Mashable: Latest 25 News Updates - including “We Interrupt Our Regular Programming: YouTube is Down” |  |
- We Interrupt Our Regular Programming: YouTube is Down
- iPhone, Firefox, Safari, IE8 Hacked at Pwn2Own Contest
- Mysterious Monkey of Tampa Bay is a Facebook Phenomenon
- WordPress Founder: Open Source Is About People, Not Technology
- Naked Apartments Strips the Hassle out of Real Estate Hunting
- Android Tablet Prototypes Support Flash [VIDEO]
- Mashable’s Weekly Guide to Social Media Jobs
- Online Dating Is Bigger Than Porn [Infographic]
- 5 Ways to Get Involved With Twestival
- GoDaddy to Stop Offering Chinese Domain Names
- Biden “Big f*cking deal!” Gaffe Inspires Internet Entrepreneurs to Cash in
- Google Bookmarks Adds Lists Feature for Social Bookmarking
- How Pixar Creates Great Films and Balances Art, Tech and Success
- Lady Gaga First Artist with One Billion Online Video Views
- Wikipedia Goes Down [Updated]
- Gmail Adds New Security Features
- 10 Beautiful Free Blogger Templates
- KoldCast Brings Its Web Shows to Boxee
- Facebook Blamed for Rise of Syphilis in UK
- Vlingo Reads Texts Aloud While You Drive
- New Dating Site Hooks Up Gamers with Girls… for a Price
- Why Your Brand Needs to Be on Facebook Now
- Microsoft Testing Enterprise Microblogging Product
- Music Matters Tries to Make You Feel Guilty About Piracy
- Hacked? Google Corporate Pages Temporarily Switch to Chinese
- Digg’s iPhone App Is Now Available
| We Interrupt Our Regular Programming: YouTube is Down Posted: 25 Mar 2010 04:20 AM PDT  
Currently, there’s no word from Google about the reasons for the outage; we have contacted Google and will update this post when we learn more. *Update: interestingly enough, the videos on YouTube seem to work, only the front page seems to be affected.
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| iPhone, Firefox, Safari, IE8 Hacked at Pwn2Own Contest Posted: 25 Mar 2010 02:57 AM PDT 
Nearly all major browsers – Firefox, Safari, IE8 – were hacked at the contest. A non-jailbroken iPhone was also hacked and its SMS database stolen. Vincenzo Iozzo and Ralf Philipp Weinmann sent an iPhone to a web site they’d set up, crashing its browser and then stealing its entire SMS database (including some erased messages). It is possible, however, to set up a similar attack to work without crashing the browser, hackers claim, and set up different attack payloads. Iozzo and Weinmann won a $15,000 prize for successfully demonstrating the attack. Details about the attack will be released once Apple is notified and the security hole is patched. Charlie Miller, principal security analyst at Independent Security Evaluators, managed to hack Safari on a MacBook Pro without physical access, which won him $10,000. Nils (no last name given), head of research at UK-based MWR InfoSecurity, won $10,000 for hacking Firefox, and independent security researcher Peter Vreugdenhil won the same amount for hacking IE8. All the browser attacks were done by having the browser visit a malicious web site; although full details aren’t disclosed, Cnet has some more technical info on the attacks. Reviews: Firefox, Safari Tags: Firefox, hack, hackers, IE8, iphone, Pwn2Own, safari
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| Mysterious Monkey of Tampa Bay is a Facebook Phenomenon Posted: 24 Mar 2010 08:24 PM PDT 
Since then, the local media has latched onto the case, with the St Petersburg Times devoting a microsite to the primate. In recent days, the story has garnered national attention, and the most recent update to a Facebook Page for the creature indicates that there have been 15,000+ new fans added in the past day thanks to coverage on the Today Show and in USA Today. Like other infamous Facebook fugitives, fans are posting wall comments in droves, encouraging the elusive monkey to continue to fight the good fight when it comes to evading authorities. There are also the requisite mock campaign posters and lolcats knock-offs. Of course, this is all made considerably more humorous by the fact that the subject of the fan page is, after all, a monkey. Facebook's favorite primate lists his personal interests as "Bananas, swinging through trees, messing with the popo, flinging feces, screetching at the top of my lungs, and basically hanging out with my peeps. I am also interested in the theory of relativity, and post modern art. I also like the warm sun, a cold cervesa, and a nice grouper sandwich."  For more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on FacebookReviews: Facebook, Twitter Tags: facebook, internet memes, social media
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| WordPress Founder: Open Source Is About People, Not Technology Posted: 24 Mar 2010 05:40 PM PDT 
Now one of the biggest forces in social media, founder of WordPress Matt Mullenweg, has taken the stage to speak about the open source movement, the origins of WordPress, and how it has fostered innovation. Here are my notes on his talk: Open Source and the Origins of WordPressMullenweg opened by remarking that open source is not about technology, but about people. He focused a little on the history of open source — he believes it started in 1984 at MIT. Since then, there has been a slow transformation of how we view software, from proprietary to free and open-source. The birth of Linux was one of the major turning points for open source. WordPress’s founder then focused on his own story of starting WordPress: he didn’t build the software from the ground-up, but looked to the open source software that he was using at that time to blog. That software was b2/cafelog. When he and his partner Ryan Boren realized that it was abandoned, they decided to build on top of it to create a better open source blog software, the beginnings of WordPress. A few years after he built WordPress, he built the company that now surrounds it: Automattic. The Automattic empire not only includes WordPress and WordPress.com, but Gravatar, Akismet, blo.gs, IntenseDebate, and PollDaddy. He also built his company to be an international, telecommuting company, because he wanted to get the best talent, no matter where they were. In fact, only six WordPress employees are in the Bay Area. Software Has ChangedSoftware design has fundamentally changed, Mullengweg said. There is no such thing as a “killer feature” anymore because of extensions and plug-ins — if an app like Firefox or WordPress doesn’t have the feature you want, you can add it with an API or a plug-in. It means that everybody has a different, unique version of WordPress, and thus it changes how he builds on his platform. The audience got a chance to ask questions; the big one was about how WordPress makes money. The answer: Back-up services, hosting, anti-spam, and other paid upgrades make the majority of revenues. While not many users buy these features, when you have millions of users it adds up. He also is happy that its revenue model isn’t overwhelming its users. Overall, Matt Mullenweg is one of the biggest and most prominent proponents of open source. It promotes innovation because it allows developers to share ideas and code to build better ideas for less of a cost. WordPress’s founder said that the city of San Francisco this year will spend more on software than WordPress has spent in its entire time of existence. He hopes that eventually that kind of spending will go away as open source becomes a more integral component of our lives. Your ThoughtsWhat do you think of the open source movement? Is it essential to the future of software? Is it monetizable and sustainable? Is Matt right when he says open source is about people, not technology? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. For more technology coverage, follow Mashable Tech on Twitter or become a fan on FacebookReviews: Facebook, Firefox, Gravatar, Linux, Twitter, WordPress Tags: innovation, Inovation Conference, matt mullenweg, The Economist, Wordpress
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| Naked Apartments Strips the Hassle out of Real Estate Hunting Posted: 24 Mar 2010 04:16 PM PDT 
Quick Pitch: The Match.com for NYC real estate. Naked Apartments pairs ideal brokers with the right renters to simplify the apartment search. Genius Idea: If you live in New York, you know that there are two things that are almost impossible to find: a stable, healthy relationship… and an apartment. Well, Naked Apartments ain’t gonna find you a husband (unless you end up with your broker), but it will match you up — online dating-style — with the broker for you. Naked Apartments soft launched back in September, and there are already 15,000 apartments available on the site — 5,000 with no fee, which is a major score in NYC, where broker’s fees can cost more than rent. The site is pretty easy to use. Just sign up by creating a profile (just like you would on OKCupid or Nerve), but instead of entering in your hobbies and preference for 5-7 children, fill in all the usual apartment-hunting info: preferred neighborhood, rent range, etc. You can also indicate how dire it is that you move in by your preferred move-in date. Round it all out with a credit check and you’re good to go (this is a cool feature, too, as often the credit check comes after you’ve found a place and signed a ton of paperwork — seriously, scoring an apartment in NYC is like obtaining the Lost Ark).  The cool part of the site comes next. While you can still search for apartments (check out the brand new condo I found below whilst scanning the Brooklyn neighborhood of Williamsburg) all by your lonesome, brokers can also contact you based on your profile and show off their listings. Your interaction will be completely anonymous until you choose to exchange information. We at the New York Mashable offices are completely down with any tool that makes finding new digs in the big city easier, and we like the anonymity and security that the site provides and we hope that Naked Apartments expands to other cities as well. Naked Apartments also made a video tour for those less into reading. Check it out below: For more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on FacebookSponsored by Microsoft BizSpark
Entrepreneurs can take advantage of the Azure Services platform for their website hosting and storage needs. Microsoft recently announced the “new CloudApp()” contest – use the Azure Services Platform for hosting your .NET or PHP app, and you could be the lucky winner of a USD 5000* (please see website for official rules and guidelines)." Reviews: Facebook, PHP, Twitter Tags: MARKETING, online dating, real estate
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| Android Tablet Prototypes Support Flash [VIDEO] Posted: 24 Mar 2010 03:16 PM PDT 
As we’ve said before, the age of the tablet is really just getting started (…again). Apple was the first manufacturer to make a big splash with the iPad, but even back in January there were already a number of other tablets starting to emerge — and now analysts estimate at least 50 tablet devices will make it to market before the year’s end. A good number of those may end up having both Android and NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 platform under the hood, and those devices will come with Flash playback. We had a chance to sit down with Bill Henry, director of Tegra product management at NVIDIA, earlier today at CTIA to get a live demo of a few working tablet prototypes running Android and powered by the Tegra chip. Check out the video demos below to get a look at the browser in action, an Android version of Wired’s app we’ve seen previously for the iPad, a couple of game demos and some background on how the Tegra 2 platform allows for video-intensive Flash playback without crippling your battery life. NVIDIA Tegra Android Tablet Browser DemoWired App and Fickleblox DemoGame Demo: BackbreakerReviews: Android Tags: android, CTIA, gadgets, NVIDIA, tablets, tegra
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| Mashable’s Weekly Guide to Social Media Jobs Posted: 24 Mar 2010 03:15 PM PDT 
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 ListingsInteractive Media Coordinator at National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in New York, NY.
Read more about this opportunity here. Senior Social Media Strategist at a confidential company in London, UK.
Read more about this opportunity here. Manager of Web Analytics at Product Partners in Santa Monica, CA.
Read more about this opportunity here. Web Developer at Mindgruve in San Diego, CA.
Read more about this opportunity here. Manager, Online Experience at Product Partners in Santa Monica, CA.
Read more about this opportunity here. Consultant – Digital Strategic Services at The Nielsen Company in Covington, KY.
Read more about this opportunity here. Information Architect at Gannett Co. in Fairfax, VA.
Read more about this opportunity here. SEO Manager at Village Voice Media in Phoenix, AZ.
Read more about this opportunity here. Software Engineer at NationalField in Washington DC.
Read more about this opportunity here. SEO Specialist at Volusion in Austin, TX.
Read more about this opportunity here. Lots of positions at WellGood Classrooms LLC in New York, NY.
Read more about this opportunity here. HR Manager at Rauxa Direct in New York, NY.
Read more about this opportunity here. Account Executive at Virilion in Washington, DC.
Read more about this opportunity here. Social Media Manager at TheStreet.com in New York.com.
Read more about this opportunity here. ChatRoulette Persona and Interviewer at SideTaker.com in New York, NY (telecommute).
Read more about this opportunity here. Internet Marketing Manager at Veolia in Chicago, IL.
Read more about this opportunity here. Digital Strategist at A Squared Group in West Hollywood, CA.
Read more about this opportunity here. Project Manager – Operations at United Way in Chicago, IL.
Read more about this opportunity here. Senior Business Consultant at Stratigent in Warrenville, IL.
Read more about this opportunity here. Communications Manager at Momentum Worldwide in London, UK.
Read more about this opportunity here. Business/Technology Online Content Manager at TMG in Washington DC.
Read more about this opportunity here. Communications/PR Intern at BlogTalkRadio in New York, NY.
Read more about this opportunity here. Editorial Intern at BlogTalkRadio in New York, NY.
Read more about this opportunity here. Web Developer at dealspl.us in San Jose, CA.
Read more about this opportunity here. ASP.NET Developer at MindComet in Florida.
Read more about this opportunity here. National Community Manager at Citysearch in West Hollywood, CA.
Read more about this opportunity here. Social Media / Marketing Intern at Iris Fields, Inc. in New York, NY.
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 ($99 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: Mashable, social media Tags: career, careers, job, jobs
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| Online Dating Is Bigger Than Porn [Infographic] Posted: 24 Mar 2010 02:52 PM PDT 
Per the graphic — which pulls data from a number of sources, including Reuters and The Washington Post — online dating is worth more than one billion dollars per year, with the mobile phone dating market worth $550 million. Sadly, we all seem to be misrepresenting ourselves to attract an online mate. Men lie about their age, height and income, while women distort the truth about their weight, physical build and age. Though that doesn’t appear to stop online daters from marrying much faster than their offline counterparts, especially should the couple in question have met on eHarmony.  [via BuzzFeed] For more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on FacebookReviews: Facebook, Twitter Tags: online dating, social media
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| 5 Ways to Get Involved With Twestival Posted: 24 Mar 2010 01:50 PM PDT 
Last year, Twestival helped raise over $250,000 for Charity: Water, and including last fall’s Twestival Local, the organization raised three quarters of a million dollars for charities in 2009. Over $185,000 have already been raised this year in advance of tomorrow’s event (and you can track that number on the Twestival Results page). Here are five ways you can get involved. 1. Attend or Volunteer at a Local EventTwestival events are happening in over 175 cities around the world at venues ranging from nightclubs to schools and all ticket proceeds go to Concern Worldwide. You can find the one closest to you by spinning the globe on Twestival.com or using the handy iPhone app. Because the events are 100% volunteer run, if you have any spare time to donate, contact your local event organizers and volunteer. A number of Mashable staff members will be on hand at Twestival events. Be sure to say hello! Attending the New York City Twestival:
Attending the San Francisco Twestival:
Attending the Las Vegas Twestival:
2. Donate Online If you can’t make it to a local event, or one isn’t being held in your area (hint: you could volunteer to organize one next year!), you can still donate to the Twestival cause online. You can send money directly to Concern Worldwide via PayPal by clicking on the “Donate” button on Twestival.com or on any of the individual Twestival event pages. Many city event pages have a donation counter for that particular city, so you can help out your hometown in a friendly fundraising competition by donating via their page. PayPal has agreed to waive fees for Twestival funds up to $1 million between March 12 and April 2, so you can be sure that 100% of your donation will go to charity. 3. Bid in the Twestival AuctionAnother way to give is by bidding on items in the Twestival Charity Auction on eBay. The auction runs until Friday March 26, and includes a large number of items donated by celebrities, including signed books and memorabilia from Alyssa Milano, Jamie Oliver, and Margaret Atwood, and “experience items,” like behind the scenes tours with Stephen Fry or Ann Curry. If celebrity auction items aren’t your cup of tea, you could also show your support by purchasing an official Twestival t-shirt, with 100% of the profits going to Concern Worldwide. (Twestival is also selling a book recapping last year’s event, sales of which benefit Charity: Water.) Full disclosure: Mashable donated items to the Twestival Auction. 4. Tweet Your Support Twestival isn’t just about raising money — it’s also about building awareness for a worthy cause. Last year, that cause was making sure everyone in the world has access to potable water. This year, it’s making sure every child in the world has access to quality education. One way to do that is to get involved with Twestival on Twitter. Start by following both @Twestival and this year’s benefactor @Concern on Twitter. Then, tweet some facts about education in the world’s poorest countries to your followers and start spreading awareness. Another way to show your support is to switch up your Twitter avatar for a special Twestival-branded one using Twibbon. 5. Listen to Twestival FMYou can also support Twestival by listening to its Twitter-powered radio station, Twestival FM, which features streamed music tracks donated by bands from around the world. In exchange for all that free music (many of the tracks are downloadable), Twestival FM asks that you make a small donation whenever you hear something you like and tweet about your favorite tracks to spread the word to others. As always, all donations support Concern Worldwide. How are you getting involved with Twestival? For more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on FacebookReviews: Facebook, Mashable, Twitter Tags: charity, List, Lists, social good, social media, twestival, twestival global, twitter
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| GoDaddy to Stop Offering Chinese Domain Names Posted: 24 Mar 2010 01:07 PM PDT 
GoDaddy is explaining its decision — announced today — before the Congressional Executive Commission on China, which is holding a hearing related to Google and Internet control. During the hearing, GoDaddy’s Christine Jones explains that the decision has to do with new requirements that require .cn domain registrants to provide a headshot along with additional Chinese business identification information. When asked directly, Jones admits that GoDaddy was involved as a victim in the December cyber attack, which she says was “designed to disable websites that somebody doesn’t like.” She claims, however, that Google’s public acts around uncensored search did not play into GoDaddy’s decision, instead she says that GoDaddy no longer wanted to “act as agent of the Chinese government.” On GoDaddy’s decision, The Washington Post also writes:
Congressional chair Byron Dorgan doesn’t mince words, saying that he assumes that China’s interest in the additional registrant details is to “intimidate and track down certain dissidents in China.” Of course this hearing comes on the heels of the continued contentious relationship between Google and China. Participants include representatives from Google, GoDaddy and Human Rights in China. For more business coverage, follow Mashable Business on Twitter or become a fan on FacebookReviews: Facebook, Google, Twitter Tags: china, godaddy, Google, trending
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| Biden “Big f*cking deal!” Gaffe Inspires Internet Entrepreneurs to Cash in Posted: 24 Mar 2010 12:03 PM PDT 
Internet entrepreneurs are cashing in on the virality of the phrase (made popular because, let’s face it, the only thing more amusing than cat videos is important elderly people saying inappropriate things in front of large crowds of people) by hawking an array of Biden-themed goods. The practice of attempting to make bank on political gaffes is nothing new (remember all those “Client 9″ T-shirts?), but, we gotta say, the inevitable rapidity with which these items were assembled combined with the reluctance of many to actually spell out the word in question makes for an assortment of truly unwearable gear. Check it:  Nothing says class like these particular words on your — erm… [Cafe Press]  Perhaps the creator of this little number is hoping that the fact that is was “Made in America” negates this blatant act of animal cruelty. [Cafe Press]  Happy Father’s Day, Papa Ehrlich. If you didn’t disown me after declaring a theater major and then going to journalism school, this should do the trick. [Zazzle]  Because “Kiss the Cook” wasn’t vainglorious enough. [Cafe Press]  Basically just wins the prize of laziest censorship job ever. [Zazzle] For more web video coverage, follow Mashable Web Video on Twitter or become a fan on FacebookReviews: Facebook, Twitter Tags: humor, MARKETING, Political, viral video
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| Google Bookmarks Adds Lists Feature for Social Bookmarking Posted: 24 Mar 2010 11:56 AM PDT 
Lists introduce the notion of social bookmarking to the Google service, which was previously a private bookmarking utility. There’s also an array of features — like list comments, in-line YouTube and content previews, recommended links and location features — included with lists. After you navigate to Google Bookmarks you can either spontaneously create new lists from the left-hand menu or add them on-the-fly by ticking desired links and clicking the “Copy to list” button and selecting “Create new list.” What’s especially interesting is that if Google detects local links in your lists it will automatically provide a map for context. Google can also suggest links related to those collected in your lists via algorithmic analysis. In terms of use cases, one that becomes immediately apparent is for those of us who frequently search for the same types of queries. During your typical Google searches, if you remember to use the star feature you can then return to Google Bookmarks to organize those starred results — which are automatically saved as bookmarks — into lists. For writers, researchers, and other hyper-searchers, lists in Google Bookmarks could prove to be a huge timesaver. You can watch a tutorial around the new Lists feature below, or check out a collection of helpful information on Google Bookmarks Lists in this public list created by Google. [img credit: Ei! Kumpel] For more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on FacebookReviews: Facebook, Google, Twitter, YouTube Tags: Google, Google Bookmarks, social bookmarking
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| How Pixar Creates Great Films and Balances Art, Tech and Success Posted: 24 Mar 2010 11:22 AM PDT 
How do you create an innovative technology? How do you balance innovation and economics? What fosters great ideas? On stage earlier today was Ed Catmull, the president of Pixar and Disney Animation Studios, who spoke to a lot of these points. He was interviewed by Economist correspondent Martin Giles; He also answered question from the audience. Here’s a small sampling of his thoughts on how innovation and innovative companies are created. The Creative Process of Creating FilmsThere’s no debating Pixar’s success: Up, Toy Story, WALL-E, and nearly all of its other animated films have been critically acclaimed box office successes. Once led by Apple CEO Steve Jobs, Pixar has been a model of consistency and success. How do you build a company that can continually innovate in terms of technology and creativity and consistently deliver success after success? Mr. Catmull spoke about the building blocks of any movie: the team. He spoke about the company’s culture and the difficulty of finding the right people. He sometimes gives potential film directors tests in the form of short films, although they are vastly different beasts than feature-length films.  He also spoke about management, and how as a manager of a creative company, things are chaotic and happen out-of-order. He can’t possibly know everything that’s happening within Pixar, so he relies on training good managers. He believes in the old saying “It’s better to ask for forgiveness than to ask permission,” but his corollary is that it’s better to fix errors than it is to prevent them, something that he believes many mangers do not get. In fact, Pixar looked to Toyota’s manufacturing process for inspiration in terms of structure and bringing diverse skillsets together to create a strong company. Mr. Catmull said that the biggest struggle though is between the commercial and the artistic. If Pixar films were entirely about the art and paid no regards to what the audience wants, Pixar would fail economically. If it just made movies geared towards audience trends and commercial success, then it fails in “soul” and loses its magic. The key, not only to making great films but to anything in life, is to balance both sides and find a good place in the middle. Fundamentally successful companies are “unstable,” in the sense that they allow for the battle between art and economics and time and tech. He allows artists to be free of the stress of “success” and protects their vision by giving them the ability to lead. Success can make people cautious and conservative, which is something he wants to avoid. The Key PointsOverall, it was a fascinating Q&A, but it really boiled down to a few key points:
For more business coverage, follow Mashable Business on Twitter or become a fan on FacebookReviews: Facebook, Twitter Tags: disney, Ed Catmull, innovation, pixar, The Economist
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| Lady Gaga First Artist with One Billion Online Video Views Posted: 24 Mar 2010 10:50 AM PDT 
It includes all the web videos that have exceeded 100 million views. Lady Gaga has long been a staple of the chart, but now she’s essentially in a club all her own: She’s the first franchise to reach one billion views. Gaga is primarily a hit on Vevo and YouTube; 25% of Vevo’s visitors only have eyes for her. The pop star has attracted Internet attention elsewhere, too. A Facebook group of more than 100,000 people initiated National Lady Gaga Day about a month ago, and her latest Internet hit is her “Telephone” music video with Beyoncé. The point is, you can’t escape Gaga on the Internet. She’s everywhere right now. We welcome speculation as to exactly why the web loves her so, so let us know in the comments if you have any ideas. In the meantime, here are Gaga’s three 100 Million Club hits. Poker FaceBad RomanceJust DanceFor more web video coverage, follow Mashable Web Video on Twitter or become a fan on FacebookReviews: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, twilight Tags: Lady Gaga, music, music videos, trending, universal, vevo, viral videos, visible measures, youtube
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| Posted: 24 Mar 2010 10:31 AM PDT 
Wikipedia only went down a few minutes ago, according to the Twitter stream, which is already pumping out dozens of tweets per minute about the outage. There is only a “Server Not Found” message from our end. Wikipedia.org is up, but most — if not all — of the language-based encyclopedias are down, including the English one. Unlike Twitter and Facebook, there isn’t a stream to check the status of the web’s de-facto information hub. We’ll continue to investigate what is happening and let you know as soon as we find out. Update: Overheating in the European data center and broken DNS resolution of Wikimedia sites affected Wikipedia across-the-board. From the Wikipedia Tech Blog:
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| Gmail Adds New Security Features Posted: 24 Mar 2010 10:22 AM PDT 
Should Google detect any suspicious activity happening with your Gmail account, you’ll now see a bright red warning below the search bar alerting you to the issue. You can then click the “Show details and preferences” link to view logs around your Gmail account’s most recent access points, and determine whether or not there’s a cause for alarm. You can also change your password from that window if need be. The new security mechanism works at the IP level to automatically match IP addresses with broad geographic locations, with irregularities triggering the system to respond. So, “a login appearing to come from one country and occurring a few hours after a login from another country may trigger an alert.” Right now the protective mechanism is available to individual Gmail users, but it should be rolled out to Google Apps customers in the future. It’s a smart idea and a necessary feature addition that we hope works to protect Gmail users from malicious individuals.
[img credit: Steve Snodgrass] For more technology coverage, follow Mashable Tech on Twitter or become a fan on FacebookReviews: Facebook, Gmail, Google, Twitter
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| 10 Beautiful Free Blogger Templates Posted: 24 Mar 2010 10:16 AM PDT 
Fortunately for us, the Blogger community is full of great designers and template adapters who have shared a bit of their XML magic. Below, we’ve highlighted 10 Blogger templates that are clean, highly adaptable, and would look great for any personal, business, or professionally-minded blog. All the templates below are free to download and use (with their proper attribution included), and you can see them in action by clicking the “Live Demo” links. If there’s a sharp looking Blogger template you absolutely love, share it our way in the comments below. 1. Aparatus Aparatus has a clean, professional look without being too stodgy. The rich red bars and headers make the page pop, and the dashed border gives it a touch of texture, but there’s still plenty of easy-breathing white space. Header bar pages are enabled, and the Twitter update icon at the top displays your latest tweet. A nice open title space at the top means there’s plenty of room for a logo image, and no worries about crowding the design. Just be sure to grab a swatch of that lovely red if you plan to add your own graphic elements. 2. Notepad We’ve certainly seen paper and handwriting-themed blog templates before, but this notepad layout is really fresh, with smooth graphic elements and subtle textures. Social media links are built-in right at the top (which we dig, of course), and your pages and search bar sit snugly in the binding of this yellow legal-style pad. The dates of your post hang neatly in the margin, which is a nice touch, and the mellow-yellow of the pad itself is no distraction from your text. The design does get a little flowery toward the bottom, and there’s no amount of CSS magic that will ever set your text properly on the lined paper (OCD bloggers, beware!), but in all, this theme is clean enough for serious content, and cute enough for more personal musings. 3. Clean Type If you’re a modern minimalist, Clean Type may be the look you’re after. You’d get lost in all the empty white space if it wasn’t for the punchy orange accents on links and menu items. The orange is also a refreshing departure from some more common color schemes. The template keeps elements spaced nicely, with left-hand navigation and a nice empty title space where you can pop in your brand or personal logo. Keep it in the orange family and you’ve got one sharp looking header. 4. Twitter We think you’ll dig this one — a near replica of the Twitter homepage for Blogger. The layout is right on the money, complete with the soft blue clouds wafting in the background. Each blog post resembles a tweet, and the fonts in the side bar line up nicely with the space for profile info. With some well-placed widgets, you might really be able to fool some people — which could be good or bad, depending on your intentions. 5. Tune Up If blue is your color, look no further than this theme, which serves up some cool hues without over-complicating things. A header stripe brings your home page into the third dimension, and all your widgets and boxes live on smooth aqua gradients. The rest of the space is white, so in-post graphics stow safely away from potential color clashes. 6. Indicator You can get a little darker without going all mysterious. The Indicator theme has a serious tone, but maintains its design chops. A bit of grain textures the dark background, and the nice wide columns make it ideal for posting YouTube videos and larger images. Personally, I love the arrow tabs that break out from the main column and divvy up the side bar with attitude. This theme is bold, sharp, and functional — grab it now, before your friends do. 7. Vio If you’re looking to make your blog a bit more feminine without totally “pinking it out,” take a peek at the Vio theme. It offers a smooth purple header, lots of open white space, and some unique layout elements. It’s essentially a two-column blog with the side bar cut in half to make a third column. While they are narrow, these columns are great for keeping extra content (and ads) right up near the top where visitors can see them. Other nice touches include the dark gradient comment bubbles on each post, matching search button, and purple blockquote formatting. 8. Colorbold Colorbold is, well, bold; but not over-the-top. The header is dark and metallic, and each blog element is striped by a strong blue banner. Beyond that, your wide white columns are open for business, and content can sit comfortably within those bold ramparts. This template might work nicely for an edgier corporate blog or as a home for photos of your personal hands-on projects. 9. Arclite Arclite is warm and inviting. The rich brown header gives way to some wide open spaces below. A rounded blue top menu lifts from the page just a bit, and the pink gadget bars add a surprising dash of color. This template could go in any direction and still look great, so go ahead and make it your own with content. 10. DailyNotes If you’re old enough to remember pin feed printer paper, you’ll probably get a kick out of this clever design. If you don’t, it’s probably past your bed time anyway. This template deviates a bit from our hunt for clean, versatile layouts, but the design is really functional and well implemented. It’s a standard two-column with a nice “paper layers” effect that’s not overdone. The theme is perfect for your next retro-tech blog, or diatribe against new-fangled laser printers. Note however that because of the textured background, a custom logo graphic in the header may create some design dissonance up top. Best to stick with the included white text. 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. More web development resources from Mashable:
Reviews: Notepad++, Twitter, YouTube, blogger Tags: blogger, Blogger Lists, blogger templates, BLOGS, design, List, Lists, Web Development, web development series
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| KoldCast Brings Its Web Shows to Boxee Posted: 24 Mar 2010 10:02 AM PDT 
Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of KoldCast is that it offers most of its programs in both standard definition and 720p. This also extends to the Boxee app, which means that watching programming on your TV (or big-ass iMac or other large monitor) will make the viewing experience that much better. The KoldCast TV app is available in the Boxee App Library now. Reviews: Boxee Tags: boxee, koldcast tv
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| Facebook Blamed for Rise of Syphilis in UK Posted: 24 Mar 2010 09:50 AM PDT 
Director of Public Health Peter Kelly told the Telegraph research points to sites like Facebook “making it easier for people to meet up for casual sex,” and that of the syphilis cases he saw, “several of the people had met sexual partners through these sites.” The connection between the STD and Facebook seems stretched at best, but the Telegraph also reports, “young people in Sunderland, Durham and Teesside were 25 per cent more likely to log onto social networking sites than those in the rest of Britain.” Still we’re not entirely convinced that Facebook is the primary factor contributing to the rise of syphilis in these areas; perhaps the educational institutions in these regions need to ramp up their safe sex initiatives. Although, with 400 million members now spanning the world, it does make sense that more hookups would happen with Facebook as the facilitator and go-between. For more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on FacebookReviews: Facebook, Twitter
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| Vlingo Reads Texts Aloud While You Drive Posted: 24 Mar 2010 09:38 AM PDT  Vlingo is offering BlackBerry-owning drivers a safer way of keeping up to date with texts and e-mails while on the go with its 4.5 release, complete with the “SafeReader” app. If you get a message while driving, rather than fumbling around pressing fiddly buttons while you should be watching the traffic, you can use SafeReader to read texts and e-mails aloud so you don’t have to take your eyes of the road. Here’s a handy little infomercial to help you grasp the concept: Vlingo 4.5 for BlackBerry also includes voice web search, voice dialing, voice memos and the ability to update Twitter and Facebook by speaking into your handset. It can be downloaded for free on BlackBerry App World or directly from Vlingo. For more mobile coverage, follow Mashable Mobile on Twitter or become a fan on FacebookReviews: Facebook, Twitter Tags: blackberry apps, vlingo
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| New Dating Site Hooks Up Gamers with Girls… for a Price Posted: 24 Mar 2010 09:18 AM PDT 
The site just wrapped up its testing phase, and it’ll launch publicly at 6 p.m. PT tonight. Go there right now, though, and you’ll just see the message: “We apologize! We have been overwhelmed by the interest in GameCrush and we have the smoking servers to prove it! We are working on a fix and we are very sorry for the inconvenience.” It looks like gamer boys really want to meet gamer girls — or at least people are amused by the novelty of the service. When it’s working again, each user will choose to be either a “Player” (mostly males) or a “PlayDate” (mostly females). Players will choose PlayDates they’d like to play either Xbox 360 games (like Halo 3 or Grand Theft Auto IV) or browser-based computer games with. A game date lasts about 10 minutes, and it costs real money in the form of game points. That’s where it gets a little weird. Players are expected to tip most of their points to the PlayDates, and the PlayDates can trade those points for real cash. So in a way this is less a dating site and more a sort of virtual escort service or at least a phone sex line with a focus on simple flirting rather than sex (maybe). Sure, you could argue that in traditional dating, a guy might pay for a girl’s dinner, and this is the same as that — except that in this day and age, that tradition is hardly universal anymore. Is this a way for folks to find love through a shared hobby or is it a geeky phone sex line for guys (and sometimes gals) who don’t get out much? [via GeekSugar] For more technology coverage, follow Mashable Tech on Twitter or become a fan on FacebookReviews: Facebook, Twitter Tags: dating, gamecrush, online dating, online games, video games, Xbox 360, XBox live
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| Why Your Brand Needs to Be on Facebook Now Posted: 24 Mar 2010 08:53 AM PDT 
With 450 million users globally (and millions more being added each week) Facebook is dominating the web in unparalleled ways. Yet, even as the social network has steadily grown over its short but remarkable history, many brands have remained on the sidelines of the social media revolution. Facebook was the most visited site on the web for the week ending on March 13, 2010, surpassing even Google in week-long stats for the first time in history, according to Hitwise. The shift in user habits and audience targeting is palpable and it provides marketers, brand managers, issue advocates, and political campaigns today with an age old choice: Adapt and change or face irrelevance and extinction. A Social Media ParableIn many ways, the fundamental decision facing those looking to compete in the next decade of social media dominance is reminiscent of Dr. Spencer Johnson's bestselling business tale Who Moved My Cheese? It’s the story of two mice named Sniff and Scurry and two "littlepeople" named Hem and Haw who find themselves facing this same predicament. As the fable unfolds, the book’s four main characters arrive in their maze one day to find that their once abundant cheese supply has disappeared. Sniff and Scurry knew this day was coming. They recognized that their cheese supply was dwindling and set out to find a new source. Hem and Haw, on the other hand, hadn’t noticed that their cheese was running out. Rather than adapt, they retreated into the all-too-human reactions of fear, denial, and disbelief as they hopelessly waited for the change to prove passing. For those who have not read this late-90s change agent bible, I won’t spoil the ending. The moral of the story however is clear: Change happens. To survive it, you must anticipate it; and to be successful, you must embrace it. Realizing the Critical Value of Facebook In the modern day maze that is the digital and social media realm, these lessons were again on display as the online community debated the value of the new Facebook user statistics this past week. Viewed simply, the cheese moved again this month –- and just as intelligent companies adapted their marketing and communications models for the advent of Google over the last decade, Facebook’s dominance has forced another "change or become extinct" moment. To thrive in a rapidly changing marketplace, corporate communicators must understand that the shift now underway is just as powerful as the one that transformed Google into the modern Yellow Pages and turned a Silicon Valley start-up into a $200 billion everyday necessity. Unfortunately, most of today’s C-Suite decision makers lack the foresight of Dr. Johnson's furry friends Sniff and Scurry. Far too many executives still see Facebook as a vast, uncontrollable outpost for college slackers –- one better equipped for picture sharing and random life updates than corporate reputation management, crisis response, and brand bulletproofing. But the numbers don't lie. Almost half-a-billion users each spend an average of nearly 6 hours per month on the site –- inhabiting networks that are largely free of corporate messaging, spam, and expensive advertising. This ought to make at least a few corporate titans rethink that next $1 million Super Bowl ad buy (even if Google did buy its first in 2010). 3 Ways Your Brand can Get Started on FacebookFacebook users are openly sharing their life's passions, personal interests, and their affinity –- or lack thereof –- for corporate brands, political candidates, and the key public policy stances. In effect, they are openly sharing every bit of marketing data a 21st century company covets. For those still wary of change but now ready to dip their toe into the waters and begin to understand and benefit from the power of social, there are three free and relatively painless steps to begin the journey through the social media maze:
For those still looking for meaning in the numbers released earlier this month, the message is clear: Not only has the cheese moved again, the entire creamery has up and relocated. It won’t be coming back. And no manner of hemming and hawing is going to change that fact. For more business coverage, follow Mashable Business on Twitter or become a fan on FacebookMore Facebook resources from Mashable:
Reviews: Facebook, Google, Twitter Tags: brand, branding, business, facebook, facebook ads, Google, small business, social media, social media marketing, trending
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| Microsoft Testing Enterprise Microblogging Product Posted: 24 Mar 2010 08:39 AM PDT 
The OfficeTalk project is described as “a concept test to explore the value of microblogging in the enterprise.” Put simply, the software lets company members take part in discussions relevant to the workplace. Unlike other solutions, OfficeTalk is hosted within the customer’s organization, which could be a boon for those ultra concerned about privacy. Due to its early-stage concept, Microsoft admits the software looks rather similar to other “well-known” services (complete with hashtags and @names) but is looking for user feedback to improve the service.  OfficeTalk is currently used internally at Microsoft with more than 10,000 visitors and hundreds of messages posted daily. The software giant is looking for a very small number of companies who’d like to pilot the software. Would you consider giving OfficeTalk a go? Do you currently use Yammer or any other microsharing services? Let us know how your company stays in touch during the day in the comments below. [via ReadWriteWeb] For more business coverage, follow Mashable Business on Twitter or become a fan on FacebookReviews: Facebook, Twitter, Yammer Tags: microblogging, microsoft, officetalk, twitter, yammer
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| Music Matters Tries to Make You Feel Guilty About Piracy Posted: 24 Mar 2010 08:11 AM PDT  Got sticky fingers when it comes to illegal music downloads? Well a new site, Music Matters, launched yesterday in an attempt to alert you when you’re about to snag an artist’s well-earned cash whilst snagging their most recent disc pro bono. Currently, Music Matters has a rather hefty list of supporting sites that have agreed to carry the badge, including Vodafone, Spotify, iTunes, Napster, MTV and MySpace. The natural question that follows, then, is: Is every single legal music download site in the whole world really going to carry this badge? According to the MM website: “The Music Matters Certification Scheme is working with legal digital music services to ensure they carry the Music Matters trustmark. This will help audiences differentiate legal music sites from illegal sites.” Fair enough. It seems a lofty goal, but not one without its merits, especially as the music industry continues to change and artists struggle to capitalize on their efforts (we’re talking artists of the up-and-coming SXSW variety here, not Gaga, for all you folks who are going to say musicians are rolling in dough). Perhaps the best part of this whole campaign is the series of videos that the site is releasing that depict the journeys of various artists. Currently, there are eight vids up on the site, created by a series of music fans/artists (you can also contact the site if you want to add to the line-up). I’m embedding a few favorites below: Sigur Ros, Nick Cave and the Jam. For more entertainment coverage, follow Mashable Entertainment on Twitter or become a fan on FacebookReviews: Facebook, MySpace, Spotify, Twitter Tags: business, music, piracy, video
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| Hacked? Google Corporate Pages Temporarily Switch to Chinese Posted: 24 Mar 2010 07:17 AM PDT  Update: We received the following statement from Google – “This is not a hack but rather a bug affecting the language displayed to some users, and we are working to fix it soon.” Forbes has some additional details. Google’s corporate bios suddenly switched to Chinese this morning, the Guardian reports. It only affected users connecting from some areas, and the change was live only for a short amount of time, but the screenshots prove that Google may have indeed been hacked – again. The pages affected were http://www.google.com/corporate/execs.html. which lists Google’s top executives, as well as http://www.google.com/corporate/, which contains general corporate info about Google. Both pages were in Chinese and directing users to Google China.  The incident comes hot on the heels of Google’s decision to stop censoring Google China search results, directing users in mainland China to its uncensored, Hong Kong search site. The pages seem to have been restored back to normal now. We’ve contacted Google for comment, but haven’t received a response yet.  [Images courtesy of Guardian] For more technology coverage, follow Mashable Tech on Twitter or become a fan on FacebookReviews: Facebook, Google, Twitter
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| Digg’s iPhone App Is Now Available Posted: 24 Mar 2010 05:34 AM PDT 
As expected, Digg’s official iPhone app has arrived for free in Apple’s App Store. The app lists Top, Recent and Upcoming stories in various categories, giving Digg users the ability to vote and view comments on stories. You can also share articles via Twitter, Facebook and e-mail. Navigation through categories, articles and comments is quite elegant; after I’ve signed in, I’ve dugg and buried articles effortlessly within a minute. There’s also an option to save stories for later reading; it’s a handy option that lets you keep track of your favorite Digg stories on the iPhone. What are your impressions of Digg’s native iPhone app? Let us know in the comments!     For more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on FacebookReviews: Digg, Facebook, Twitter, iPhone Tags: digg, iphone, mobile apps
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