delight in the comments. Reviews: YouTube, add Tags: humor, pop culture, viral video, youtube

Milestone: iTunes Breaks 10 Billion Song Downloads Posted: 24 Feb 2010 01:57 PM PST It’s official: Apple has broken the 10 billion song barrier. Just a few minutes ago, Apple’s song download counter hit the mark, something it has been counting down to for the last two weeks. Apple has been hitting some nice milestones recently. Just last month, Apple’s app store surpassed three billion downloads, a massive feat especially when you consider that iTunes has also been around longer than the app store. The 10 billion mark is an important reminder of just how powerful Apple has become in the music industry, though. That’s billions in revenue that Apple has generated for the music industry, but also billions that Apple has pocketed for itself. And while digital competitors have popped up, none have come close to Apple’s music dominance. How long until iTunes breaks 20 billion song downloads? We invite you to post your guesses in the comments! Tags: 10 billion, apple, itunes, songs

Mashable’s Weekly Guide to Social Media Job Openings Posted: 24 Feb 2010 01:56 PM PST If you’re seeking a job in social media, we’d like to help out. For starters, Mashable’s Job Lists section gathers together all our resource lists, how-tos and expert guides to help you get hired. In particular, you might want to see our articles on How to Leverage Social Media for Career Success and How to Find a Job on Twitter. But we’d like to help in a more direct way, too. Mashable's job boards are a place for socially-savvy companies to find people like you. This week and every week, Mashable features its coveted job board listings for a variety of positions in the web, social media space, and beyond. Have a look at what's good and new on our job boards: Mashable Job Board Listings Director, US Digital Marketing at Microsoft in Bellevue, WA. The Digital Marketing Director is responsible for driving the next-level innovation and evolution of digital marketing in the US Subsidiary (and across Microsoft). Read more about this opportunity here. Front End Web Developer at The Motley Fool in Alexandria, VA. The Motley Fool is looking for one more experienced, passionate UI-layer developer to join our team. Read more about this opportunity here. Online Buzz Creator at Underground Signs in Brooklyn, NY. Join us in creating a buzz online and off. We’ll even pay you commission for the sales you generate. Read more about this opportunity here. Social Media Freelancer at Hearst Digital Media in New York, NY. The Social Media freelancer will be responsible for developing and executing best practices across our brands, helping create and execute social programming, and helping drive social-related revenues. Read more about this opportunity here. Senior SEO Specialist at Hayneedle, Inc. in Omaha, NE. This individual will be responsible for maintaining and improving the organic health of a portfolio of websites. Read more about this opportunity here. Linux System Administrator at Hayneedle, Inc. in Omaha, NE. The Linux System Administrator is responsible for planning, configuring, testing, deploying, troubleshooting and managing Linux servers. Read more about this opportunity here. Social Media Marketing Intern at eComic Branding in Los Angeles, CA. Social Media Marketing Intern needed for high profile comedian/actor with offices in Hollywood. Position will report to digital marketing agency while working on-site at client’s offices. Read more about this opportunity here. Social Media Coordinator at Dockers in San Francisco, CA. A 3-6 month temporary assignment (potential to become full time) for a Social Media Coordinator who will lead the strategy and execution of the Dockers brand Social Media presence and engagement. Read more about this opportunity here. Software Engineer at Scout Labs in San Francisco, CA. To grow even faster we are looking for an extremely capable and driven Software Engineer who ingests networking code before breakfast and snacks map/reduce jobs for lunch. Read more about this opportunity here. *NIX Technical Support Representative at cPanel Inc. in Houston, TX. cPanel is currently looking for driven individuals to be part of our technical support team. Read more about this opportunity here. Web App developer / Python / MySQL at Fuze Box / TweetShare.com in San Francisco, CA. You will work with a small, talented team in a fast-paced environment at our office in San Francisco, building and scaling out highly entertaining, media rich Internet applications used by millions of people. Read more about this opportunity here. CTO/VP Engineering/Lead Developer at Lightspeed Venture Entrepreneur-In-Residence in New York, NY. We’re looking for a CTO/VP Engineering/Lead Developer to join a New York City-based founding team. Read more about this opportunity here. Sr Account Executive at Deep Focus, Inc in New York, NY. Currently we are looking for a Sr Account Executive to join our growing team. Read more about this opportunity here. Social Media Planner at San Diego Zoo in San Diego, CA. The Social Media Planner performs all job assignments with a positive attitude that reflects the Zoological Society's mission and vision of connecting people to wildlife and conservation and pursues green/conservation practices when feasible Read more about this opportunity here. Drupal Developer / Themer at itsasickness prods in New York, NY. This position works directly with the COO, Designer, and Community Manager to assist with technical build-out/development of our web sites, including our flagship site: www.itsasickness.com. Read more about this opportunity here. Interactive Marketing Manager at Alliance Data in Columbus, OH. Subject matter expert in interactive marketing (including Social Media) who manages the effort to develop best practices, identify opportunities, and create solutions for our Retail clients. Read more about this opportunity here. Designer/Copywriter/Webmaster/Genius at Mutual Mobile Inc. in Austin, TX. We’re looking for someone who fill a number of roles. Read more about this opportunity here. Creative Director at Bazaarvoice in Austin, TX. Bazaarvoice is looking for a Creative Director who will continue to drive our brand forward as we experience robust growth. Read more about this opportunity here. Web Developer – Client Side at iCrossing in Los Angeles, CA. iCrossing, a rapidly growing digital agency, is looking to expand their rich media team in Los Angeles, but we will also consider solid developers for our Reston, VA or NYC offices. Read more about this opportunity here. Social Media Director at Bridging the Divide in Washington DC. Bridging the Divide’s Social Media Director will design and execute our social media strategy. Read more about this opportunity here. Digital Salesperson at RAMP in Los Angeles, CA. We are looking for a digital salesperson who can generate revenue and sales leads for online ads and video wraparounds, as well as larger deals involving corporate sponsorships. Read more about this opportunity here. Content Curator/Social Media Specialist at Quaker City Mercantile in Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia based ad agency, Quaker City Mercantile, is seeking a Content Curator and Social Media Specialist to be responsible for generating content and dialogue for a brand blog along with accompanying social media profiles. Read more about this opportunity here. Associate Creative Director at Ketchum-Digital in New York, NY. The ACD is responsible for leading the Ketchum Digital creative teams in the development of visual design, user experience, brand identity, and content development for print, Web, video and other multimedia solutions. Read more about this opportunity here. Social Media Intern at Maryland Political Candidate in Annapolis, CA. Local Republican candidate for Maryland office is looking for a social media intern to help with his campaign. Read more about this opportunity here. Mashable has a variety of web 2.0, application development, business development, and social networking job opportunities available. Check them out at Mashable's Job Board. Got a job posting to share with our readers? Post a job to Mashable today ($80 for a 30 day listing) and get it highlighted every week on Mashable.com (in addition to exposure all day every day in the Mashable marketplace). Reviews: Linux, Mashable, Python, social media Tags: career, careers, jobs, mashable

10 Essential Chrome Extensions for Web Developers Posted: 24 Feb 2010 01:05 PM PST This series is supported by Rackspace, the better way to do hosting. Learn more about Rackspace’s hosting solutions here. As a web developer, you’re probably among the earliest adopters of new browser technologies. Google’s relatively new Chrome browser is one of those products that developers jumped all over as soon as it became available, but its initial lack of extensions was a dealbreaker for many. Now extensions are supported in Chrome and some of the tools you’re accustomed to using in Firefox have become available, plus a few unique to Chrome. We’ve compiled a list of ten of the most useful Chrome extensions for web developers right here; if you use these extensions, you might even be able to make Chrome your main workhorse. Maybe! Look at the list and give it a try — and if there are any great ones that we missed, be sure and share them with us and the other readers in the comments. 1. Firebug Lite Arguably the most popular Firefox extension for web developers, Firebug lets you look at and edit the HTML, CSS and JavaScript of any page on the fly without leaving your browser. Firebug Lite is a scaled-down version of Firebug made for Chrome. You can inspect a page for errors then quickly edit to fix them. Though Firebug Lite doesn’t have all the same features as Firebug, it has most of the essentials, and there’s a console interface for power users. 2. IE Tab Microsoft’s Internet Explorer web browser is not at all popular with web developers, but it’s by far the most popular browser for the general population. With IE Tab you can open any website in a tab that’s actually running Internet Explorer instead of Chrome. You can make sure your website runs correctly for those millions of people who aren’t using Firefox, Safari, Chrome, or Opera. 3. Eye Dropper With EyeDropper, you can find useful information on any color on a website you’re viewing in Chrome. Click the extension button and a color wheel interface drops down. From there, you can click the color picker button, then click anywhere on the site to see where the color for that pixel falls in the wheel, what its RGB levels are, and what its HTML color code is. 4. Chrome SEO Tapping the Chrome SEO button after the extension has been installed will give you website information that’s important for search engine optimization. You can check backlinks, traffic measures like the Alexa Rank and Google PageRank, popularity on social bookmarking sites like Delicious, and more. 5. Lorem Ipsum Generator The Lorem Ipsum Generator extension will generate filler text for your websites so you can make sure your formatting works well without wasting time typing several paragraphs of text. This extension is lightweight and minimalistic, so it’s easy to use and it won’t take up a lot of memory. That means it’s easy to pop in and out of as needed. 6. Resolution Test Resolution Test’s purpose is right there in the name — it re-sizes the browser window to show what your website will look like at various popular screen resolutions. As a web developer, you probably have a very high-resolution display. Good for you! But most of the visitors to your site don’t; this extension will help you make sure the site’s formatting looks ok to them. 7. Speed Tracer Speed Tracer uses the browser’s built-in metrics tools to record how much time your web application is spending on various tasks so you can find out what the hang-up is if your site is running slowly. It can tell you how much time the browser is spending interpreting layout, Javascript, and other details. The only downside to this useful tool is that for it to work, you have to run the browser with the command line flag “–enable-extension-timeline-api.” But if you’re a developer, that’s probably not a big issue, right? 8. MeasureIt! MeasureIt! is pretty straightforward — it gives you the dimensions (pixel width and height) of any element present in a website you’re looking at. Like a lot of the other extensions on this list, it was previously available for Firefox. 9. Pendule Pendule pops up an easy-to-use, well-laid-out control panel full of miscellaneous tasks helpful to developers. Examples include reloading or disabling CSS, viewing JavaScript scripts, hiding images, a color picker, a display ruler, viewing source, and several script validators. It works well as your basic, catch-all web developer’s extension. 10. BuiltWith BuiltWith gives you a profile of the website you’re hanging out at, including a list of all the technologies it can find there. It will tell you what widgets the site is using, which analytics tracker the webmaster is using, which frameworks are present, which advertising platforms are in use, and so on. Series supported by Rackspace Rackspace is the better way to do hosting. No more worrying about web hosting uptime. No more spending your time, energy and resources trying to stay on top of things like patching, updating, monitoring, backing up data and the like. Learn why. Reviews: Chrome, Delicious, Firefox, Google, Internet Explorer, Opera, Safari Tags: development, extensions, Google, google chrome, rackspace, web development series

Compare Social Media Performance Head-to-Head with uberVu Posted: 24 Feb 2010 12:32 PM PST What Compete does for website analytics uberVU is now trying to do for social media. The company has just launched Compare, a new tool that does instant side-by-side social media performance comparisons by keyword or brand name. Compare offers a freemium social media head-to-head comparison tool where users can input two brand names, keywords or phrases and view charts and graphs on how the entities rank against each other in terms of daily social media mentions, percent share of conversations for a particular site, and various sentiment breakdowns. Premium users can also export the associated data. It’s a simplistic service on first look, especially for non-pro users, but for quick comparisons on products, movies and businesses, Compare overs a convenient glance at the bigger social media picture, especially as it evolves over time. For instance, looking at Avatar against Inglorious Basterds (see screenshot below), you can begin to see the story of how the movies are individually tracking in terms of social media mentions, and how they compare side by side. Given that the tool is simple to use, easy on the eyes, and can be applied to almost any purpose, we can see it becoming an incredibly useful utility (especially to the entertainment industry). uberVU Pro plans start at $29.99 p/month, making the service a reasonably priced alternative to other social media monitoring services on the market. [img credit: rezachka, iStockphoto] Reviews: iStockphoto Tags: MARKETING, social media monitoring, ubervu

Nintendo DSi XL Set for March Launch in U.S. Posted: 24 Feb 2010 12:22 PM PST The Nintendo DSi XL, the latest installment in the Japanese gaming company’s handheld range, has finally been granted a U.S. on-sale date and price tag, some four months after it went on sale in Japan under the name DSi LL. Those hoping to grab the new device — which bucks the trend in the consumer electronics market with its larger-than-previous-model’s-dimensions — should note that it will launch on March 28 for $189.99, around $20 more than its current stablemate. As well as offering a wider viewing angle (better for sharing), the screens of the Nintendo DSi XL are 93% larger than those of the Nintendo DS Lite, which Nintendo says will provide a “more vivid and engaging play experience” appealing to a wider demographic than the older gamers that the platform has attracted. The device comes in burgundy and bronze and includes a larger pen-like stylus offering a more "comfortable grip The handheld will come with some Brain Age trial games pre-loaded, as well as the Nintendo DSi Browser and Flipnote Studio, a creative app that lets users make animations. Other news from Nintendo sees Super Mario Galaxy 2, the sequel to the hit Wii game, launch on May 23, while the 100 Classic Books eBooks offering will go on sale in June for $20 — not exactly a bargain considering such copyright-free titles are available free online, but a price some may be willing to pay. Tags: Nintendo, nintendo ds, video games

Coming to SXSW? Add Yourself to Austin Realtime! Posted: 24 Feb 2010 12:03 PM PST Are you attending Mashable’s MashBash at South by Southwest, the annual festival for geeks, filmmakers and musicians? Before you head off to Austin, Texas, we invite you to add yourself to our Austin Realtime directory — a place to connect with other social media fans in attendance. Austin Realtime, powered by Cliqset and sponsored by Sony Electronics, lets you sign in with Twitter, Facebook or Cliqset and find similar people attending our event. You can tag yourself with topical interests, find others with matching interests, and connect with attendees from your hometown before you set off. You can also add updates from your accounts on Twitter, Foursquare, Gowalla, YouTube and other social networking sites. We hope you’ll find the Austin Realtime directory useful, and hope to see you at Mashable’s MashBash 2010 on Sunday, March 14th. >>Add yourself to Austin Realtime! Many Thanks to our Sponsors: “Cliqset makes it easy for people to share, discover, and discuss content from everywhere on the Web. Cliqset helps you filter through the activity, like status updates, reviews, blog posts, videos, articles, music and pretty much everything that's online, and consume the social stream the way you want to. To connect with Cliqset, visit us at www.cliqset.com.” “Sony Electronics has created high-quality, innovative and stylish products for over 40 years. Thanks to Mashable, Sony's new MP4 bloggie™ camera will make its SXSWi debut. Capturing everyday moments in 1080p HD MP4 video and 5-megapixel photos, the compact device has advanced features like Face Detection and SteadyShot™, a large LCD screen, a built-in USB for uploading and charging, integrated software for easy Web sharing, and allows for expandable storage with Memory Stick PRO Duo™ or SD media cards. The bloggie camera is one of many products just launched under Sony's new global brand message – make.believe. Believe that anything you can imagine, you can make real. For more information go to www.sony.com/bloggie.” Reviews: Facebook, Foursquare, Gowalla, Mashable, Twitter, YouTube Tags: austin, austin realtime, realtime, south by southwest, sxsw

10 Ways to Trick Out Your Barnes & Noble Nook Posted: 24 Feb 2010 11:46 AM PST Before the Apple iPad stole the ebook media limelight with its iBookstore, the Barnes & Noble nook was the most eye-catching e-reader on the market thanks to its second color LCD screen. Although out of stock over the crucial Christmas period, Barnes & Noble has now caught up with demand and is offering the nook in stores as well as online. To celebrate the free-for-all availability of the device, we’ve rounded up 10 excellent accessories for the nook to help enhance your e-reading experience. 1. Nook Backs and Frames Although technically the nook only comes in white, those prepared to pay a little extra can get a color model, thanks to the made-to-measure rear covers and front frames Barnes & Noble offers. The back panel can be replaced with a “Signature Rear Cover” adding not only a burst of color, but a smooth and soft-touch texture while the frames likewise spice up the front. Cost: From $18.95 2. Nook Rechargable Battery Sold as a replacement battery for when your nook’s battery hits its limit as far as charge cycles go, you could also use this as a swap-in option in you’re going to be away from power for longer than the 10 days battery life Barnes & Noble claims, just as long as you are handy with the bundled Philips screwdriver – the use of which is required to carry out the swap. Cost: $29.95 3. Lyra Light The Lyra Light has been designed especially for the nook offering the correct-sized cushioned grip pad to clip onto the top of your ebook reader without obscuring any of the screen. It offers a flexible neck and a white LED light to illuminate the nook’s E-Ink display once the darkness creeps in, meaning you can keep on reading as the lights go down. Cost: $14.95 4. M-Edge FlexStand Bookstand The FlexStand claims to offer “an outstanding hands-free reading solution” with flexible rubber feet and adjustable legs to position your nook just where you want it on flat or sloped surfaces. It can be used in either portrait or landscape positions and the stand curls up for compact on-the-go portability. Cost: $24.99 5. Nook Matte Screen Film Kit While the nook’s innovative dual screen design offers you more than the average e-reader, it also means there’s double the risk of a scratched screen. Keep your nook’s double display blemish-free with this screen kit that offers anti-glare protection, easy application and a cleaning cloth for buffing up your fave e-reader. Cost: $14.95 6. GelaSkins for Nook There’s a whole host of GelaSkin designs available to nook owners offering arty protection for all tastes. If however, none of the designs take your fancy, you can take advantage of the new “Create Your Own” option that lets you decal your nook with your own photo or design for a truly unique cover. Cost: From $19.95 7. TrendyDigital WaterGuard Waterproof Case Offering protection against water, dust, dirt, sand and frost, this waterproof case is a little like an anorak for your nook – it’s not going to win any beauty contests, but it will make sure your $259 gadget is protected on the beach. The nook slips directly into the pouch while the transparent surface claims “easy interaction” with the keyboard and navigation buttons. Cost: $14.49 8. Handmade Case From Etsy There are a plethora of cases for the nook available but if you want to go down the more handmade route, then take a look at what the crafty folk of Etsy are offering. A growing number of sellers are offering handmade cases complete with padding and pockets that will fit the nook in a choice of funky fabrics that you won’t see in the shops. Cost: Varies 9. ColorWare Customization ColorWare will customize a nook to your exact color requirements, offering a palette of shades to color in the front and back of the device, as well as the logo, which you can play around with using the online design studio. The service is available to those who want to send in their existing nook for $135 or for a new model with the nook and customization priced at $410. Cost: $135/$410 10. Oberon Design Leather and Pewter Case Something a little different, Oberon Design’s leather and pewter nook cases are made to order by a few leathergoods artisans in Santa Rosa and offer unusual designs inspired by nature and Celtic art with sun-, dragon-, tree- and flower-themed designs to name just a few. They won’t appeal to everyone, but certainly offer an alternative to the ubiquitous neoprene. Cost: $75 More e-reader resources from Mashable: - Can E-readers and Tablets Save the News? - 10 Must-Read E-books for Social Media Lovers - 10 Excellent Accessories for Your Amazon Kindle - Apple iPad: A Comprehensive Guide - 4 Reasons the Kindle is Dead, 4 Reasons It's Not Tags: barnes and noble, e-books, e-reader, e-readers, List, Lists, nook

Calling All Romantics: Chatroulette Now Has Its Own Missed Connections Posted: 24 Feb 2010 10:44 AM PST If OkCupid just isn’t cutting it these days (despite your revamped snaps), and that chick from the subway refuses to answer your repeated postings to Missed Connections (“You were reading Hesse, I was staring intensely…), have no fear — there’s always Chatroulette. That’s right, Chatroulette now has its very own Missed Connections site. The other week we pointed out that Craigslist Missed Connections has recently been flush with mentions of Chatroulette. Despite some Craigslist lurkers’ suspicions that said postings were made manifest by Chatroulette promoters, the Missed Connections blog reports that it has launched a dedicated site for folks who miss the chance at romance on the controversial video chat site. From the blog post: “Chatroulette missed connection ads have been appearing all over the web, without there being a single place to bring them all together and so the likelihood of reconnections happening is greatly reduced. “The aim of the chatroulette missed connections site is to have all these missed connections under one roof, whether they are posted on Missed Connections or on Craigslist, and so people who lost each other on Chatroulette have a better chance of finding each other again.” How romantic. This move calls into question the future of the site, which has basically been pegged as a venue for gentlemen to show off their — ahem — equipment. If people could potentially be finding romance via Chatroulette, could it have a future as a legit social network? Or would any kind of structure lead to its eminent demise as a novelty item? What do you think? Reviews: Craigslist, Missed Connections Tags: chatroulette, online dating, video

YouTube: Rickroll Removal Was a Mistake Posted: 24 Feb 2010 10:13 AM PST Update: It’s back! See below. This morning we reported that YouTube had taken down the famed Rickroll video, breaking the hearts of many an Internet prankser. Well, we contacted YouTube and apparently it was a big ol’ mistake. Rickroll should be back in action soon, giving credence to the words: “Never gonna give you up.” The YouTube rep we contacted informed us that the video removal was “a mistake.” Below is the official statement from YouTube: “With 20 hours of video uploaded every minute to YouTube, we count on our community members to know our Community Guidelines and to flag content they believe violates them. We review all flagged content quickly, and if we find that a video does violate the guidelines, we remove it, on average in under an hour. We also have a team that is dedicated to identifying and removing spam from YouTube. Occasionally, an account flagged by users or identified by our spam team is mistakenly taken down. When this is brought to our attention, we move quickly to take appropriate action, including restoring videos that had been mistakenly removed and channels that have been mistakenly suspended.” Reviews: YouTube Tags: humor, viral video, youtube

Apple Could Bring Sexy Back to the App Store With New “Explicit” Category Posted: 24 Feb 2010 09:58 AM PST Apple’s been doing some early spring cleaning in the iTunes App Store when it comes to sexual content, but new developer parameters hint at a future where “explicit” applications could find their way back into the store. Apple recently removed upwards of 5,000 apps with sexually “objectionable” content from the App Store. Per Phil Schiller’s statements to The New York Times, the move served to pander to parents and prep for the iPad. Still, there may be more to the story, as developers have uncovered a new category dubbed “explicit” in iTunes Connect. As Recombu reports, now when developers submit their applications to Apple via iTunes Connect they have a new option to select “Explicit” as the primary category, which did not exist before. The back-end only category could be a placeholder for a future iTunes App Store front-end that may serve as a more restricted corner of the market for those of us who are 18 and over and want our apps on the naughty side. If Apple has felt the weight of the blogosphere’s disapproval in recent days, it has yet to show visible signs of sweat. Bloggers are taking the company to task for further restricting and removing App Store content based on its own subjective criteria. The maneuver, as others have also suggested, could be part of a very calculated strategy to make the app store more parent and child-friendly in light of the iPad’s pending release date. Should Apple soften its restrictions and support an explicit category in the App Store, we doubt it will be as simple as just another App Store category. Accessing and downloading apps with sexual content will likely involve additional measures as Apple moves to maintain the store’s overall ambiance and aesthetic. Of course we’ll continue to monitor the story as it develops and report when we know more on the matter. Update: New reports indicate the explicit category has already disappeared. Gizmodo writes that a developer “just got off the telephone with Apple, who confirmed the removal.” [img credit: recombu] Tags: apple, itunes, iTunes Store, porn, sex

Half of Public Wi-Fi Connections Aren’t From Laptops [STATS] Posted: 24 Feb 2010 09:05 AM PST Mobile ad network JiWire just released the stats from its latest public Wi-Fi study and found that 56% of connections are from mobile devices like the iPhone, the iPod touch, Android smartphones and Sony’s PSP handheld gaming console. JiWire serves ads through public Wi-Fi spots in places like airports, coffee shops and hotels. Last year it published another interesting stat: Just shy of 98% of mobile devices that connect to public Wi-Fi are made by Apple. The iPod touch and iPhone took 55.95% and 41.7%, respectively. Those numbers have slipped slightly since then, with Google Android devices passing Sony’s PSP to take the third-place spot on the list. Public Wi-Fi hotspots grew in ubiquity by 21.9% in 2009, and about half of public Wi-Fi spots are free. JiWire also found that 49% of mobile Wi-Fi users make online purchases on the go. Amazon and eBay were unsurprisingly named two of the most popular online shopping destinations for the folks who were surveyed. The insight we’re taking away from these numbers is that the world is changing very quickly; it was only a few years ago that most cellphones and other mobile devices didn’t have Wi-Fi capability. Reviews: Amazon.com Tags: android, iphone, iPod Touch, jiwire, PSP, wi-fi

Bloom Unveils Its Game Changing Energy Box [PICS] Posted: 24 Feb 2010 08:40 AM PST I’m here at eBay Headquarters in San Jose, CA for the launch of Bloom Energy’s Bloom Box, a fuel cell device that promises to power your whole house with a handheld-sized box. It made worldwide headlines after the Bloom Box’s appearance on CBS’ 60 Minutes. The room is packed with dozens of cameras, reporters, investors, and special guests. We have been told that both former Secretary of State Colin Powell (a Bloom Energy board member) and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger are here for the launch. The tight security here at eBay HQ is definitely a sign that the heavyweights have rolled into town. I’m going to provide a play-by-play of today’s launch below, along with pictures from the event. The Bloom Box: The Live Details First, here’s an image explaining how the Bloom Box works: And here’s a picture of the Bloom Boxes already in use at eBay HQ: - 8:45 AM: They have asked everyone to silence cell phones as they are about to begin the program. - 8:47 AM: Colin Powell has just entered the room and sat down in the front row. - 8:48 AM: A short one-minute introduction video has just played - 8:50 AM: The CEO of Bloom Energy has just introduced Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is now speaking. When your company can bring the governator to your launch, you know you have a lot of buzz. - Arnold is now introducing some of the key people in the room, including Colin Powell, former Secretary of State Greg Schultz, and others. - Arnold: Bloom Boxes have the potential to revolutionize the energy industry. - “A wave of green is washing over California.” The governor is touting the green initiatives of the state. - Arnold has proposed a law to exempt green technologies from the sales tax, which would cover Bloom Energy. “Jobs, jobs, jobs, right now.” - Now the CEO of Bloom Box, KR Sridhar, Ph.D., is speaking again, after a photo op with the governor. He started with his past as a rocket scientist at NASA, working on a way to create atmospheric gases on Mars. - Mr. Sridhar is talking about the energy problem, that you couldn’t mine or drill to solve the problem. - Now he is talking about innovations and the evolution of products such as computers to laptops, and telephones to mobile phones. He is focusing on reliability and affordability to make any technology mainstream. However, clean energy hadn’t reached that point when they started Bloom Energy. - Goal on the powerpoint: “To make clean reliable energy affordable for everyone in the world.” - In 1839, Alexander Grove invented the fuel cell, according to the slide. - KR has now lifted a cloth on a box and revealed…sand! It is the core of Bloom Energy’s technology, he says. - The Bloom Fuel Cell is a thin sheet that utilizes “a flat piece of sand,” making it affordable. - If you have the choice of multiple fuels, you can arbitrage to get the cheapest fuel possible. Essentially, the box needs an imput, but you can choose what input, e.g. natural gas. - The formula is essentially fuel + air = electricity. - He just showed off one of the concepts of the future — using solar energy and a Bloom Box to not only power your home, but your hybrid car as well. Cool depiction of this technology: - The carbon footprint is half of the grid and twice as efficient, Bloom Energy’s CEO says. - One fuel cell produces 25 watts. although he thinks it will be a lot more soon. - One stack of fuel cells – 1 kilowatt, enough to power the average U.S. home 24/7, 365. - Take the stacks and put them into a box the size of a fridge and you get a module, which creates 25 kilowatts of power, enough to power a “small Starbucks.” - A system creates 100 kilowatts, which can power a supermarket. - A solution (put a couple modules into a system and then get a couple of systems together) can create 250-500 kilowatts, which companies like eBay and Google currently use to power their data centers and campuses. - “I would like to introduce to you the Bloom Energy server.” They just rolled out the big Bloom boxes. - 3 major value propositions: lower energy costs, clean power, and reliable power. - First point: The box has a 3-5 year payback period, and fixed energy prices for the next ten years. - Second point: the carbon footprint is 50% cleaner than the grid and 100% renewable. - Third point: 24/7/365 power with always-on modular architecture. If a box or unit has to be fixed, it will still generate power, like a server farm. - They have created 11,000,000 kilowatts so far. - Foundation partners/customers: Coca-Cola, Bank of America, eBay, Cox Enterprises, FedEx, Walmart, Staples, and Google. - They are now going to do a panel with some of their top customers, discussing the Bloom Boxes. Panel: Bloom Box Customers - Waiting for the CEO of Bloom Energy to introduce the panel. - This is an all-star panel. - Moderator: John Doerr, partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, an investor in Bloom Energy.. Panelists: John Donahoe of eBay, Bill Simon, the COO of Walmart, Rob Carter, CIO and EVP of FedEx, Jim Kennedy, the Chairman of Cox Enterprises, Brian Kelly, President of Coca Cola, and Larry Page, Co-Founder of Google. Getting all of the names now. - eBay’s CEO is talking about the Bloom Boxes on campus and how they power about 15% of the campus. - Now Walmart’s COO is about to talk. - He is speaking about saving money through a wider rollout of Bloom Energy, solar, and other green technologies being used by Walmart. - Coca-Cola: We are aggressive about having clean, off-the-grid energy. They have a goal to have the same carbon footprint in 2015 as they did in 2004, regardless of their growth. - Jim Kennedy of Cox Enterprises is speaking about his company’s use of the Bloom Box. - Larry Page, Co-Founder of Google, is now speaking. Google says it is “a privilege to be the first customer of Bloom.” - He’s telling a story about how he learned about the boxes — people thought they were transformers as it was very secretive at the time. There are also a lot of benefits to having power generated closer to where it’s being used. - Walmart is the first company to deploy Bloom Boxes on multiple sites. Two locations in California. - We’re going to go visit the Bloom Boxes on eBay’s campus after this event and the Q&A. - Now they’re playing a video with people talking about the Bloom Box. California Senator Diane Feinstein and NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg have popped up so far. Also in the video: T.J. Rodgers, Founder and CEO of Cypress Semiconductor; Patrick Pichette, CFO of Google; Vinod Khosla, Founder of Khosla Partners; Scott Sandell, Partner at NEA. - Final keynote speaker: Colin Powell Colin Powell Keynote - Colin Powell is on the board of Bloom Energy and one of its investors. - “I used to have 4 million employees.” He is talking about taking along noisy generators on the battlefield, and that they’re always looking for these types of innovative things to improve efficiency. - He joined Kleiner Perkins and that is how he first visited Bloom Energy — when it was still a company in a garage. - Colin is speaking about how to create new jobs and reliable energy. He’s talking about the economic growth of China and the rise of the middle class there. - He joined the board last year after KR asked him to join. - Can fuel cells really work? Will it work for 10-20 years? Colin says the proof is in the pudding with customers who are already satisfied, but there’s a lot more that has to be done. - Now it’s time for Q&A and the tour. More Pics Outside the eBay Town Hall, where the Bloom Box is launching: Everybody grabs breakfast as they wait to be let in: The Fuel Cell is not a new technology: Reviews: Google, cool Tags: bloom box, bloom energy, energy

Scribd Makes Online Documents E-Reader and Smartphone-Friendly Posted: 24 Feb 2010 08:28 AM PST Scribd — the online document-hosting service — is announcing a major play for the mobile device document market today: a new send-to-device feature, pending mobile apps, and fresh e-reader and smartphone APIs. Scribd’s send-to-device function is a fantastic feature for consuming cloud-based docs on the go. Users can now send all Scribd documents to e-readers and smartphones for a mobile-friendly version on everything from the Kindle and Nook to iPhone and Android devices. Essentially almost any mobile device can now double as a gateway to consume files hosted online via Scribd. The send-to-device feature is nice, but it’s just a small part of Scribd’s mobile strategy. Come March you can expect Scribd iPhone and Android applications that will bring a more robust version of the document service to smartphones with support for Scribd search, browsing and social media sharing. Plus the new e-reader and mobile device APIs will enable developers and device makers to further integrate and support Scribd’s vast repository of online documents. The company is also planning to make PDF documents available in EPUB format, a popular open standard for e-books and the same format that iBooks (on the iPad) supports. Ultimately the idea is to make Scribd universally accessible. It’s a smart strategy given the array and popularity of e-readers, the fact that smartphones are selling like crazy, and the notion that the mobile web is taking over the world. Reviews: Android, iPhone Tags: APIs, Mobile 2.0, scribd

The Science of Building Trust With Social Media Posted: 24 Feb 2010 07:22 AM PST The Internet-era has made establishing trust an increasingly complicated issue. Our finely tuned ability to read facial expressions does not apply to e-mail, and emoticons are, at best, an imperfect substitute for sarcastic inflection (raise your hand if you've ever gotten into trouble for typing something that was meant to be a joke). So, how can we establish trust when our online identities are often little more than an avatar and few lines of text? Fortunately, some in the scientific community have taken it upon themselves to help us through the confusion. Through both laboratory studies and field observation of people conversing over the Internet, scientists can survey when participants are likely to trust word-of-mouth or stab an absent colleague in the back. I sat down with a leading figure in this field, Professor Judy Olson, to talk about the essentials of building trust with digital communication. The Psychology of Trust Olson's findings are based on a pillar of psychological research: People are willing to pass judgment, with or without good information. Where examples of one's competence or reputation are lacking, people will construct whole profiles of another's personality from what little information is available. For instance, psychologists have found that when judging our own mistakes, we tend to blame the situation (traffic, a problem at work, an overbearing partner, etc.). When others make a mistake, we tend to blame their personality (they're selfish, incompetent, uncaring, etc). Why? For ourselves, we have a full plate of information to link any series of situations to the cause of our misbehavior. For others, we see only the mistake itself; constructing a personality in explanation of that mistake is the shortest path from confusion to simplicity. This fact leads Olson to one of her most important findings. Responsiveness Is Key for Digital Communication In e-mail, Linkedin and Facebook messages, much of the traditional markers of trust, such as voice intonation and body language, are hidden. Olson finds that when only text is available, participants judge trustworthiness based on how quickly others respond. So, for instance, it is better to respond to a long Facebook message "acknowledging" that you received the message, rather than to wait until there's time to send a more thorough first message. Wait too long and you are likely to be labeled "unhelpful,” along with a host of other expletive-filled attributions the mind will happily construct. Psychologically speaking, responsiveness makes it easier for others to attribute our misdeeds to the situation, rather than our personality. If you find keeping up with multiple inboxes difficult, you might consider having sites such as Linkedin and Facebook send e-mail alerts. Then, only archive the e-mail once the message has been responded to. The same advice holds true for a medium such as Twitter, where one's identity is represented by little more than a small square avatar and 140 characters of text. Earlier this month, when Southwest and director Kevin Smith went head to head, Southwest's social media team jumped into the fray immediately with this tweet: While reactions to Southwest's decision to eject Smith from his flight have been mixed, its immediate response on a Saturday night allowed the company to be perceived as committed to a controversial policy, rather than a much worse alternative: ambivalent to customer concerns. There are also other great examples of responsiveness, for those of us not in charge of a major airline's public relations. The Veggie Grill, an up-and-coming vegetarian restaurant in Southern California, responded to a customer's request for a particular dish via Twitter: Veggie Grill's responsiveness seems to have paid off: @quarrygirl devoted an entire blog post to reviewing her meal. She sealed the experience with a statement that must have made Veggie Grill quite happy, "Please take my advice and get out to the veggie grill el segundo location NOW. and if you can't go now, be sure to go ASAP." The Hierarchy of Trusted Communication Not all forms of communication are created equal. For establishing trust, video is better than audio (with no video), and audio is better than a chat window. The logic of this hierarchy seems intuitive: People communicate as much, if not more, with how an idea is conveyed, than with what it said. Shifty eyes and raised shoulders can reveal anxiety; intonation can convey passion. The more non-substantive information the medium can convey, the more data a listener has to decide how trustworthy the speaker is. For instance, when Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger wanted to thank his Twitter followers for sending useful ideas on how to reduce government waste, he went straight to video: It's all too common for politicians to send out a “thank you” statement to constituents. Schwarzenegger, with rolled-up sleeves and clearly unscripted message, took a giant leap forward on the scale on authenticity. Schwarzenegger is not alone in the video-making department. In 2009, Domino's Pizza president, Patrick Doyle, twice went in front of a camera to express his frustration, once to apologize for a nauseating employee YouTube prank, and again to pledge to make a tastier pizza. Below is a video of Doyle's apology overlaid with a graph of user reaction. Notice how the confidence meter spikes and dips along with his inflection. Curiously enough, the use of video has been absent from many of social media's biggest crises. Facebook's privacy blunder and Southwest's aforementioned tiff with Kevin Smith both sought to redeem shattered trust with a disembodied message. When so much of our trust is based on body language and inflection, why not use video? What do you think, should Facebook and Southwest have used video to respond to critics? Conclusion Few, if any, educational institutes teach the art of proper digital communication. Most of us have simply made up an impromptu strategy and crossed our fingers in the hopes that disaster doesn’t strike. With a bit of help from our friends in the fields of psychology and information technology, we can apply the age-old intuitions of face-to-face conversation to whatever advances in technology come our way. More social media resources from Mashable: - 3 Ways Educators Are Embracing Social Technology - Top 5 Must-Read Social Media Books - Social Media Can Change The World Through Common Ground - 5 Ways Social Media Is Changing Our Daily Lives - How Social Media is Taking the News Local Images courtesy of iStockphoto, CHRISsadowski, pavlen Reviews: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, iStockphoto Tags: arnold schwarzenegger, business, communication, e-mail, kevin smith, MARKETING, politics, psychology, Science, social media, social networks, Southwest, trending, Trust, twitter, video, youtube

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