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Mashable: Latest 28 News Updates - including “Official Twitter App for BlackBerry Looks Really Good” |  |
- Official Twitter App for BlackBerry Looks Really Good
- Google Maps Get Labs With Nine Cool New Features
- Google Buzz Buttons Learn To Count
- Dear Google Buzz: 4 Features You Need to Add Now
- Google Buzz Surpasses 9 Million Posts and Comments
- Apple Fast Approaching 10 Billion Song Downloads
- Pizza Hut Looks to Start a Pick-Up Line Meme on Twitter
- YouTube Documents Iranian Protests Via Smuggled Footage [VIDEO]
- Why Brands are Becoming Media
- Online Dating Faceoff: Match.com vs. PlentyofFish
- Fist Pump: I’m a Mac Ad Gets “Jersey Shore” Inspired iPad Parody [VIDEO]
- Jake Shimabukuro, Hawaiian Ukelele Virtuoso [INTERVIEW]
- Meebo Bar Adds Facebook-like Notifications to Your Website
- Awesome: Google Liquid Galaxy Live at TED [VIDEO]
- Once a YouTube Challenger, Veoh Files for Bankruptcy [RUMOR]
- 6 Products to Watch from Macworld’s Best of Show
- 5 Ways to Avoid Sabotaging Your Personal Brand Online
- HBO’s “How to Make it in America” Premieres Free on YouTube [VIDEO]
- CONFIRMED: Google to Acquire Social Search Startup Aardvark
- Facebook’s Happy Aquarium Might Be Moving to Microsoft [RUMOR]
- Shazam and Last.fm Team Up for More Music Magic on iPhone
- Google’s Next Step in Speeding Up the Web: The YouTube Speed Dashboard
- PayPal and Bebo Founders Invest in Mixpanel
- 5 Fantastic Free Tools to Showcase Your Portfolio
- iPhone App Adds Photos and Videos to Foursquare Check-ins
- Chrome for Mac Officially Gets Extensions and Bookmark Sync
- Google Deletes Music Blogs, Prompts a Twitter Upheaval
- KommandCore Combines Project Management With GTD
- Windows 8 Will Blow Your Mind. Hopefully Not Like Vista
| Official Twitter App for BlackBerry Looks Really Good Posted: 12 Feb 2010 02:54 AM PST 
A while ago, we wrote that an official Twitter app for BlackBerry was in the works, and now it’s getting close to a public beta. You can find a very detailed analysis of the client and its features here, and from the looks of it, it’s far more advanced than any other Twitter app for BlackBerry out there. Some of the features are automatic URL shortening, easy photo sharing, push and message list integration (sending you notices of new direct messages as they arrive), as well as search filtered by geolocation.   The public beta should be available “later this year” (we know, it doesn’t sound very comforting considering the year is still young). If you want to be a beta tester for the app, go to www.blackberry.com/twitter and sign up to receive notification when Twitter for BlackBerry becomes available. Tags: blackberry, Mobile 2.0, RIM, social media, twitter
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| Google Maps Get Labs With Nine Cool New Features Posted: 12 Feb 2010 12:31 AM PST 
Right now, you can try out nine new features (all disabled by default): Drag ‘n’ Zoom – lets you zoom in on a specific part of the map by drawing a box. Aerial Imagery – gives you rotatable, high-resolution overhead imagery, but it’s only available in certain areas. Google plans to add more over time, though. Back to Beta – OK, this one is a little weird. It lets you have a beta tag on Maps (just like Gmail). Only for hardcore Google users. Where in the World Game – test your geography knowledge by guessing the names of countries from satellite imagery. I lost days playing a similar game on Facebook, and I forgot everything I’ve learned. Sigh. Rotatable Maps – North facing up is just one way to look at a map. Now you can rotate it any way you like. What’s Around Here? – Adds a second search button that searches for “*”, returning the top results in the current view. I’ve actually been waiting for this for a long time; it makes searching for certain POIs within some area a lot easier. LatLng Tooltip – See the exact latitude and longitude next to your cursor. LatLng Marker – Drop a marker anywhere on the map, showing the latitude and longitude of that location. Smart Zoom – stops you from zooming into an area if imagery is not available.  Tags: Google Maps, labs, trending
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| Google Buzz Buttons Learn To Count Posted: 11 Feb 2010 11:34 PM PST  Yesterday we added Google Buzz buttons to Mashable, letting you share our stories to Google’s new social network as you can on Twitter and Facebook. Today we added share counts to those buttons, letting you hone in on the most popular posts. If you’re not already up to speed: Google Buzz buttons use Google Reader’s shared items feature to post links to your Buzz feed. If you’re not already on Google Reader, you’ll need to set that up and make sure it’s connected to your Google Buzz account under “connected sites”. If you were on Reader before you joined Buzz, chances are that’s already set up. NEW: Buttons that Count! Today we added counters and tracking to our buttons, running the clicks through URL shortener Bit.ly so we can display the share counts. It’s not the perfect solution, but it’s a temporary step until Google decides to support such implementations officially. We’ll be gathering the stats about how much people share on Google Buzz versus Facebook and Twitter, and we’ll be sure to report back with our findings! GMAIL USERS: You’re invited to join the conversation on Mashable’s Google Buzz account. Tags: bit.ly, Google, google buzz
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| Dear Google Buzz: 4 Features You Need to Add Now Posted: 11 Feb 2010 07:03 PM PST 
Earlier today, we posted a buzz asking our followers: “What features would you like to see in Google Buzz?” We received just shy of 500 responses over the course of the afternoon, and we saw both big trends and unique ideas. Here are a few of the biggest and best responses. Some are obvious — some not so much. We think they’re all great ideas, though, except maybe the last one! But some 75 million people might disagree with us. Keep reading to find out what we (or rather you) are talking about, and be sure to add your own ideas to the comments here or over on our Google Buzz. The #1 Request: Collapsible Comment ThreadsFar and away, the most requested feature is the ability to collapse comments. By our count, 197 of the 492 comments that we read before writing this requested this feature. The issue is that posts are sorted on the main interface chronologically by the most recent comment. That means any buzz that gets an insane number of comments (like, say, the very “what features would you like” buzz we’re talking about) gets stuck to the top of the feed because it keeps receiving new comments. Since it has hundreds of comments, it’s so long that you “have to have to SCROLL FOR EIGHT YEARS,” as Buzz user Ian Wheat puts it. The consensus is that if you’re following any brands or extremely popular individuals, this is a major issue because it makes Buzz almost unusable. Maybe it didn’t occur to Google because there weren’t enough users testing Buzz internally to create the problem to begin with. Better Facebook and Twitter Integration The second most popular request was for integration with Facebook, and the ability to send buzz posts out to Twitter. There are some technical challenges to the latter since Buzz allows more characters than Twitter does, but it would still be nice to be able to send buzzes that have less than 140 characters out to Twitter. Of course, there’s no connection at all between Buzz and Facebook. We suggested that this is going to be Buzz’s biggest challenge moving forward if it’s not resolved. Facebook relationship with Microsoft makes this an even bigger challenge. More Chronological Sorting OptionsOne consistent theme: There should be more ways to sort buzzes and comments chronologically. John Fredrickson summarized one of the most common requests succinctly: “We need a way to separate recently commented buzz from new buzz. As it is right now, the recently commented buzz dominates the stream so that you never see any new buzz.” This is of course related to the collapsible comments issue we mentioned above. Many readers requested the ability to see the newest comments at the top of a buzz, not the bottom. When a buzz’s comment thread gets long, you have to scroll down a long way to see what’s new or to post your own comment. It’s a bit of a hassle. Lisa Neal Shaw also suggested the “ability to switch back and forth between trending and chronological buzzes.” Repost/Rebuzz/Share Folks couldn’t quite agree on the terminology, but no matter what they called it, a lot of them wanted the same thing: a Facebook Share or Twitter retweet-like feature to copy buzzes and send them out to followers. Facebook has only recently added this feature (though the implementation is closer to Buzz’s than it is to Twitter’s), but it’s a huge part of what makes Twitter work — especially for brands. There was some dissent on this one, though. Several people requested that a repost feature not be added, including Eric Droege, who said: ”Please no re-post feature. That is the most over-used Twitter feature and its annoying when someone just goes over and over retweeting.” Other SuggestionsWe liked Joshua Montgomery’s suggestion: “An application similar to the Google Wave Yes/No/Maybe. It seems geared specifically for some of the posts I see. ‘Is Google Buzz a Hit?’ Use the Yes/No/Maybe app rather than 214 people having to list their answer.” John Wilson and numerous others wanted “the ability to add photo/video to a comment.” In contrast to the requests for greater Facebook and Twitter integration Robert de Castro said, “Definitely a way to mute specific 3rd party feeds (Twitter, Friendfeed, etc)… people who tweet too much as it is, there just isn’t a way around it unless you unfollow them completely.” That isn’t too surprising; there’s a sizable minority of Facebook users who get frustrated with seeing Twitter hashtags and the like in their news feeds. Jehad Affoneh wants Google to “add the update status bar somewhere on the top of Gmail. I am not sure I want to sign in to Gmail, go to buzz then update my status every time I want to update my status.” Robert N. Lee said only one word: “FARMVILLE.” We’re not sure we’re with him on that one right now, but we’ll see! Maybe he was being sarcastic, though. We hope. Reviews: Facebook, FriendFeed, Gmail, Google, Google Buzz, Twitter Tags: gmail, Google, google buzz
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| Google Buzz Surpasses 9 Million Posts and Comments Posted: 11 Feb 2010 05:42 PM PST 
Google Buzz just launched on Tuesday, but it looks like it’s already made a big splash with Gmail users. Now the Google team is moving quickly to make rapid improvements based on user feedback. First the numbers: according to Google, its Buzz service already has over 9 million posts and comments. Remember, this is a service that launched on Tuesday, meaning that it’s getting over 160,000 comments and posts per hour. That’s a staggering, staggering number. Mobile usage is also gaining in popularity — over 200 posts per minute by mobile phone according to the search giant. Despite those numbers, there have been a number of complaints about Google Buzz in terms of usability and privacy. In rather rapid fashion, Google has responded to those criticism in a blog post highlighting several new changes it has made. Specifically, there are three new changes to Google Buzz:
These changes came quite rapidly, and we’re thrilled that they’re now more prominent parts of Google Buzz. They were major concerns that the company needed to alleviate. We just didn’t think they would be able to do it in two days. Reviews: Gmail, Google, Google Buzz Tags: Google, google buzz, trending
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| Apple Fast Approaching 10 Billion Song Downloads Posted: 11 Feb 2010 04:28 PM PST 
To speed along the process — though it really doesn’t appear that iTunes needs the extra push — Apple is greasing the wheels and offering a $10,000 iTunes Gift Card to the individual credited with the 10 billionth song download. To increase your odds at the big iTunes prizes, you might want to keep your eyes on their nifty countdown mechanism (in fact I’m firing up iTunes as we speak). The record iTunes event has been seven years in the making. In recent years, however, the song download rate appears to be speeding up at an astronomical pace, as less than two years ago Apple was merely touting 4 billion songs sold. We’re going to keep a close eye on that timer and so should you if you want a chance at that $10,000 reward. Good luck. Tags: apple, apple itunes, music
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| Pizza Hut Looks to Start a Pick-Up Line Meme on Twitter Posted: 11 Feb 2010 03:12 PM PST 
Looking at the promotion so far, it appears to be far from breaking into Twitter's trending topics, but is seeing plenty of tweets, including the oft-tested, rarely (if not ever) approved, "How much does a Polar Bear weigh? Enough to break the ice" and, "Are you a parking ticket? Because you’ve got FINE written all over you." In the past, the chain has demonstrated a knack for attracting some buzz in the social media world, starting with a widely reported search for a Twitter intern long before that became a desirable job. That intern then offered up free food to those that became fans of Pizza Hut on Twitter and Facebook during a summer promotion, which have helped the company’s presence grow to more than 25,000 followers and 1.1 million fans, respectively. It also has an iPhone app that’s generated more than $1 million in sales. That said, free stuff type promotions have become so commonplace on Twitter that it's a lot harder to move the needle than even just a few months ago (#moonfruit dominated trending topics for days with its iPhone giveaway last July). Nonetheless, tying it to a holiday in a clever way adds a fun and engaging twist, and could get you what sounds like a terribly indulgent dessert if you choose to participate. Reviews: Facebook, Twitter Tags: MARKETING, Pizza Hut, twitter
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| YouTube Documents Iranian Protests Via Smuggled Footage [VIDEO] Posted: 11 Feb 2010 02:58 PM PST 
This is not the first time that YouTube has been used as a portal for such news — back in June, the social media world was inundated with buzz about Iran after the elections, and videos of the protests that followed were all over YouTube. In the days leading up to the anniversary, Iran made moves to stifle the protests against June’s alleged election fraud — Iranians were experiencing far-reaching disruption of text and Internet service, according to the Wall Street Journal. And this wasn’t the first counter-attack the country took against social media; back in May, Iran also put the kibosh on Facebook in an attempt to stifle President Ahmadinejad's opponent, Mir Hossein Mousavi. Still, despite these roadblocks — and the more recent Gmail blackout — the truth managed to out, as it is wont to do. YouTube is monitoring the videos via CitizenTube, and it’s compiling a playlist, which we have embedded below. The Google LatLong Blog is also offering a view of the Iran streets via the IKONOS satellite. Warning: Some images may be disturbing. Reviews: Facebook, Gmail, Iran , YouTube Tags: Political, web video, you tube
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| Posted: 11 Feb 2010 02:19 PM PST 
One of the greatest challenges I encounter today is not the willingness of a brand to engage, but its ability to create. When blueprinting a social media strategy, enthusiasm and support typically derails when examining the resources and commitment required to produce regular content. Indeed, we are programing the social web around our brand hub, which requires a consistent flow of engaging and relevant social objects. Social objects are the catalysts for conversations — online and in real life — and they affect behavior within their respective societies. They are our tweets, our Flickr photos, YouTube videos, Facebook updates and events, Delicious links, FourSquare check-ins, and blog posts. But once we introduce a social object, we must be ready to back it up with additional relevant content, and create a publishing calendar programmed specifically for each network on which we maintain a presence. Brands Become Their Media
The democratization of publishing and the equalization of influence allows us to create and connect with a wider reach. Everything starts with a mission, and is fortified by the content we create. Among the most valuable resources we procure through dedicated publishing is good will, social capital, and influence. It comes at a price however: The cost of production, distribution, and support. In the end, you get out what you put in. The investment represents time, money, creativity, and passion. Thus, we not only become our media — through production and engagement, we can become influential. Productive Social Media Must Be EarnedWhile establishing a presence is elementary, captivating audiences is artful. In the near future, brands and organizations will create new or augment existing roles for editors and publishers to create timely, relevant, and captivating content on all social media channels. This work is in addition to the other reactive and proactive social media campaigns that are already in progress. A strategic editorial calendar should blend video, audio, imagery, text, updates, and other social objects and networks to reach, inspire, and galvanize communities. Earned, Paid, and Owned MediaIn media, there are several channels that populate and shape perception — earned, paid, and owned media. Each requires a dedicated management system that actively creates, monitors and stimulates strategic movement. Recently, Sean Corcoran, an analyst at Forrester Research, published a detailed post that describes the differences between earned, paid and owned. He clarifies the roles for brands who undertake the responsibility of embracing new media. Dave Fleet, a thought leader in new media and public relations, also visualized Corcoran’s thoughts through a series of graphics that represent the social media ecosystem. As Corcoran points out in his recent report:
In other words, paid, earned and owned media require thoughtful programming and targeted distribution and must be linked to a systematic review of behavior and activity that surrounds each object. And, the analysis of activity and ultimately the end result should play a monumental role in the creation of future publishing and social activation. Corcoran uses the word “touchpoint,” which by standard definition, refers to any point of contact between a buyer and a seller. Touchpoint is part of the greater opportunity here. But more importantly, these touchpoints require direction and the establishment of a path that offers a complete experience — a beginning, a middle, an end, and a reward. These experiences are definable by paid, earned, and owned media.  New media necessitates a collaboration between all teams involved in creating and distributing content, including advertising, interactive, communications, brand, and marketing — with an editorial role connecting the dots. We are competing for attention and our success is dependent on our ability to not compete against each other. Producing content and lobbing it over the firewall to an “audience” will only confuse communities. Therefore, we are obligated to build pipelines that carry strategic communications, each with calculated intents, targets and outcomes. If we examine the differences between earned, owned, and paid, we can visualize necessary programming and dedicated channels for each. Owned media is essentially that which we control. If we designed the object, we own the content within the object. Most likely, we also own (or lease) the distribution channels that present these objects to our target communities. We do not however, control the impression and perception of our objects. We lose that control at the point of distribution. For example, in addition to standard web pages, social media presences contribute to our portfolio of owned media including Twitter accounts, Facebook Fan Pages, Blogs, YouTube channels, etc. By creating presences in the communities where our customers, prospects, partners, and influencers congregate and collaborate, we can lay the foundation to contribute “earned” social objects of value. Social hubs are also gaining prominence in social media plans as brands weigh options for directing traffic. The creation of strategic landing pages can extend the rich, interactive experience within social networks (channels which we partially own) to pages we do own. This shapes the experience in a way that maintains interactivity and targeted options for action. I’m not necessarily recommending the creation of microsites, unless it’s warranted in the overall program. But a bridge that connects the social experience to a valuable destination is important. Forrester’s Corcoran recommends that brands create a “solar system” of owned media. However, I suggest that brands instead create a focused ecosystem of media that establishes presences where their communities are already active — a brand or organization-specific social media ecosystem. This requires research. In the process, we uncover not only locations that require our engagement, but also how, where, when and to what extent to participate. We just may find that the given locations for social profiles represent only part of the many opportunities rife within the Conversation Prism.  Paid media represents the visibility we purchase, such as display ads, paid search, and sponsorships. When paired with owned and earned media programs, paid media can complement, reinforce, and polish a brand’s voice, directives, mission, and stature. While many argue over the future and fate of advertising, what’s clear is that online paid presences can benefit initiatives where action and experiences are defined and promoted through the click path. Current trends reflect a shift away from branding programs and place emphasis on sparking desired activity, empowering viewers and their social graph to share in the experience all in ways that measure the cost per action. Earned media is the result of our owned, paid, and participatory media programs and is reflected in the blog posts, tweets, status updates, comments, and ultimately actions of our consumers, peers, and influencers. Earned media is linked to owned media campaigns as well as proactive initiatives that attempt to incite viral and word-of-mouth activity. Garnered visibility is also tied to communications and public relations programs as they continually seek to gain the attention of reporters, bloggers, analysts, and influencers who can drive awareness and behavior. This isn’t a one way street however. Success is absolutely conditional on the techniques and methodologies that inspire dedicated programs focused on outreach, relations, and hopefully the engendering of productive and mutually beneficial relationships. Crowd-powered visibility also merits an official and devoted listening and response initiative to ensure that each respective community aligns with the mission. Participatory media is an extension of earned and owned media. It takes the shape of a hosted hub where brand representatives and our communities can interact and collaborate. Good examples of this are Dell’s IdeaStorm and Starbucks’ “My Idea” network, which resemble branded wikis designed to elicit responses and establish community-focused governances. Participatory media equalizes the balance of power, providing a dedicated platform the gives voice to the consumer and a channel for their ideas. Sponsored media is a new category that fuses owned, paid, and earned media. Sponsored media is championed by companies like Izea, Ad.ly, and Twittad, among others, and is creating a new medium for packaging messages through trusted voices within highly visible and social channels. Sponsored media can take the form of paid tweets, blog posts, appearances, and featured objects on targeted profiles. And, whether you agree or disagree with the idea, the reality is that it works, and seems to benefit all parties involved, from the brand, to the paid affiliates, to their communities. In fact, Forrester’s Josh Bernoff and Sean Corcoran shared their thoughts on why sponsored media is worthy of consideration. Sponsored objects fuse earned, paid, and owned media, as technically: 1) The messages are owned; 2) The voices are paid, and; 3) With more thoughtful approaches, the responses within targeted communities can inspire a positive wave of earned media. Disclosure: My company works with Ted Murphy, Founder/CEO of izea.com. Influence
As Tom Foremski points out, we have the ability to earn noteworthy, equal, and in some cases, greater influence than those authorities whom we’ve relied on over the years to help us reach greater audiences and communities. As influence is equalized, our ability to earn presence and relationships is derived from how we program, manage, and participate in all forms of media. And, it is through a balance of media and engagement that we also establish the foundation for affinity. People align with movements they can believe in, and it is the human, intellectual, and financial investment in genuine content that defines experiences, and hopefully one day earns the significance your brand deserves. More business resources from Mashable:
Images courtesy of iStockphoto, cogal, YanC, Juanmonino Reviews: Delicious, Facebook, Flickr, Foursquare, Twitter, YouTube, iStockphoto, ustream Tags: blog, blogging, brand, branding, business, facebook, List, Lists, MARKETING, small business, social media, social media marketing, social networking, twitter, ustream, youtube
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| Online Dating Faceoff: Match.com vs. PlentyofFish Posted: 11 Feb 2010 02:03 PM PST 
Online dating is a big business — millions are made every year helping singles young and old connect through the filters that the web provides. There are also literally hundreds of dating sites to choose from: Yahoo Personals, eHarmony, SinglesNet, OKCupid, among others. However, this week’s faceoff pits the two biggest dating websites against one another: PlentyofFish vs. Match.com. PlentyofFish is the world’s largest free dating web service (although it now has a $5 “serious” option). Still, for most of its existence it has made millions solely through ads and a staff of fewer than five, led by the founder, Markus Frind. Match.com, on the other hand, has 20+ million users, hundreds of millions in revenue, and is owned by IAC, who also owns Chemistry.com, CollegeHumor, Citysearch, Ask.com and Vimeo. A big part of the debate is simple: Which model is better? Is Match’s subscription service more effective at helping find true love, or does PlentyofFish provide the best chance at romance? This is where we want you to weigh in. Vote in our poll and let us know what you think. Polls close on Valentine’s Day, 12:00 p.m. PT. Until then, vote and comment away. And Happy Valentine’s Day! Reviews: Vimeo Tags: dating, okcupid, online dating, Plenty of Fish, web faceoff
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| Fist Pump: I’m a Mac Ad Gets “Jersey Shore” Inspired iPad Parody [VIDEO] Posted: 11 Feb 2010 01:44 PM PST 
Upon first glance, the iPad and The Situation don’t appear to be likely competitors, but after watching this spoof commercial, the comparison might make more sense. For instance, the iPad has awesome apps and Mike, a.k.a. “The Situation,” thinks his abs are just as awesome as apps. Also, both have names that some might consider “dumb.” The list goes on. The hilarious spoof was posted online yesterday and it’s already getting mad love and fist pumps on YouTube. We think you’ll appreciate it whether or not you’re a fan of the self-proclaimed guidos and guidettes on the Jersey Shore. Reviews: YouTube Tags: Apple iPad, Apple Tablet, jersey shore, viral video
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| Jake Shimabukuro, Hawaiian Ukelele Virtuoso [INTERVIEW] Posted: 11 Feb 2010 01:24 PM PST 
Check out the interview in two parts below, followed by the YouTube video Jake mentions in the interview, which is currently up to 4,659,736 views.  Jake on stage at TED 2010 Part 1Part 2Ukelele Weeps[img credit: James Duncan Davidson for TED] Reviews: YouTube Tags: interviews, Jake Shimabukuro, music, TED, TED2010, ukelele
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| Meebo Bar Adds Facebook-like Notifications to Your Website Posted: 11 Feb 2010 01:04 PM PST 
The bar is an overlay that Meebo offers to website publishers that readers can use for instant messaging and other social activities. Now website owners can push notifications to readers regardless of where they are on the site. The notifications pop up out of the bar just like in the picture we’ve included. They can be whatever the publisher wants them to be. The most obvious usage is to notify a reader of just-breaking news that they might not see if they’re not browsing the front page, but there are many other possibilities. Meebo struck a deal with AdWeek, which will start using notifications immediately. That will give folks a way to see the bar in action when they’re thinking about whether or not they’d like to add it to their own sites. The Meebo Bar is available to any blogger who uses Movable Type, Blogger, TypePad or WordPress — but not to bloggers who use WordPress.com as a host. Additional features like ad placement and custom IM networks are available through Meebo’s business channel. Meebo is more generally known for its web-based, multi-protocol instant messaging client. Reviews: Meebo, TypePad, WordPress, blogger
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| Awesome: Google Liquid Galaxy Live at TED [VIDEO] Posted: 11 Feb 2010 12:52 PM PST 
We had a chance to get a live demo of the system from its creator, software engineer Jason Holt, who used an off-the-shelf controller device to virtually fly us around the world (and under the sea!). Check out the video below (be cautious if you’re prone to motion sickness) and let us know what you think: Would you want this setup in your own home? Tags: Google, google earth, Liquid Galaxy, software, TED, ted 2010, trending, video
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| Once a YouTube Challenger, Veoh Files for Bankruptcy [RUMOR] Posted: 11 Feb 2010 12:39 PM PST 
Investors in the company included Goldman Sachs, Time Warner and Spark Capital, who were all eager to get into Veoh and a host of other video-sharing startups that raised massive amounts of funding after YouTube exploded and sold to Google for $1.6 billion in October 2006. YouTube, of course, has gone onto only further dominate that part of the web while most of the startups have struggled to gain ground. Combined with the significant layoffs and restructuring that took place at Veoh last year, today's news comes as little surprise. Traffic has also been on a steady decline, falling from better than 5.5 million unique visitors in December '08 to around 3.2 million unique visitors in December '09. We’ve also heard from sources that the company had been looking to sell in recent months. Apparently, however, it has been unable to find a buyer, and now will undergo a formal liquidation as part of Chapter 7. We will update when we know more. Reviews: Google, YouTube
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| 6 Products to Watch from Macworld’s Best of Show Posted: 11 Feb 2010 12:27 PM PST 
While the conference is far more muted this year due to Apple’s decision to no longer participate in Macworld, there are a lot of interesting products and developers here. To highlight these startups, Macworld put on a “Best of Show” segment this morning in conjunction with the DEMO conference. Six products were demoed for the audience. Some of them were very impressive, while others could have used some polish. Here are our thoughts and assessments for each of the Macworld “Best of Show” Demos: Best of Show at Macworld1. SkyVoyager: This app (3GS only) allows you to get a live, dynamic view of where the stars are in the sky. Using augmented reality, you can move your iPhone around the sky and see what stars correspond to what constellations or celestial bodies. The app also includes details on stars, planets, constellations and more. It is built by Carina Software. The coolest feature of the app may be its integration with another device from the same company. Skyfi is a device that plugs into a telescope and creates its own wireless network. If you join your iPhone with the Skyfi wireless network and relaunch the Sky Voyager app, it is now linked to your telescope and allows you to move it to any point in the sky. 
2. Papershow Papershow is an annotation software for presentations. It allows you to annotate on-the-fly. Draw lines and notes, and they appear in real-time on the screen. It utilizes a pen with a camera that works at 75 frames per second to send what you draw on the Papershow paper to your presentation.
3. Inklet: This is drawing and design software for laptops that utilizes the trackpad. It is meant as a replacement for graphics tablets, which allow you to draw on a computer. Inklet simply translates a stylus into images via trackpad. It is pressure-sensitive and easy to launch within Photoshop. It costs $25.
4. Microvision SHOWW Laser Pico Projector: The Pico Projector creates a projected image on the wall (via lasers!), but it fits in the palm of your hand. It connects with your iPhone, iPod touch, Macbook, PC and most other devices that accept video component inputs/outputs. The team did a good job of displaying the uses: projecting onto whiteboards for presentations or even on the wall at the bar so you can watch football. It’s always in focus, no matter how close or how far away you are, even if its an uneven surface. It will be available in March for $500.
5. Quickoffice Connect Suite: This is an iPhone app that connects to MobileMe, Google Docs, Box.net and Dropbox, as well as to your e-mail attachments. It’s a mobile productivity app that just lets you access your files and transfer them between your e-mail and the other services to which it is connected. It even stores files that you’ve synced with so that you can access them and edit them.
6. Yapper Yapper is a tool for creating an iPhone/Android/iPad app utilizing RSS feeds. This is similar to other tools such as iSites. Its major differentiating feature is the inclusion of push notifications, which costs $50 on top of the $99 fee.
Finally, Our Winner…Our favorite of the demos: SkyVoyager
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| 5 Ways to Avoid Sabotaging Your Personal Brand Online Posted: 11 Feb 2010 11:46 AM PST 
There have been countless incidents in which professionals have lost their jobs, been evicted, or even been arrested for things they’ve done on social networks. There has never been a more important time to discuss the many ways you can sabotage your personal brand, and how you can prevent these mistakes before it’s too late. A new report by Microsoft states that 64% of HR managers think it is appropriate to look at online profiles of candidates and 41% have rejected people as a result. Your online presence — which may consist of both content that you provide (on your LinkedIn profile for instance), as well as what’s written about you by people you may or may not know — is slowly becoming part of the formal recruitment process. It’s also where first impressions occur before in-person handshakes are made, so you have to make sure you are managing your brand online, before someone else does it for you. The following are five ways to avoid sabotaging your personal brand. 1. Don’t Ignore Brand Mentions
As you create your personal brand on a variety of platforms, your name will start popping up in search engines and on social networks. This can be both beneficial to your brand or harmful depending on the context. The viral nature of social networks, as well as their new ubiquity, should encourage you to start listening in on what people are saying about you. Negative mentions will spread fast unless you keep your ear close to the web, so I recommend you setup a Google alert for your name, your company’s name, key competitors, partners, and industry buzz terms. There are many other free tools that can help you monitor your brand. You can also try Social Mention for a more complete solution to brand mentions on social networks. 2. Don’t Spread Yourself Too Thin
As I noted in a previous Mashable post, you should reserve your full name on as many of the popular social networks as possible by using a service such as namechk.com, before someone who shares your name claims them and you’re locked out for life. But just because you have claimed your name everywhere doesn’t mean you should expend valuable time and energy maintaining a presence on every social network. There are some websites that allow you to scale your social feeds so that one status update can automatically spread to other networks, without manually publishing content. You can use hellotxt.com or ping.fm to spread your status message to many social networks at once, including Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and Bebo. You can also go to your LinkedIn profile and syndicate your tweets for your LinkedIn status update automatically or by using “#in” for each tweet (if you want to be selective). There is also a Facebook application for Twitter so you can syndicate your tweets through your Facebook profile. 3. Know Your Audience
On Facebook, you may want to have a profile page for your inner circle of friends and family members and then a Facebook Fan Page for your professional image. This way, you can make your profile private and hide it from search, while having a fan page that you can point your coworkers to. They will know that you are hiding your profile but should respect your privacy, especially since you’re giving them the option to follow your fan page. 4. Limit Self-Promotion
Successful self-promotion only works in moderation, because if you’re constantly only promoting yourself, many people will unfollow, unfriend, or block you from their network. The best way to build a strong personal brand is to promote other people, which creates goodwill and a connection, as well as distributing value based on what you have to offer: Your expertise. If you’re helping people 80 or 90% of the time, then people will be much more accepting of your self-promotional messages the other 10%. You will also start to notice that other people will promote you — and their endorsement is even stronger than your own proclamations. 5. Be ConsistentConsistency is extremely important when it comes to any kind of branding, from personal to corporate. Selecting a unified “picture” and spreading it across all your social media — your website, your blog, your presentations, your press kits, your business cards, etc. — will build image recognition in the mind of your audience. Consistency is significant for pictures, your name, as well as the fonts, the colors and the overall message that you communicate through your online properties. There is no question that you already have a personal brand — whether you built it yourself or not. The way to differentiate it from everyone else is through management. By paying attention to mentions of your name online, not spreading yourself too thin, knowing your audience, offering more value than self-promotion, and being consistent, you can be very successful. More business resources from Mashable:
Images courtesy of iStockphoto, drflet, titaniumdoughnut Reviews: Bebo, Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Ping.Fm, ResuWe Facebook Application, Twitter, iStockphoto Tags: brand, branding, brands, business, facebook, linkedin, List, Lists, personal brand, personal branding, small business, twitter
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| HBO’s “How to Make it in America” Premieres Free on YouTube [VIDEO] Posted: 11 Feb 2010 11:31 AM PST 
This isn’t the first time YouTube has aired premium programming prior to launch. According to NewTeeVee, Showtime released The United States of Tara — embed code-enabled — via digital channels last year. Consequently, it racked up more than 500,000 YouTube views in the first day. That staggering number makes How to Make it in America’s premiere look rather sad by comparison, but Steven Spielberg was the director on that project, which is a factor that should be taken into account. Regardless, this move just stands as more evidence of YouTube’s intention to become an even more legit entertainment source. As we reported back in December, the video site is thinking about offering "variations of monthly subscription models such as those seen with cable TV providers," according to Reuters. And recently, YouTube debuted movie rentals (which didn’t really work all that well). Therefore, it’s not all that far-fetched to think that YouTube could be getting more content like this — perhaps at a price. In the meantime, the cable channels are hoping putting pilots online will drive more subscriptions. As we reported yesterday, YouTube has recently introduced parental controls, which could come in handy if the site introduces more shows in the realm of HBO and Showtime. In the meantime, we suggest checking out the HBO pilot via YouTube. Since we can’t embed it here, we’ll just leave you with the preview below. Reviews: YouTube Tags: hbo, How to Make it in America, humor, itunes, pop culture, television, youtube
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| CONFIRMED: Google to Acquire Social Search Startup Aardvark Posted: 11 Feb 2010 11:13 AM PST 
Google isn’t disclosing the terms, but news of the acquisition was first reported by TechCrunch, who put the figure at around $50 million. Google told us that it’s “signed an agreement to acquire Aardvark but don’t have any additional details to report at this time.” Aardvark is a relatively new startup from former Googlers that uses social distribution channels to get immediate answers to your questions. As a user you can either ask or answer questions, and those questions and answers are funneled through friends and friends of friends via social channels, IM and e-mail with the purpose of turning your online network and reach into a easy way to get more qualified answers to your queries. In some ways, Aardvark is very much like an alternative search engine that puts your social circle to work. While we can only speculate as to what Google will do with Aardvark and its team at this point, here are few things that might make a service like Aardvark appeal to the likes of Google:
Reviews: Google Tags: Aardvark, acquisition, Google, Search, social media
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| Facebook’s Happy Aquarium Might Be Moving to Microsoft [RUMOR] Posted: 11 Feb 2010 10:59 AM PST 
CrowdStar is apparently the fourth-largest Facebook developer, so nabbing the company might be very much in Microsoft’s interest — if it does in fact want to enter the social game space. It’s unclear if CrowdStar’s games would be ported over to the MSN Games portal that Microsoft currently runs, or if the games would be added to Xbox Live. In any event, the huge success of FarmVille and its estimated $1 billion valuation underscores the enormous potential of this sector, especially in the area of virtual goods. The games themselves are free and relatively inexpensive to produce — but users are addicted and are more than willing to spend money on virtual goods. Microsoft already has a virtual goods ecosystem and community built around Xbox Live. If it could pair that experience with some of the most popular social games — whether by CrowdStar or someone else — the platform as a whole could become compelling in an entirely new way. Reviews: Facebook Tags: CrowdStar, happy aquarium, social gaming, Zynga
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| Shazam and Last.fm Team Up for More Music Magic on iPhone Posted: 11 Feb 2010 10:18 AM PST 
Here’s what you can now do with the Shazam Encore and (SHAZAM)RED apps:
To us it makes sense to combine a discovery engine like Shazam with a music aggregator like Last.fm. It takes away the need to go the extra step of researching an artist, and also lets you find other artists with similar sounds. What do you think of the combination of these two services? Let us know! Reviews: Shazam Tags: iphone apps, Last.FM, music, shazam, shazam encore
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| Google’s Next Step in Speeding Up the Web: The YouTube Speed Dashboard Posted: 11 Feb 2010 10:02 AM PST 
The YouTube Speed Dashboard is essentially a quick and easy way to find out about your connection speed. This isn’t something new to the web, but the fact that Google is launching it for YouTube and placing resources and emphasis on it is. In fact, members of the Google team were central to building the YouTube Speed Dashboard, led by Product Manager Amit Arawal, who I spoke with earlier today. The reason for launching the Speed Dashboard is simple: Google wants to make the web faster. Video specifically suffers from slow load times and buffering issues when you have a slow connection, turning people off from YouTube and forcing them to go elsewhere.  On the Speed Dashboard, you can quickly find out about your connection speed, as well as the speed of the people around you based on ISP and location. Since I’m writing this post via 3G, it’s rather low, for example. It’s a simple and fast way to compare your ISP speed across the spectrum and figure out whether you’re getting the bang for your buck or whether you should switch connections. For now, the YouTube Speed Dashboard remains just an information tool — it will only give you your connection speed and the speeds of others around you. It does not provide tools or suggestions for speeding up your Internet — yet. Mr. Arawal says that adding links to useful tools for speeding up your connection is coming in the near future. Today’s move comes in the wake of other recent moves by Google to improve the speed of the web, most prominently announcing the creation of an ultra high-speed fiber network. If you want to try out the Speed Dashboard, you can check it out here. Reviews: Google, YouTube, video Tags: Google, Speed Dashboard, youtube
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| PayPal and Bebo Founders Invest in Mixpanel Posted: 11 Feb 2010 10:00 AM PST 
The startup already has strong backing by the well-known seed investment firm Y Combinator, and this new investment, while small, will only add to that. Usually Y Combinator invests about $5,000 per founder to get them started. Co-founder Suhail Doshi explained to me that the investment came about because Max, Michael, Xochi and their companies are known for their scientific, numbers-based approach to web traffic and building web apps. In Mr. Doshi’s words, Mixpanel brings that analytical approach and toolsets and allows other companies to use it. Doshi also used to work for Max Levchin at Slide. Mixpanel, based out of Mountain View, CA, intends to use the new angel round to hire more engineers. Tags: bebo, business news, finance, Mixpanel, paypal, slide, startup, y combinator
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| 5 Fantastic Free Tools to Showcase Your Portfolio Posted: 11 Feb 2010 09:57 AM PST 
If you’re looking for an alternative to hand-coding or DreamWeaving your ultimate gallery, check out these five great tools that should make maintenance a bit easier, and give you a stylistic leg-up on the competition. 1. SimpleViewer Simpleviewer is simply gorgeous, and can generate a stunning visualization of your portfolio that is sure to impress. It uses XML to pull in images from a web directory (or Flickr, if configured) and display them as a Flash presentation. You can incorporate captions and links for each image. The viewer comes in a few impressive flavors, including the TiltViewer (my personal favorite), and the PostcardViewer, both shown below.   Pros: You can’t beat the design. The presentation is clean, artistic, professional, and unique. While there is a pro version, the free download is highly customizable and full-featured. The viewers are scalable to full pages, or embeddable as part of your existing website or blog. Cons: It’s not so simple. There is no software or user interface for SimpleViewer. It is powered by one Flash file and one XML file, so you’ll have to know how to manipulate the code, and have access to dedicated web hosting where your files will live. The support area presupposes you know most of this, but is a good resource on how to set up and implement your viewer. 2. PhotoSnack  PhotoSnack is a web-based solution that generates slideshows from photos you upload to your account. The free version offers clean, embeddable flash presentations. If you’re looking for a bit more customization, you don’t have to buy the farm to get a pro account. Additional features can be purchased a la cart through the website’s “points” system. Pros: The web interface is easy to navigate and use. Your photos live on PhotoSnack’s website, so there’s no need for web hosting or link pointing. Updating, changing, and reorganizing slideshows is a snap, and customizable embed codes ensure your presentation will fit snugly on your site. Cons: While there are a few custom options, the presentation is fairly basic for free accounts, and the embeds contain links back to the main site. It is also worth noting that Flash is still not viewable on most mobile platforms and may leave a gaping hole for some users with outdated browser plugins. 3. ScriptOcean Accordion Menu If you’re looking to avoid Flash altogether, ScriptOcean has some handy JavaScript solutions that really look sharp. Among them is this accordion menu that unfolds — with optional captions and links — as you roll your mouse over it (click through to the website to see it in action).  ScriptOcean provides downloadable software with a user interface that makes compiling and customizing your menu quite simple. Add your images from a local directory, set the dimensions, colors, and animation properties, and the software generates a JavaScript file and some embed code. Upload everything to your website and embed as needed. Pros: The user interface makes this otherwise daunting code project very intuitive. Customization is also very granular. You can control everything from the colors between the slides to the speed at which they snap together. Cons: You must host the images and scripts yourself, and you should understand where to put them in your web directory so that the JavaScript file can reference them. The software interface makes this a bit easier to configure, but it may not be for beginners. 4. Carbonmade  Carbonmade is an online portfolio community of sorts. It offers a really great-looking presentation that is sure to please the discerning eye of a graphic designer. It’s Flash-free, with a strict anti-clutter policy. A great drag-and-drop interface lets you organize, present, and share your work with ease. Pros: Simplicity is the name of the game here. There is nothing to distract a viewer from your art. In addition to photos, you can also upload video and flash projects. Built-in metrics let you know who is viewing, and connecting with other artists is easy through the online community. Cons: Carbonmade provides no viable way (that we can see) for embedding your portfolio on your own website. This may be a drawback for some professional users, who would rather people view their work on their own domain, rather than a third-party site. UPDATE: Carbonmade does allow you to map your portfolio to a custom domain when you upgrade to a paid account for $12 per month. 5. Flickr Slideshows When all else fails, there’s always your Flickr account. If all of your artwork is already there, why not group the best of it into a set and embed the slideshow into your portfolio website? For a free service, the Flickr slideshow is surprisingly elegant and functional. Unfortunately, there’s no way to generate embed code from Flickr itself, but there are a few handy tools that can do it for you. FlickrSLiDR is a really simple web-based solution. Simply drop in the URL of the set, user, or group you want to create the slideshow from, set your parameters, and click “create” to get some code you can pop right into your website or blog. Flickrshow is another easy and customizable way to embed Flickr slides. Simply reference Flickrshow’s JavaScript code as per the installation instructions, and tweak the parameters as needed. Pros: It’s free, easy, and the social aspect of Flickr itself provides many advantages for hosting your content there. Cons: A branded slideshow may not be ideal for a professional website or portfolio. Are there any other great tools out there that we missed? Add your suggestions in the comments! Series supported by Web Designer Depot  Webdesigner Depot is one of the most popular web design blogs in the world. It covers tutorials, design trends, blogging as well as inspirational posts. It’s run by Walter Apai, a web designer from Vancouver, Canada. The blog is a great resource for both beginners and advanced designers looking to expand and improve their knowledge. The site is visited by Fortune 500 companies and is used as a reference by many design schools. Visited by almost 2 million readers per month, WDD is a prime resource for both graphic and web designers. Visit WDD at webdesignerdepot.com. Follow on Twitter: twitter.com/designerdepot. Subscribe to RSS feed: webdesignerdepot.com/rss.htm. More design resources from Mashable:
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, Grafissimo Reviews: Carbonmade, Flickr, Twitter, add, iStockphoto Tags: artists, BLOGS, design, flickr, Photographers, photography, Photos, portfolio, slideshows, web design, web design tips series
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| iPhone App Adds Photos and Videos to Foursquare Check-ins Posted: 11 Feb 2010 09:56 AM PST 
After downloading SquarePik — a product of Pikchur — users can log in with their Foursquare credentials and check in at venues as usual, but they can also now add photos and videos to their favorite places. Here’s how it works:
Once you’ve uploaded your digital media to a location, you can also add a shout (i.e. status update) per usual. Afterwards your photo or video check-in will be forever associated with the place in question, so anyone visiting a venue via the SquarePik application will be able to view your content addition to the photo and video check-in place stream. Unfortunately, there are a few drawbacks to the application as it stands. Right now there’s no way to search nearby places, which leaves you with a long list of possible venues to scroll through. We’re told search is coming in a revised version of the app that has already been submitted to Apple. Also, in the Friends tab, SquarePik displays activity from all of your Foursquare friends (not just those nearby), which is pretty cool in its own right, but it’s a bit odd that you can’t click through to places to see whether or not your friends are sharing photos and videos. The service does become a tad more useful when you use your Foursquare credentials to log in to Pikchur on the web. There you can access all of your SquarePik shared photos and videos and edit them with Picnik or share them elsewhere on the web. Ultimately if you feel like the Foursquare experience is diminished by the lack of photos and video then you’ll gladly pony up $1.99 for the app.  Reviews: Foursquare, Pikchur, picnik Tags: check-ins, foursquare, geolocation, iphone, social media
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| Chrome for Mac Officially Gets Extensions and Bookmark Sync Posted: 11 Feb 2010 08:33 AM PST 
Today’s Chrome for Mac news brings Mac users up to speed with PC Chrome users and introduces them to Google’s entire Chrome extension collection, which now includes well over 2,200 browser add-ons.  Those of us who have been using the Mac developer build to access extensions (and our PC friends) know that add-ons like Evernote, Google Mail Checker, Cooliris, Google Similar Pages and Tab Menu will really help improve the overall browsing experience within Chrome. Per Google’s message on the news, the update was designed to provide Chrome for Mac with a “snappy, safe, and simple browsing experience.” The snappiness of the new build is portrayed in the video below: Reviews: Chrome, Cooliris, Evernote, Google Tags: Browsers, Chrome for Mac, Google, google chrome, google chrome extensions, software, trending
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| Google Deletes Music Blogs, Prompts a Twitter Upheaval Posted: 11 Feb 2010 08:27 AM PST 
The sites shut down were using Google’s Blogger service; they included I Rock Cleveland, It’s a Rap, Living Ears, To Die By Your Side, Masala and Pop Tarts. Each was dedicated to introducing music fans to new songs and genres they might not otherwise experience, usually from obscure and independent artists. MP3 downloads were often included with blog posts, but bloggers have claimed that nothing they’ve uploaded recently has violated copyright laws. For example, I Rock Cleveland owner Bill Lipold claims that all the MP3s served up on his blog in the past two years were either publicly released promotional tracks or provided by the labels or artists. The take-downs have angered social media and music enthusiasts, who have started using the hashtag #musicblogocide2010 on Twitter in tweets voicing disapproval of Google’s actions. Google’s ResponseGoogle responded to the outrage with a blog post explaining its DMCA policy. While Google usually gives bloggers a chance to respond to a single DMCA take-down request with a counter-claim, it explained: “When we receive multiple DMCA complaints about the same blog, and have no indication that the offending content is being used in an authorized manner, we will remove the blog.” That might have been the case with these blogs. However, some bloggers who received lone complaints said they didn’t know how to go about responding with a counter-claim. The issue is that the DMCA occasionally makes mistakes when sending take-down notices to websites — sometimes it doesn’t realize a site is within its rights to use that particular track — but bloggers feel that Google didn’t give them an adequate chance to defend themselves, and now months or years of blogging history (which is critical for serving readers and good search engine placement) are permanently lost — even if the bloggers are able to get their Blogger blogs reinstated. Lawyers in the music industry are understandably sensitive about rights issues after the industry was turned on its head by illegal file sharing services like Napster, but they need to be careful not to anger consumers who are enjoying music legally. Reviews: Google, Twitter, blogger Tags: blogger, blogging, dmca, Google, music, piracy
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| KommandCore Combines Project Management With GTD Posted: 11 Feb 2010 07:31 AM PST 
Quick Pitch: KommandCore is an innovative and absolutely new SaaS web service designed for project and communication management. Genius Idea: KommandCore makes working on group tasks — even with people outside your organization — easy. Most project management systems give you a limit on the number of projects you can create and participants it can support. We like that KommandCore doesn’t impose those limits. Depending on your pricing plan, you have different levels of available space to store files and documents inside KommandCore, but you can have as many users and projects as you want. Users can be assigned different roles and can be given access to only the parts of the project the manager wants them to see. Another feature we like in KommandCore: You can upload and attach files to messages, just like regular e-mail. You can also preview files within the program. That makes making notes or adding comments much faster than having to open the file separately before commenting. We also appreciate the slick interface that KommandCore utilizes. Try out the demo on its site and play around — it’s intuitive and has a great look and feel. But what we really appreciate is that there are separate workflows and dashboards for each project member. The whole structure is much more similar to a GTD program than a tradition web-based project management app. Pricing starts at $5 per month for 1GB accounts and goes up to $40 a month for 10GB accounts with phone support. Small companies that might want the benefits of a web-based system, but don’t want to have user limits or pay high monthly prices, should give KommandCore a try. Sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark
Entrepreneurs can take advantage of the Azure Services platform for their website hosting and storage needs. Microsoft recently announced the “new CloudApp()” contest – use the Azure Services Platform for hosting your .NET or PHP app, and you could be the lucky winner of a USD 5000* (please see website for official rules and guidelines)." Reviews: PHP Tags: collaboration, kommandcore, project manage, software, web apps
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| Windows 8 Will Blow Your Mind. Hopefully Not Like Vista Posted: 11 Feb 2010 06:22 AM PST 
First, John Mangelaars, regional VP of consumer and online at Microsoft EMEA, simply said that Windows 8 will be “mind-blowing.” Doesn’t really reveal much, but OK, we can set our expectations to “unreasonably high” if that’s how Microsoft wants to play this. Another quote, this time from an unknown employee, tells us a little bit more:
So besides “mind-blowing”, we can now add “surreal,” “the future of PCs” and “completely different”. I’m not exactly sure I want to enter an altered state of mind upon launching my brand new Windows 8 PC for the first time, but I agree it’s time for something completely different. Because, you know, Windows 7 wasn’t really all that different from Vista… Reviews: Windows Tags: microsoft, Vista, Windows 8
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GMAIL USERS: We hope you’ll join the discussion over on 
GMAIL USERS: You’re invited to join the conversation on 
Twitter's trending topics — to the dismay of some — are often filled with whimsical hashtags that emerge organically (today's 
There’s a saying in theater: A big part of acting is reacting. This is especially true when we consider how many individuals, brands, and organizations engage on the web today. Instead of seeking inspiration and direction from those around us however, we simply react to activity, which may or may not benefit us in the long run.
As media, brands earn prominence and hopefully influence as rewards for contributing meaningful content. On Twitter, brands can earn legions of loyal and responsive followers, who in turn become brand advocates and ambassadors, extending the messages, mission and purpose of the brand to their followers as well. On Facebook, brands can cultivate vibrant and dedicated communities where interaction inspires increased responses — each reverberating across new social graphs. On 
It’s almost Valentine’s Day, so we thought we’d inject a little romance into this week’s 
By now everyone has seen the iconic 
Hawaiian musician 
We wrote about 
Veoh, a video-sharing website that raised around $70 million funding and was at one point a 
This week in San Francisco, CA, Apple geeks are gathering for the Macworld 2010 conference and expo to show off new products and geek out over — you guessed it — 
Dan Schawbel is the bestselling author of 
58% of Americans don’t even 
A future problem, which some might say is a current problem, is the volume of social networks and the amount of status updates and messages you receive each day. If you’re active on each and every social network that launches, you will start to spread yourself too thin, which can really hurt your brand. You won’t possibly be able to update all of your social profiles, as well as keep track of pictures, profile information, groups, etc. In general, you should only join the largest social networks (
It’s really easy to forgot who you’re connected with on social networks as they grow. You might start out with high school, college, and summer camp friends, and then add some co-workers when you start a new job. There will be a point where you’re going to have to make a strategic decision, who you accept and who you don’t. The second you add your manager or colleagues is the time when you have to rethink what you publish or what you syndicate from other social networks. One mistake could cause you trouble.
Certainly, self-promotion is an extremely important part of building your brand because if no one knows of your achievements or the company you work for, then how are they going to do business with you? Yet, I’ve noticed that people often over-promote themselves in various ways across the web.
We’ve just confirmed with 
Microsoft is in talks to buy CrowdStar, a company that makes games for Facebook. CrowdStar’s biggest game is 
One of the first big “wow” apps for the iPhone was 
As part of Google’s master plan to make the web a faster place (read 
Whether you’re an artist, designer, or photographer, your web portfolio is your calling card and your showroom. While the work should speak for itself, presentation is important. Modern style and clean functionality can be a great selling point.
Google has just officially 
Google has deleted six of the most popular Blogger-based music blogs on the web (including their entire archives) in an effort to combat online music piracy. The move comes in response to Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) take-down notices.
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 
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