Mashable: Latest 29 News Updates - including “10 Pieces of Gorgeous Geek Jewelry [PICS]” |  |
- 10 Pieces of Gorgeous Geek Jewelry [PICS]
- 8 YouTube Channels for Unique Music Performances
- Is Google Working With Verizon to Upend Net Neutrality?
- Kindle Gets Games; Two Free Apps Launched
- 5 Social Fundraising Alternatives to Facebook Causes
- Top 16 Unusual Foursquare Badges
- Apple Can Fix Your iPhone’s PDF Security Exploit (But Hasn’t Yet)
- The Top 10 Most Watched Web Series, June 2010
- PDF of Ruling to Overturn Prop 8 Goes Viral
- Meme Master Ze Frank Wants Your Old Pics for “Young Me/Now Me”
- Accurately Track and Share Your Fitness Activities with Mobile App
- Your Mission: Take Back the Facebook Poke
- Control Facebook Privacy Settings from Your Mobile
- RIP Google Wave
- The Most Popular Brands on Foursquare
- OpenTable Starts Its Own Group Buying Service with Half-Off Meals
- YouTube’s Backstory Reimagined as “The Social Network” [VIDEO]
- Groupon Teams Up with “Top Chef” to Offer Cheap Eats
- Get Outdoors with The North Face Trailhead iPhone App
- New York Car Services to Get Free Wi-Fi
- Why WikiLeaks and the Mainstream Media Still Need Each Other
- Starbucks Partners with Gilt for Exclusive Customer Deals
- Business Owners Can Now Respond to Reviews on Google Place Pages
- Android Now Top-Selling Smartphone Operating System
- Call Your Facebook Friends for Free From Your Android or iOS Device
- 10 Beautiful and Free WordPress 3.0-Ready Themes
- Run Multiple Location-Based Marketing Campaigns with One Cool App [INVITES]
- 50+ Immediate Social Media, Development and Design Job Vacancies
- An Online Easter Egg Hunt is Underway! [SPONSORED]
- Music Video Request Show Lets Facebook Users Call the Shots
| 10 Pieces of Gorgeous Geek Jewelry [PICS] Posted: 05 Aug 2010 03:59 AM PDT      The geek collective is nothing if not creative, and some of that creativity can be seen in the treasure trove of geek-themed jewelry available out there. With a nod to the subtle, rather than going down the route of plastering “nerd” on your forehead, we’ve scoured Etsy for 10 excellent examples of nerd-chic jewelry. Whether you’re looking for a great gift, or just looking to spoil yourself, we’re fairly sure there will be something in our gallery that will hit the right note. Let us know which item it is in the comments box below.
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| 8 YouTube Channels for Unique Music Performances Posted: 05 Aug 2010 02:01 AM PDT   Not all YouTube channels are created equal. Some were born for greatness just like the musicians and performances they showcase. Within the viral genre of people hurting themselves in backyards and kittens eating their way out of things is a sect of YouTube channels devoted to unique, extraordinary musical performance. Making this list was harder than expected, and essential performances had to be left off. For example, Pavarotti’s performance of Nessun Dorma is beautiful, but wasn’t part of a specific channel. Nirvana’s episode on MTV Unplugged certainly belongs on this list, but it only exists online as scattered collections. We looked for YouTube channels featuring varied music performances that went beyond just music videos (sorry, VEVO). What we did manage to find were some hidden gems on curated channels and in ongoing series like NPR’s “Tiny Desk” performances, or La Blogotheque’s “Take Away Shows.” Look through to find some outstanding channels and sample vids including Phoenix on the streets of Paris, Weezer playing acoustic with fans in San Fran, and even some original laughs from the furry folks at Muppet Studios (yes, really). We know we missed at least one great channel, so please let us know of any other resources and join the conversation. 1. ZeitOnlineVideoDie Zeit is a weekly newspaper in Germany with a surprisingly robust online channel. They feature a range of musicians playing impromptu gigs from indie to Jazz piano to electric. If you can, look for eclectic takes like the above “Bathroom Version” by the Shout Out Louds. 2. La BlogothequeParisian filmmaker Vincent Moon teamed with “Chryde” to film musicians in single-take, natural shots. While the videos mostly take place in Paris, the artists are from all angles of pop music. The videos are known for their quirky renditions (some walking through alley ways, others in a bathroom, some in the back of a van) and their often beautiful camera work. The above video of Phoenix captures the band playing for a recently married couple against the Eiffel Tower. 3. NPRMusicWhile NPR isn’t always the coolest kid on the block, their Tiny Desk Concerts consistently turn out high quality music. True to its name, the mini-concerts take place and are filmed at a desk in the NPR offices with a definite tendency towards rootsy rock. Given the space restrictions, huge bands often make for the most entertaining videos as they try to squeeze into the office. 4. TheAlternateSide907The Alternate Side is a New York-based indie music station splintered from WFUV. As such, they not only have access to current artists, but recording studio-quality equipment to capture their frequent live performances. While some bands offer straight ports of their songs, others, like Passion Pit’s Michael Angelakos, above, offer entire re-interpretations of their hits. 5. TheGreatPerformersTired of all the young kids with their fancy instruments and rock music? Looking for some sophistication? This channel curates some great classical performances from full orchestra down to piano concertos and virtuoso violinists. Even if classical isn’t your thing, this is a great way to bone up on some stunning performances of the classical canon. 6. SPINThis YouTube channel for SPIN magazine usually features polished acts playing in clean spaces. Much like MTV’s Unplugged series, these bands are usually hot new bands showing their acoustic chops. Still, buried in those great performances are off-the-cuff clips like Weezer leading a sing-a-long of “Beverly Hills” during a get-together in San Francisco. 7. LSO [London Symphony Orchestra]Those looking for less bombast can try this channel for a series of solo and group performances from the London Symphony Orchestra. With a more modern ensemble, this channel showcases some of the new talent in the classical world including the sometimes controversial pianist Lang Lang. 8. MuppetsStudioThe Muppets have put together some impressive versions of classic songs like Bohemian Rhapsody and American Woman. Those expecting a traditional cover, turn back — you are firmly in Muppet territory, here. Each “performance” is a light-hearted take on the original. We couldn’t let you go without a laugh. Hopefully this list has opened some doors to great music performance channels on YouTube. If you have the time, we’ve also dug up some honorable mentions: The BBC, Gorillaz, VEVO Go Shows, and Billboard. More Web Video Resources from Mashable:
More About: blogotheque, channel, great performers, List, Lists, LSO, music, NPR, performance, spin, the alternate side, the muppets, tiny desk concert, video, web video, youtube, zeit online For more Web Video coverage:
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| Is Google Working With Verizon to Upend Net Neutrality? Posted: 04 Aug 2010 11:32 PM PDT   It sounds unlikely, but sources close to Google and Verizon have said that the two companies are working together on a deal that would help Verizon charge some Internet content providers more than others in exchange for priority data transfer speeds. Such an agreement would fly in the face of net neutrality, a philosophy of web content previously promoted by Google. The news comes from The New York Times, which cites “people close to the negotiations who were not authorized to speak publicly.” The two tech giants will reportedly make the deal “as soon as next week.” Consumer advocacy groups and many content creators have argued in favor of net neutrality, which would ensure that the consumer’s ability to access certain pieces of web content would not be tiered based on expense like premium channels on cable television, or first-class and coach seating on airlines. Some of those advocacy groups (Public Knowledge, Free Press, Media and Democracy Coalition and New America Foundation's Open Technology Initiative) e-mailed Mashable with a joint statement, outraged by the alleged deal. They called it “unseemly and inappropriate” and said “the Internet belongs to all of us, not to Verizon and Google. There is widespread public support for an open Internet.” Details on what the deal would entail are scarce, but The New York Times gave one sensational example: Google-owned YouTube may, in theory, pay Verizon additional fees to ensure that its videos are given priority when passing over the various connections of the Internet to reach consumers. It’s unclear whether this deal would apply to Verizon’s mobile data network, to its FiOS broadband service, or both. The future of net neutrality and its alternatives has not yet been decided, but if this is a broadly encompassing deal, it could influence public policy. Wasn’t Google For Net Neutrality?If this news is true and all is as The New York Times makes it seem, it’s shocking, as Google has publicly advocated net neutrality. The company has officially been at the forefront of the cause to promote and preserve openness on the web, so we find it difficult to take this report at face value. That said, there are a few reasons that Google could appear to change course. It may see the FCC’s lost court case with Comcast this April as a sign that the dismantling of the old way of doing things is inevitable, and as the adage goes, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. It’s also possible (but unlikely) that Google has in this case prioritized some prospect for its Android smartphones — a market in which Verizon has considerable leverage — over the positions that would benefit its traditional search business. Even more unlikely, maybe Google was never really completely behind net neutrality to begin with; maybe it was a populist PR position. AT&T has accused Google of walking a fine line over broader issues of openness in the past. Or maybe The New York Times’ description of the situation is erroneous or incomplete. What do you make of this report? Do you believe Google is really considering turning its back on net neutrality, even in some small or specific way? Let us know in the comments. More About: android, broadband, Google, net neutrality, the new york times, verizon For more Tech coverage:
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| Kindle Gets Games; Two Free Apps Launched Posted: 04 Aug 2010 09:57 PM PDT
The KDK was launched earlier this year. At that time, we predicted more non-book apps, from productivity tools to games, would be available for Kindle users. Of course, with Kindle’s paper-like interface, we weren’t expecting first-person shooters or elaborate fantasy games. The kinds of entertainment apps that have been developed and released so far are what we’d expect would go over well with Kindle’s book-loving users: word puzzles. Both the games are rather similar and bear a resemblance to free smartphone applications. Still, we’re fairly certain these two initial offerings represent the more shallow end of the app pool; we predict clever crossword puzzles, two-player games, less literary offerings such as puzzle or math games, and more will be coming relatively soon. Every Word is a word scramble game. The users is shown six or seven scrambled letters and is asked to form as many words as possible using those letters. The more words that are found, the higher the score.  The second game is Shuffled Row, another word scramble game that sounds more like Scrabble. “See how many words you can make from 60 lettered tiles. The tiles are added to your row one at a time so you’ll constantly be working with a new set of letters. After you submit a word, the letters you used will be removed and new ones will be added,” reads the product description.  Both games are free. If and when paid games are introduced to the device, developers will receive a 70% cut of revenues. The KDK isn’t open yet to all developers; rather, Amazon is working with select devs on a limited basis. Kindle’s competition from Barnes & Noble, Nook, has had game access for a few months. And rival Copia is launching another competing product which beats Kindle both on price ($99 versus Kindle’s $139 starting-at cost) and on gaming potential because of its color screen. What do you think of these two games so far? If you’re a Kindle owner, do they enhance your overall experience with the device? [hat tip: zdnet] Reviews: scrabble More About: amazon, apps, ereader, games, gaming, kdk, Kindle, reader, video games For more Tech coverage:
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| 5 Social Fundraising Alternatives to Facebook Causes Posted: 04 Aug 2010 08:59 PM PDT   Geoff Livingston co-founded Zoetica to focus on cause-related work, and released an award-winning book on new media Now is Gone in 2007. When it comes to social fundraising tools, Facebook Causes often comes to mind first. In reality, it is just one of many tools available to non-profits that want to integrate donation capabilities into their online effort. That’s good news, because to date, a relatively small amount of donations has been raised on Causes: $22 million. What’s more, only a small fraction of non-profits manage to raise more than $1,000 on Causes, according to an M+R study. Almost every non-profit fundraising platform enables more traditional e-mail database capture than Causes, a primary issue with the platform. While Facebook Causes is moving to address e-mail sharing with its non-profit partners on an opt-in basis, the real differentiators tend to come down to social grassroots functionality and donation capabilities, including fees. Here are five alternatives to consider when it comes to social fundraising. 1. Razoo With more than $20 million raised on its platform, Razoo offers a robust platform for non-profits seeking an alternative to Causes. Fundraising fees are paid for by Razoo, so 100% of donations are passed through. From a usability standpoint, sign-up is relatively easy. Non-profits can have their own page, and can also build project specific pages for events or fundraising drives. Razoo’s DonateAnywhere widget allows non-profits to port their fundraising initiative to other social sites, and also enables donors to share on their Facebook and Twitter networks. The one hiccup is that DonateAnywhere currently does not allow for recurring donations. 2. TwitpayFacebook Causes works well with Facebook, but you may want a different platform for Twitter. Enter Twitpay, and its RT2Give platform, designed specifically for everyone’s favorite 140 character-based social network. Twitpay does charge a percentage of the donations actually paid, including a small per transaction fee. However, it focuses on the viral nature of Twitter, creating donations based on re-tweets — and of course, re-tweets equate to more visibility. Currently, donation amounts are fixed at certain numbers set by the non-profit ($10 or $25 for example). 3. Crowdrise The Crowdrise platform works for both charities and fundraisers. Ideally, it’s a grassroots fundraising service that creates fun ways for your network to go and promote, including contests, giveaways and promotions. In exchange for its grassroots capability, Crowdrise does take a significant portion of donations — anywhere between 7.5% to 10% depending on the size of the donation. Signing up for Crowdrise is simple, and the user interface is very clean. Additionally, the site enables one-click Facebook and Twitter sharing, as well secondary integration to other social networks through sharethis. “We are currently enamored [with] Crowdrise for its fun approach to peer-to-peer engagement, easy to use fundraising and volunteering tools, and kitschy call to action messaging on social media outposts,” said Kate Olsen, of Network for Good. “How can you resist the tag line ‘If you don't give back, no one will like you?’" 4. ChipInA simple widget, ChipIn allows a non-profit to have complete control of funding via PayPal (which does take a percentage for credit card fees). Cause representatives simply enter their information — either about the non-profit, the event, or the initiative — and build the widget. From a technical standpoint, non-profits embed the ChipIn widget on a variety of websites or create their own ChipIn page. The widget does integrate a wide variety of social network portability beyond the big two (Facebook and Twitter), including Digg and Delicious. 5. ammado Based in Ireland, ammado’s big differentiator is its international reach, with more than 30 currencies accepted. Non-profits have to become an ammado member to receive donations, and according to its terms of service, generally ammado charges a 5% fee from donations received. Non-profits can accept donations directly through ammado, via the ammado Giving Widget, or via the Giving Circle Facebook application. Individuals can create their own grassroots pages, provide recurring donations, and share their donation or fundraising project via the most popular social networks. More Social Good Resources from Mashable:
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, AndrewJohnson More About: charity, crowdrise, facebook, fundraising, non-profit, nonprofit, social good, social media For more Social Media coverage:
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| Top 16 Unusual Foursquare Badges Posted: 04 Aug 2010 08:39 PM PDT   Since Foursquare’s launch in March 2009, there has been a lot of excitement about where the company is going. But we’d like to take a moment to reflect upon where it’s been, via one of its most entertaining features — badges. Badges are, for many users, one of the main benefits of the app, driving competition among friends, co-workers, and even enemies. Whether the badges provide a real-life benefit or just bragging rights, users go crazy to figure out how to unlock the latest ones. We talked to Foursquare’s Lead Designer, Mari Sheibley, about the stories behind some of the most unusual badges in their collection. It’s only fitting to showcase 16 of the most unusual badges here today since Foursquare launched with exactly 16 badges back in the day. Without further ado, please enjoy this collection of interesting badges, ranging from rare and retired, to quirky and puzzling. 1. Mr. Bill This badge was created by interaction designer Eris Stassi in celebration of her beau’s birthday. David Bill, the lucky birthday boy, and CTO at CoTweet, said that his friends nicknamed him Mr. Bill as a joke, with reference to the Mr. Bill character on Saturday Night Live from the ’70s and ’80s. To unlock this badge, you had to attend Bill’s birthday party at Dave’s on July 2, 2009. As Stassi put it, “The best gifts are happy experiences. And what would bring a smile to his face more than realizing his checkin earned him a badge specifically celebrating his birthday and general awesomeness?” Hat tip to Stassi for giving one of the best, and geekiest gifts of all time. Sheibley explained the specificity behind the badge: “In very special cases we’ve created one-off badges for friends who have been big supporters of Foursquare. This was the first of these ’special friend badges.’ ” 2. PK JG 2010 Another instance of a “special friend badge” was the PK JG 2010 badge, which celebrated the marriage of Paul Kermizian and Janelle Gunther on June 26, 2010, at The Montauk Club in Brooklyn, New York. Those who unlocked the badge now receive free drinks for life at Barcade, a bar arcade in Brooklyn which Kermizian co-owns. 3. The Graduate This badge was designed to be unlocked at the 2010 Stanford Graduate School of Business graduation ceremony, which took place on June 12, 2010. Why? Tristan Walker, VP of business development at Foursquare, would be receiving his MBA. With Tristan’s Foursquare bot suited in a mortarboard cap and decked out in Stanford colors, this badge would have been an amazing surprise for attendees checking into the ceremony. Unfortunately, the badge wasn’t activated in time. It’s the thought that counts. 4. The Prom King The Prom King badge is yet another secret badge created for a Foursquare teamster. Sheibley gave us the details: “Co-Founder Naveen [Selvadurai] threw a giant prom-themed party for his birthday this past February in the auditorium of a children’s school in downtown Manhattan. We wanted to make a badge for him (it was a secret) as a present. Anyone who would check in to the location that night would unlock it. Unfortunately, it didn’t get put into the code in time, and it’s never been unlocked.” We’re sure Naveen would have won Prom King either way. 5. Banksy Fan To celebrate the opening weekend of street artist Banksy’s first film “Exit Through the Gift Shop,” Foursquare created a special badge featuring a rat in star glasses, reminiscent of Banksy’s artwork. Sheibley commented, “We very strongly try to have the special badges uphold the Foursquare aesthetic (simple, iconic, rounded corners, etc). Our style and Banksy’s are very different, so we definitely had to work towards a happy medium that reflected both our ideals and Banksy’s art.” 6. Last Degree During April of this year, 15-year-old Parker Liautaud and 44 year-old David Newman raced to be the first to check-in at the North Pole via Foursquare. Only one prevailed. Liautaud checked-in first and became the only person to unlock the Last Degree badge on Foursquare. Don’t put your skis on just yet; this badge was a once in a lifetime offer, never to be unlocked again. 7. Groupie To unlock this badge, you have to be a true Foursquare groupie. You have to collect six different business cards from Foursquare employees (which all have different badges on the backs), and then go to foursquare.com/bizcard, where you can select the correct badges to unlock the Groupie badge. Sheibley explained, “We made it for SXSW [2010] and carried it over for everyone to unlock after the conference was over… We wanted our business cards to be a game to go along with the game aspect of our product. During SXSW, it encouraged people to come up and say hello and talk with us, which is always fun.” 8. Early Adopter Foursquare offered a slew of badges at SXSW 2010, one of which was the Early Adopter badge. As you may know, Foursquare launched two days prior to SXSW 2009, and was the breakout mobile app at the conference. The Early Adopter badge was a nice surprise for Foursquare users who had previously checked in at SXSW 2009 events and were also attending SXSW 2010. Sheibley explained, “We wanted a clever way to thank all the early adopters from SXSW 2009 — the people who tried out our product from the very start.” 9. Karaoke RV Not all badges are planned at Foursquare. This one, among a few others, was a spur-of-the-moment creation, based on user behaviors. Sheibley elaborated, “Karaoke RV is special, because it was made on the fly during SXSW 2009 to reflect activities that were going on that we didn’t know about when we first made the SXSW badges. We didn’t anticipate everyone driving around in a bus singing karaoke, but it was a hit, and so we created a badge for it.” 10. Internet Week 2010 Sheibley noted that “The Internet Week 2010 badge was unique, because it allowed you to skip party lines, which is not something we’ve ever done before.” Internet Week geeks unlocking the badge had the opportunity to skip lines to parties hosted by The Onion, #140conf, Pop Everything, Obliterati and SoundCtrl. Now that’s a badge with benefits. 11. World Cup 2010 This is another example of a badge made on the fly. During the 2010 World Cup, Sheibley designed the badge based on what users were saying and doing. Namely, users were mimicking the vuvuzela sound by shouting “zzzzzzzzzz,” and announcing goals by exclaiming “GOOOOOOOOOOOAL!” She commented, “Who had heard of a vuvuzela before this? It took a while for some users to realize one way to unlock it was by shouting 10 Zs.” 12. Gossip Girl The Gossip Girl badge was originally called “Socialite,” but was later changed to “Gossip Girl in NYC.” “It’s unique because it’s actually really hard for people to figure out how to unlock it. It’s not tag-based (which people often believe), and not necessarily related to the [TV] show. People assume they can get it by going to places in the show, which isn’t necessarily true,” Sheibley explained, and pointed me to a blog post showcasing just how obsessed people can get about unlocking this badge. Sheibley noted that “the Gossip Girl badge will soon be taken over by [the Gossip Girl account], so it will soon make more sense for everyone!” 13. Met Lover The Metropolitan Museum of Art is just one of many brands on Foursquare, but not all brands have their own badge. Foursquare users who check in twice at the Met earn the Met Lover badge, which bears the iconic logo of the Museum. This badge is perhaps most unique, though, because it is reminiscent of the colored pins that visitors receive at the door to wear as entrance tickets as they walk about the museum. 14. Tarantino Among the long list of Foursquare badges offered at SXSW 2010 was the Tarantino badge. This badge had Foursquare groupies in a fit trying to figure out how to unlock it. Many badge lists, which chronicle all of the latest badges along with how to unlock them, presumed that the badge could be tapped by attending Quentin Tarantino film screenings at SXSW. And other attendees assumed that the badge could be unlocked by attending a panel that Tarantino was scheduled to speak on (but never showed up to). “This badge didn’t really have anything to do with Tarantino,” Sheibley explained. “It was previously called ‘Redford,’ but we had to change it since Robert Redford is affiliated with Sundance, not the SXSW film fest. It was definitely unlocked, although not as much as the other SXSW 2010 badges.” 15. Andy Cohen Bravo TV has a huge Foursquare presence, with a large offering of badges, one of which is the Andy Cohen badge. “Other than the badges we’ve made for co-workers, this is the only badge that features a recognizable face,” Sheibley pointed out. “Bravo felt strongly that they wanted to use Andy’s face on the badge to drive home [his] brand recognition. In general, I try to push away from this, because it doesn’t marry well to our desired aesthetic of simplicity. My goal is always to communicate a concept with the least amount of details.” Luckily, they found a happy middle ground, incorporating a simple outline of Cohen’s animated face. 16. Jobs This badge is actually the second iteration of the Jobs badge. The original Jobs badge, unlocked after three checkins at Apple Stores, depicted the Apple logo. Regardless, Apple fans love this badge. Famous Apple fangirl Justine Ezarik, better known as iJustine, tweeted her excitement when she unlocked the badge. You can see the original badge design in her TwitPic. Sheibley’s clarified the reason behind the design change: “We just wanted to make sure there were no trademark infringement issues, so we changed it to something more generic. People picked up on the change pretty quickly!” These are our top picks for the most unusual Foursquare badges around. Which would you add to the list? Let us know in the comments below! And if you have unlocked some of these zany badges, feel free to take full advantage of your bragging rights, too! More Foursquare resources on Mashable
Reviews: CoTweet, Foursquare, Socialite, Twitpic More About: Andy Cohen, apple, badge, badges, Banksy Fan, bravo, early adopter, foursquare, geo-location, geolocation, Gossip Girl, Groupie, Internet Week, Internet Week 2010, jobs, karaoke, Karaoke RV, Last Degree, location, location based social networks, location networking, location-based, location-based networking, Met Lover, Mr. Bill, PK JG 2010, social media, Tarantino, The Graduate, The Prom King, Unlock, world cup, world cup 2010 For more Mobile coverage:
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| Apple Can Fix Your iPhone’s PDF Security Exploit (But Hasn’t Yet) Posted: 04 Aug 2010 07:41 PM PDT   Apple stated today that it has already developed a fix for the iPhone and iPad security exploit that could let hackers do critical damage to your iOS device if you simply open a malicious PDF file. The fix will be implemented in the next software update, but that hasn’t happened yet. CNET quoted an Apple spokesperson saying, “We’re aware of this reported issue, we have already developed a fix and it will be available to customers in an upcoming software update.” No time frame was given for the update, but it’s sure to be soon because the exploit is quite severe. As we reported yesterday, you could visit a web page with a PDF that contains a program that causes a stack overflow, giving a hacker deep access to your iPhone or iPad. The exploit is possible on any iOS device running OS 3.1.2 or later. The security hole is actually the same as that used for the JailbreakMe jailbreak for the iPhone 4 and iOS 4, so it stands to reason that Apple’s fix will stop that from functioning also. That’s how it always goes, though; someone figures out a way in, the manufacturer patches it, then that someone figures out another way in and the manufacturer patches that one too. Anyway, you might want to avoid the next software update if you want to be able to use the current, web-based jailbreaking tool, but you’d also be well-advised to patch up the hole to end the risk that someone will hack your device. It’s your call. Which are you going to do? Let us know in the comments. More About: apple, exploit, hack, iOS, ipad, iphone, jailbreak, JailbreakMe, pdf, Root, security For more Apple coverage:
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| The Top 10 Most Watched Web Series, June 2010 Posted: 04 Aug 2010 06:46 PM PDT   Each month, our partner Visible Measures compiles a list of the top ten most popular web video series, and we share those results with you and provide analysis. Visible Measures tracks views, comments and other data on web video. If you’re looking for some video entertainment to watch online during your lunch break, this chart is a great place to start. Just find a show you’re interested in and click the play button to the right to check it out. This month, two of the biggest web series — Fred and The Annoying Orange — exchanged crossover episodes, boosting views for one significantly but not making much of a dent for the other. Can you guess which one was which? Meanwhile, one of the original web series hits (Red Vs Blue) made a comeback. Keep reading for the chart and more details. The Chart: June 2010
*The Visible Measures Top 10 Webisodes Chart focuses on digital studio-driven Web series that appear on Internet video-sharing destinations and publisher microsites. Each Web series is measured on a True Reach™ basis, which includes viewership of both studio-syndicated video clips and viewer-driven social video placements. The data are compiled using the Visible Measures platform, a constantly growing repository of analytic data on more than 200 million Internet videos across more than 200 video destinations. If you are a webisode publisher and would like clips from your microsites to be counted towards the chart, please contact Visible Measures. Note: This chart does not include vloggers, interviews, how-to series, news shows, or product review shows. View-count results are incremental by month. To notify Visible Measures of an upcoming Web series, or for an end-to-end assessment of your campaign's overall performance, please contact Visible Measures directly. If you're interested in exploring this data further, go to visiblemeasures.com/mashable . Fred Vs. The Annoying Orange For some it’s an epic moment in YouTube history. For others, it’s a sign of the impending apocalypse. YouTube stars Fred and The Annoying Orange had a close encounter of the irritating kind in a hit video in The Annoying Orange YouTube channel. The video garnered more than five million views. During the same time period, The Annoying Orange appeared in a video in the Fred YouTube channel, titled “Fred Goes Grocery Shopping Feat. The Annoying Orange.” That video pulled just over four million views, giving Fred a huge boost after a long period of comparative inactivity. The producers of The Annoying Orange were already on top and cranking out new material, though, so that show didn’t see unusual growth as a result of the short partnership. The Return of Red Vs. Blue Red Vs. Blue debuted back in 2003, earlier than many currently popular web series. Using characters from the Halo series of video games, the series is targeted specifically at gamers, but reaching for a niche market can pay off for web video series. The series appeared on the chart in March and April, but dropped off in May. Now it’s back at number nine with slightly more than 4.7 million views. The show in seventh place (Charlie the Unicorn) managed around 5.4 million views while the show in tenth (How It Should Have Ended) did more than 4.6 million, so the back of the chart is a close race. Visible Measures says Red Vs. Blue made the list in part because of the episode “S8 Tex Fights Reds and Blues,” which drew more views than any other episode in the series’ seven-year history. What’s Working in Web Video?If you watch the Visible Measures stats each month, you’ll get a sense of what works consistently in web series and what doesn’t. Short, humorous videos dominate the chart, especially anything outrageous like Happy Tree Friends‘ sensational violence or The Annoying Orange’s titular character being, well, exceptionally annoying. Pop culture and music do well also. Key of Awesome has seen consistent growth over the past few months (though that growth did slow to 3% in June) by spoofing music artists like Lady Gaga, Ke$ha and Katy Perry. YouTube favorite Lady Gaga was also the subject of one of Smosh’s new videos. Reviews: Internet, YouTube More About: Charlie the Unicorn, Fred, happy tree friends, how it should have ended, internet tv, key of awesome, monthly top webisodes, Potter Puppet Pals, Red Vs Blue, smosh, television, the annoying orange, the station, tv, video, web series, Web TV, web video, webisodes For more Web Video coverage:
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| PDF of Ruling to Overturn Prop 8 Goes Viral Posted: 04 Aug 2010 05:43 PM PDT   Federal judge Vaughn Walker this morning overturned California’s Proposition 8, which had denied marriage to same-sex couples. Shortly afterward, a PDF of the judge’s ruling appeared on document-sharing site Scribd and became the most viral doc the site has ever hosted. Scribd user goodasyou uploaded the PDF titled “Prop 8 Ruling FINAL” shortly after 3:30 PM ET today. We learned about it when we received an e-mail from Scribd Senior Communications Director Michelle Laird, who said that the document was receiving over 1,000 views per second within minutes of its publication. Later, Scribd CEO Trip Adler was quoted by GigaOM saying that while most documents the company considers “viral” reach 100,000 views within 24 hours, the Prop 8 ruling had reached 100,000 views within 24 minutes. Its propagation has since slowed, and it’s now sitting at just over 200,000. The Internet is fickle — we all know that — but that first burst of interest can be significant. In addition to embedding options and Twitter or Facebook sharing features, Scribd has its own system for following people who post interesting documents and seeing what new items they upload in a Facebook-like news feed. A few months ago, the service added new features for sharing documents easily to mobile devices like e-readers and smartphones. The point is, propagation is easy with so many sharing options and such broad platform support, so that probably helped this historic ruling find a digital audience. This happened while news outlets like the LA Times were simply publishing excerpts from the ruling rather than the complete document. “Prop 8 Ruling FINAL” from ScribdMore About: california, document, law, pdf, prop 8, Proposition 8, ruling, scribd, trending, vaughn walker For more Social Media coverage:
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| Meme Master Ze Frank Wants Your Old Pics for “Young Me/Now Me” Posted: 04 Aug 2010 04:42 PM PDT   For his latest entertaining and fascinating project, Internet meme architect Ze Frank has asked ordinary folk to submit photos of their younger selves, then submit another photo of themselves now in roughly the same poses. Called “Young Me/Now Me,” the project began this spring and has yielded results that range from hilarious to poignant. The submission process is decidedly low-tech. Just email your images to Frank, and they just might be seen on the website and possibly the upcoming homonymous book based on the project. According to Frank, such projects aren’t created to show off new or trendy technology. “In an ever-changing technological landscape, where today's platforms are not tomorrow's platforms, the key seems to be that any one of these spaces can use a dose of humanity and art and culture,” he said. Frank is an Internet personality less famous for being “famous” and more well-known for having mastered web memetics fairly early in his career. Here’s a small dose from Young Me/Now Me:     There are hundreds of images to browse; it’s one of the more interesting time-killers we’ve stumbled across recently, without a doubt. Frank also blogs about some of his favorite images at the Young Me/Now Me blog. If you’ve got any good or, better yet, interesting pictures of “young you,” what are you waiting for? Go ahead and find a few props, make phone calls to your childhood friends and figure out a way to recreate that corduroy romper. What do you think of Young Me/Now Me? [hat tip: Scott Beale] Reviews: Internet More About: experiment, memes, Photos, pics, social media, young me/now me, ze frank For more Social Media coverage:
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| Accurately Track and Share Your Fitness Activities with Mobile App Posted: 04 Aug 2010 03:37 PM PDT   Mashable's Spark of Genius series highlights a unique feature of startups. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, see details here. The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark.
Quick Pitch: Stay healthy and fit with Skimble. Track 30+ sports and share on Facebook & Twitter. Compete on leaderboards and achieve Personal Bests Genius Idea: Those with a predilection for physical activity tend to take pride in their sporting or fitness accomplishments. Skimple caters to this audience and offers a web and mobile experience designed for the fitness enthusiast who wants to thoroughly track and share their sports, gym or outdoorsy activities. Skimble’s iPhone, iPad and newly released Android apps provide you with easy and mobile ways to accurately track activities such as cardio, weights, yoga, pilates, kickball, tennis and basketball. As you record your activities, the service will shower you with points — there’s even a leaderboard — and congratulate you on the goals you achieve. Skimble doesn’t skip over the important specifics that distinguish each and every workout. When it comes to yoga, for instance, the apps let you track full yoga sessions or granularly specify the individual yoga poses you completed. You can typically define the type, style and difficulty level for each activity you complete as well. The yoga option, for example, includes a menu of various yoga styles and lets you specify whether you’re a beginner, intermediate or advanced yogi. Skimble is also designed to be social in nature, so you can share workouts and accomplishments with friends via Facebook or Twitter, check out what fitness activities your Skimble friends have completed and see what others nearby are up to. Should you be so enthusiastic about your regimen that ads get in the way of your Skimble experience, you can pay to remove them. The $24.99 per year pro plan also includes an offline tracking mode, progress charts and a fancy pro sash for your profile. Skimble is the complete package for activity-loving technophiles. Try it out and let us know what you think.  [img credit: lululemon athletica] Sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark
Reviews: Android, Facebook, Twitter, iPhone For more Tech coverage:
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| Your Mission: Take Back the Facebook Poke Posted: 04 Aug 2010 03:06 PM PDT   I have a mission for you. One so lofty, so arduous, so utterly impossible that many of you may abandon the cause. We’re going to reclaim the Facebook Poke. Why? For the same reason we climb mountains, cross seas and eat an entire pie in one sitting: Because it’s there. Yes, since the inception of the social networking site, the mysterious option to poke friends has been available — and it hasn’t really changed since then. In the early days of Facebook, a version of the FAQ noted that Mark Zuckerberg and Co. just wanted to create something with no real purpose. That’s not really rational when you think about it. As Anton Chekhov said, “One must not put a loaded rifle on the stage if no one is thinking of firing it.” Yup. A poke is basically equivalent to a loaded gun — an apt description, really, considering it’s become a kind of weird weapon over the years. What started as a mere bauble has morphed into a tool only regularly used by utter and complete creepers. We conducted an online survey of a few hundred of our friends, fans and followers, and 55 percent banished poking to the realm of “ick.” Still, when asked whether they had ever poked anyone themselves, 59 percent of respondents said yes. So why the disdain for the digit, yet the predilection for the Poke? Herein lies the purpose of our mission. Yes, the Poke may have strayed into the realm of 4chan and tell-all web shows, but it has not yet gone the way of Friendster. On that note, we call upon you, individuals of the internet persuasion, to take back the Poke! And so begins my Netiquette column — which I write with my Stuff Hipsters Hate co-blogger, Andrea Bartz — this week over at CNN. Check out the column at CNN.com >>image courtesy of iStockphoto, fQwasyx Reviews: Facebook, Friendster, iStockphoto More About: cnn, facebook, humor, netiquette, poke, social media, Stuff Hipsters Hate For more Social Media coverage:
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| Control Facebook Privacy Settings from Your Mobile Posted: 04 Aug 2010 02:39 PM PDT   When Facebook introduced its privacy controls in May, it hoped to simplify the once-complex privacy settings for users looking to lock down their content. Today Facebook has made the same simplified privacy control options available to all Facebook mobile web users. Facebook members can navigate to m.facebook.com/privacy to quickly adjust their settings from their mobile device. Users can select from the default Facebook-defined options for settings — recommended, everyone, friends of friends, or friends only — or customize what they would like to share or keep private on an item-by-item basis. The rollout of privacy control settings for mobile is currently underway, so all members will have the simplified settings options in the near future. Creating mobile parity around Facebook privacy settings is a wise move on Facebook’s part. The 500 million-member social network continues to see mobile usage grow, which means the mobile options will help more members avoid potential privacy catastrophes while on the go.  [img credit: Darwin Bell] Reviews: Facebook More About: facebook, facebook mobile, facebook privacy For more Social Media coverage:
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| Posted: 04 Aug 2010 02:24 PM PDT   Google Wave, a product once heralded by many as a massively disruptive communication tool (heck, invites were even selling for $70 on eBay), is no more. In a blog post this afternoon, Google says they "don't plan to continue developing Wave as a standalone product," though the code for it will remain available as open source. The move isn't much of a surprise; adoption never seemed to materialize for Google Wave — even after it dropped its invite-only status — as users struggled to find meaningful use cases for the service (though we found a few). What's most interesting about Wave, perhaps, is the spectacular rate of its rise and fall. It was easily one of the most hyped products of 2009, but within months of its launch, the buzz had almost completely disappeared. The product might've been more successful had it been integrated into Gmail (basic e-mail notifications weren't even part of the launch), though Google hasn't had much success with Buzz in that department either. In any event, Wave represents another disappointment in Google's long line of attempts at social, an area in which the company is now reportedly eyeing a completely new approach. Shutting down Wave, it would seem, is a logical step in moving on. [img credit: Vaguleartisti] Reviews: Gmail, Google, Google Wave More About: Google, Google Wave, trending For more Social Media coverage:
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| The Most Popular Brands on Foursquare Posted: 04 Aug 2010 01:27 PM PDT   More and more brands are jumping on the Foursquare bandwagon, enticing users with timed incentives, special badges and curated hot spots. But what brand is the most popular on Foursquare? According to the new Foursquare Brand Leaderboard from Osnapz, it’s foodie favorite Zagat, which boasts 48,136 followers and counting. The new leaderboard ranks brands by number of followers. It also indicates how many, if any, custom badges a brand’s Foursquare account offers to users. The leaderboard is updated every few minutes. It’s an interesting way to gauge what types of brands are gaining the most followers. In fact, just looking over the top 25 brands, most can be segmented into one of three categories:
 Brands that highlight local finds, food or general culture tend to have a lot of followers, but the vast majority of the “biggest” Foursquare brands appear to be bigger media companies or brands (including Mashable, which ranks at #15) with audiences that tend to be early adopters and tech savvy. Do any of the rankings surprise you? What brands do you follow on Foursquare? Reviews: Foursquare, Mashable More About: brands, foursquare, MARKETING For more Social Media coverage:
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| OpenTable Starts Its Own Group Buying Service with Half-Off Meals Posted: 04 Aug 2010 12:30 PM PDT   Fresh off fantastic second quarter financial results, OpenTable is debuting a Groupon-like service add-on called OpenTable Spotlight that could help further increase profits. OpenTable Spotlight is a group buying initiative that kicks off today in Boston and New York. Once a week the restaurant booking service will serve up a half-off meal deal to metropolitan diners who can band together to buy and unlock it. The first OpenTable deal offers foodies $25 for $50 at a secret Boston or New York restaurant. Clearly OpenTable is taking creative inspiration from Groupon — who now plans to combat would-be copycats by retaining repeat business with personalized deals. Of course, OpenTable is not alone. Recently Yelp started testing its own “Daily Deals” initiative, and Wildfire released an app to help brands looking to capitalize on the group buying trend add deals to their Facebook pages. Although a 50% meal discount courtesy of OpenTable certainly sounds appetizing, are we all so hungry for a deal that we’d make a Priceline-esque decision on where we dine? What do you think? Share your thoughts on OpenTable Spotlight in the comments.  [img credit: ZagatBuzz] Reviews: Facebook More About: group buying, groupon, opentable, opentable spotlight For more Social Media coverage:
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| YouTube’s Backstory Reimagined as “The Social Network” [VIDEO] Posted: 04 Aug 2010 12:28 PM PDT The Social Network isn’t even close to hitting theaters yet and it’s already racking up the parodies. First, there was “The Other Social Network” — a dig at MySpace — and now, there’s “The Video Website,” which takes YouTube to task. After baiting us with a pair of teasers, the makers of The Social Network (a.k.a. The Facebook Movie) released a full-length trailer for the film about Mark Zuckerberg’s empire about three weeks ago, followed by a TV spot last week. Featuring Radiohead’s “Creep” sung by the Belgium girls choir Scala, the trailer was super dramatic, what with Zuckerberg and Co. crowing about stats and fighting over ownership. Well, this parody, courtesy of Sketch Comedy group Prussian Sunsets, takes all those elements and reimagines them as a film about YouTube founders Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim (Karim is missing from the parody, for some reason). Plus, there’s cats and dancing babies. What more could you ask for? Check it out and let us know in the comments: What social network/tool would you like to see skewered next? [via The Daily What] Reviews: MySpace, YouTube More About: facebook, humor, pop culture, viral video, youtube For more Web Video coverage:
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| Groupon Teams Up with “Top Chef” to Offer Cheap Eats Posted: 04 Aug 2010 12:26 PM PDT   TV network Bravo has announced a partnership with tech darling Groupon, the daily deal shopping site. From today until Sunday, Groupon is giving its users special discounts at eight Top Chef-related properties around the U.S. Each coupon is good for a steep price cut on food and drink or, in at least one case, for a a special cooking class. At the show’s Groupon promo page, you can find deals for 50% or more off the cost of a meal or other services from Top Chef contestants. This is the website’s first partnership with a television network. In the recent past, Groupon has also partnered with filmmakers, newspapers and more. The full list of deals includes promos from:
Last week, Groupon also launched personalized deals, which allow Groupon subscribers in select cities to receive deals tailored to their personal tastes and previous purchase behaviors. Currently, Groupon serves 11 million members in 22 countries, 165 markets and hundreds of cities around the world. What’s your opinion of this promotion? If you’re in one of the cities mentioned above, do you plan to take advantage of these deals? More About: bravo, groupon, top chef For more Entertainment coverage:
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| Get Outdoors with The North Face Trailhead iPhone App Posted: 04 Aug 2010 12:25 PM PDT   Outdoor apparel retailer The North Face has released a fantastic new trail-finding app for the iPhone, designed to help users find and share the best routes for hiking, skiing, fly-fishing, mountaineering, geocaching and more than a dozen other outdoor activities. The free app [iTunes link] enables users to search by activity type and distance, proximity (either from your current location using GPS or by zip code) and user ratings. The database of routes is pulled from EveryTrail.com, a platform for swapping trails with fellow enthusiasts. You can add keywords to your search, and also view user-submitted photos and tips if they’re included, which is especially useful if you’re after inspiring views. Once you’ve found a trail you’d like to explore, you can add it to your favorites (you’ll have to sign up for an Everytrails.com membership first, which you can quickly do within the app) and get driving directions to the trailhead. I’ve already used the app to pick out my Saturday hike, a moderate seven-mile trail within driving distance of New York City. Thanks to the keyword search function, I was able to find a path that adjoined a lake to swim in — a must-have feature of any summer hiking trail, in my opinion. If you’d like to record and share your own journey, you can use the app’s tracker to record your route in real-time, including elevation changes. When you finish, you can add tips and images, and then share your trail on Facebook, Twitter and EveryTrail.com. Screenshots [img credit: Adam Baker] Reviews: Facebook, Twitter More About: hiking, iphone app, Outdoors, the north face, trail finder For more Mobile coverage:
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| New York Car Services to Get Free Wi-Fi Posted: 04 Aug 2010 11:55 AM PDT   New York subway riders will soon get free Wi-Fi, but what about those who prefer pricier city transportation via car services? As soon as this fall, they too will be experiencing the luxury of free Wi-Fi. The Wall Street Journal reports that venture capitalist Alex Mashinsky is working to outfit 1,000 livery cars in New York City with free, ad-supported Wi-Fi, along with outlets and chargers for various mobile devices. The mobile Wi-Fi hotspots will be available to car passengers and anyone else who happens to be within 400 feet of the Internet-enabled vehicles. Mashinsky is CEO of livery car-booking company GroundLink, which will also serve as the vehicle Wi-Fi service provider. To start, cars from LimoRes Car & Limo Service, UTOG Corporate Car Service and Velocity Limo will get the Wi-Fi service, and Mashinsky soon hopes to have tens of thousands New York cars equipped with the technology. Mashinsky’s grander vision is one that extends beyond the inside of cars and onto the streets of New York. Since livery cars idle extensively, passersby on foot can take advantage of the free Wi-Fi. Of course, once out of the 400 foot range, these individuals will be out luck, but Mashinsky, “expects next-generation wireless Internet technology to address the problem and make it easier to use cars to provide Wi-Fi coverage on the streets of Manhattan.” [img credit: lukeroberts] Reviews: Internet More About: free wifi, internet, livery cars, new york city, taxis, wifi For more Tech coverage:
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| Why WikiLeaks and the Mainstream Media Still Need Each Other Posted: 04 Aug 2010 10:20 AM PDT   Alexander Hotz is a freelance multimedia journalist and public radio junkie based in New York City. Currently he teaches digital media at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. Follow Alex on Twitter at @hotzington. The July 25th release of 92,000 military documents by the site WikiLeaks dominated the news cycle, but many critics dismissed the leak as inconsequential. By the end of the week Frank Rich summed up the sentiment of many of his colleagues. "They are historical documents describing events largely predating the current administration," Rich wrote. "They contain no news. They will not change the course of the war." Regardless of the content, it's clear that WikiLeaks' partnership with The New York Times, Der Spiegel and The Guardian was unprecedented. Never before had a private organization provided multiple mainstream media sources with access (albeit embargoed) to classified government information. This new strategy marks a shift not just for WikiLeaks, which has been leaking classified information since 2005, but for whistle blowing in general. In a nutshell, the latest leak from WikiLeaks signals a seminal change for investigative journalism. The Old Way Prior to last week's leak, there were two paths that any would-be whistle blower could follow. The first was to approach a news organization with information and hope they bit. Daniel Ellsberg famously did this in 1971 when he handed over the Pentagon Papers to The New York Times. The second model was pioneered by websites like WikiLeaks and Cryptome, both of which were inspired by the Internet's freedom of information culture. Under this system, an organization like WikiLeaks is given a document by an anonymous source. After encrypting the files to ensure that the source cannot be traced, the information is published online. Initially, WikiLeaks' Editor Julian Assange hoped the public would sift through the documents to find the story. But Assange quickly realized that most people don't enjoy combing over spreadsheets. While some of WikiLeaks' biggest leaks — like Sarah Palin's e-mails, the 9/11 pager messages, and the classified footage showing two Reuters' journalists killed by a U.S. Apache helicopter in Iraq — reached the public, other leaks went largely unnoticed. Clearly something needed to change. The New WikiLeaks / Mainstream Media Model The new collaboration model between prominent publications and WikiLeaks is a tactical marriage. WikiLeaks needs the press so that its leaks can rise to the top of public conversation. The press can use WikiLeaks for its unparalleled scoops. Furthermore, because WikiLeaks isn't entirely understood or trusted by the public, a partnership with established news sources like The New York Times gives its leaks legitimacy. This "asymmetrical journalism," as David Carr calls it, is a natural evolution for WikiLeaks. Under the WikiLeaks-MSM model, WikiLeaks hands over classified information to select publications. While WikiLeaks investigates and verifies the document(s), the MSM is also given time to dissect the information and come to its own conclusions. What's Next?Despite the media hype surrounding this latest leak, it's uncertain whether this model is sustainable. The New York Times' editor Bill Keller had a public disagreement with Assange about the way the Times presented the information. Assange argued that the Times undersold the story, while Keller made it clear that he doesn't entirely trust WikiLeaks. Keller is right to be cautious about WikiLeaks since it is so new, but it would be unwise for him to burn a bridge with Assange. After all, to WikiLeaks' credit, none of their leaks have been proved false. What's more, Assange claims that WikiLeaks has access to a treasure trove of scandal-worthy information. The Afghan War Logs may not be as monumental as the Pentagon Papers, but assuming there is news to be broken – it's best if WikiLeaks and the press are on good terms. The Evolution of Whistle Blowing More Journalism Resources From Mashable:
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, AtnoYdur Reviews: Internet, iStockphoto More About: Afghan War Logs, afghanistan war, bill keller, der spiegel, journalism, julian assange, new york times, the guardian, whistleblowing, wikileaks For more Social Media coverage:
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| Starbucks Partners with Gilt for Exclusive Customer Deals Posted: 04 Aug 2010 10:00 AM PDT   Starbucks is working with the members-only flash sale service Gilt Groupe to offer Gold level My Starbucks Rewards customers an opportunity to purchase Galápagos San Cristóbal coffee, a rare blend from the Galápagos Islands. The Starbucks private sale, curated and hosted by Gilt, started yesterday and will run through noon ET on Saturday, August 7. The sale also includes a variety of items such as trip packages to the Galápagos Islands, espresso machines and coffee grinders, all at extremely discounted rates. Starbucks Gold customers are those who have earned 30 stars or more — one star for each transaction — as part of the My Starbucks Rewards program. Starbucks estimates that it has more than 1 million Gold members, and says it will be using the private sale as a way to share exclusive rewards with these loyal customers. Gold level members received an e-mail notification of the sale yesterday, which explained that the medium-bodied Galápagos San Cristóbal coffee is, “so rare that we may never be able to offer it again and we want you to have the opportunity to try its unique depth and flavor before anyone else.” From the looks of it, the flash sale appears to be doing better than Starbucks anticipated, as the $12.50 coffee in question is already listed as “sold out” on Gilt’s site. By teaming up with Gilt, Starbucks continues to embrace experimentation when it comes to using web and social media services to cater to customers. The early adopter brand offers free Wi-Fi in stores, has its own Facebook application for managing rewards, used Foursquare to grant discounts to store mayors and is a beta tester of Twitter’s advertising platform, Promoted Tweets.  [img credit: JcOlivera.com] Reviews: Foursquare, ResuWe Facebook Application, Twitter More About: flash sale, gilt, gilt groupe, MARKETING, mystarbucks, starbucks For more Social Media coverage:
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| Business Owners Can Now Respond to Reviews on Google Place Pages Posted: 04 Aug 2010 09:37 AM PDT   Verified Google Places business owners can now publicly respond to user reviews on their businesses’ Place Page. This new feature further bridges the divide between Places and its biggest competitor, Yelp. For business owners, the ability to publicly respond to reviews — positive or negative — can be a great way to engage with customers, correct or address certain issues, and, when necessary, set the record straight. Yelp introduced a similar feature last year, and business owners and users have responded positively to the ability to interact.  After that, owners can respond to comments following these instructions. Google has also put together a handy set of tips and guidelines for responding to reviewers. The Yelp-ification of Google PlacesGoogle continues to make iterative changes to Google Places and its overall Google Maps ecosystem. In the process, it is building up a strong competitor to heavyweight Yelp. In addition to the new owners response feature, Google Maps for Android is now more like Yelp on the mobile end, making it easier for users to find nearby venues in different categories and easily access things like phone numbers, hours of operation and user reviews.  As the two services approach parity in terms of features, community increasingly becomes the distinguishing factor. Although Google has millions upon millions of users, it hasn’t managed to build the sort of social relationships that has helped make Yelp such a success. This is why it’s crucial that business owners can now respond to user reviews. Owners are going to be more likely to be plugged into the responses, and the community comments and reviews from Google Places, if they can respond and partake in conversations themselves. Although a late entrant into the mobile business listings/review space, Google has remained agile and hasn’t been afraid to push out updates across its platform, both on the desktop and on mobile. We would love to see Google offer a mobile-optimized dashboard of sorts for business owners to track reviews, leave responses, and also post updates about specials or upcoming events directly to their Place Page. Are you excited about the ability to respond or interact with business owners on Google Places? Do you think Google has a shot against Yelp? [img credit: kylesteed] Reviews: Android, Google, Google Maps, Yelp More About: google places, location, place pages, yelp For more Business coverage:
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| Android Now Top-Selling Smartphone Operating System Posted: 04 Aug 2010 09:09 AM PDT   Another day, another bullish report on the state of Google's mobile operating system. According to NPD Group, not only are Android-powered devices now outselling iPhone (as another report indicated earlier this week), but they're also now besting BlackBerry, making Android the top selling mobile OS during the second quarter in the U.S. NPD has the race at Android – 33%, RIM – 28%, and Apple – 22% for the period, noting that it's the first time since Q4 2007 that the BlackBerry maker hasn't been number one. RIM is pinning much of its hopes on getting back on top with its new BlackBerry 6 operating system and the BlackBerry Torch smartphone, the latter of which was revealed yesterday. As we've noted in our earlier coverage of Android's quickly rising numbers, it has a few major advantages when it comes to market share numbers, most notably that a variety of manufacturers are building Android devices, a stark contrast to RIM and Apple, who make their own hardware exclusively. When will that growth create a profitable new line of business for Google? That's still not clear, though in a recent interview with The Wall Street Jounral, CEO Eric Schmidt said he thinks it can be a "10-plus billion dollar business," as Android's growing reach gives the company increasing power in mobile search. Reviews: Android, Google More About: android, apple, Google, Google Android, RIM, smartphones For more Mobile coverage:
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| Call Your Facebook Friends for Free From Your Android or iOS Device Posted: 04 Aug 2010 08:25 AM PDT   VoIP giant Vonage has just introduced a new iPhone, iPod touch and Android app that allows users to call their Facebook friends for free. Vonage Mobile for Facebook [iTunes link] is similar to VOiP apps like Skype or Fring, but with a twist: It’s all about Facebook. The free app does not require a Vonage subscription, but does require both parties to have the Vonage Mobile for Facebook app installed. Once installed, calls can be made over 3G or Wi-Fi. The app is pretty simple to set up and only requires that you enter in your Facebook credentials once. Friends are displayed in different groups; those that can be called with the app have a “V” logo next to their names. If a friend is online but doesn’t have the app installed, you can chat with him or her and also send an invite to download the app. Like the most recent Skype Mobile release, the app can run in the background, meaning that even if it’s not open, incoming calls can still come through. When an incoming call comes through the app, the caller’s Facebook photo and most recent status update are displayed on the screen. This video shows how the app works: The concept of making voice calls over Wi-Fi or 3G using a VOiP mobile application may no longer be new or novel, however, we appreciate that Vonage is targeting a specific set of users. For many individuals, Facebook is the nerve center for all online communication — building a VOiP app off of Facebook is pretty smart. An iPad version of Vonage Mobile for Facebook is poised to join the iPhone, iPod touch and Android versions soon. We hope that Vonage will also consider bringing the app to BlackBerry handsets. What do you think of Vonage Mobile for Facebook? Do you use any VOiP apps on your mobile device? Reviews: Android, Facebook More About: Android apps, facebook, iphone apps, telephony, trending, voip, Vonage For more Mobile coverage:
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| 10 Beautiful and Free WordPress 3.0-Ready Themes Posted: 04 Aug 2010 08:00 AM PDT
Lots of the biggest changes to WordPress 3.0 took place under the hood — the merging of the WordPress MU codebase with WordPress proper, custom post and taxonomy types, and support for easy custom menus in themes that support that feature. It’s really easy to add support for some of these features to your existing WordPress theme, but if you’re looking for a theme that works great with WordPress 3.0 out of the box, including support for custom menus, post types and taxonomies, check out our round-up of free themes with superb WordPress 3.0 support.
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| Run Multiple Location-Based Marketing Campaigns with One Cool App [INVITES] Posted: 04 Aug 2010 07:17 AM PDT   Mashable's Spark of Genius series highlights a unique feature of startups. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, see details here. The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark.
Quick Pitch: Geotoko is a simple, powerful platform for businesses, brands and agencies to run location-based contests and sweepstakes around checkins from a range of apps. Genius Idea: So, your company or agency wants to get into location-based marketing. Do you choose to focus on Foursquare? Do you check out Brightkite, Loopt or Gowalla? Could you consider doing a location campaign with Twitter? How about harnessing the power of Yelp? The makers of Geotoko think you shouldn’t have to choose; you should be able to simply and efficiently manage location-based marketing campaigns on multiple apps from a single tool. You can create your campaign using multiple apps, manage the rewards you dish out to users and drive foot traffic to locations all from Geotoko’s dashboard. The service currently supports the most popular geo-social apps and can also parse data from geo-enabled tweets. In addition, the company provides the all-important metrics: real-time analytics to measure your campaign’s performance and ROI, customers’ behavior, and how various locations and services perform. Here’s what a sample campaign might look like:
On the user side, there have been quite a few attempts to consolidate checkins for more than one app at a time. Each checkin service grants the user unique incentives, both virtual and real, so users are highly motivated to different degrees to use a variety of services. The fragmented space is being stitched together by apps like Brightkite’s check.in, which lets users check in to multiple apps with a single click. Seeing this same multi-app compilation service on the brand side is a fascinating testament to what might be wrong with the location app market. For Geotoko, though, the dashboard seems best suited to an agency or relatively large brand with a broad geographic reach. And it’s an excellent way to run a cohesive marketing campaign on multiple services and still harness the long tail of location-based social and mobile app users. The app is currently in private beta, but you can use the code “mashvip” to request an invite. Since this is a really effective tool only for branding and marketing professionals, and since we only have 500 invite codes, we ask that you please refrain from signing up unless you plan to use the service for its intended purpose as a courtesy to other would-be beta testers. We’re especially interested to know what marketers think of this app. Is it useful to you in its current form? What would you pay for such a service? And what other location-based services should Geotoko integrate? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. Sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark
Reviews: Brightkite, Foursquare, Gowalla, Twitter, Yelp More About: business, lbs, location, MARKETING, social media For more Business coverage:
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| 50+ Immediate Social Media, Development and Design Job Vacancies Posted: 04 Aug 2010 07:15 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: Jobs at MashableMobile Editor at Mashable in New York, NY. Tech Editor at Mashable in San Francisco, CA. Social Media Editor at Mashable in New York, NY. News Editorial Assistant at Mashable in New York, NY. Community Assistant at Mashable in New York, NY. Mashable Job Board ListingsCommunity Manager at Ally Marketing in Redmond, WA. Social Media Campaign Manager at Ally Marketing in Redmond, WA. Sr. Manager, Web Operations at in Santa Barbara, CA. Sr. Manager, Web Operations at in Cambridge, MA. Marketing Program Manager at Sonos, Inc. in Santa Barbara, CA. Marketing Program Manager at Sonos, Inc. in Cambridge, MA. Word of Mouth Coordinator at The Cyphers Agency in Annapolis, MD. Internet Marketing Specialist at WebpageFX in Carlisle, PA. Director of Word of Mouth Marketing at The Cyphers Agency in Annapolis, MD. Social Media Manager at Scripps Networks in Knoxville, TN. Emerging Media Manager at Toys R Us in Wayne, NJ. Social Media Strategist at Calysto Communications in Atlanta, GA. Director of Online Content at CBS Radio – Seattle in Seattle, WA. QA Engineer at Schoology in New York, NY. Client Services Associate at Studio One Networks in New York, NY. Social Media Brand Manager at Uno Chicago Grill in Smithfield, RI. Sr. Account Manager at envisionit media in Chicago, IL. Head of Public Relations and Social Media at Covestor in New York, NY. VP Director, Digital Marketing at Digitas Health in Philadelphia, PA. VP Group Dir, Social Media at Digitas in New York, NY. SEO Director at Mail.com Media Corporation in Inglewood, CA. Art Director at JPL in Harrisburg, PA. Research Director at Emerging Media Research Council in Raleigh, NC. Community Manager at Personified in Chicago, IL. Producer, Digital Media (National Geographic Channel) at Fox Entertainment Group in Washington, D.C. Sr. Designer at (mt) Media Temple in Culver City, CA. Account Executive, Digital Practice at Zeno Group in Santa Monica, CA. User Experience Designer, Web and Mobile at Blizzard Entertainment in Irvine, CA. Senior User Interface Artist, Starcraft II at Blizzard Entertainment in Irvine, CA. Senior User Interface Designer, Starcraft II at Blizzard Entertainment in Irvine, CA. Software Development Engineer, Community at Amazon.com in Seattle, WA. Software Engineer, Web at Blizzard Entertainment in Irvine, CA. Senior Producer, Web and Mobile at Blizzard Entertainment in Irvine, CA. Project Manager, Web and Mobile at Blizzard Entertainment in Irvine, CA. Software Development Engineer, Community Reputation Systems at Amazon.com in Seattle, WA. Lead Software Engineer, Web at Blizzard Entertainment in Irvine, CA. Graphic/Flash Designer at America’s Test Kitchen in Brookline, MA. Senior Artist, Battle.net at Blizzard Entertainment in Irvine, CA. Lead Producer, Battle.net at Blizzard Entertainment in Irvine, CA. Lead Designer, Battle.net at Blizzard Entertainment in Irvine, CA. Social Media Sales Consultant at Meltwater Group in Chicago, IL. Director, Business Growth and Innovation at American Express in New York, NY. Web Analytics Coordinator at TIG Global in Chevy Chase, MD. Java Software Engineer at GetClue in New York, NY. UI/UX Design at Nimble in Santa Monica, CA. Graphic and Website Design at freeHAMPreport.com in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Interactive Designer at Powell Tate in Washington, D.C. Media Planner at Digitas in Philadelphia, PA. Online Production Editor at Scripps Networks in Chevy Chase, MD. Mashable’s Job Board has a variety of web 2.0, application development, business development and social networking job opportunities available. Check them out at here.
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). Image courtesy of iStockphoto, YinYang Reviews: Mashable, Sonos, iStockphoto For more Social Media coverage:
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| An Online Easter Egg Hunt is Underway! [SPONSORED] Posted: 04 Aug 2010 07:11 AM PDT This post is brought to you by Allure Bays Corp., a microsite designed by Microsoft Office 2010 and SharePoint 2010. For more information on sponsored posts read here.   Want to learn about all the new features in Microsoft Office 2010 and SharePoint 2010? Microsoft has launched a fictional research and development company, Allure Bay Corp., and the fake company's website is chock full of Easter eggs to demonstrate the new features of Microsoft's latest software releases. Embark on the hunt by clicking the projector at the end of the introductory video. Some of the Easter eggs will lead to more of these unconventional and entertaining videos, where you'll see the software in action as the loveable — if odd — employees of Allure Bay Corp. use it. As you discover Easter eggs, more areas of the site will be revealed, as well as additional information about Microsoft's newest products. Some of the Easter eggs are a little obvious, like a banner that will randomly pop up proclaiming you the one millionth visitor, while others will take some ingenuity to find. Try searching for SOS — in Morse code. They can't make them all too easy, can they?! If simply searching for those Easter eggs isn't enough, maybe a little competition will entice you. When you register, you'll be added to a leaderboard that tracks how many Easter eggs you've found. If you get stuck, you can find clues via the Allure Bay Corp. Twitter feed that is updated regularly. Not sure where to begin? The video below should start you down the right path to discovering those hidden treasures, and get you moving up that leaderboard. (This post is brought to you by Allure Bays Corp., a microsite designed by Microsoft Office 2010 and SharePoint 2010. For more information on sponsored posts read here.) For more Social Media coverage:
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| Music Video Request Show Lets Facebook Users Call the Shots Posted: 04 Aug 2010 06:54 AM PDT   Remember the days of Delilah and other call-in radio luminaries — when you would put trembling hand to phone and dedicate a jam to your beloved? Well, now you can return to those times with a new Facebook app from Fuse TV called Tag Your Tune. Tag Your Tune is basically akin to those call-in shows and music video request lines of yore. All you have to do is download the app on Facebook, choose a vid from a rotating list of 30 (the app re-ups on videos every week) and dedicate it to a Facebook friend with a personalized message. If you choose to make your message public, the vid you choose — along with your dedication — could be aired on Fuse TV, Madison Square Garden's national music television network, on a show called Tag Your Tune that airs weekdays at 4 p.m. EST. If your vid is chosen, both you and the person you dedicated a song to will be notified about when it will air. We think that is this an interesting move on Fuse’s part to engage viewers via social media. However, a little more effort could have gone into the actual programming. At present, you can pick from jams like Britney Spears’s “Womanizer,” Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” and Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” I don’t know who would tune in to watch those videos — unless one actually snagged a dedication… or has been living under a rock for the past 15 years or so. [img credit: Zoha.N] Reviews: Facebook, beyonce More About: facebook, music, social media, television, video For more Social Media coverage:
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