Jumat, 04 Juni 2010

Mashable: Latest 29 News Updates - including “HTC EVO 4G Now Available”

Mashable: Latest 29 News Updates - including “HTC EVO 4G Now Available”

Link to Mashable!

HTC EVO 4G Now Available

Posted: 04 Jun 2010 05:10 AM PDT

As previously announced, the highly anticipated 4G smartphone, HTC EVO 4G, is now available in the U.S. Customers can purchase the device at Sprint retail stores, RadioShack, Best Buy and Walmart, as well as through Sprint.com.

The device costs $199.99 with a two-year service agreement and after a $100 mail-in rebate (taxes excluded).

You can read our hands-on review of the HTC EVO 4G here; in short, it’s a very advanced smartphone with top-of-the-line hardware and capable of 4G data transfer speeds, which is about 10 times faster than current 3G speeds.

To highlight the HTC EVO 4G launch, Sprint today started a major social media campaign, called Sprint Firsts, which encourages users to perform various activities at 4G speeds and let their friends know about it. Participants are being awarded 4G badges, and users who manage to be the “first” will get featured on the EVO homepage.



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Tags: evo, htc, HTC EVO 4G, Mobile 2.0, smartphone


Turkish ISPs Block Several Google Services?

Posted: 04 Jun 2010 03:15 AM PDT

According to numerous Twitter sources, as well as Turkish blogs, ISPs in Turkey have started blocking several Google services.

Google’s translation of one such report reveals that ISPs have sent emails to customers, informing them that the services have been blocked for legal reasons.

It’s currently unclear exactly which services have been blocked; one report claims that the unavailable services include Google Analytics, Mail and Docs. The same source claims that the Turkish government actually tried to block YouTube’s new IPs and (perhaps inadvertently) blocked a number of other Google services in the process.

*Update: according to commenter Emrah Gunduz, the unavailable services are “Google Translate, Sites, Code, AppEngine, Docs, Groups, Feedburner. Other Google services are reachable, but Analytics and Adsense are working slower.”

The news comes hot on the heels of Bangladesh and Pakistan’s blockade of Facebook. In Turkey, many popular sites such as YouTube and Last.FM have been blocked from time to time. Now, other Google services join the list; if the reports are true, this could cause numerous problems to individuals and companies who rely on using Google’s services in their work and daily life.

Thanks to Oğuz Serdar for the tip.



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Tags: ban, blockade, Google, turkey


Apple Shows Us What HTML5 Can Do

Posted: 04 Jun 2010 12:34 AM PDT

Apple is one of the biggest supporters of HTML5, and Steve Jobs clearly states he thinks this new standard is the future of the web. To show why, exactly, Flash is no longer necessary, Apple launched a HTML5 showcase, displaying what a HTML5-capable browser can do without the need to install any additional plugins.

In typical Apple style, the showcase consists of simple, elegant, and yet quite impressive demos of this technology. In one demo, you can type in some text, quickly change the font, its size and transparency, rotate it or add a shadow effect. Another lets you browse through a horizontal, vertical or grid-shaped gallery of images, while a particularly impressive demo lets you spin a 3D object by clicking and dragging.

Apple’s message is clear: HTML5 is mature enough for wide adoption, and sites which require add-ons to display content are a thing of the past. In an obvious jab at Flash, the text on the site states: “Standards aren't add-ons to the web. They are the web.”

Yes, you can definitely cover a lot of ground that used to belong to Flash with HTML5. What Apple doesn’t tell us is that one could create a similar showcase in Flash with far more advanced effects, which are way out of reach of HTML5 and CSS3.

To try out any of the demos you’ll need to download the latest version of Safari.



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Tags: apple, HTML5, trending, web standards


New York Times Launches City Guide and Checkin Tool for iPhone

Posted: 04 Jun 2010 12:03 AM PDT

The New York Times has just unveiled its latest foray into digital media. Dubbed “The Scoop,” this free mobile app will be available only to iPhone users and useful only to residents or visitors of New York City and Brooklyn.

The app is, according to its page in the App Store, “a guide to New York City from the staff of The New York Times… We offer lists of our favorite restaurants, bars, events and experiences. You go out and have fun. Check off the places you’ve been, and share what you’ve done with your friends.”

Features include an updated list of the Times’ restaurant critic’s top 50 picks for dining out, the Dining Editor’s list of favorite bars, a weekly selection of events and other, Big Apple-flavored treats.

Users will be able to get recommendations for nearby venues based on their current location, and the app will integrate with Foursquare to allow for convenient checkins. It will also play nicely with SMS, email, Twitter and Facebook, natch.

We’d love to see an Android Market counterpart come along; while we hold our breath for that, we’d love to hear from our New York-based readers what they think of this app so far. If you’re not in NYC, do you wish your local paper would come up with an app like this?



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Reviews: Android Market, App Store, Facebook, Foursquare, Twitter

Tags: App, iphone, mobile app, new york times, NYC, nyt, the scoop


We Might All Be Watching Online Videos by 2015 [STATS]

Posted: 03 Jun 2010 11:35 PM PDT

According to recent research from the Pew Internet Project, 52% of the American population is watching videos online — that’s 69% of all Internet-connected American adults.

If online video watching continues at its current rate of growth, in just under 5 years, almost every American with an Internet connection (i.e., the vast majority of Americans, period) will be watching video online.

This includes video streamed from the web and downloaded video and encompasses sites such as YouTube, Vimeo, Hulu, DailyMotion and others.

In the current survey, Pew researchers found that the majority (61%) of American, adult Internet users watch short clips, television shows and movies on video-sharing sites such as YouTube. These sites have exploded in popularity over the past several years and are on a trajectory to dominate the space. By contrast, just 33% of Internet users in 2006 had watched a video on a vid-sharing site.

The groups of people most likely to watch online videos include younger adults, men, the wealthy and the well-educated — a factoid which bucks current wisdom about YouTube comments.


And as more Americans get broadband access, more get online to watch videos. This correlation may or may not be causal; 75% of broadband customers watch online video, and 89% of online video watchers have broadband.

We’re collectively increasing our online viewership of comedy, educational and political videos, as well as professionally produced content from TV and film studios.

Video uploading is on the rise, too. This activity has doubled in occurrence from 7% to 14% of Internet users between 2007 and now. Moreover, social sites such as Facebook are equal in popularity to video-specific sites such as Vimeo or YouTube when it comes to choosing an online destination for one’s videos.


Do these numbers surprise you at all? Do you expect that online video will continue to grow in popularity until it’s part of all our lives, or do you think YouTube and its ilk will eventually plateau?



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Reviews: Facebook, Hulu, Internet, Twitter, Vimeo, YouTube, video

Tags: ONLINE VIDEO, survey, youtube


GateGuru is an iPhone Guide for Airports

Posted: 03 Jun 2010 09:45 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: GateGuru

Quick Pitch: GateGuru is designed to redefine the in-airport experience.

Genius Idea: Even for those of us who travel frequently, airline travel can make the most calm among us want to pull their hair out. GateGuru’s iPhone app [iTunes link] serves as a mobile directory for 100 different airports in the U.S. and Canada, and can help you avoid travel headaches, at least for the airport portion of your trip.

The app experience is pretty much self-explanatory, and you can poke around inside the airport nearest you (and checkin if you’re at the airport), the last airport you visited or select one for the app’s list. You can then choose to peruse the entire airport or limit your digital airport exploration to a particular terminal or concourse.

The terminal/concourse guide is essentially the meat of the application, so you can see a comprehensive listing of all airport amenities, or filter for just food, shops or services. Each amenity has its own GateGuru listing so users can view the exact location, add photos, write and read reviews, update information or bookmark a place for future reference.

GateGuru also includes a gaming element reminiscent of Foursquare’s leaderboard. In the HighFlyers section, users are awarded points for checking-in to airports, rating and reviewing amenities. This month JetBlue is sponsoring the contest, so the member that accrues the most points nationally for the month of June will win two free JetBlue tickets. Regional winners will also get $100 gift cards.

Overall, we find the app to be a handy airport utility and may make those stressful travel experiences much more manageable, and possibly more rewarding.

[img credit: timo_w2s]


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)."



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Reviews: Facebook, PHP, Twitter

Tags: gateguru, iphone app, spark-of-genius


Grooveshark Offers Former Lala Users Free Premium Service

Posted: 03 Jun 2010 08:37 PM PDT

On-demand music service Grooveshark has a nice promotion going on for former users of the now shut down Lala site: one free month of premium VIP service. Cloud storage and streaming service Lala was shut down at the end of May after being acquired by Apple, prompting some to surmise that the latter company intends to bring an online music storage component to iTunes.

The promotion is intended to “help ease the pain” of ex-Lala users, who received iTunes store credit for the music purchases they’d made but have lost access to their Lala libraries. The Grooveshark VIP service, normally $3 a month, removes all advertisements from the music streaming site as well as providing access to a desktop client and to mobile apps for the Android, BlackBerry and webOS platforms and for jailbroken iPhones.

Former Lala members who want to take advantage of the offer can head to Grooveshark, answer a few questions mostly about their listening habits, and get immediate access to the VIP service. A spokesperson for Grooveshark told us this promotion will be available “indefinitely.”

What do you think of this promotion? If you’re an ex-Lala user, will you take advantage of the offer?

Thumbnail image courtesy of iStockphoto, chrisgramly



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Reviews: Android, Facebook, Grooveshark, Twitter, iStockphoto

Tags: android, apple, blackberry, freemium, grooveshark, iphone, itunes, Lala, music, streaming music


Two New Twilight Eclipse Trailers Hit YouTube

Posted: 03 Jun 2010 07:25 PM PDT

We’ve just seen the two latest Eclipse trailers, and the Twilight fans here at Mashable (read: the author and no one else) are at a fever pitch.

These new spots debuted on Fandango and MSN Movies, respectively; however, wild horses couldn’t keep them off YouTube for more than a few minutes.

The trailers show a few new and interesting scenes and plot aspects we haven’t seen before. We learn that Riley Biers, formerly a missing person and now the creator of a vampire army, has vowed to “end the Cullen clan.” And the second spot suggests a creature “stronger… deadlier… something new to fear.”

If you want to have a mini-Twilight-trailer-a-thon, check out the March 11 spot and the April 23 spot, too. And be sure to keep those stellar reaction vids coming!

What do you think of the new spots? Fascinating or inane? Enraging or delightful? Be sure to let us know your thoughts — including those on how much you hate/love the Twilight saga in general — in the comments.



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Reviews: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, twilight

Tags: eclipse, trailers, twilight, youtube


TLC + Foursquare = New Tips and Badges for Summer

Posted: 03 Jun 2010 06:47 PM PDT

TLC has used information from its stars and fans alike to run a summer-themed Foursquare promotion that will include new badges and tons of tips for summer fun.

TLC’s Foursquare integration will help users find venues conducive to enjoying the warm weather, including barbecue restaurants, zoos, amusement parks, swimming pools and the like. Users will be able to earn the TLC Summer badge by checking in at any TLC Summer-tagged location.

Other badges include Cupcake Connoisseur and BBQ Pitmaster. They are what they sound like, and three checkins at approved locations will earn you a badge.

Foursquare-based social media marketing campaigns seem to be all the rage in 2010. The app now handles nearly a million checkins each day, and we’ve seen marketing efforts from big-name brands, from Jimmy Choo and Cynthia Rowley to Domino’s and Wendy’s.

Even the city of Chicago and the the state of Pennsylvania are getting in on the Foursquare action.

TLC isn’t the first brand in its category to use Foursquare for marketing purposes, either. The History Channel tapped the service when it announced a new badge and a series of tips to promote an American history series about a month ago.



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Reviews: Facebook, Foursquare, Twitter

Tags: foursquare, MARKETING, social media, TLC


Just for Textbooks: An Insanely Large Dual-Screen Tablet [PICS]

Posted: 03 Jun 2010 05:47 PM PDT

A company called Kno, Inc. has announced its flagship product, simply dubbed the Kno. The device is two large 14-inch touchscreens joined by a hinge that specifically targets the education sector.

Earlier we dinged the Dell Streak for being a bit on the small side, but the Kno tablet seems to suffer from the opposite problem. Announced at D8, the Kno weighs in at 5.5 pounds and more than an inch thick, rendering it comparable to a laptop but with two screens instead of a screen and keyboard.

The company refers to the device as a “digital textbook platform” and has partnered with publishers Cengage Learning, McGraw-Hill, and Pearson and Wiley to produce content for the Kno in a beta program that will kick off at major U.S. colleges and universities this fall.

Based on Linux, the Kno also boasts support for Adobe Flash — a hot topic right now since that’s something the iPad doesn’t include. Developers are encouraged to participate in building out a third-party App Store for the device.

As for pricing, all we know is that it will be “under $1000,” which already sounds suspiciously too high. Check out a demo video of the Kno and a few more screenshots below, then let us know what you think: Will students be interested in picking up a device like this? If so, would it be in place of or in addition to a laptop or desktop?


Kno Movie from Kno, Inc. on Vimeo.



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Reviews: App Store, Facebook, Linux, Twitter, Vimeo

Tags: education, Kno, Tablet, tablets, textbooks, touchscreens


Yelp Integrates OpenTable for Restaurant Reservations

Posted: 03 Jun 2010 05:02 PM PDT

Tonight, Yelp is announcing its integration of OpenTable, an self-service, online restaurant reservation system.

This new all-in-one functionality will significantly reduce the number of steps between finding and dining at a new spot. Users will be able to see reviews, ratings, and price and ambiance information, then immediately execute their dining decision by checking availability at a given restaurant and securing a table for their party.

Any user who is logged in to Yelp will be able to make a reservation without having to leave the site. They won’t need an OpenTable account to take advantage of this new feature, either.

Current OpenTable users will automatically receive OpenTable points when making a reservation via Yelp as long as the same email address is used for both accounts.

“This feature is something that our users have been asking us for, and we’re happy to oblige,” said a Yelp rep in an email today.

Right now, almost one third of all reviewed businesses on Yelp are restaurants. The service has already accumulated 11 million reviews total, and in May 2010, Yelp got 32 million visitors.

Will Yelp’s integration of OpenTable make discovering restaurants and dining out easier and faster for you?



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Reviews: Facebook, Twitter, Yelp

Tags: opentable, reservations, restaurant, reviews, social media, yelp


Majority of Consumers Not Interested in Purchasing Tablets [STUDY]

Posted: 03 Jun 2010 04:30 PM PDT

Apple may be selling three iPads a second, but consumer electronics shopping site Retrevo is reporting that 53% of all respondents surveyed in their Pulse Report are not interested in buying any type of tablet at all.

The ongoing study queried more than 1,000 respondents about their attitudes on the iPad, iPhone, Android-based tablets and e-readers.

What’s especially interesting is the somewhat conflicting desires of consumers when it comes to gadgets. More than 20% of those surveyed — or one in five — said they plan to buy an iPhone this year. When it comes to the iPad, however, 52% of those who have yet to purchase one say that they don’t one, and 38% find it to be too pricey. Only 10% indicated that they are waiting for a good excuse before they buy one.

But in a separate question, 40% of consumers who own or plan to own an e-reader indicate that they will buy an iPad this year.

Also, more than half (53%) of the 47% of the respondent pool who are interested in buying a tablet say they would buy an Android-based tablet over an iPad if it was less an expensive. 33% would ditch the iPad if Verizon was the carrier — a somewhat perplexing stat given that the iPad is not a phone, but perhaps data plans are just as important to technology consumers these days. In contrast, 16% of this respondent pool said that nothing would influence them to buy an Android-based tablet over an iPad.

What seems to be happening here is that the consumer population is split down the middle in their attitudes towards tablet devices — technophiles who want new gadgets and everyone else. One point of proof: those with a propensity towards gadgets — ie. they already own an iPhone or Android device — were much less likely to say they didn’t need an iPad. We can also walkaway with the notion that if Android tablets are priced to sell, they will.

[img credits: kbaird, retrevo]



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Reviews: Android, Facebook, Twitter

Tags: android, Apple iPad, study, Tablet


The “Star Wars Kid”: Where Is He Now?

Posted: 03 Jun 2010 03:47 PM PDT

Today, Canadian law student Ghyslain Raza is President of a nonprofit dedicated to preserving the heritage, culture and history of a riverside French-Canadian town called Trois-Rivières. But before that, the world knew him by a different title: The “Star Wars Kid.”

Raza is now a law student at Montreal’s McGill University. In February of this year, he took control of the Patrimoine Trois-Rivières (formerly called the Society for Conservation and Promotion of Cultural Heritage), which was founded more than 30 years ago. Raza is trying to revitalize the organization by reaching out to academics, releasing new publications and working with the city to make sure that developments in the area keep heritage concerns in mind.

Is that where you expected the Star Wars kid to be today? The short attention spans of viral video viewers prevent the subjects of the videos from fully and accurately presenting themselves. Few people would want to be entirely defined by one minute and 48 seconds of fame, but that’s the hand Raza was dealt in his youth. Hardly anyone would recognize him these days, though.

That’s the other benefit of the web’s short attention span.


The Hidden Story Behind the Video


Back in 2002, a teenage Raza recorded a video that would become one of the most popular viral hits of all time, and one of the first cautionary tales in the debate about privacy on the Internet. In it, he swung a golf ball retriever around as if it were Darth Maul’s double-bladed lightsaber in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace and accompanied his movements with muffled sound effects.

Four classmates discovered the video and distributed it online. It spread rapidly via e-mail and Internet forums, reaching millions of viewers — a great feat in the pre-YouTube era.

News outlets reported that Raza was so ridiculed for his activities in the video that he slipped into depression and had to take time off from school to seek psychiatric care. His family sued the families of the classmates who leaked the video for $250,000, then settled out of court.

The video has been referenced or spoofed on Arrested Development, Family Guy, The Colbert Report and other TV series. Viral marketing company The Viral Factory estimated that the original clip received more than 900 million views back in 2006; if that estimate was close to the mark, then the final number probably lands well over a billion today. Take that, Lady Gaga.


The Original Star Wars Kid Video




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Reviews: Facebook, Internet, Twitter, YouTube, news, society

Tags: Canada, ghyslain raza, nonprofit, quebec, star wars kid, viral videos


Exclusive: Sprint’s Social Media Campaign for HTC EVO 4G Debuts Tonight

Posted: 03 Jun 2010 03:02 PM PDT

Sprint is set to debut the first 4G phone in the US on Friday – the HTC EVO – and is unsurprisingly making speed (4G can be up to 10x faster than 3G) the focal point of its marketing campaign. The first TV commercials hit the airwaves last night, but this afternoon Mashable got an early look at the rest of Sprint's promotion plans, which include a major social media push.

The theme of the social media campaign – which goes live tonight at midnight ET at sprint.com/firsts — echoes that of the TV commercials, encouraging users to perform a number of activities at 4G speeds and then let their friends know about it.

Playing on a recent trend we've seen in other campaigns, Sprint's offering up virtual badges when users perform EVO “firsts” including tweet, upload an EVO unboxing video, check-in on Foursquare or take the "first photo of an eight-person 4G hotspot" (a unique feature of the EVO) using their device. Those badges – which prominently feature "4G" images — can then be shared on Twitter and Facebook. Users who are “first” get featured on the EVO homepage too.

We like how the campaign, which was created by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, connects the device's key selling points – like its 4G speed and hotspot capabilities – to social media activities. There's also a clear tie-in to the traditional marketing Sprint is using, which also emphasize the "firsts" enabled by the phone.

As for the device itself, it's yet another major Android debut, with 4G speeds enabling a number of notable features including a video chat service from Qik. Check out our hands-on demo in the video below to check it out:



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Reviews: Android, Facebook, Foursquare, Twitter

Tags: advertising, htc evo, MARKETING, social media, social media marketing, sprint


Ex-Twitter Employee Didn’t Want to Work for an “Ad Company”

Posted: 03 Jun 2010 02:33 PM PDT

5by5’s Dan Benjamin interviewed Twitter’s former lead developer Alex Payne and the two discussed Payne’s views on the company and its business model.

Payne joined Twitter as its 8th employee, but he recently left to co-found the new startup BankSimple, where he acts as Chief Product & Technology Officer. As Twitter’s API Lead, Payne was responsible for interacting with third-party developers and creating many of the hooks that have made Twitter, well, Twitter.

Around the interview’s seven-minute mark, Payne talked about some of Twitter’s recent changes, noting that the company doesn’t have a lot of secrets right now; it makes a decision to do something and then announces it. When discussing the company’s new advertising model, this is what Payne had to say (emphasis ours):

“The move toward making advertising a core part of the business makes a lot of sense for the company’s future and profitability, but from my perspective, that’s one of the things that let me know that it was time for me to leave … because I wasn’t interested in working for an ad company. For a long time, the promise at Twitter was that we were going to look at different ways of making money, and to some degree I feel that hasn’t happened.”

This mirrors our observations about Twitter. Although the company initially made statements that it wouldn’t use advertising as its only business model, expansion into other areas — like offering developers paid-access to more services or more requests — hasn’t happened.

It will be interesting to see how the microblogging site continues to evolve in the future, given Payne’s departure and the growing tension between Twitter and some of its developers.

Much of Twitter’s success is directly tied to its API and the growing ecosystem of applications and application hooks that were created around the platform. The balance will be in defining and executing Twitter’s goals as a company with a business model, without alienating many of the people who have helped it become a behemoth in social communication.

Payne used an interesting phrase to describe what Twitter is becoming: an “interest graph.” We think that’s a very apt description for the role the service is carving out for itself. The question is no longer “What Are you Doing?” It’s now “What Topics Are We Talking About?” From that perspective, Twitter’s trajectory into an advertising-based business model makes even more sense.

What do you think about Payne’s interview and where Twitter is headed in the future? Let us know!



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Reviews: Facebook, Twitter

Tags: alex payne, business models, dan benjamin, twitter, Twitter API


Get Social Media News with Mashable’s Google Chrome Extension

Posted: 03 Jun 2010 02:23 PM PDT


Now you can keep up with the latest Mashable news from the comfort of your Google Chrome browser by simply adding our new extension.

The extension is easy to add into your Chrome browser and enables you to keep up with our recent and trending headlines, sort by channel (i.e. tech, social media), and get the latest job postings all from a simple drop-down.

The extension also enables you to do a quick search on our site if you’re looking for something more detailed or specific. When you see a story that grabs you, you can click through to read more. Let us know what you think and how we can improve it in the comments. Download it here.


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Reviews: Chrome, Facebook, Google Chrome, Mashable, Twitter

Tags: browser extension, chrome, Chrome Extensions, mashable


Cynthia Rowley Partners with Foursquare to Launch New Dress Line

Posted: 03 Jun 2010 02:00 PM PDT

Cynthia RowleyCynthia Rowley has partnered with location-based mobile app Foursquare to draw attention to the unveiling of the brand’s new line of bridesmaids dresses.

The promotion is the first collaboration between a designer, manufacturer, retailer and Foursquare.

Brides and bridesmaids-to-be can stop by the fashion brand’s New York store on Bleecker Street from 6-8 p.m. today, June 3, to shop the collection with Rowley herself. Visitors who check in at the event will be awarded a $25 gift certificate plus 15% off for bridal-related goods at dessy.com (the website of the line’s manufacturer) and be entered to win a gift set valued at $500. Customers who can’t make it today can check in at Lovely Bride, a bridal shop also carrying the Cynthia Rowley Bridesmaid Collection, at 313 West 4th St. over the course of the next week for “additional incentives.”

Similar promotions are planned for Chicago and Charleston, South Carolina on June 8 and June 14, respectively.

Foursquare is just one element of the social media plan drafted for the launch. In collaboration with digital media consultancy Fashionably Digital, the marketing team behind Cynthia Rowley has also created a blog for a fictional bridesmaid on lovelybride.com, in addition to profiles on Foursquare and Twitter. “We developed on-brand check-ins, the places that a bridesmaid or bride in the line's target demographic would shop," Macala Wright Lee, founder of Fashionably Digital, told Women’s Wear Daily.

The dresses themselves may be traditional, ranging from half- to full-length dresses in feminine cuts and colors, but the marketing is anything but. What do you think of the campaign? Would you like to see something similar from your favorite designer? Share your ideas in the comments.



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Reviews: Facebook, Foursquare, Twitter

Tags: cynthia rowley, foursquare, social media


Why it’s Prime Time for Apple TV

Posted: 03 Jun 2010 01:48 PM PDT

cnnopinionApple CEO Steve Jobs this week rebuffed the suggestion that Apple will revolutionize TV in the same way it has reshaped the music industry, mobile phones and tablet computers.

Jobs is bluffing.

The time is right for Apple to tackle the TV, and the company’s re-entry into that market is a no-brainer.

That’s the topic of my CNN column this week.


Check out the column at CNN.com >>

Tags: apple, Apple TV, cnn, google tv, tech


HOW TO: Make a Great How-To Video

Posted: 03 Jun 2010 01:39 PM PDT

If a picture speaks a thousand words, then a video certainly adds a good few more on top of that. One area in which video is invaluable is the “how-to” instructional that takes a diagram, recipe, or list of steps and brings the topic to life.

A bad how-to isn’t worth the pixels it’s rendered with, so we quizzed Tom Laidlaw, CEO of VideoJug.com — a site dedicated to how-to videos that stocks over 125,000 of them. He shared some dos and don’ts for the format.

Whether you’re a small business owner and want to demo a product, an artisan wanting to show off your skills, or even a consumer with a passion for sharing knowledge, before you pick up the camcorder, have a read of our top tips below.


1. Do Your Research


“If you find something that lots of people want to know, and no one has already made a film of how to do it, then that’s a great title for a ‘how to’ film,” says Laidlaw.

If you’re not in such a lucky position, then you need to think carefully about the exact content, or angle, for your video. A more specific how-to looking at a key area is likely to do better than a general title. For example, “How To: Use This Software to Make a Flow Chart,” might prove more useful, and ultimately more popular than just, “How To: Use This Software.”

Another important part of research is using the free analytic search tools available to you. Laidlaw suggests that a more “scientific” approach to deciding on content or titles is to look at what people are searching for on Google. This should help narrow your focus down to what people actually want to watch.

To use our earlier example again, if the number of flow chart searches are low, but pie chart searches are high — and the software can do both — then be flexible and change your topic, which at an early research stage won’t be a big hassle.


2. Get an Expert View


If you’re the expert, then great. If not, get one involved in the project, preferably with the actual video, but at the very least as an advisor. “Find an expert and talk to them first — before you put pen to paper,” recommends Laidlaw.

Even if your audience doesn’t know the subject matter, chances are they will pick up on a video made by someone who is clearly winging it. “A script that consists of a loads of borrowed material, cut and pasted from the Internet, and cobbled together, won’t be very good,” Laidlaw states.

In the example above, the “actor” is also a highly experienced carpenter. In addition to his convincing “acting skills,” he also provided VideoJug with all the information for the script.


3. Write a Great Script


Even if you think your improvisation skills are top notch, an instructional video can’t afford to miss one tiny step, bore the viewer with unnecessary data, or worse — include digressions. So, Laidlaw says, be sure to write a script.

“If people have searched for the answer to a particular problem, then they want you to answer that question quickly, and without too much extraneous prose,” Laidlaw explains.

“Long, wordy sentences are also harder to film because you need more footage to illustrate them. Stick to short, descriptive sentences that explain in a clear, simple, step-by-step way, how to do the job.”


4. Shoot It and Test It!


Laidlaw advises hiring professionals that know one end of the camera from the other for the best results, but if your budget doesn’t stretch that far, be sure to light your video properly, get the camera mounted on a tripod to mitigate any unwanted shakes, and think carefully about the duration of shots.

“Hold each shot for long enough for the viewer to be able to work out what's going on,” says Laidlaw. “Then when you edit it, make sure the film is long enough for the viewer to be able to understand exactly what’s going on — but not so long that they fall asleep watching it.”

Laidlaw highlights the video above as an example of a tidy how-to. The approval process at VideoJug involved people trying to make the origami sculpture while watching the film. “If everyone could do it, the film passed!” says Laidlaw, highlighting the importance of testing the clip on as many people as you can to make sure it’s clear and simple to follow.


5. Promote It


“It can be the best film in the world, but it’s no good if no one watches it,” says Laidlaw. Promoting your new video is an important part of getting it out to as wide an audience as possible.

“Make sure Google is going to find it by tagging it with the right keywords and making a text version available on the same page,” advises Laidlaw.

In addition, blog about the new clip, promote it on social networking sites, and if relevant, e-mail it to websites and bloggers who might be interested in writing about it.

You can also make sure it’s embeddable and thus more easily shared. As most know, sites such as YouTube and Vimeo allow for easy embeds. Add a Facebook “Like” button, giving viewers the option to share it with their buddies, and a Tweetmeme-type button for Twitter sharing too.



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More web video resources from Mashable


- HOW TO: Add Captions To Your YouTube Videos
- 5 Important Web Video Lessons for Small Business Owners
- 10 Killer Tips for Creating a Branded YouTube Channel
- Top 10 YouTube Tips for Small Businesses
- Top 10 YouTube News Bloopers

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, anderm


Reviews: Facebook, Google, Internet, Tweetmeme, Twitter, Vimeo, YouTube, iStockphoto

Tags: how to, video, videojug, Vimeo, web video, youtube


Creator of @BPGlobalPR Revealed… Sort Of

Posted: 03 Jun 2010 01:20 PM PDT

The man behind @BPGlobalPR has finally come out of the shadows — at least part of the way. After about a week of masquerading as “Terry,” a bumbling BP PR man, “Leroy Stick” has written a blog post on Street Giant explaining his reasoning for launching the satirical Twitter feed.

The other week, a Twitter account burst on the scene that took BP to task for the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as the company’s PR efforts. The man behind it chose to remain obfuscated, responding to all of our inquiries in character. Well, now we have some more clues as to his identity.

In the post, he refers to himself as “Leroy Stick” — a name we’re pretty sure is a farce (even though he appears to have a Facebook profile). From the post:

“When I was growing up, there was a dog that lived on my block named Leroy. Leroy was a big dog with a disdain for leashes and a thirst for blood. He made a habit of running around our block attacking anything he saw, biting my dad and my dogs basically whenever he had the chance. He chased me a few times, but I always escaped because I was/am an amazing tree climber.

Anyhoos, after Leroy's second or third attack on my dogs, it became clear that the police and Leroy's owner weren't going to do anything to stop him, so my dad took matters into his own hands and came up with a brilliant invention: the Leroy stick.”

Uh-huh… Names aside — we e-mailed “Stick” and asked for another interview — it appears as though Stick works for, or has some other affiliation with, Street Giant, where the blog post appears. He’s selling “BP Cares” T-shirts via the site to benefit healthygulf.org. (He’s raised $10,000 so far).

Stick, however, did come out and tell the Internet why he started the account:

“I started @BPGlobalPR, because the oil spill had been going on for almost a month and all BP had to offer were bullshit PR statements. No solutions, no urgency, no sincerity, no nothing. That's why I decided to relate to the public for them. I started off just making jokes at their expense with a few friends, but now it has turned into something of a movement.”

He also offered some thoughts as to why it’s taken off (a question we asked last week): “Why has this caught on? I think it's because people can smell the bullshit and sometimes laughing at it feels better than getting angry or depressed over it.”

Perhaps the most interesting part of the post is where Stick takes BP to task over the concept of “brand image” (something companies like Nestle are all to familiar with):

“I've read a bunch of articles and blogs about this whole situation by publicists and marketing folk wondering what BP should do to save their brand from @BPGlobalPR. First of all, who cares? Second of all, what kind of business are you in? I'm trashing a company that is literally trashing the ocean, and these idiots are trying to figure out how to protect that company?

So what is the point of all this? The point is, FORGET YOUR BRAND. You don't own it because it is literally nothing. You can spend all sorts of time and money trying to manufacture public opinion, but ultimately, that's up to the public, now isn't it??”

Stick raises an interesting point. Although businesses and organizations can take ownership of their image via social media — hello, Hugo Chavez — the ability for the average Joe to speak out is growing stronger (it helps, however, when said Joe has access to an established audience — like Street Giant’s). Sometimes that voice manages to drown out the official jabber.

You can read Stick’s entire statement here. What do you think of his sentiments?



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Reviews: Facebook, Internet, Twitter

Tags: humor, Political, pop culture, twitter


Dell Streak Tablet Gets Priced, Poked and Prodded [VIDEO]

Posted: 03 Jun 2010 12:50 PM PDT

The price of the Android-based Dell Streak 5-inch tablet has finally been revealed — $500 unlocked, direct from Dell. It will become available to U.S. consumers starting next month, and potential buyers in the UK will be able to pick up the device as early as tomorrow.

We’ve been keeping an eye on the Dell Streak as one of an initial batch of alternative tablets to Apple’s iPad. The problem, now that we know the price point for the device, is its size; it’s larger than a smartphone but much smaller than the iPad, despite being within range of the latter’s lowest-end model.

Dell executive Ron Garriques pitched the Streak as the “largest Internet device that still fits in a man’s shirt pocket” (and where do women carry their Streak, we wonder?) on stage at D8. Show producers Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher seemed unsure about the prospect of this 5-inch tablet form factor; Mossberg saying it felt like “like holding a waffle to his head” and Swisher quipped that the Streak looked most promising as “something to eat.”

Dell itself points to the dual cameras and videoconferencing features of the Streak as two of its key selling points, and Garriques went on to say he thought the device could eventually replace other gadgets with both smaller and larger screens that an owner might already have in his or her arsenal. We’re not so sure — if we don’t happen to have a wardrobe full of top-pocketed shirts, it’s hard to imagine how exactly we’d carry this thing around other than in a bag. And if we’re already carting around a bag, why not “upgrade” to a device with a larger screen?

There’s one other problem with the Streak. Rumor has it that there will be a subsidized price for the device — but only with a monthly plan from AT&T. It’s hard to imagine a worse carrier choice for a tablet that hopes to compete with Apple’s iPad. Still, neither Dell not AT&T have commented officially, so we could potentially still see other carrier options emerge for the Streak.

Check out a hands-on demo of the Streak below courtesy of CNet along with the D8 Dell demo session below that. What do you think of this device and its price? Is $500 too much?


Dell Streak Hands-on Demo




Dell Streak D8 Demo





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Reviews: Android, Facebook, Internet, Twitter

Tags: android, apple, att, D8, dell, dell streak, ipad, streak, tablets


Facebook Privacy Now Has an Official Fan Page

Posted: 03 Jun 2010 12:31 PM PDT

Do you like privacy? Well, now you can “Like” it officially — with Facebook’s newly launched Facebook and Privacy Page.

Today, the social networking site announced on its blog that it has created a page all about everyone’s favorite topic: Facebook privacy.

A few weeks ago, tensions came to a head with regard to Facebook — people were sick and tired of changing privacy settings, confused by the Open Graph and shocked by allegedly leaked IMs from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s college days, in which he scoffed at users for trusting him with their info. A (failed) movement calling for folks to quit the site grew, alternative versions of Facebook began popping up, and Time magazine even put privacy on its cover. Finally, Facebook launched new, simplified privacy settings in an attempt to make good.

Now, users have an official venue in which to get info on changes such as these, as well as to ask questions and (most likely) vent frustrations. Currently, there are a few video tutorials explaining the new privacy settings up on the page, as well as a series of articles on privacy from various publications.

Will you “Like” Facebook Privacy? Let us know in the comments.

[img credit: Darwin Bell]



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Tags: facebook, privacy


Yahoo Gets a New CTO

Posted: 03 Jun 2010 11:56 AM PDT

Nearly two months after losing Chief Technology Officer Ari Balogh, Yahoo has promoted Chief Architect Raymie Stata to take his place, effective immediately.

Stata is charged with overseeing all of Yahoo’s technologies and leading the technical strategy and direction of the company. However, Stata will not report to CEO Carol Bartz, but instead report to Chief Products Office (CPO) Blake Irving.

As Yahoo’s chief architect, Stata drove the technology behind Yahoo Search and its advertising platform. He joined Yahoo in 2004 when he sold his company, Stata Lab, to the search giant.

Former CTO and EVP of Product Ari Balogh resigned in April for “personal reasons.” Not long after, Yahoo hired former Microsoft executive Blake Irving as CPO.



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Vimeo Announces First-Ever Festival and Awards [VIDEOS]

Posted: 03 Jun 2010 11:06 AM PDT

Today, Vimeo is announcing and taking submissions for its first-ever Vimeo Festival & Awards — and to spread the word, the video-sharing site has posted some rad vids (naturally) to promote the event.

Vimeo, who is currently celebrating its fifth anniversary, is an online video site that focuses more on content creators than viral vids. We spoke with Vimeo yesterday, who stressed to us the importance of its community — which it says is made up of talented filmmakers.

Vimeo decided to honor this community with a festival — packed with workshops and screenings — as well as awards given in 10 categories. The festival will take place October 8-9 in New York City, and submissions for awards will be taken from June 3, 2010 – July 31, 2010 (filmmakers: You can find out more about how to submit here).

Categories include:

  • The Vimeo Award: Best of all categories. Winner to receive $25,000 grant to produce new work
  • Narrative: Live-action narrative fiction told through the medium of film/video
  • Documentary: Short films/videos that seek to document compelling actuality or reality
  • Animation: A simulation of movement created by displaying a series of pictures or frames
  • Experimental: Short films/videos that are often characterized by the absence of a linear narrative
  • Music Video: Short films/videos that accompany a complete piece of music or song
  • Motion Graphics: The use of the principles of graphic design to create a film or video using animation or filmic techniques
  • Remix: A film/video that combines elements such as sounds and pictures of other works to create a metamorphic work
  • Captured: Videos that capture an artistic expression or performance
  • Original Series: A periodically released collection of original episodic content

…along with two honorary awards:

  • The Feature Presentation Honorary Award: Honoring the vanguard and innovative release of unique feature film online (Nominations accepted)
  • Digital Maverick Honorary Award: Honoring pioneering spirit in the world of online video

Vimeo also plans to have some pretty intriguing judges, including Adam Quirk of Wreck and Salvage, David Lynch, DJ Spooky, Doug Pray, Fred Seibert, Justin Cone, Jose Luis de Vicente, Lucy Walker, Morgan Spurlock, Nabil Elderkin, Nicholas Schmerkin, Nick Campbell, Roman Coppola, Ree Treweek of the Blackheart Gang, Vincent Laforet and more to be announced.

Do you plan on entering? While you ruminate on that, check out the promo videos featured on the Vimeo site:

[img credit: woodleywonderworks]



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Reviews: Facebook, Twitter, Vimeo

Tags: Film, Vimeo, web video


HOW TO: Organize Your Contacts for Networking Success

Posted: 03 Jun 2010 10:10 AM PDT


Dan Schawbel, recognized as "Personal Branding Guru" by The New York Times, is the Managing Partner of Millennial Branding, LLC, the #1 international bestselling author of Me 2.0, and owner of the Personal Branding Blog.

Managing your online network is critical, whether you're looking for a job, trying to advance in your career, or you're starting a business. Think of the Internet as a global talent pool that has more contact information than the White Pages. In fact, 80 percent of available jobs are never even advertised, with more than half of all employees finding their jobs through networking, according to BH Careers International.

Social networks have connected and exposed us to more people than ever before. With all the online friends and followers you've accumulated, it's become increasingly complicated to make sense of your social graph and use it to your advantage. It's also never been more important to build your contact database, organize it, and then put it to work for you. The old adage "it's not what you know, it's who you know," is true, so consider your rolodex more valuable than your wallet when it comes to achieving success in business.

Here is how to create a basic contact management strategy, stay connected and organized from your desktop to your phone, and give you some insight onto how to expand your network.


Your Contact Management Strategy


You will always have different tiers of relationships, from family, to friends, to associates, to acquaintances and everyone in between. In order to organize your database, you need to have specific categories in mind. Consider things like the strength of your relationship, how important the relationship is to you, the last time you connected with them, three things about them, what company they work for, their location, and their contact information (e-mail, phone, address, LinkedIn). You can use a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, an Access Database, Act!, or another similar software package to help manage your contacts, using these columns. Aside from these software packages, there are other applications listed below that can help you. By organizing your contacts under these main categories, it will allow you to reconnect with the right people, and expand your relationships.


1. From Your Social Graph to Your Desktop


It's very important that you have physical copies of your contact database as a backup. Although, you may participate in a handful of social networks, that data resides in the cloud, and not on your desktop. Backing up your social graph means that if, for some reason, your social media profile disappears, is removed entirely, or the social network collapses and you lose everything, you'll be protected regardless. Try to get in the habit of exporting your contacts so that you have a copy on your desktop in an Excel file.

Here is how to save your social friends, contacts, and followers on your desktop:

Facebook: Although Facebook might appear as a wall garden, there's actually a trick to capturing your friends' phone numbers and e-mail addresses. Create or use your existing Yahoo! e-mail account and import your Facebook friends right into your address book. Then download the .CSV file to your desktop.

LinkedIn: After logging into LinkedIn, go straight to the "connections" link in the global navigation area. At the bottom of the page, you'll see "export connections." From the next screen, you can download the .CSV file to your desktop.

Twitter: You don't have the ability to view email addresses or phone numbers of your Twitter followers. You can, however, download a .CSV file of 100 of your followers to your desktop by using Twitter Export. The information in the spreadsheet will be the name, user name, follower and following count, and their bios.


2. From the Cloud


Gist (Free): Use this tool to make sense of your social connections. After creating an account, you can immediately import your contacts from Outlook, Facebook, LinkedIn, Gmail, Lotus Notes, as well as .CSV files and vCards. After you have established your network, you can view the last time you've reached out to each of your contacts, how many emails you've sent and received from them, and what companies they work for.

JibberJobber (Free to $9.95/month): This tool allows you to organize and manage your job search, track relationships, target companies, and track the jobs you apply to. With a free basic account, you can manage up to 75 contacts. There is no limit to the amount of contacts you can store with a premium account.

Xobni for Microsoft Outlook (Free): Microsoft Outlook can help you manage your address book, but with the Xobni add-on, you can integrate the social media profiles of your contacts. This means you'll receive additional contact information that wouldn't normally be included in your address book.

Disclosure: Gist is a sponsor of Mashable.


3. From Your Phone


The strongest relationships are created in the real world, not the virtual world. If you're on a plane, train, car, or just at a networking event, you'll want to capture contact information from the people you meet. A paper business card is still extremely important for exchanging information with people, but the following tools will help store information virtually on the go.

Groups 2 ($5.99): The fastest way to manage your contacts on your iPhone with a drag and drop interface. You can create your own groups, send a mass e-mail to members of each group, and attach vCards to share information with others. Aside from sending e-mails, you can make quick calls, and send text messages. An additional benefit with this application is that is syncs with your Windows address book.

WorldCard Mobile ($5.99): You can scan business cards onto your iPhone by taking a photo, and it instantly recognizes data from business cards and sorts the fields into a contact list. You can save a lot of information into each contact profile, including an image, e-mail, website address, phone number, SMS, and maps.

Bump (Free): If you want to save precious time, and want to have a little fun with your in-person networking, then this application is for you. With Bump, all you have to do is hold your iPhone next to a fellow iPhone user and “bump” them together. You can share photos and contacts with other people who have iPhones and the Bump application.


Growing Your Network


There is a lot of value in a contact management system. It saves you time from researching information about people you've already met, and can act as a reference sheet. It also allows you to keep organized and aware of which contacts you haven't spoken to in a while, and who works at companies that you either want to collaborate with, or work for. The payoff of investing time in a contact management system is that you will be able to keep track of the people you meet, refer back to it, and grow it throughout the course of your life.

In order to expand your network, you need to target people who are in your industry, and those who share the same interests and passions that you have. Once you connect with them in-person, through e-mail or phone, put them into your contact management system.


More business resources from Mashable:

- 5 Ways For Small Companies To Better Engage Reporters
- How One Small Biz Turned Their Company Retreat Into Social Media Success
- Growing Your Business: 5 Tips From the Founder of Foursquare
- 5 Essential Apps for Your Business's Facebook Fan Page
- HOW TO: Implement a Social Media Business Strategy

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, tiridifilm


Reviews: Facebook, Gmail, Internet, LinkedIn, Mashable, Microsoft Outlook, Twitter, Windows, Xobni, iStockphoto

Tags: business, contact management, contacts, facebook, how to, linkedin, networking, organize, twitter


What Happens to a YouTube Video After 1,000 Uploads?

Posted: 03 Jun 2010 09:32 AM PDT

YouTube user canzona uploaded a video to the web, downloaded it, then re-uploaded it one thousand times, gradually eliminating “all human qualities” of his voice and image.

The final video in canzona’s series is a mess of distorted colors and sounds; you can recognize from the motion that the original featured a person talking into the camera, but all individual characters and specifics have been lost, replaced by artifacts created by YouTube’s video and audio compression algorithms.

All 1,000 steps of the process — which took a full year — are available on canzona’s YouTube profile. The project is titled “I Am Sitting in a Video Room,” and it’s inspired by an audio art project recorded by composer Alvin Lucier more than 40 years ago.

The first, 100th, 250th, 500th and 1,000th steps are embedded below.


Why Did This Happen?


Each time you upload a video to YouTube, that video is compressed by YouTube’s servers so the file size becomes small enough to easily stream to web viewers.

Image compression is achieved by recording only changes from one frame to another rather than all of the data in each frame, removing small differences in color that the human eye usually can’t detect while an image is in motion, and through other small modifications to the image. The idea is that these small changes will not result in any dramatic loss in quality to the untrained eye.

However, when you compress the same thing 1,000 times over, it’s like the old adage about making a copy of a copy — the changes pile on top of one another and the image is so corrupted that it becomes unrecognizable. The same goes for audio compression.


The Inspiration: Alvin Lucier’s “I Am Sitting in a Room”


In 1969, avant garde composer Alvin Lucier made an audio recording of a brief speech, then played the speech on the speakers and recorded that playback. He repeated this until the acoustics of the room caused some frequencies to overwhelm others more with each recording. The result was a recording that sounded more like a message from another dimension than a man’s voice.

Lucier’s work often focused on the natural, physical properties of sound instead of musical theory. YouTube’s canzona was inspired by Lucier’s work to create “I Am Sitting in a Video Room” — even the words that he speaks are similar to those in Lucier’s original work.

There have been other digital projects inspired by “I Am Sitting in a Room.” Arguably the best known is Residuum’s entirely synthesized variation; he uses a computer voice synthesizer and applies a digital filter that emulates the echoes of a real room. By the 57th iteration, a crystal clear resonance sound replaces the original phrasing.


Upload #1,000



Upload #1



Upload #750



Upload #500



Upload #250



Upload #100


[via Gawker]



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Reviews: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube

Tags: alvin lucier, canzona, codec, compression, i am sitting in a room, i am sitting in a video room, trending, video, youtube


Find Jobs Through Your Facebook Friends on Simply Hired

Posted: 03 Jun 2010 09:04 AM PDT

Job search engine Simply Hired has integrated with Facebook to help job seekers discover new, more relevant positions via their social network.

Users who log in to Simply Hired with their Facebook accounts can now search for jobs at their friends’ companies and send private messages to inquire about openings on the site.

SimplyHired also pulls profile data about current and previous work titles, location and interests (including companies users “Like”) to make more personalized job recommendations.

These features are currently available to residents in the U.S., UK, Australia, Canada and India.

"Simply Hired is showing what's possible when you make it easy to find jobs through friends," said Ethan Beard, director of the Facebook Developer Network, in a blog post. "Personal relationships and professional networking have always been the best ways to find a new job. By integrating with Facebook, Simply Hired is bringing this to life online and helping users tap into their social connections to personalize the job search process,” he explained.

The integration helps Simply Hired move a step closer to the services provided by LinkedIn, which helps users organize and leverage their professional networks to make connections and obtain referrals while job hunting, among other things.

In its current state, Facebook is not optimally designed for professional networking; the site does not offer a job board nor does its search engine help users easily identify individuals based on workplace. However, Facebook has a great deal of valuable data about users’ connections, data that SimplyHired can effectively leverage to help users find relevant jobs and obtain referrals for those jobs.

What do you think of the integration? Can Simply Hired use Facebook data to effectively replicate some of the functionality of LinkedIn? What’s your preferred method or site for finding jobs?

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, PinkTag



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Tags: facebook, jobs, linkedin, simply hired, social media


Google Launches New Tools for Political Campaigns

Posted: 03 Jun 2010 08:39 AM PDT

Today Google is releasing new tools for politicians using YouTube and Google. The YouTube You Choose 2010 Campaign Toolkit and the Google Campaign Toolkit are both designed to help political candidates better deliver their messages to their audiences.

With YouChoose 2010, federal and state candidates who want to leverage YouTube in their campaigns can apply to have their own YouTube Politician channel. The political offering supports branding, longer videos, custom thumbnails, and includes Google Moderator and YouTube Insight for video analytics.

Candidates on YouTube can also pay for the ability to add call-to-action overlays to videos, run their TV spots as in-stream ads in other YouTube videos and promote select videos as ads for search terms via Promoted Videos.

The Google Campaign Tools feature is less impressive; it’s merely points candidates to existing Google Apps should they wish to leverage other Google products for the duration of their campaigns.

For candidates in states who have already held their primary elections, these tools are being offered a little late in the race. Still, they can help candidates use Google products to get their message in front of larger audiences in upcoming elections. During crunch time, that may be all that matters.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, sjlocke



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Tags: candidates, Google, politicians, YouChoose, youtube


What the Future Holds for the Checkin

Posted: 03 Jun 2010 08:18 AM PDT

Movie Theater ImageKate Imbach currently leads marketing at Skyhook Wireless, and is a co-founder and organizer for Mobile Monday Boston, Silicon Valley and Brooklyn.

Location-based apps and checkin features are dominating interest in mobile. In the last year, apps like Foursquare and Gowalla exploded onto the scene and are still at the center of the conversation in the tech media community. Mobile users are starting to see the value in broadcasting their current location in order to earn points, gain mayorships and meet new people. But skeptics still ask how these apps will make money and what comes after the simple notion of a checkin. Is the checkin a feature, or the beginning of a whole new class of mobile experiences?

For early users of these apps, checkins and leaderboards were novelties. Until very recently, you would check in to a venue alone, or with just a handful of other users. Low mainstream adoption made spontaneous socializing hard within the app. Even if it persists as a behavior, the initial excitement of the checkin wears off over time.

But as applications like Foursquare and Gowalla gain traction beyond the early adopters, checkin numbers are just beginning to get interesting. Today, it is common to check into large events like conferences or baseball games with 50+ other people. These growing real-time checkin numbers are opening the door for a new set of features. So, what happens next?

In 2010, we’re likely to see verticals that don't typically use location-awareness, like movies, music, and sports, add checkin features to their social software. These features will create exciting new "in-venue" user experiences that will change the way we use mobile applications. Here are a couple of examples of what might be possible.


At the Game


Baseball Field Image

Sports applications present some of the most interesting in-venue opportunities. Imagine the next time you go to a Red Sox game, you and hundreds of other fans might check in to Fenway Park via your favorite sports app.

Before the game starts, you could enter an InstaFantasy game by picking three players on either roster. During the game, the progress of your "team" is ranked against all the other InstaFantasy teams that have been picked by other fans in the ballpark that night. Between innings, the app shows a trivia question about players along with an in-game trivia leaderboard. Comment and trash talk about the game while there and connect via Facebook with other season ticket holders who you play against every night. Using location, any sports app could add these types of in-venue features.


At the Movies


Movie apps will also get in on in-venue features. Moviegoers could check in to a theater on the opening night of a film with their favorite app. The venue could offer discounts on popcorn upon checkin, and users could vote on the movie previews shown before the feature. While the movie is playing, they could get trivia questions from IMDB about the current movie and comment on the movie with other app users a la "Mystery Science Theater 3000." The theater could award that night's trivia winner a discount on their next visit to the theater and could gather information based on answers about which type of movies each customer likes.

When movie apps start adding these experiences, going to the movies will turn into a much more social and interactive experience.


Conclusion


Users will soon be able to interact with a whole new set of features built around the checkin, making activities around a single event that much more social and interesting. There is a major opportunity here for apps and brands to own consumer engagement everywhere — from the couch to the stadium, from the bar to the office — and gather highly valuable targeting information about consumers. The apps that win will provide mobile experiences dedicated to every venue.



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More location resources from Mashable:


- Are Location-Based Services All Hype?
- 7 Ways Journalists Can Use Foursquare
- Why Hasn't Location Reached the Mainstream Yet?
- Why the Fashion Industry Loves Foursquare
- 5 Real-Time Location Trends to Watch

Images courtesy of iStockphoto, LeggNet, sweetandsour


Reviews: Facebook, Foursquare, Gowalla, Twitter, iStockphoto, movie, sports

Tags: checkin, foursquare, gowalla, location, location-based, location-based service, Mobile 2.0, social media


Blown Call Costs Pitcher Perfect Game [VIDEO]

Posted: 03 Jun 2010 07:20 AM PDT

In what is likely the worst call, at the worst moment you will ever see, Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga was denied what would have been the 21st perfect game in Major League Baseball history and the third this year (something that has never happened).

One out away from perfection, umpire Jim Joyce called Cleveland Indians batter Jason Donald safe at first base when replays clearly showed that Galarraga, covering the bag for the first basemen, beat the runner. The disputed hit ended Galarraga’s bid for a perfect game.

The stunned Galarraga smiled and shook his head, while even Donald threw his hands up in apparent disbelief. Following the game, a noticeably distraught Joyce admitted that he missed the call, “It was the biggest call of my career, and I kicked the [expletive] out of it,” he said. “I just cost that kid a perfect game.”

For his part, Galarraga said that he hugged Joyce and told him, “Nobody’s perfect.” Meanwhile, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm issued a Twitter proclamation that Galarraga had indeed pitched a perfect game.

The incident has led to a renewed call for instant replay in baseball.

YouTube has already removed a couple of clips of the near perfect game, but while they last, here are a few:

The blown call:

The entire final inning:

MLB.com has a non-embeddable version of the video here.

Governor Granholm’s tweet:



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Tags: armando galarraga, Baseball, blown call, jim joyce, perfect game, sports, video, youtube


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