Mashable: Latest 29 News Updates - including “After Facebook, Pakistan Blocks YouTube Over Sacrilegious Content”

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• After Facebook, Pakistan Blocks YouTube Over Sacrilegious Content
• iPad App Store Now Live Internationally
• Pete Cashmore Talks Google’s Venture into TV and VoIP on Bloomberg [VIDEO]
• Five Amazing App and Gadget Demos from Google I/O [VIDEO]
• Evernote Competitor Springpad Launches Killer Android App [VIDEO]
• FTC Kills Porn/Spam ISP
• Anybots: Robotic Teleconferencing on Wheels [VIDEO]
• More Money Flowing Into Location Apps
• Urbanspoon’s RezBook Lets Restaurants Manage Reservations on the iPad
• Google Buzz Comes to Seesmic and TweetDeck
• Amazon Expands Book Publishing Business
• Flowr Is Facebook Skinned for the Enterprise
• How Social Media is Changing Government Agencies
• Long-Lost Brothers Reunite Via Twitter
• Software and Hardware Companies Jump on Google’s WebM Train
• Google Tries to Simplify Fonts on the Web
• Augmented Reality Cookies Are Deliciously Geeky [VIDEO]
• HOW TO: Market Your Small Business With No Budget
• Mashable’s Weekly Guide to Social Media and Web Jobs
• Google Chrome Web Store to Create a Marketplace for Web Apps
• Google Introduces the WebM Video Format
• Google Wave Now Open to All
• Twitter for iPhone Now Live in the App Store
• Connect Your TV to 650,000 Online Episodes [APPS]
• LIVE: Google Makes Major Announcements at Google I/O
• New Canon Portable Scanner Lets You Scan Directly to Evernote
• HOW TO: Get Your Startup Featured on Mashable
• With Internet TV Booming, Blip.tv Raises $10.1M
• 13 Essential Tips for Landing a Job on LinkedIn
• Pakistan Blocks Facebook Over Caricatures of Prophet Muhammad

After Facebook, Pakistan Blocks YouTube Over Sacrilegious Content Posted: 20 May 2010 03:33 AM PDT Hot on the heels of Pakistan’s blockade of Facebook due to caricatures of Prophet Muhammad comes the news that Pakistan has also blocked YouTube due to content that’s offensive to Islam. While the Facebook ban in Pakistan was a direct result of a group calling users to submit drawings of Prophet Muhammad, the YouTube blockade isn’t explained in detail. According to AP, Pakistan Telecommunications Authority simply cited “growing sacrilegious contents” as the reason for the ban. The ban of Facebook and YouTube is likely to continue until representatives from both sites resolve the dispute with the Pakistani government in a way that “ensures religious harmony and respect.” Facebook representative said the usual way to resolve such issues, if the group in question doesn’t break its terms of service but is illegal in another country, is to restrict the group from being shown in that country. However, the blockade seems to be much wider, as some of our readers, as well as reports on Twitter, point out that access to Flickr, Wikipedia and other sites has been restricted, too. For more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Reviews: Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, Wikipedia, YouTube Tags: censorship, Pakistan, youtube

iPad App Store Now Live Internationally Posted: 20 May 2010 01:48 AM PDT A stream of tweets tells us that the iPad app store is now live in certain European countries, namely UK and France, as well as in other parts of the world, such as Australia and New Zealand. Customers in Europe were able to pre-order the iPad on May 10, and the device is slated to ship on May 28. Now, the folks that put in the time and effort to bring the iPad from the U.S. can enjoy the benefits of the app store a couple of days earlier. [via Engadget] For more Apple coverage, follow Mashable Apple on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Reviews: Facebook, Twitter Tags: app store, apple, australia, europe, ipad

Pete Cashmore Talks Google’s Venture into TV and VoIP on Bloomberg [VIDEO] Posted: 20 May 2010 12:30 AM PDT Google has been very busy in the last couple of days. First came the rumors of Google’s venture into TV space with SmartTV. Then, Google offered to acquire Global IP Solutions (GIPS), followed by a slew of announcements at the Google I/O Conference in San Francisco, the biggest being the release of an open source, royalty-free video format called WebM. Google, Intel and Sony’s SmartTV project could reshape television as we know it, and Android-based set-top boxes could open a whole new world to developers of Android apps. Furthermore, Google’s acquisition of VoIP-focused GIPS could mean that Google is building a Skype competitor, or at the very least bring significant improvements to its gTalk and Google Voice products. Check out the video below to see Pete Cashmore discuss the implications of Google’s acquisition of GIPS and the development of SmartTV, as well as Foursquare’s recent deal with Starbucks. For more technology coverage, follow Mashable Tech on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Reviews: Android, Facebook, Foursquare, Google, Google Voice, Gtalk, Skype, Twitter Tags: Bloomberg, GIPS, Google, pete cashmore

Five Amazing App and Gadget Demos from Google I/O [VIDEO] Posted: 20 May 2010 12:01 AM PDT Cool gadgets, one-off web apps, AR on Android — this year’s Google I/O Sandboxes have got ‘em all. We got to see a few demos today at Google’s developer-focused conference in San Francisco, and we were incredibly impressed. Check out this video with cool toys and tricks from Yelp, Pandora, TweetDeck, Google Earth and even Nordic Track. And be sure not to miss the “Holodeck” at the end. Which clips are your favorites, and what kinds of tech do you want to see more of tomorrow? We’ll be back at Google I/O for another long, fun day of Google and Android news, interviews and videos. Check out all of our Google I/O coverage to get the latest announcements from the Big G. And if you happen to be in town, we hope you’ll join us for our post-conference MashMeet at Roe at 8 p.m. [music credit: Peter John Ross] For more technology coverage, follow Mashable Tech on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Reviews: Android, Facebook, Google, Google Earth, Pandora, TweetDeck, Twitter, Yelp Tags: demos, google io, holodeck, pandora, video, yelp

Evernote Competitor Springpad Launches Killer Android App [VIDEO] Posted: 19 May 2010 09:53 PM PDT Springpad is an awesome app we’ve told you about before. Like Evernote, it allows you to save items in a virtual notebook of sorts. But the app doesn’t stop at saving information; it also pulls in actionable links. For example, if you “save” a movie, you also save links to buy tickets for a local theatre or add that film to your Netflix queue. If you save a restaurant, that entry is accompanied by link to the menu and an Open Table link so you can quickly and easily make reservations. The idea behind the app — that we no longer surf the web idly or without intention — has led to a highly effective product, one that’s just today launched in the Android Market. The app is free and also available as an iPhone application. Users can make lists, save items by barcode, save images, save locations using geo-data only and access saved information from a variety of devices, including web browsers. And of course, users can choose to share items on the social web if they like. Jeff Janer is Springpad’s CEO, and he was kind enough to give us a demo of the Android app today at Google I/O. Check it out, and if you’ve got an Android device, give Springpad and spin and let us know what you think. For more mobile coverage, follow Mashable Mobile on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Reviews: Android, Android Market, Facebook, Google, Twitter, springpad Tags: android, App, evernote, Mobile 2.0, springpade

FTC Kills Porn/Spam ISP Posted: 19 May 2010 08:27 PM PDT Today, the Federal Trade Commission has permanently shut down 3FN, an Belize-based Internet service provider (ISP) notorious for hosting botnets, child pornography, phishing attacks and various other scams and malware. The ISP has been ordered to pay back $1.08 million which it earned by cooperating and conspiring criminals. It took almost a full year in court for the FTC to win this battle against 3FN. When this ISP was put under a preliminary injunction last year, spam volume dropped by 15%. 3FN had been actively recruiting spammers and others and whose senior staff had coached clients on building botnets. The latter was proven with instant message logs between criminals and 3FN employees. The FTC estimated that 4,500 malicious software programs were hosted by the ISP, attacking unknown numbers of computers with keystroke loggers, password stealing software, data theft, backdoor access and spam distribution. In addition to aiding and abetting those who would infest our computers with viruses, spyware and other malware, the ISP also knowingly hosted illegal and disturbing types of pornography. The ISP ignored takedown requests and evaded prosecution by shifting certain elements or content to other IP addresses in its control. 3FN also did business as Pricewert LLC, Triple Fiber Network, APS Telecom, APX Telecom and APS Communication. For more technology coverage, follow Mashable Tech on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Reviews: Facebook, Twitter Tags: FTC, ISP, phishing, porn, scams, spam

Anybots: Robotic Teleconferencing on Wheels [VIDEO] Posted: 19 May 2010 07:24 PM PDT Silicon Valley startup Anybots sees robots in the future of your workplace. It’s debuting a two-wheeled mobile robot named “QB” that is equipped with a camera and interactive touch display in an effort to one-up the concept of static teleconferencing. The website promises “one-click commuting” thanks to a web browser interface that allows a remote user to control QB’s movements. The premise is to get much closer to “real” virtual telepresence by allowing the user to roam around and initiate spontaneous conversations as if actually there in the flesh. The QB bot also features a speaker, laser pointer and a telescoping neck that lends it an appearance not unlike your friendly living room halogen floor lamp. Slated to be released this fall for a $15,000 sticker price, the bot actually compares favorably to the cost of high-end teleconferencing systems from HP, Cisco and other manufacturers. With the still-lagging economy finding businesses wanting to cut down on travel costs, telepresence could be an attractive “next best thing” type of option. Yet it remains to be seen if the marketplace will value the mobility afforded by something like a QB bot over a more traditional conference room setup — so it may be too early to proclaim an imminent takeover from our robotic overlords just yet. Check out a demo video of the QB bot below as well as an interview with Anybots COO Bob Christopher, featuring more video of QB tooling around. Let us know what you think of robotic telepresence: Could it be the next big thing for distributed workforces or perhaps a novel trend in office entertainment? Anybot QB Telepresence Robot Demo Interview With Anybots COO Bob Christopher [via Singularity Hub] For more technology coverage, follow Mashable Tech on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Reviews: Facebook, Twitter Tags: anybots, gadgets, QB bot, robots, tech, teleconferencing, telepresence, work

More Money Flowing Into Location Apps Posted: 19 May 2010 06:22 PM PDT This year has seen more location-aware applications than we could have imagined. Everyone from big brands to one-app startups is scrambling to integrate location features right now, and at least one company is doing a lot of business based on that fact. SimpleGeo, a startup that gives developers the ability to add location-based features to their applications, has just announced a new round of funding and a slew of new hires. Having set up shop last fall with a grand total of $1.67 million in seed money, SimpleGeo has now raised $8.14 million in a Series A round from Redpoint Ventures, First Round Capital, Lowercase Capital, the Foundry Group and angel Ravi Narasimhan. As for new staff, Digg’s recent personnel cuts following founder Kevin Rose’s takeover of the CEO role have been this startup’s gain. SimpleGeo has snapped up Jeffrey Kalmikoff, Ian Eure, Paul Lathrop and Nicole Williams, all formerly of Digg. The company also hired Rob Bailey of Yahoo/Lotus Vodka. The year-old company is now 18 employees — and a reported 4,000 developer partners — strong. SimpleGeo’s location-services infrastructure, including a cloud-based storage engine and a geodata marketplace, was formally launched about 6 weeks ago. Altogether, SimpleGeo’s products shave months off development time for location-based services. The marketplace itself is like an “iTunes for geodata,” according to co-founder Matt Galligan. Here’s a video demonstrating the kinds of data available: According to the company blog, these new funds and new people will be instrumental in “changing and improving our product, positioning, marketing, etc. over the next few months.” SimpleGeo plans to make “significant improvements” to its API and add some impressive new features. img credit: caveman] For more business coverage, follow Mashable Business on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Reviews: Digg, Facebook, Twitter, blog Tags: funding, location, simpelgeo

Urbanspoon’s RezBook Lets Restaurants Manage Reservations on the iPad Posted: 19 May 2010 05:20 PM PDT Restaurant recommendation site Urbanspoon is preparing to roll out a new iPad app and subscription service called RezBook, which will allow restaurants to book and manage reservations. Similar to OpenTable and its backend management software, RezBook is designed to replace the paper booking system that many restaurants use with a system that is not only mobile, but also capable of storing customer information, seating requests and more. We spoke with Urbanspoon co-foudner Ethan Lowry about RezBook, Urbanspoon and the iPad. When the iPad was first announced, the team at Urbanspoon immediately saw the device as a perfect extension to its website. While the company released an iPad optimized version of its popular iPhone app last month, Mr. Lowry said that the company immediately had bigger plans in mind for the new Apple tablet. Last November, Seattle-based Urbanspoon did a local roll-out of its reservation service, Rez. The company recently expanded Rez to Los Angeles and has plans to launch in other major cities throughout the next year. Similar to OpenTable, Rez lets customers book tables at restaurants online, within the Urbanspoon mobile apps, or via a widget located on a restaurant’s homepage. Unlike competitor OpenTable, Urbanspoon does not charge for covers (reservations) booked from a restaurant’s own website, only covers booked through the Urbanspoon site or app. However, Rez really only took care of basic reservation management; it was still up to the individual restaurant to manage or integrate Rez with their existing systems. With RezBook, which will be available to restaurants throughout the U.S., the idea is to replace the traditional paper reservation book with an iPad. The iPad offers a few advantages over other electronic systems: It’s a consumer device, which means that using it is more straightforward and often more familiar to staffers than other systems. The price of the hardware itself is relatively inexpensive, especially for its form factor. The iPad 3G offers restaurants good backup if internal WiFi becomes flakey. In addition to monitoring tables and reservations and automatically pulling in online reservations, RezBook allows restaurant workers to store customer information like seating preference, food allergies, important dates, etc. As Mr. Lowry said, “This is what can separate restaurants that have really good relationships with customers from those that don’t.” Every restaurant-goer can appreciate when restaurants remember things about their dining experience. From a pricing perspective, RezBook won’t break the bank. The app itself will be free, and subscriptions to the service will start at $99 per month. In addition to having the iPad app, restaurants will also be able to access reservation data on a web-based back-end, which is useful for managers who might want to check in on things from home. Urbanspoon is already one of my favorite ways to find recommendations for restaurants; with RezBook, it might finally give OpenTable some competition in the online reservation space. As great as OpenTable is, it’s virtually the only major player in the online reservation space, and its pricing model often excludes smaller or mid-size restaurants that could really benefit from a better system. RezBook is currently in testing in Seattle. Restaurants interested in joining the program can contact Urbanspoon through this page. In the coming weeks, the app will be in the App Store. For more mobile coverage, follow Mashable Mobile on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Reviews: App Store, Facebook, Twitter Tags: ipad, ipad apps, opentable, reservations, rezbook, UrbanSpoon

Google Buzz Comes to Seesmic and TweetDeck Posted: 19 May 2010 04:24 PM PDT Interest in Google Buzz has been dwindling ever since its initial release, but that could soon change. Today Google announced that a number of notable web and desktop applications — like TweetDeck, Seesmic, Plancast and Boxee — have integrated Google Buzz via the new Google Buzz API. What this means is that starting today you can use applications with Buzz support to automatically post information to your Buzz feed and/or view, comment and like Buzz updates. Essentially the Google Buzz API extends the web application’s functionality outside of Gmail and into other applications. TweetDeck and Seesmic are two of the most notable applications to add Google Buzz support. Both of them will now be Twitter, Facebook and Buzz compatible. A completely redesigned version of Seesmic Desktop is already out; Buzz is included as an application plugin offering full read, like, comment and search functionality in its own column within the app. Other handy Buzz integrations include Plancast, which now lets users share the events they subscribe to with Google Buzz, and Boxee, which allows users to watch Buzz videos inside the application (and on their television) and share the other videos they watch via Boxee back with Buzz. The full list of current applications with Buzz support can be found here. Now that Google Buzz can be experienced via a plethora of applications, user engagement should pick up. It still remains to be seen whether or not Buzz can really compete as a social media platform, but if more applications use the API to integrate with Buzz, then it’s at least more likely. For more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Reviews: Boxee, Facebook, Gmail, Google Buzz, Seesmic, Seesmic Desktop, TweetDeck, Twitter Tags: google buzz, google buzz api, seesmic, seesmic desktop, trending, tweetdeck

Amazon Expands Book Publishing Business Posted: 19 May 2010 03:31 PM PDT Amazon has unveiled plans to launch its second imprint, AmazonCrossing, to publish English translations of foreign language titles. Although it’s a niche market — “a very small percentage of books are translated from foreign languages into English and sold in the U.S. and UK,” Amazon’s Vice President of Books Jeff Belle acknowledged in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, it’s one Amazon is uniquely poised to profit from. Twenty-five percent of the e-retailer’s revenue comes from media sales outside of the U.S. and the company will pull sales records, customer reviews and other data to determine which books might sell well to an English-reading audience — data that most traditional publishers don’t have. Once the publishing arm determines which books to publish, it will acquire rights to those books, hire translators, print, and then sell digital and print copies via the Amazon Books Store, Amazon Kindle Store and to a number of national and independent booksellers via third-party wholesalers. AmazonCrossing is Amazon’s second publishing experiment. In May 2009 company launched its first imprint, AmazonEncore, which used sales and customer data to identify and partner with promising self-published authors — 19 thus far. The model for AmazonCrossing is almost exactly the same, except for its focus on foreign language authors whose books will most likely already belong to traditional publishers. How profitable will Amazon’s new venture be? It’s difficult to say. Translated books are a very small market and are rarely popular in the U.S. — a 2007 report in Publishing Research Quarterly revealed that 50% of all books published are translated from English, while only 3% are translated into English — with some notable exceptions. Furthermore, translations are expensive. A 60,000-word novel could cost between $6,000-$8,000 in translation fees alone, Chad Post, the director of the University of Rochester’s Open Letter Books Chad Post, told the WSJ. For a well-known translator, the cost could double. Publishers also “have to spend more on marketing than you might with a typical American author,” Post noted. The first book to be published with the new AmazonCrossing imprint is a translation of French author Tierno Monénembo’s The King of Kahel, winner of the 2008 prix Renaudot, a French literary prize. The book is based on the life of Aimé Olivier de Sanderval, a man involved in the conquest of the hostile West Africa region of Fouta Djallon (now part of the Republic of Guinea). The book will be released on November 2. Amazon has not disclosed how much it has paid its translator, Nicholas Elliot, nor how much it will pay future translators. Translator and publishing fees aside, the AmazonCrossing imprint will bring a unique line of content to Amazon’s e-shelves, bringing it into further competition with Barnes & Noble, who offers a selection of competitively-priced classics under its Barnes & Nobles Classics Collection imprint. At the same time, Barnes & Noble is moving into Amazon’s territory; earlier today, it launched its PubIt platform to compete with the e-retailer’s Digital Text Platform, enabling authors and independent publishers to distribute their writing on BN.com and via the Barnes & Noble e-bookstore. In the market battle between booksellers, which company has your vote? Image courtesy of iStockphoto, clu For more business coverage, follow Mashable Business on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Reviews: Facebook, Twitter, aim, iStockphoto Tags: amazon, barnes & noble, e-books

Flowr Is Facebook Skinned for the Enterprise Posted: 19 May 2010 03:13 PM PDT This post is part of Mashable's Spark of Genius series, which highlights a unique feature of startups. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here. The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. Name: Flowr Quick Pitch: Flowr is a wonderfully designed and easy-to-use online collaboration tool for the Enterprises. Genius Idea: Online collaboration tools are a dime a dozen, but the really good ones are invaluable for expediting tasks associated with enterprise projects. Flowr — a new kid on the block — applies the popular social media communication mechanics seen on Facebook to Twitter to enterprise collaboration. Think of Flowr like Facebook skinned and tweaked for business use. The tool functions around status updates posted by users. In fact, the status update box is nearly identical to Facebook’s and offers the ability to attach links and files of any format, but also lets users mark updates as ideas, questions or to-dos, and assign due dates. Users can also use the drop-down menu to decide whether they want to share the update with everyone in their company or just a select group of team members. Status updates are then published to the company flow — which is essentially like the Facebook newsfeed — and users can filter the flow by update type, team member, group or project. Users can also like and/or comment on items in the company flow, just like on Facebook. Of course, there’s also user notifications, so when team members are mentioned in updates they’re notified in the same fashion as mentions on Twitter. Flowr also has a manager-friendly analytics tool that tracks user activities across the company network. The tool identifies the most active members, topics and trends. It can also be used to filter activity by type to zero in on open items and team member conversations around ideas or polls. Flowr also works via e-mail in much the same way that Posterous functions, has its own bookmarklet, is available as an iPhone app and has an API available to developers. Soon Flowr will also integrate with Google Apps, which means it could be an attractive tool for businesses already tapping Google for cloud services. Essentially, Flowr occupies the middle ground between enterprise microblogs like Yammer and more robust tools like Basecamp. Its social media interpretation of enterprise online collaboration is quite fresh and might even make team work fun or at the very least familiar. Flowr is free for teams of up to 10 people and includes 1GB of storage. Larger organizations, however, will have to pay per user per month. You can watch a video demonstration of the tool below. [img credit: splorp] Sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark BizSpark is a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today. 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)." For more technology coverage, follow Mashable Tech on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Reviews: Basecamp, Facebook, Google, PHP, Posterous, Twitter, Yammer Tags: enterprise, facebook, flowr, project collaboration

How Social Media is Changing Government Agencies Posted: 19 May 2010 02:40 PM PDT A former local newspaper reporter, Tanveer is a student at the Medill School of Journalism learning all things digital and entrepreneurial. He also writes about political figures for WhoRunsGov.com and hopes to own the high score on multiple Ms. Pac-Man machines one day. While many government agencies still tend to employ the “broadcast” model when using social media, some are engaging through hashtags, community building initiatives, and geo-location analysis. These efforts are helping to better inform the public and alert them to public safety emergencies in real-time. A good recent example of this is how the team of energy companies and government agencies responding to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico are putting these strategies to use. Here are ways other government agencies, from local law enforcement to the National Weather Service, are seizing on these tools to improve their services. Building a Transparent Community At the most basic level, social media is about community building. Government agencies have adopted this mindset to varying degrees as a way to foster trust and dialogue with people. “It is truly a national town hall that has never been attempted during a disaster,” said Commander James Hoeft of the U.S. Navy, who oversees the cleanup effort’s social media team. The idea has been implemented in parts of the U.S. government to varying degrees. In 2008, Admiral Thad Allen of the U.S. Coast Guard sent out a service-wide message saying, "[To] modernize the Coast Guard we must learn how to effectively use social media tools to enhance our ability to perform as a more transparent, change-centric organization.” The Coast Guard has since deployed a series of Flickr, YouTube and Twitter accounts, both at the headquarters and regional levels, as a part of The Coast Guard Compass. Some are better than others, with many serving simply as multimedia RSS feeds. But there are stars, like the Twitter feed for the Portsmouth, VA-based District Five, which discusses their latest coastal rescue operations. Much like the Coast Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency also has a multichannel scheme in social media. Its FEMA in Focus Twitter feed serves as a way to disseminate information in a timely way. The agency has a series of regional accounts, as well. At the local law enforcement level, Web 2.0 technology has been implemented in some departments to give people details about what officers have been up to. At the Bellevue Police Department in Nebraska, Twitter is used to solicit help from the public and Facebook is used as a comment and complaint board for residents. In Great Britain, the Merseyside Police website personalizes information according to neighborhood, also appealing to the public for help as needed. Social Media as a Real-Time Investigation and Response Tool While the more traditional means of sharing information with people, such as press conferences or releases, will always be necessary to brief the public in detail about events, agencies are turning to social media to keep the public informed in real-time. On April 3rd, Detective Chief Inspector Mark Payne of the West Midlands Police in the United Kingdom used Tweetdeck to keep an eye on demonstrations involving two controversial and politically opposed groups; the English Defence League and Unite Against Fascism. He checked out Facebook rumors of stabbings and vandalism, and posted on Twitter when the information was found to be false — potentially quelling violent backlash. “This is groundbreaking stuff for policing in the UK. We have used social media as a broadcast platform during protests in the past, but we have not had immediate updates from officers on the ground, enabling two-way conversations,” Payne wrote after the event. Lauri Stevens, a Massachusetts-based social media consultant for law enforcement, said that such tools have been key in enhancing the reputation of agencies. “Cops are just getting the interactive engagement thing,” Stevens said. “I think the law enforcement’s policy should state you have to be competent with this stuff.” Tracking and Creating Hashtags Law enforcement and emergency response agencies alike are also becoming more sophisticated in how they use Twitter. While monitoring hashtags is commonplace, some agencies are creating them to denote specific social media priorities — particularly, getting users to document certain events. During the 2009 PRIDE Parade, the Toronto police encouraged the use of the #PrideTO hashtag to keep an eye on any suspected crimes related to the LGBT community's event. The National Weather Service is enlisting the help of Twitter users, asking them to use the hashtag #wxreport to share significant weather reports. The website gives precise instructions for how to report damaging winds, snow, hail, tornadoes and other potentially serious weather events. As the website notes, the project is “experimental.” Spot Trends Before Science Can Researchers at government agencies are experimenting with social media to try and spot possible issues and trends before more scientific measurements can be taken. During last year's H1N1 outbreak, the Internet famously took a starring role in illustrating how the swine flu epidemic was spreading across the globe. Now, a group including researchers from City University London, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and Britain’s National Health Service are teaming up ahead of the 2012 London Olympics to develop ways to detect and respond to epidemics via Twitter. Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the U.S. Geological Survey’s Twitter Earthquake Detector (@USGSTed) is a prototype that gathers real-time Twitter updates during seismic activities faster than scientific equipment can be tapped for more precise measurements and alerts. It examines earthquakes at an anecdotal level, and complements scientific analysis, according to the project's overseer, Paul Earle. "The skepticism comes when they think we are trying to provide public alerts that an earthquake has happened based on Twitter information," Earle said. "We’re not doing that, we are augmenting our current tools." Conclusion For government agencies, social media not only sends and gathers information instantaneously — it fosters relationships and trust, while encouraging users to share important information. While not all social media use needs to be creative, agency engagement with these platforms can help show people that government organizations are listening. For more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook More social media resources from Mashable: - 5 Ways Government Works Better With Social Media - How the U.S. Engages the World with Social Media - How Social Media Can Effect Real Social and Governmental Change - 6 Ways Law Enforcement Uses Social Media to Fight Crime - Why Open Source is the New Software Policy in San Francisco Image courtesy of iStockphoto, Veni Reviews: Facebook, Flickr, Internet, TweetDeck, Twitter, YouTube, iStockphoto Tags: facebook, government, government 2.0, social media, twitter

Long-Lost Brothers Reunite Via Twitter Posted: 19 May 2010 02:10 PM PDT We’ve heard of musicians finding collaborators via Twitter and reporters finding sources, but what about long-lost brothers finding each other? Well, that’s what happened to Matthew Keys, online news producer for KTXL FOX40 News in Sacramento, California. “I have a routine of checking my e-mail, Twitter and Facebook before bed each night, just in case something happened during the evening that I didn’t catch, ” Keys told us. Well, at nearly midnight, Keys saw a message that would lead to a pretty big piece of news that he didn’t previously “catch” — a message from a man named Adam Smith reading: Obviously, Keys was a bit freaked out. Still, after seeing Smith’s picture, which looked familiar, the young man recalled having spoken to his brother before. “Adam and I actually met in a web forum,” he explains. ”Neither of us can remember exactly how we came to meet, but we kept in touch off and on over the past year on MSN and Skype.” Determined to solve the mystery, Keys fired up Skype and messaged Smith. “He started telling me things from my childhood that I had heard bits and pieces of growing up — things nobody could have possibly known,” Keys said.  “I gave him my cell phone number and told him to call me.  After a few minutes talking on the phone, it became pretty clear to both of us that he and I were related.  We wound up speaking on the phone for four hours, so much so to the point that I had to take the next day off from work to sleep!” How did Smith know that Keys was his bro? Well, a few years ago, his mother told him that his father had other children, and mentioned a few names, including Keys’s. “At some point, Adam started asking his mom and our dad about me and something in him pushed him to ask me on Twitter details about my biological mom,” Keys says. After reconnecting, the two then went on FOX40 for an interview, and Keys was even able to give Smith a ride to the station, because — get this — they live 10 minutes away from each other. (We’ve embedded the FOX interview below). According to Smith, the boys have even more siblings out there, waiting to be found. Here’s hoping they all have Twitter handles. As an online news producer, Keys knows only too well the power of social media. “After telling our story on Facebook, we were flooded with people e-mailing and posting to our wall about similar lost and found stories involving biological and adopted siblings and relatives,” he says.  “It was extremely touching.  I use Twitter for much of the same reason.  Twitter and Facebook are both extremely powerful tools to reach out to our television audience and to interact and respond to the praise, concerns and personal stories of those who watch our on-air product.” It’s apparently also giving the old-fashioned PI a run for his money.   For more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Reviews: Facebook, Skype, Twitter Tags: facebook, social media, twitter

Software and Hardware Companies Jump on Google’s WebM Train Posted: 19 May 2010 01:54 PM PDT When Google announced the new WebM video platform at Google I/O this morning, it wasn’t just browser makers who were standing behind Google; many of the big players in web video have also pledged their support for the V8 codec, including Brightcove, Encoding.com, Telestream, Sorenson, Broadcom, MIPS and Qualcomm. Even Microsoft, a company that previously said it would only support H.264-encoded content in HTML5 playback in Internet Explorer 9, has clarified that if a codec for VP8 video is installed on a user’s computer, IE9 will support it. The strong support from software, hardware and middleware providers for VP8 suggests a strong start for the WebM platform. H.264 has become the dominant codec in the world of web video for many reasons, but the primary reason is that, in addition to being of high quality, H.264 enjoys plenty of support on both the software and hardware side. Web video services like YouTube, Brightcove, and Vimeo encode in H.264 as one of their defaults and hardware acceleration for H.264 playback and/or recording is supported in a cavalcade of devices. Practically every consumer electronics device that supports video playback in any way includes support for H.264. Because the codec is highly versatile, it can be used when recording video from Flip cameras and it can also be used to encode feature length content to Blu-ray discs. One of the problems that other open standard video formats like Ogg Theora have had in the past has been limited support from hardware and software creators. Already, VP8 has support from some of the biggest embedded chipset makers — Qualcomm, Broadcom and MIPS — which means that many future consumer electronics devices will include support for VP8 playback at the hardware level. On the software side, Brightcove and Encoding.com will both be offering WebM support for their users. I spoke with Jeff Malkin, the president of Encoding.com, earlier this afternoon and he told me that his company will have WebM support as an easily selectable preset in the coming weeks. This means that Encoding.com users will be able to select WebM as one of their codec presets, just as they can with the iPhone or iPad so that the video they embed is automatically playable on browsers or devices that support the format. In fact, looking at the number of supporters, practically everyone in the entire video industry has expressed some level of support for VP8/WebM with one glaring exception: Apple. While Apple has made its support for HTML5 and H.264 clear, we’ll have to wait and see how the company plans to address VP8 in its desktop products and in future mobile devices. As of right now, this isn’t an either/or battle. Almost every company that has aligned with VP8/WebM is also a supporter of H.264. It will be interesting to see how Apple and the MPEG-LA respond to this announcement. For more web video coverage, follow Mashable Web Video on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Reviews: Blu, Facebook, Internet Explorer, Twitter, Vimeo, YouTube Tags: brightcove, encoding.com, h.264, HTML5, sorenson, vp8, web video, webm

Google Tries to Simplify Fonts on the Web Posted: 19 May 2010 01:37 PM PDT Today, Google unveiled the Google Font Directory and the Google Font API to help bring dynamic and selective typefaces to the web. The issues surrounding fonts and the web are complicated and can be tricky to navigate. Google is hoping to make it easier for developers to integrate more distinctive typefaces into their designs. Google’s cross-browser solution is similar to what companies like Typekit and Fontdeck are doing, that is, providing users with a library of available fonts that they can easily embed into their sites. Typekit has partnered with lots of commercial foundries and is priced affordably for designers who want to use lots of commercial typefaces legally. Google’s solution is unique in that it is comprised of open source fonts. Google’s Font API can be integrated into websites using either HTML or using a JavaScript WebFont Loader co-developed with Typekit. While Google’s font library isn’t as robust as some competing solutions, it is open source. In fact, the fonts in the library can even be downloaded and used in other ways including print. I’m a big fan of Typekit and think it provides a really excellent solution for consumer use of dynamic typefaces on the web while also keeping foundries in business. Hopefully Google’s new Font API will help further the cause of improving type on the web. [img credit: playgrounder.com] For more technology coverage, follow Mashable Tech on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Reviews: Facebook, Google, Twitter Tags: fonts, google font api, typekit, web fonts

Augmented Reality Cookies Are Deliciously Geeky [VIDEO] Posted: 19 May 2010 11:48 AM PDT Augmented reality is one of the next big trends in web and technology spheres, but it could also revolutionize baking. OK, maybe not, but Rhode Island School of Design student Mike Clare has masterminded a recipe that transforms a typical cookie into a dessert with augmented reality flair. Clare’s vanilla cookie recipe — which you can emulate by following the detailed instructions on his website — includes instructions on how to bake in a marker that comes to life in front of a webcam. It’s hard to imagine that a cookie could get any geekier, and we absolutely love it. Kudos Mike Clare. [via Neatorama] For more technology coverage, follow Mashable Tech on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Reviews: Facebook, Twitter Tags: Augmented Reality, cookies, software

HOW TO: Market Your Small Business With No Budget Posted: 19 May 2010 11:04 AM PDT This series is supported by Bantam Live, a web-based collaboration workspace with “Social CRM” for small business teams. For more information visit BantamLive.com. From a marketing standpoint, it’s a great time to own or start a business. The social web makes it more cost-effective than ever to get the word out about your products and services, no matter what industry you’re in. Most social media accounts are free to set up, and many targeted online ad platforms are inexpensive. The most it will cost you to get your marketing campaign rolling, at least in the beginning, is time. In fact, the toughest challenge facing small business marketers these days is not cost, but finding a strategy to get your message heard over the din of a noisy Internet. For advice on this, we checked in with a few experienced social media marketers. Here’s what they had to offer. Become an Expert Advertising is not always the best way to market on social networks. People crave valuable content, and it can be as niche as the very products you’re selling. By blogging, tweeting, sharing, and updating about things relevant to your industry, you can build credibility in your field. “Whether you’re selling specialty cookies or enterprise software, you probably have significant expertise that you can share with potential customers,” said Leyl Master Black a Managing Director at Sparkpr. “You can write how-to articles, create educational videos about your products in action, or post pictures and tweet out commentary from an industry trade show. Every piece of content you post online — whether it’s on your blog, your Facebook Page, or on third-party sites — has the potential to boost your brand and drive search results and traffic at very little or no cost.” Black notes that YouTube is an often overlooked platform for building low cost, high impact content. A small investment in a consumer-level camera and editing software, and a bit of time learning the basics of video production can pay out big in the long term. “E-commerce vendor BigCommerce, for example, is generating tens of thousands of views for its online marketing video series for small business on YouTube,” said Black. Cultivate Super Users The social web has changed both the medium and the message for marketers, and we’ve discussed extensively how the users are now in control of your brand’s image. This can be a very positive thing if you understand the social media ecosystem and leverage it to your advantage. The key is targeting and cultivating super users — customers who are already fans of your brand, and share their positivity about it on the web. “If I know there’s a Twitter user who loves purses and talks about them a lot (which I can find using Twitter Search), and I sell purses, I reach out to her and offer her 20% off to come in or check out my catalog online, just because I know she digs purses,” said Jason Falls, a social media strategist and consultant whose blog discusses the online marketing industry. “If she blogs about purses, maybe I send her a new model with a note that says, ‘Thanks for telling people about purses. We dig you.’ I’m betting she’d talk about me, and I didn’t have to break the bank to get the conversational love.” When an endorsement comes from someone outside of your company, like a trusted blogger or social sharer, it has greater value and reach than anything you could send through official channels. You can’t control what the social web says about your brand directly, but by identifying and wooing brand ambassadors, you can certainly have an influence — the kind that no paid advertisement can match. Ensure People Can Find You on the Web This point may seem obvious, but it’s a common misstep, especially for new businesses. If and when people hear about your brand, they will go straight to their favorite services — Google, Yelp, and other listing sites — to find out more about you. Take the time to ensure that your entry there is accurate, and that there are direct links to your website and phone number. But there’s more you can do to get your brand out there for free. “Look beyond Yelp for free business listings,” said Black. “MerchantCircle, Google Local Business Center, Angie's List, Yahoo! Local, YellowPages.com, SearchLocal, and SuperPages are some of the online directory services that allow businesses to create a free listing. Make sure that you’re on these sites, and if the site already lists your business, you should ‘claim’ it by adding more details to the listing, such as your company website URL, a map, phone numbers, or business hours.” Black also noted that many of the directory sites allow customers to leave feedback and reviews. “Encourage your customers to post reviews of your products or services, or provide incentives for them to do this. For example, one merchant applies an additional 10% discount to their coupons on MerchantCircle if the consumer leaves a review on the site. This encourages repeat business as well as reviews.” Offer Ad-Funded Payment Options If you have a steady flow of customers, and you’re looking to boost the size of your transactions and increase customer loyalty, one low- (or no-) cost strategy is to implement transactional advertising. “Popularized by TrialPay, this ad-funded approach to payments works to turn browsers into buyers,” said Black. “Consumers are able to get your product for free in return for buying something from a brand advertiser such as Gap or Netflix. The advertiser then pays you once the sale is completed.” For companies selling relatively low-cost or web-accessible products, a highly targeted “reverse advertising” strategy like this could be a smart move. “For example, IntroWizard used TrialPay to convert ‘intermediary’ customers who had tried their free Flash web design software but hadn’t made a purchase yet — boosting their profits by 15% at no additional cost,” said Black. Your Thoughts? Have you found any web or social media marketing solutions that are easy on your budget and big on return? Be sure to share in the comments. Series supported by Bantam Live Bantam Live is a web-based collaboration workspace for small business teams that combines “Social CRM” with project/task management and microblogging communication – all centered within a real-time activity stream. Business teams can share an address book and track contacts and conversations, track prospects and sales pipelines, and organize projects and tasks to get work done. With integrations to social networks, team members can search for keywords and reply to and import new contacts and their real-time profiles into Bantam Live. For more business coverage, follow Mashable Business on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Images courtesy of iStockphoto, cmcderm1, GustavoGoncalves Reviews: Facebook, Google, Internet, Twitter, Yelp, YouTube, blog, iStockphoto, tweetzi Twitter Search Tags: business, facebook, how to, List, Lists, MARKETING, small business, small business tips series, social media marketing, twitter

Mashable’s Weekly Guide to Social Media and Web Jobs Posted: 19 May 2010 11:00 AM 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 of 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 SVP, Corporate Communications at MySpace in Beverly Hills, CA. The SVP Corporate Communications is responsible for developing and leading the Global communications strategy for MySpace. Read more about this opportunity here. Web Designer/Developer at Found Animals Foundation in Los Angeles, CA. Found Animals seeks a skilled and motivated Web Designer/Developer to take on the development of a new volunteer portal for our site. Read more about this opportunity here. Director of Internet Marketing at Medmarc Insurance Group in Chantilly, VA. The Director of Internet Marketing is responsible for elevating Medmarc's brand recognition and driving sales growth using Internet-based resources such as social media, Medmarc's website, etc. Read more about this opportunity here. Gay Travel Guru at Gaytravel.com in Del Mar, CA. GayTravel.com is looking for a travel enthusiast and culture-connoisseur to mingle, report on and meet up in their favorite gay destinations in North America. Read more about this opportunity here. Digital Marketing Associate at Enova Financial in Chicago, IL. Enova Financial is currently searching for bright, energetic and talented individuals to join our team; problem solvers and action-oriented thinkers are requirements. Read more about this opportunity here. Social Media and Internet Associate at Enova Financial in Chicago, IL. Assist in planning and fully implement our brands' social media strategies by launching, growing and maintaining all of our current and planned online efforts across our corporate and country-specific brands to drive traffic and develop a loyal followings to our brands' social networking offerings. Read more about this opportunity here. Software Engineer at Arkadium, Inc. in New York, NY. Arkadium is seeking a talented software developer with experience with and passion for, game and social networking development. Read more about this opportunity here. Lead Developer at RelayRides in Cambridge, MA. It is an incredibly exciting time as we prepare to launch the service. We are seeking an enthusiastic, entrepreneurial person to help us get off the ground. Read more about this opportunity here. Social Media Marketer at SpaceBound, Inc. in Langrange, OH. Globa e-commerce distribution company (Cleveland, OH area) SpaceBound, Inc., who was founded in 1987 and sells software, computer accessories, peripherals and electronics, is looking to fill a full-time position in Social Media Marketing. Read more about this opportunity here. Web Architect (Temp) at Synacor in Buffalo, NY. We are seeking a temporary Web Architect* who is a high level technologist that will partner with the Product organization to help drive product innovation and specification, as well as provide guidance during development. Read more about this opportunity here. Marketing Coordinator / Social Media Maven at T180 Studios in Beverly Hills, CA. We’re looking for an outgoing people-person who follows pop culture and loves social media and engaging in online conversations. Read more about this opportunity here. Online Marketing Software Assistant at Meltwater Group in San Francisco, CA. We are forming a team of sophisticated, entrepreneurial and driven individuals here in San Francisco to develop an international SaaS powerhouse to serve this fast-growing market. Read more about this opportunity here. Social Media and Website Intern at Carney, Sandoe and Associates in Boston, MA. We are looking for an intern to help us implement and manage a forward-thinking, cutting-edge social media footprint. Read more about this opportunity here. Ruby on Rails Platform Engineer at Foodbuzz in San Francisco, CA. We are rapidly expanding and looking to add another member to our tech team (preferably one who is up for the occasionally baseball game or tasting event)! Read more about this opportunity here. Digital Strategist, Account Executive at Porter Novelli in New York, NY. Porter Novelli is a global public relations company with an immediate need for a Digital Account Executive. Read more about this opportunity here. Digital Strategist, Account Supervisor at Porter Novelli in New York, NY. Porter Novelli is a global public relations company with an immediate need for a Digital Account Supervisor. Read more about this opportunity here. Marketing Communications Specialist at AmRest Applebee’s in Atlanta, GA. This position supports the Director of Marketing (DOM) and marketing managers in sales building by researching, managing and coordinating marketing programs, social and digital media, and internal communications among other marketing activities. Read more about this opportunity here. Social Media Specialist at Sisters of Mercy of the Americas in Silver Spring, MD. The Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, located in Silver Spring, Maryland, is seeking a full time social media specialist to work as part of its communications department. Read more about this opportunity here. Marketing Program Manager at Sonos in Cambridge, MA or Santa Barbara, CA. Sonos is looking to find an exceptional Marketing Programs Manager with the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously, while working with internal departments to ensure consistency and quality across all programs. Read more about this opportunity here. Marketing Research Associate at HealthCentral in New York, NY. The Marketing Research Associate is a critical resource for HealthCentrals Ad Sales organization and will support the sales marketing programs marketing and research needs. Read more about this opportunity here. Interactive Marketing Manager at Sonos in Cambridge, MA or Santa Barbara, CA. As a key member of the Sonos Marketing team, the Interactive Marketing Manager is responsible for developing and executing creative and innovative Interactive and Social Media Marketing programs. Read more about this opportunity here. Senior Manager Social Marketing at Yahoo! in Sunnyvale, CA. The Social Marketing team is looking for a motivated and experienced marketing manager responsible for enabling team to grow social marketing programs and lead the build out of a Center of Excellence for social marketing at Yahoo!. Read more about this opportunity here. Community Manager at THQ, Kaos Studios in New York, NY. The Community Manager will be responsible for managing Kaos Studios community outreach to its players and fans. Read more about this opportunity here. Front End Developer at Modea in Blacksburg, VA. In short, we need Front End Developers who can bring awesome design to life. Read more about this opportunity here. Project Manager, Social Media at Votigo in Lafayette, CA. Votigo is looking for an experienced Project Manager who thrives in a dynamic and fast-paced environment. A desire to make clients happy is a must. This role is part Project Manager and part Account Manager. Read more about this opportunity here. Software Developer at 2Dialog in Richardson, TX. We are seeking an experienced Software Developer who will become part of the 2Dialog team based in our Richardson, TX office. 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). For more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Reviews: Facebook, Internet, Mashable, MySpace, Sonos, Twitter, Yahoo!, social media

Google Chrome Web Store to Create a Marketplace for Web Apps Posted: 19 May 2010 10:52 AM PDT Google has just announced the Chrome Web Store, an open marketplace for web applications, at Google I/O. It’s like the Android App Market but for apps on the web. Like the App Market, developers will be able to sell their apps through the store via Google’s secure payment system. Google is effectively bringing the mobile app store model right onto the web, which could be huge news for app developers, publishers and others who have been looking to this model to generate revenue in addition to the traditional method of advertising support. The Chrome Web Store will reportedly be supported on all major platforms, including Windows, Mac and Linux as well as, of course, Chrome OS. Both free and paid apps will be available, as well as support for 40 languages in 70 countries. Google also notes that thanks to the standards support baked in to the store, apps written for the Chrome Web Store should additionally work on other modern web browsers. The Chrome Web Store will be available to end users later this year, with developer support ramping up now in order to ensure a well-stocked store at launch. Google has published preliminary documentation for developers to give them a sense of what will be required to prepare a web app for the store. The company promises further technical details as well as guided discussion sessions in the Chrome developer group are coming soon. What do you think about the app store model coming directly onto the web? image courtesy of iStockphoto, pagadesign For more technology coverage, follow Mashable Tech on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Reviews: Facebook, Google, Linux, Twitter, Windows, iStockphoto Tags: app store, apps, chrome, chrome web store, Google, google io, Linux, mac, Windows

Google Introduces the WebM Video Format Posted: 19 May 2010 10:25 AM PDT Today at Google I/O, Google officially announced the forthcoming release of an open source, royalty-free video format called WebM. Using the VP8 codec that Google acquired from On2 last February, the format is backed by fellow browser makers Mozilla and Opera. In April, rumors about the open sourcing of VP8 started to take off, but the implications of what VP8 — and now WebM — might mean has been somewhat clouded by the bigger battle between Apple and Adobe over HTML5, Flash and the future of mobile platforms. While WebM is not currently part of the HTML5 spec, it will be added as a supported part of the <video> tag for the Chrome, Firefox and Opera browsers. In addition to announcing WebM, Google also told the audience that WebM support will be coming to YouTube as part of its HTML5 experiment. All video that is in 720p or higher uploaded to YouTube from today onward will be encoded in WebM in addition to H.264. One issue that has been raised in the debate over HTML5 and Flash, in terms of web video, is the issue of what video codecs HTML5 supports. Right now, HTML5 supports both H.264 and Xiph’s Ogg Theora. While free for end users and for users who upload video to the web, H.264 is not a royalty-free technology. A consortium called the MPEG-LA, which includes Microsoft, Apple, Panasonic, Nokia, Sony and many other technology companies, oversees license requirements. While in actual practice these licensing issues only impact people who are either creating an encoder or creating software to play back H.264 content, the issue has nonetheless been contentious, especially for companies like Mozilla and Opera who have ideological problems with using technology like H.264. Engadget’s Nilay Patel and I discussed these issues at length with Dan Benjamin a few weeks ago on his podcast, “The Conversation.” With WebM, the royalty-free nature of the platform allows developers and software makers to use the technology without having to pay any licensing fees. Unlike other royalty-free formats, VP8 has the potential to provide real competition against H.264. Adobe’s Kevin Lynch spoke at Google I/O and announced that Adobe plans to build VP8 support into Flash and that WebM can be used with Adobe products like Dreamweaver. WebM is more than just video; it also supports features like embedded and selectable text and web fonts. In the coming weeks and months, we expect to see more encoders and player plugins built to support WebM. The next step will be to see if hardware makers embrace WebM the same way they have embraced H.264. Accelerated video support for H.264 on a multitude of devices is one of the reasons that it has become the codec of choice for consumer video and a reason it has been so popular for video content creators. Still, having alternatives is good. It’s also important that open options be available on the web and that those options actually be compelling and usable. We think that WebM is a great move from Google and it has certainly added a new dimension to the growing discussion about the future of web video. The nightly builds of Chromium and Firefox now include WebM support. Opera builds with WebM support are available at labs.opera.com. image courtesy of iStockphoto, Norebbo For more web video coverage, follow Mashable Web Video on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Reviews: Chrome, Chromium, Facebook, Firefox, Google, Opera, Twitter, YouTube, iStockphoto Tags: google io, h.264, HTML5, html5 video, vp8

Google Wave Now Open to All Posted: 19 May 2010 10:11 AM PDT Last year at the Google I/O conference, the search giant created a tsunami of interest when it revealed Google Wave. This year the company is making the invite-only, real-time communication tool available to everyone — including Google Apps users — at wave.google.com. As you may recall, when invites first started rolling out last September, online users were clamoring to get in to Google Wave. Since then, Google has made a number of important tweaks to the preview stage product, including e-mail notifications, read-only wave access and undo/redo options. Still, interest in Wave faded pretty fast, and the product remains used by early adopters for experimental purposes. There’s no doubt that Google Wave has matured as a product, so now that Google Wave is open to all it should be interesting to see if the product can regain its original launch luster. [img credit: prgibbs] For more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Reviews: Facebook, Google, Google Wave, Twitter Tags: Google, Google Wave

Twitter for iPhone Now Live in the App Store Posted: 19 May 2010 10:05 AM PDT Yesterday, Tweetie 2 for iPhone disappeared from the App Store. Its replacement, simply titled Twitter [iTunes link], is now available. This comes a little more than a month after Twitter acquired Tweetie from its creator, Loren Brichter. In addition to being free, the app now carries the distinction of being “version 3.0.” If you were expecting a big update and iPad support alongside the new name, brace yourselves; Tweetie — er — Twitter has remained relatively unchanged from its prior release. That’s not a bad thing; as we reported in our original reviews of Tweetie 2 and Tweetie 2.1, Tweetie is one of the best Twitter experiences for any platform and, in our opinion, was the winning app on the iPhone by a wide margin. That said, check out some of the new features and tweaks that you can find in the newly rebranded app: You can use Twitter without an account. Spy on your friends without having to actually use Twitter. You can sign up for a Twitter account within the app itself, complete with Suggested User List. The “More” tab has been reorganized and popular actions have been moved to the main action bar. Search results include Top Tweets. In acquiring Tweetie, Twitter raised the ire of its developer community, who worried about what this means for their own applications now and in the future. Twitter has argued that it needs to have an official client to improve basic user experience. Earlier this month, Twitter for Android was released and RIM launched its own Twitter application for the BlackBerry. This means that the three hottest smartphone platforms all have official Twitter clients. If you never used Tweetie, we highly recommend download Twitter for iPhone. It’s just a great application and now that it’s free, there’s really no excuse not to give it a try. What is your favorite Twitter client for the iPhone? Let us know! For more mobile coverage, follow Mashable Mobile on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Reviews: Facebook, Twitter, tweetie Tags: iphone, iphone apps, Mobile 2.0, trending, twitter

Connect Your TV to 650,000 Online Episodes [APPS] Posted: 19 May 2010 09:44 AM PDT A new web-based application called Clicker.tv will connect you to a database of 650,000 online TV episodes, and it will do so with an interface viewable from 10 feet away and workable with a remote control — the same experience you’d have with software that runs on a set-top box. Clicker is a search engine and database for people who want to watch television online; it indexes professionally produced content from Hulu, network TV show video sites, Netflix, YouTube and numerous other sources, then arranges them with tags, categories, playlists and other sorting mechanisms. The site’s existing interface is designed for mouse-and-keyboard users on a laptop or desktop computer, but Clicker.tv serves all the same content and features in an interface that’s easily usable on your living room TV. Here’s what’s really special about this, though: It’s entirely web-based, so it will work on devices that have web browsers with HTML5 support. While some videos will play inside of Clicker.tv’s main interface (YouTube content, for example), you’ll sometimes be sent outside the Clicker website to watch. You can press one button to get back where you were, though, and Clicker CEO Jim Lazone says the at some point the team plans to add a toolbar that will stick around when you navigate away. When we asked what this means for Clicker’s plans to launch native apps (as it already has on Boxee and Popbox), Lanzone confirmed that launching this new application doesn’t mean the company won’t offer native software solutions when needed for certain devices, but he said “more devices moved towards the open web instead of the artificial portals.” He also noted that Clicker.tv’s advantage is that it’s not artificially constrained to the features or interface of any given device. Granted, some content won’t play on some devices; Hulu needs Adobe Flash to work, for example, so you won’t be able to watch Hulu videos if your device doesn’t support it. Regional restrictions also apply, of course. But the strategy of using a universal platform like HTML5 to offer Clicker’s features on as many devices as possible makes a lot of sense in a space that has few agreed-upon standards. Clicker has already taken a stab at curating only content supported by a specific device, too. For more web video coverage, follow Mashable Web Video on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Reviews: Boxee, Clicker, Facebook, Hulu, Twitter, YouTube Tags: clicker, clicker.tv, google io, hulu, netflix, search engine, video, video search, web television, Web TV, youtube

LIVE: Google Makes Major Announcements at Google I/O Posted: 19 May 2010 09:09 AM PDT Today is the Google I/O Conference in San Francisco. The search giant is making several announcements on Google Wave and many of its other products. Here are my live notes on today’s keynote: Google I/O Keynote: Live Notes - VP of Engineering Vic Gundotra is addressing the crowd with some housekeeping notes and an introduction to Google I/O - HTML5 has gained momentum - Now Vic is asking: “How can we make the web faster?” - Now Sundar Pichai, VP of Product Management, has taken the stage. He is discussing he evolution of desktop applications. - Web apps are becoming more powerful due to HTML5. Google’s goal is to move more apps from the desktop to the web. - Now they are doing a demo of HTML5 and Gmail in Chrome to show off its power. - New demos: MugTug, an image/photo editing software, and Clicker.com. The focus is on the power of Chrome and HTML5 - Clicker is now showing off Clicker.tv, a new version of Clicker built for the TV. It’s a lot like YouTube XL. Video - Now Google is speaking about making video more accessible. Sundar is talking about On2 Technologies, which Google recently acquired. - Announcement: VP8 is now open-source as part of a new “WebM” project. - Mozilla is now on stage to discuss the new WebM project, which “is dedicated to developing a high-quality, open video format for the web that is freely available to everyone.” - YouTube videos are being converted for the WebM Project. - Mozilla is showing off what is to come in live video. Text can be copied and pasted, videos can scale, and overall there is just more control over the format and feel of videos through WebM. - Now the CTO of Opera is on stage to discuss WebM. - He is demoing Opera running WebM. It’s the same discussion points as Mozilla: We need an open, standard format for web video. - Google is back on stage, discussing partners. Opera, Skype, Adobe, Nvidia, Logitech, Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, Theora, Brightcove, and others are part of the project. - Adobe’s CTO is on stage Adobe - Adobe is talking about its work with HTML5 - First of several demos: Dreamweaver and HTML5. He is showing how it will support HTML5 and help you make it work across multiple devices, as well as how it can manipulate CSS in the context of HTML5 - Second demo: CSS3 Animation Editor. He’s defining shapes and animations via CSS and HTML5. - This demo…is very in-depth. A few too many steps for an on-stage demo, but he’s doing a good job of showing what is possible. Web Apps and the Chrome Web Store - Google is back on stage, discussing how it’s hard for user to find web apps. - TweetDeck is being demoed by Google. They’re showing off a new version of TweetDeck made entirely in HTML5. - The Chrome Web Store announced — it’s a new store for findign and buying applications for use online. - Games are in the Chrome Web Store as well. Plants vs. Zombies, one of the most popular iPhone/iPad games, is now available in the Chrome Web Store. - Buying web apps and games is shockingly is very siplistic. It only takes a few clicks. - Now on stage: Terry McDonnell, Editor of Sports Illustrated. - Terry is starting off with a video in his demo. - Demo: Sports Illustrated in HTML5. You can read the magazine in Chrome. Their goal is to translate the bet aspects of the magazine into a web app. It will have live news, live scores, live video feeds, and photos. - He’s showing off some of the app’s features: saving articles, playing video, integration with Google Buzz, the ability to drill deeper into stories, etc. - He’s discussing the advertisements in Sports Illustrated’s app. He wants ads to be relevant and be as useful as content. You can do things such as find out where to purchase the items that you see in ads and interact with the ads. “A magazine experience.” - Chrome Web Store provides developers a window to over 70 million people, according to Google. It’s available in Chrome and Chrome OS and will be available in the Chrome Dev Center soon. Google Wave - Google Wave has been opened up to everyone as of today. It is also part of Google Apps as of today. - The Wave team is discussing how people are using Wave — for example, how a teach is using it to get her students to collaborate on research, or how a Hotel has found it useful for coordinating work. Web Work - Now Google’s Director of Engineering, David Glazer, is on stage to discuss (for the next 45 minutes) how Google is making the web more effective in the workplace. - He’s discussing the difficulties of work in the new era. Employees work everywhere on all sorts of devices, apps trap you in because you have to pick the foundations, the OS, the servers, etc and that can lock you in, and there are simply too many apps. - Google has a solution though for bringing the cloud to the enterprise. - VMWare’s CEO is now on stage to discuss what Google and VMWare are doing together. - He’s discussing cloud portability. He wants apps that can be run on a “variety” of clouds — public or private ones. - VMWare has been working with Google to bring an open-source layer for the cloud, with VMWare powering the backend and Google’s expertise on the front end. They’ve integrated Google Web Toolkit and Springsource (a VMware product) to make it possible to create and run apps across multiple clouds. - Ben Alex of SpringSource and Bruce Johnson of Google are now on stage to demo Google Web Toolkit 2.1 + Roo. - They’re going to build an application live on stage. It’s a technical demo to show how you can build an expense report cloud app in under 200 keystrokes. - The demos of Google Web Toolkit + Roo continue. The point seems to be that it’s very easy to create enterprise apps though Google and VMWare. - Now they’re demoing tools for helping build apps. For example, Spring Insight from VMWare helps developers drill down into server speeds. Now Speed Tracer (Google’s front-end speed tracking tool) is integrated with Spring Insight. - Now they’re moving on from tools to widget libraries and application frameworks. GWT 2.1 solves some of that with a series of data-presenting widgets. - Demo: they’re showing how quickly GWT can flip through over 5 million line items from expense reports from a 125,000+ employee company. - New demo: Showing the same data through widgets, but on mobile devices as well as the desktop. - They’re showing off Google WEb Toolkit widgets on iPad first. It’s very similar to the desktop. - Next demo is on Android. Unfortunately, bad Wi-Fi kind of stalled the demo. The point though is that if you input information in one platform (e.g. Android), it’ll quickly appear in another platform iPad). They showed off how someone can expense something and how a manager can approve it or deny it in real time. - Kevin Gibbs, one of the heads of the Google App Engine, is now on stage. Yes, this is a long keynote. - Google App Engine for Business: Newly announced, it is a version of Google App Engine designed for enterprise and focused on security. - It comes with SSL and SQL, forma SLA, and pro support. - It also comes with a simple pricing model: $8/monthly user, up to $1000 per app. - Google is now showing off Google App Engine for Business and what’s different between it and the standard Google App Engine. Reviews: Android, Chrome, Clicker, Gmail, Google, Google Buzz, Google Wave, Opera, Skype, TweetDeck, YouTube Tags: Google, google io, trending

New Canon Portable Scanner Lets You Scan Directly to Evernote Posted: 19 May 2010 08:59 AM PDT Canon has just released a Mac version of its popular image and document scanner, the imageFORMULA P-150M, complete with built-in support for the popular organizational service Evernote. The small scanner, which Canon calls the “Scan-tini,” lets you quickly scan documents and route them to Evernote automatically. The scanner, which is also available for Windows, uses embedded drivers to start up and scan quickly, effectively decreasing the time it takes to initialize the device. Using what Canon calls CaptureOnTouch, documents can be routed automatically to apps like iPhoto or Evernote. This can be really useful, especially for business users who want to have a way to easily scan and upload lots of documents quickly. The scanner is powered by USB and comes with a 20-page automatic document feeder. It can scan up to 15 pages per minute and it’s designed to fit easily into a briefcase. The suggested retail price is $295, which isn’t cheap, but well within the range of other professional portable document scanners. If you’re a home user who wants a scanner that can easily communicate with cloud services like Evernote, check out Doxie, a compact document and photos scanner that can directly route scans to Google Docs, Flickr, Evernote, Tumblr, iPhoto, Picasa, Acrobat and more. Doxie is $129 and works on Windows and Mac. Both the Canon P-150M and Doxie are available now. Do you use any special hardware or secret tricks to make getting your scanned documents to the cloud more efficient? Let us know! For more technology coverage, follow Mashable Tech on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Reviews: Evernote, Facebook, Flickr, Google Docs, Picasa, Tumblr, Twitter, Windows Tags: Canon, doxie, evernote, Hardware, scanners

HOW TO: Get Your Startup Featured on Mashable Posted: 19 May 2010 08:41 AM PDT Have you got a project cooking that you think is a certifiable winner? Well, tell us about it, then! It’s no good basking in the glow of your own genius all by your lonesome. Each week day, Mashable features one startup that we think is truly stellar (take a look at our Spark of Genius channel for some examples of past coverage). So what are we looking for? Basically, apps, websites, tools, software and programs that fit within one of our channels: social media, tech, entertainment, web video, mobile, etc. Specifically, you should stick to the following criteria. Your submission: Must be less than 3 years old Must never have received coverage on Mashable.com before Must have something to showcase to our readers (active site/product) Be generating less than U.S. $1 million in annual revenue Additionally, if the site is in private beta or alpha, please provide our editors with access information, and ideally invite codes for our readers. If you have a genius venture that does, indeed, meet these criteria, please jet on over here to apply. image courtesy of iStockphoto, Neustockimages For more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Reviews: Facebook, Mashable, Twitter, iStockphoto Tags: mashable, startup

With Internet TV Booming, Blip.tv Raises $10.1M Posted: 19 May 2010 08:15 AM PDT Blip.tv announced today that it has raised $10.1 million in its third round of institutional funding. Led by Canaan Partners and existing investors Bain Capital Venture, this new round comes as blip.tv approaches its fifth birthday. We spoke with co-founder and CEO Mike Hudack about what the new investment capital will mean for blip.tv and why blip.tv has continued to grow in such a crowded and competitive industry. Hudack told us that when blip.tv was founded in 2005, the idea was simply “to change the entertainment industry by making independent show production sustainable and scalable.” Hudack told us that a core part of blip.tv’s mission over the last five years has been to bridge the gap between the computer and the television and to bring quality online content everywhere. Blip.tv debuted at the very beginning of the web video boom. Along with services like YouTube, blip.tv was one of the earliest places that users could upload their own content to then serve via their own sites. So why has blip.tv not only survived, but continued to grow when so many others have either had to scale back or have folded to competitive pressures? Hudack told us there are a couple of reasons for blip.tv’s success: blip.tv has zeroed in its focus on cultivating quality content creators and taking a larger role in ensuring the success of that content. blip.tv has been very bullish in the connected TV space, signing deals with companies like Roku, Boxee, TiVo and Sony Bravia to bring blip.tv content to those devices. Increased Focus on Internal Ad Sales In the last year, blip.tv has expanded its internal sales force from just a few people to include offices all over the world, including a new sales office in London. At this point, 85% of the advertising on blip.tv programming (revenues are split 50/50 between content creators and blip.tv) is a result of direct-sold ads with brands like Pepsi, Samsung, Starbucks and AT&T. By taking a larger role in creating these advertising partnerships, blip.tv is better able to pair appropriate advertising with the shows it hosts on its network and is also able to better leverage the overall size of its network. The average length of a blip.tv program is a little more than 14 minutes. As Hudack points out, this is closing in on the 22-minute (well, really more like 20.5-minute) length of a traditional television show. With content this long, selling advertising space and integrating ad breaks into content becomes less of a struggle than with content that is, say, under five minutes in length. Blip.tv doesn’t create content itself; instead it provides content creators with tools for distribution, advertising management, promotion and statistical analysis. The latest funding round will be used to help continue to shore up its advertising teams, help create new and better tools for content creators and to help get blip.tv programs more exposure and syndication deals across more networks and devices. Betting Big on Connected TV Blip.tv is unique in the hosted video space for its focus on integrating with connected TV solutions. Like YouTube, you can find blip.tv programming and applications on television sets, set-top boxes and media center software. Hudack told us that blip.tv intends to continue to invest in the expansion of these projects, which in turn raises the exposure for its content creators and can feed into better advertising deals. By being bullish on connected devices, blip.tv is anticipating what we are already starting to see across the greater consumer landscape; the convergence between the traditional media space is, at long last, finally taking place. Consumers don’t want to have to segment how they view programming, rather online programming and traditional broadcasting should be able to exist side-by-side no matter what device the user is watching. A key difference between blip.tv and many of the other players in this space is that the focus is not just on the computer screen, but on all types of consumer screens. Mobile, HTML5 and the Future Blip.tv isn’t investing in mobile as heavily as it is in greater advertising and the connected television space, but mobile is definitely part of blip.tv now and part of its future. The iPhone and iPad both have optimized blip.tv home pages and most embedded blip.tv content can be played back on either device. Android support is planned in the future, but no specific date was given in our interview. Hudack told us that there are plans to better integrate HTML5 and HTTP streaming for advertisements across its network, which will mean big things for future mobile devices in the future. As we were ending our call, Hudack gave me this takeaway: “When we started blip.tv, the idea was to imagine what the first television network would be like if it was created in 2005, rather than in 1939.” Just five years later, the landscape for broadcast and online content has evolved even further. If 2005 was 1939, I would liken 2010 to 1951/1952 and the mainstream adoption of TV and the innovations of pre-recorded television and the 3-camera setup pioneered by I Love Lucy. Internet content has come a long way in just half a decade; we can’t wait to see it evolve over the next five years. For more business coverage, follow Mashable Business on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Reviews: Android, BLIP, Boxee, Facebook, Internet, Twitter, YouTube Tags: blip.tv, connected tv, funding, itv, ONLINE VIDEO, television, tv

13 Essential Tips for Landing a Job on LinkedIn Posted: 19 May 2010 07:55 AM PDT Lewis Howes is a former professional athlete, world record holder in football, and author of the LinkedIn book, LinkedWorking. He is the founder of the Sports Executives Association, and the popular sports and social media blog SportsNetworker.com. LinkedIn is one of the best places online to find a job, period. It's also a great place to connect with top decision makers, generate targeted leads for your business, drive traffic to your website, and more. I hear countless stories every week from people who land amazing full time positions at great companies thanks to engagement on LinkedIn. Although there are a number of approaches you can take when hunting for the right job, start with these 13 important tips for using LinkedIn effectively. 1. Complete Your Profile 100% If someone is thinking about hiring you for a position, he or she is going run a Google search for your first and last name. For many, a LinkedIn profile will rank in the top five results. This gives you a certain level of control in showcasing your best talents with your profile. Make sure your profile is 100% complete, and position yourself as an expert in your niche. A profile that is only 55% complete, without recommendations and an updated work history may not make a solid first impression when people find you through search. 2. Add a Compelling Headline Your headline is the first thing potential employers and hiring managers will see after your name. First impressions are an important aspect of the interview process, and this holds true for your LinkedIn profile as well. Be clear and to the point with your headline. Try to tell people who you are, what you do, and how you can help them in as few words as possible. This simple step will help you stand out from many other LinkedIn profiles. 3. Add All Past and Current Work Positions It's important to include where you have worked in the past and where you are currently working. Obviously, the more work experience you can list, the better. You never know which position will earn you the respect of the hiring manager and give you the edge you need to land the job. There's always a chance the hiring manager has worked at one of your previous companies, or has hired other professionals from that company. Situations like this may help you get the job security you are seeking. 4. Give and Receive Recommendations On your traditional resume, you are supposed to have a limited amount of recommendations. However, on your LinkedIn profile, the more people who can vouch for you, the better. If you only have two recommendations on LinkedIn, most people won't take your profile seriously. It's unfortunate, because there are a number of qualified and experienced professionals who aren't active on the network. This can hurt their reputation. Remember, in the online world, perception is reality. If people believe that no one will recommend you because there are no visible signs of approval displayed on your profile, why would they want to hire you? The best way to receive recommendations is to give them first. The more you give on LinkedIn, the more you will receive. Take some time to write a few recommendations for those you know, like, and trust, and a majority of them will write you one in return. 5. Connect With Everyone There are some on LinkedIn who believe you should only connect with a small percentage of professionals you know and trust. Others say (including myself) you should connect with everyone, even if you vaguely know them. When looking for a job, you never know who will be able to recommend you, or who is looking for someone to fill a position where you would be a perfect fit. When connecting with others, make sure you always send a personalized message. This doesn't have to be an essay, but make sure you mention why you are connecting or how you know one another. Also ask if there is anything you can do to assist them. By offering your services to help, this breaks down any initial barriers and gives others another reason why they should hire you. 6. Be Concise in Your Message When you communicate through your LinkedIn profile, structure it in a way that will help people clearly understand you and what you are after. There are three main components: Provide a preview so people know what comes next In your headline give them the intro to who you are and what you are all about. Give them the facts Let people know who you are by injecting your personality into your work experiences, your summary, your specialties, and in how you help people. Summarize and reinforce your message Finish up strong by adding in your honors, awards, personal websites and case studies. Provide a call to action on how to connect with you and ways to follow up if they want to learn more. 7. Stay Active I believe half the battle of finding a job is simply letting others know you are alive. There are so many resumes being submitted to open positions that it can be tough to break through sometimes. Luckily, LinkedIn works in your favor if you are active and constantly engage within the community. Each time you take action on LinkedIn, it shows up on the home page of everyone you are connected to. The more people see your picture, read you name, and check out the compelling content you are delivering, the more likely they are to think of you when a position opens up. Stay active, and the opportunities will be much more abundant than if you don’t participate at all. 8. Join Niche Groups Groups are a great way to find a position because they have built-in job boards with new jobs being added on a regular basis. Some groups have tens of thousands of decision makers within them. As a member, you are able to send a message to almost every person without having to upgrade to a premium account. LinkedIn also has a great advanced search function, and once you find who you want to connect with, you can often message them directly through mutual groups without actually needing to be connected. 9. Create a Group Being a group owner has many advantages. It allows you to send messages once per week to all the members, and you are perceived more as a decision maker and thought leader. Start attracting potential employers as opposed to seeking them out all of the time. 10. Add Your Honors and Awards Including honors and awards is just another way to increase your value to potential hiring managers. Employers want to hire winners, and those who know how to excel. Be sure to show them what you are made of, and post everything relevant to your success in your past work history. 11. Answer Questions This is a great way for job seekers to showcase their talents and expertise and stand out from the crowd. It’s also valuable to entrepreneurs and business owners for gathering leads. Add the 'Answers' widget on the right-hand side of your LinkedIn home page with the industry topic you know the most about. When you see a question pop up that you can answer, make sure you give your two cents and provide as much information and value in your answers as possible. The more you give to and serve others, the more job opportunities will come your way. 12. Import Your Blog and Twitter Feeds There are a number of ways to beef up your LinkedIn profile and make its content more compelling. Adding your blog and Twitter account is a good first step. Simply connect with your Twitter profile and check the box to make sure your tweets are syndicated to LinkedIn. This will save time and make it look like you are more active on LinkedIn as well. Adding your blog to your LinkedIn profile is a no-brainer. This not only drives organic traffic back to your site, but showcases your regular activities and expertise. 13. Connect Others I'm a big fan of connecting people. Whenever I see someone with a certain career need, I try to think of the right people I can introduce them to. I want to create a mutually beneficial gain for each party. The more I do this, the more career opportunities come my way. When you help two people without asking for anything in return, you leave a lasting impression on all involved. This will help amplify your own job prospects, as people will be more likely to help you achieve your goals in the future. Conclusion Don't get discouraged if you don't immediately see results. Effectively building your LinkedIn presence and online network won't happen overnight. Remember these tips, and start to actively engage. Take action, be consistent, and you’ll soon be exploring a wealth of new professional networking opportunities. For more business coverage, follow Mashable Business on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook More LinkedIn Resources from Mashable: - 5 Ways Small Businesses Can Leverage LinkedIn's New Features - HOW TO: Reignite Your Business Network Online - 5 Tips for Using LinkedIn to Find Star Employees - 8 Tips for Managing a LinkedIn Group - 5 Ways to Avoid Sabotaging Your Personal Brand Online Image courtesy of iStockphoto, SchulteProductions Reviews: Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Twitter, iStockphoto Tags: business, employment, job search, job seekers, jobs, linkedin, List, Lists, social media, social networking, twitter

Pakistan Blocks Facebook Over Caricatures of Prophet Muhammad Posted: 19 May 2010 06:41 AM PDT A Pakistani court has ordered the authorities to temporarily block Facebook due to a contest that calls for caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. The court order follows a petition by a group called the Islamic Lawyers’ Movement, which complained that the contest was “blasphemous.” A search on Facebook reveals two sites featuring such caricatures: one supporting Kurt Westergaard, the Danish cartoonist who created the caricature of the Prophet, published in Danish newspapers in 2005. The other group is openly calling for caricatures of Prophet Muhammad, claiming in the group descriptions that it has noble intent. From the description: “This group is for everyone, regardless of nationality, political or religious believes, who believe in and want to defend freedom of speech and the foundation of democracy wherever it is being threatened in the world!” In the photo section of the group, one can indeed find several caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. Facebook is to remained blocked in Pakistan until May 31. Justice Ejaz Ahmed Chaudhry of the Lahore High Court ordered the department of communications to submit a written reply to the Islamic Lawyers’ Movement petition by that date. In 2008, Pakistan blocked YouTube, also because of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad that found their way onto the video-sharing site. For more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Reviews: Facebook, Twitter Tags: ban, facebook, Pakistan, social networking

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