Mashable: Latest 29 News Updates - including “Guitar Hero Gone: What Went Wrong?” |
- Guitar Hero Gone: What Went Wrong?
- Hipstamatic To Debut New Lens During New York Fashion Week
- Devs: Help & Get Help With HackerBuddy
- The Real Story Behind the “Facebook Phone” [PHOTOS]
- Free Group Chat App Launches To Challenge Campfire
- What Value Is Crowdsourcing to Corporate Social Responsibility? [STATS]
- PicPlz Releases New Version of Android App
- Take a Look at the HP TouchPad, Pre 3 and Veer [PHOTOS]
- Web Video Gets A Boost With Flash Player 10.2
- Syria Lifts Ban on Facebook and YouTube
- HOW TO: Transfer Your Blog From WordPress.com to WordPress.org [VIDEO]
- The Latest Job Opportunities in Social Media
- Twitter Set New Tweets Per Second Record During Super Bowl
- 5 Decadent iPhone Apps for Chocolate Lovers
- Andreessen Horowitz Buys a Chunk of Twitter
- Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? Comes to Facebook
- Amazon Announces Kindle App for HP Touchpad
- HP TouchPad Takes Aim at the Competition [VIDEO]
- HOW TO: Run a Global Charity Event From Your Laptop
- 5 Tech Advances That Are Transforming Digital Entertainment
- Kmart Launches “Concierge Service” for Fashion Week Attendees
- HP Unveils the Palm Pre 3, TouchPad Tablet and More [LIVE]
- Palm Planning to Launch TouchPad, Pre 3 and HP Veer
- The iPhone Ad War: AT&T vs. Verizon
- Chrome Extension Surfaces Most Relevant Tweets Based on Your Reading Habits
- Send a Free Card to Your Valentine Courtesy of Quotes Website
- Nokia CEO Says Company Is Standing on a “Burning Platform”
- Mitsubishi Breaks 5 Guinness World Records in 24 Hours [VIDEO]
- 7 Ways Print Magazines Are Using Social Media to Engage Readers
- Michelle Obama Doesn’t Want Her Kids to Use Facebook
| Guitar Hero Gone: What Went Wrong? Posted: 09 Feb 2011 05:46 PM PST      The premiere plastic guitar game just flamed out. Activision, beset by falling sales, has decided to shutter the division that created Guitar Hero and its sequels. It’s an ignominious exit for a title that was once touted as the first great game franchise of the 21st century. Guitar Hero was created in 2005 by indie studio RedOctane, in collaboration with Harmonix, which had previously found success with the Karaoke Revolution franchise. Karaoke Revolution, where players plugged microphones into their consoles and were scored on the accuracy of their singing, was the first game to show a significant number of videogamers were interested in making “music.” RedOctane’s Guitar Hero proved they were equally interested in shredding a plastic guitar. Activision purchased the franchise in 2006 for $100 million; to date it has shipped more than 25 million units for a roughly $2 billion ROI. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock made $1 billion on its own. Harmonix went on to publish the highly successful Rock Band franchise, which added drums, microphones and keyboards to the plastic guitar mix. How the mighty have fallen. The holiday season was a disastrous one for the music game genre. First Harmonix was sold by Viacom to a consortium of shareholders; the terms were undisclosed, but it was reported to be a fire sale. MTV Games, which collaborated with Harmonix on Rock Band, was shut down. Guitar Heroes: Warriors of Rock, the sixth title in the series, received lackluster reviews and even more lackluster sales. Activision posted a $233 million net loss for the fourth quarter. Its decision to lay off the 500-person Guitar Hero division was, Activision said in a press release today, “due to continued declines in the music genre.” So what stopped the music? The first culprit: oversaturation. There are just too many games competing in the genre (Band Hero and DJ Hero, anyone?), with too many pricey controllers. A Warriors of Rock guitar bundle will set you back $80. Considering many of the controllers do not play nice with similar games, that’s a lot of dough to drop on pretend jamming. Secondly, there’s the novelty factor. The dynamics of the game changed little from one title to the next, despite the introduction of innovations such as a touch-sensitive slide bar on later guitar controllers. At a certain stage, users are going to be more interested in picking up a real guitar. The series also felt like it was running out of great rock anthems for users to emulate. Reviews of Warriors of Rock complained that the set list seemed dull and full of synth-heavy tunes. Finally, of course, Activision isn’t going to stop actually selling Guitar Hero titles any time soon. If you’re interested in becoming a maestro of the pretend Gibson, you can still pick up the Guitar Hero back catalog and buy extra songs online. Guitar Hero and Rock Band may one day be seen as a classic party game, pulled out of the closet at holidays and special gatherings, the way we play Monopoly or Scrabble today. Maybe it’s time you introduced Grandma to the plastic guitar. More About: activision, guitar hero, videogames For more Tech & Gadgets coverage:
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| Hipstamatic To Debut New Lens During New York Fashion Week Posted: 09 Feb 2011 05:18 PM PST   Photo app Hipstamatic is releasing an update to its iPhone app Thursday that includes a brand-new, saturated fashion lens produced with the help of fashion photographer Chiun-Kai Shih. The lens, called “Chunky,” will be available for free throughout New York Fashion Week (now until February 17). Afterward, it will be available as part of a new SOHO HipstaPak that also includes two new films: Blanko Noir, described as “classic, black and handsome,” and Cano Cafenol, which evokes “mysteriously aged darkness found only in a cup of morning joe.” (HipstaPaks are bundles of lenses and films that can be purchased within the app [iTunes link], usually for $1.00.) Hipstamatic is also awarding prizes to those who submit fashion-related photos to its contest throughout the week. In addition to the new lens, Hipstamatic is releasing two other notable features Thursday, including a film queue system that allows users to take up to nine photos in rapid succession without waiting for processing (images will be processed in the background), and a new organization system that allows users to rearrange and turn off lenses, flashes and films, as well as determine which ones end up in the shake-to-randomize pool. While we haven’t been able to try the lens out ourselves yet, Hipstamatic sent us this behind-the-scenes shot of Elettra Weidman during his Harper’s Bazaar cover shoot at the Plaza, shot by Shih himself. (NSFW? Perhaps.) More About: fashion, fashion week, hipstamatic, iphone app, nyfw, photography For more Mobile coverage:
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| Devs: Help & Get Help With HackerBuddy Posted: 09 Feb 2011 04:50 PM PST   Coding can be a solitary and frustrating enterprise, but the best thing about it is the community, which is generally waiting and wanting to help struggling programmers get past bugs and issues. HackerBuddy is a clever, free application that capitalizes on the strength of that community. It allows web developers to find and give help in their areas of expertise — be those areas C++ or Python, SEO or marketing. The app is simple to use, attractively designed, and with the right userbase, could be a real boon to programmers and startup types. Hacker News and other developer-friendly forums are often littered with simple requests for help with coding or startup-related projects. These requests can fall on the wrong ears or appear at the wrong time, and giving or getting hacking help isn’t necessarily the purpose of these platforms, which are generally devoted to discussing the news of the day as it pertains to web developers. On the site, we read that HackerBuddy will allow users to “help out fellow hackers, get the chance to beta test new apps and maybe even make friends with an awesome new startup. Tell HackerBuddy what you’re good at, and it’ll pair you up with a fellow hacker that could do with your friendly advice.” The app matches you one-on-one with a fellow hacker and potential mentor/mentee in the subject area at hand. For example, I’m learning Java; if I choose the “Get Help” option from my HackerBuddy page, I can find a hacker to help me and chat with me about my Java challenges. When the app matches up two compatible users, it swaps their email addresses, then “gets out of the way.” The users take over from there with an email exchange, which may evolve into phone or IM chats or even in-person meetings.
In addition to getting one-on-one help, you can also browse all users (there are currently around 1,200). We wish you could browse users by areas of expertise; for example, if I was building a Java app and needed early-stage startup and coding help, I would like the option to get both kinds of advice from the same person. HackerBuddy was built by Dave Peiris, an iCrossing analyst, developer and SEO expert. He said the site is “a weekend project built using Ruby on Rails.” He built the app to learn RoR and writes, “There is a very large chance that this site will collapse under the weight of its own awkward code. If it does, sorry. I plan to improve it as I get better at coding in Ruby; please bear with me.” We’re more than happy to bear with Dave; perhaps he could use a HackerBuddy of his own. Give the app a shot, and in the comments, let us know how your experience with it worked out. Did you get the help you needed, or were you able to help out a fellow hacker? Image courtesy of iStockphoto, pkline More About: developers, hacker news, hackerbuddy, hackers, startups For more Dev & Design coverage:
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| The Real Story Behind the “Facebook Phone” [PHOTOS] Posted: 09 Feb 2011 04:02 PM PST   Facebook may not be launching a branded phone of its own, but INQ has built a phone that is all about Facebook. INQ has unveiled the INQ Cloud Touch, an Android smartphone deeply integrated with the world’s largest social network. Thanks to the help of some Facebook engineers, this phone has countless custom Android apps, widgets and quick jump links that dive into every aspect of Facebook. It’s not a Facebook-branded phone though, so don’t expect Zuckerberg to be touting it as the iPhone killer in a press conference anytime soon. Last Friday, INQ CEO Frank Meehan stopped by Mashable‘s office to give us a private demo of the INQ Cloud Touch. The first important thing to note about the phone is that it runs on Android 2.2, so it runs apps, connects to your Google accounts, and does everything else an Android phone is supposed to do. Facebook has been built as a layer on top of the phone, though. The home screen has been customized with a Facebook Widget that delivers the News Feed. Not only will users see their friends’ status updates when the first unlock their phones, but the phone will also bring up multimedia content like YouTube videos and photos automatically. The second core part of the INQ Cloud Touch is its bottom scrollbar, which links directly to the Android Facebook App’s many features. Photos, Chat, Contacts, Messages and more are easily accessible on the device. The device itself isn’t all that powerful, though. It sports Qualcomm 7227 chipset that clocks in at 600MHz, a far cry from the 1GHz Snapdragon devices on the market today. It includes only 4 MB of memory, which is expandable. It does have a decent 5MP camera and a 1300mAh battery, which should suffice for most casual users. It has a 3.5-inch HGVA touch screen and has the Android Home, Menu and Back buttons — the search button has been removed because, as Meehan told me during our demo, “How often do you really use it?” INQ will be launching the device in Q2 2011 and will be available at The Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy. The company is still negotiating with carriers over a U.S. release. The company will follow up the INQ Cloud Touch with the launch of a second phone, the 2.6-inch iNQ Cloud Q, in Q3 2011. This Is Not the Facebook PhoneFacebook was dogged by rumors last year that it was building its own smartphone. Facebook denied the rumors in a direct statement to Mashable. “The bottom line is that whenever we work on a deep integration, people want to call it a 'Facebook Phone' because that's such an attractive soundbite, but building phones is just not what we do,” the company told us back in September. To be clear, the INQ Cloud Touch is packed with Facebook features, but it is not a “Facebook Phone.” Facebook hasn’t chosen INQ to create a phone on its behalf, but it has worked with the company to integrate its product deeper into the company’s phones. If a major smartphone company came to you and asked for your help to integrate your product into the device, why would you say no? This won’t be the last phone with Facebook features or that gets Facebook’s help. HTC is expected to release two Facebook-enhanced smartphones at Mobile World Congress next month. This device isn’t designed to be an major smartphone competitor, either. It’s meant for a younger generation looking for a simpler device that will help them keep track of their friends. It’s nowhere near powerful enough to go toe-to-toe with the high-end iOS and Android devices on the market today, and that’s just fine with INQ. Expect to see a lot more phones with Facebook in the near future. Just don’t expect a Facebook Phone. INQ Cloud Touch INQ Cloud Touch INQ Cloud Touch INQ Cloud Touch INQ Cloud Touch INQ Cloud Touch INQ Cloud Touch INQ Cloud Touch More About: facebook, Facebook Phone, htc, INQ, INQ Cloud Q, INQ Cloud Touch For more Mobile coverage:
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| Free Group Chat App Launches To Challenge Campfire Posted: 09 Feb 2011 03:17 PM PST   Convore is a Y Combinator startup that’s out to challenge the likes of Campfire and IRC with a free group-chat web app. Users can create groups, either public or private, with multiple topics in each group, all free of charge. Private groups require would-be members to get moderators’ permission to join. Users can pick public and private group participants from your Facebook or Twitter friends, or they can invite members via e-mail. Because it has options to connect one’s profile with one’s social networks, its onboarding process is fraught with opportunities to start chatting right away with people who already happen to be one’s friends. The instant messaging is quick and incredibly simple to set up. It features a clean interface, and it’s usable in a way that very few new web apps are. We also like the Mentions feature, which allows users to see who has sent them a message or replied to their message from within a group chat — an especially good feature for when chats get fast-paced or “noisy” or for when a person goes offline. And while the uses for individuals and friends are undoubtedly there, what really excites us is what the app means for users in businesses, from tech startups to distributed SMBs to the enterprise.
All in all, it’s a prettier, more social media-friendly version of the group chat apps we already know — apps that, in spite of their popularity within the digitally addicted tech set, haven’t really rocketed to mass adoption just yet. In other words, even though there’s a lot of competition in this space, there’s still plenty of room to improve on current offerings and create a viable business. Convore comes from the minds of developers Leah Culver and Eric Florenzano, as well as designer Eric Maguire. The latter two were recently working at online gaming powerhouse Mochi Media. Meanwhile, Culver and Florenzano met while coordinating some Django meetups in San Francisco, and the collaboration took off from there. The team has been working on Convore full time for approximately the past two weeks, out of an office in SOMA. The first question that comes to mind, of course, is how does Convore plan to make money with a free web app, especially when their competitors are charging money? In a conversation today, Culver told us that the plan is to get users first, then find out what features people will be willing to pay for once the company collects more user feedback. While the team was in our office, we mentioned that uploading files would be a nice option, as would being able to download chats as a text file and being able to play YouTube videos from within the app. The team told us some of these ideas might make for good paid features in the future. Culver said mobile apps will also be a focus and hinted that the ability to embed code snippets might be coming soon, too. Give Convore a shot, and in the comments, let us know what features you’d actually be willing to pay for — either as an individual or as part of a company that needs or already uses a group chat application. More About: Campfire, chat, convore, group chat, im, leah culver For more Social Media coverage:
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| What Value Is Crowdsourcing to Corporate Social Responsibility? [STATS] Posted: 09 Feb 2011 02:24 PM PST   Weber Shandwick released new research Wednesday, suggesting that “the crowd” knows a thing or two when it comes to corporate social responsibility (CSR). The study, conducted last October by the PR firm‘s Social Impact speciality group in partnership with KRC Research, interviewed 216 executives from Fortune 200 companies involved with philanthropic or community outreach to determine the value of crowdsourcing and social media to CSR. While only 44% of the executives said they had used crowdsourcing to generate ideas and spur decision making, 95% of those reported that it had been valuable to their organization’s CSR programming. Crowdsourcing helped create new perspectives, new energy, build audience relationships and find new clients, the report claimed. Social media reversed that ratio with 72% saying they had used a social media service in regards to CSR, but only 59% believed that it had a positive impact on their communications with consumers. Facebook (67%) was seen as the most valuable social network while Twitter (46%) and Foursquare (44%) lagged behind blogs (60%) and LinkedIn (58%) in terms of perceived value. In an earlier report from the same sample set, Social Impact and KCR Research reported that these executives valued CSR most for its impact on critical issues rather than more business-oriented motivations like customer loyalty. This is encouraging as CSR becomes increasingly important for major companies. Corporate social responsibility is a nebulous term that variably refers to the way businesses try to help and give back to the community and public well-being. CSR goals and expectations change from business to business, making it difficult to measure just how “socially responsible” a business is without internal documents. These studies point to promising results, with top executives viewing non-profits as ideal partners because they make CSR investments more effective and provide a critical foundation and infrastructure. Read below for the full report along with lots of graphs breaking down the core results by effectiveness. What do you think of CSR as a concept, are these results a step in the right direction? The report has a +/- 6.8 percentage point margin of error at the 95% confidence level. Thumbnail image courtesy of Flickr, gaspi *yg. More About: corporate social responsibility, csr, kcr research, non-profits, report, statistics, stats, study, weber shandwick For more Social Good coverage:
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| PicPlz Releases New Version of Android App Posted: 09 Feb 2011 01:55 PM PST   PicPlz, the Instagram-like photo app for iPhone and Android, has just announced the latest version of its Android app. The 2.0 version features an upgraded UI, a new Activity feed, an option to post pics already in your phone’s gallery and a slew of bug fixes. Perhaps most exciting, especially given the variety of hardware available to Android users, is the addition of native camera support. This particular news is great for more advanced smartphones with cameras that allow for zoom, flash, white balance and focus adjustments. Here are a few screenshots from the 2.0 version of the app, including a shot showing how we took a pic using the native camera on an Evo and using some of the fancier Evo camera options: 
The company also released a new version of its iPhone app a couple weeks ago, bringing better design, navigation and speed. If you use the app, you can go to the Android Market now to download the update. Let us know in the comments how it’s working for you. Follow Mashable on PicPlzMore About: android, mobile app, mobile photography, picplz For more Mobile coverage:
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| Take a Look at the HP TouchPad, Pre 3 and Veer [PHOTOS] Posted: 09 Feb 2011 01:55 PM PST   HP has unveiled its new line of webOS devices, including its much anticipated TouchPad tablet. Are Qualcomm processors and a revamp OS enough to bring Apple and Google a run for their money? HP unveiled its three new devices at a press event in San Francisco today: the Veer, Pre 3 and TouchPad. The Veer is a credit card-sized phone with a 2.6-inch screen, QWERTY keyboard and 8 GB of storage. The Pre 3 boasts a larger 3.6-inch screen, a 5MP camera and a front-facing camera for video conferencing. The TouchPad was the star of the show, though. The iPad competitor has a 9.7-inch screen and a 1.2 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. It’s a 1.6 pound machine with stereo speakers and 16 or 32 GB of memory. You can learn more about the device in our overview of the TouchPad. I’ve had a chance to briefly play with all three devices. While I won’t be able to deliver a full review today, I do have a few random thoughts on each device:
We have photos of all three devices in a gallery we’ve assembled. Check out the photos and let us know, in the comments, what you think of HP’s new line of webOS devices. HP Veer HP Veer HP Veer HP Veer HP Veer HP Veer HP Veer HP Veer HP Veer HP Veer HP Veer HP Veer HP Veer HP Veer HP Veer and HP Palm Pre 3 HP Pre 3 HP Pre 3 HP Pre 3 HP Pre 3 HP Pre 3  HP TouchPad HP TouchPad HP TouchPad HP TouchPad HP TouchPad HP TouchPad HP TouchPad HP TouchPad HP TouchPad HP TouchPad HP TouchPad More About: HP, HP Pre 3, hp touchpad, HP Veer, Mobile 2.0, Palm Pre, Palm Pre 3, PalmPad, Pre 3, Touchpad, Veer, webOS For more Mobile coverage:
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| Web Video Gets A Boost With Flash Player 10.2 Posted: 09 Feb 2011 01:46 PM PST   Watch a lot of YouTube, but hate the way it thrashes your computer’s CPU? You’re in luck. Today Adobe released a new version of Flash Player, the software that powers most online video. Adobe says the new release is 34 times more power-efficient than previous versions — and should use no more than 15% of your CPU. Flash Player, a product that dates back to 1997, started serving streaming video in 2002, and quickly became the industry standard. Adobe says nearly three quarters of all online video is encoded in Flash format. But it also started to gain a reputation as a processor and power hog. When the iPhone was launched in 2007, it deliberately shunned Flash in order to save on battery life. Last year, Steve Jobs wrote an open letter to Adobe claiming Flash was “the number one reason Macs crash” and that it reduced the battery life of mobile devices by half. The secret sauce in Flash Player 10.2 is called Stage Video, a hardware accelerator that allows websites to speed up the video delivery process. “Stage Video can effortlessly play beautiful 1080p HD video with just 1-15% CPU usage on a common Mac or Windows computer,” Adobe product manager Tom Nguyen wrote in a blog post. “Working across platforms and browsers, it will enable the best video experience for the most people. Many millions of additional PCs, from netbooks to desktops, can now become slick HD home theaters on the web.” Users who upgrade won’t see any improvement unless the website delivering video has also adopted Stage Video. But Nguyen says YouTube, Vimeo, Brightcove, and Epix have started enabling the new software. Regardless, there’s at least one more cool new feature in Flash Player 10.2: You can now watch video fullscreen in a second monitor while continuing to work on your primary screen. Multitaskers, start your engines. Are you seeing performance improvements with Flash Player 10.2? Try Adobe’s preferred YouTube test video, below, to find out. More About: Flash, flash player, streaming video, web video For more Tech & Gadgets coverage:
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| Syria Lifts Ban on Facebook and YouTube Posted: 09 Feb 2011 01:40 PM PST   Syrians may be able to start accessing Facebook and YouTube for the first time since a ban was instated in 2007. As the Associated Press reports, on Tuesday, Internet users in Syria said they were able to access Facebook and YouTube — without the aid of proxy servers —for the first time in years. The reported ban lift comes just two weeks after Syria banned programs that allow access to Facebook chat. Many news outlets are speculating that the government’s change of heart stems from fears that protests similar to those in Egypt might erupt in Syria. Opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had planned a protest, scheduled to start last Friday, in Syria’s capital, Damascus. Like the organizers of both the protest in Egypt and an uprising in Tunisia that forced the ruling party from power last month, they used Facebook to plan the event. One Facebook Page got about 17,000 likes, but the “Day of Rage” failed to materialize. While Egypt took down Twitter, Facebook, and then the entire Internet in reaction to protests in that country, Assad may be ready to make some changes in favor of open communication in order to preemptively quell future uprisings. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Assad distinguished Syria from what is happening in Egypt and Tunisia, but said that Syria would consider reforms aimed at solving shared problems of countries in the region. “As for the internal, it is about doing something that is changing; to change the society, and we have to keep up with this change, as a state and as institutions,” Assad said. “You have to upgrade yourself with the upgrading of the society.” Lifting the block on Facebook and YouTube isn’t a huge concession. Most people in Syria access the social platforms through international proxy servers (they did, after all, organize the failed protest over Facebook). But at least one U.S. government official applauded the change as a first step in opening communication, though one useless without other freedoms. “Welcome positive move on Facebook & YouTube in #Syria but concerned that freedom puts users at risk absent freedom of expression & association,” tweeted Alec Ross, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s senior advisor for innovation. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, selensergen More About: censorship, Egypt, Facebook Ban, Syria, Tunisia For more Social Media coverage:
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| HOW TO: Transfer Your Blog From WordPress.com to WordPress.org [VIDEO] Posted: 09 Feb 2011 01:26 PM PST
WordPress.com is a great platform for users who want to easily create a free website or blog. With more than 23 billion pageviews in 2010, the service is a hit with millions of users. Premium themes are now available for WordPress.com, but the nature of the system still limits what plugins can be used and how deeply customized a design and overall site structure can be. For that reason, it is natural that some WordPress.com users will want to take the leap to the self-hosted WordPress.org software. Transitioning from WordPress.com to WordPress.org may seem daunting — especially for users who have lots of content and multimedia already hosted on WordPress.com. That’s why we decided to put together this screencast that walks through the entire process from beginning to end. Moving From WordPress.com to WordPress.orgNote: This process covers moving from an existing WordPress.com blog to an existing WordPress.org installation. If you need help installing WordPress.org or finding a web host to use with WordPress.org, WordPress offers some recommendations. Using Plugins to Re-create WordPress.com FeaturesAs I point out in the screencast, the real key to getting WordPress.org to function (and look) like an older WordPress.com site comes via plugins. Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com, has customized its hosted version of WordPress to include some built-in features that just aren’t included in a standard WordPress.org installation. As a result, some media like videos, embedded tweets and polls may not show up properly. I mention some of the most common plugins in the video, but here are some quick links:
After the MoveAfter moving content from WordPress.com to WordPress.org and installing any plugins to enable native WordPress.com functionality, users may want to consider purchasing the Site Redirect upgrade from WordPress.com. For $12 a year, WordPress.com will redirect your old WordPress site links to the new site. These are proper 301 redirects which means search engines will get updated to redirect traffic as well. That also means that most users won’t need to pay for the upgrade after the first year. You can learn more about Site Redirect at WordPress.com and add the feature from the Upgrades section of the WordPress.com dashboard. Your TipsHave you ever migrated from WordPress.com to WordPress.org? Let us know your tips in the comments! Series supported by Rackspace  The Web Development Series is supported by Rackspace, the better way to do hosting. No more worrying about web hosting uptime. No more spending your time, energy and resources trying to stay on top of things like patching, updating, monitoring, backing up data and the like. Learn why. More Dev & Design Resources from Mashable:
More About: blogging, screencasts, web design, Web Development, web development series, WordPress, WordPress.com, wordpress.org For more Dev & Design coverage:
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| The Latest Job Opportunities in Social Media Posted: 09 Feb 2011 01:05 PM PST
If you’re seeking a job in social media, we’d like to help out. For starters, Mashable’s Job Lists section gathers together all of our resource lists, how-tos and expert guides to help you get hired. In particular, you might want to see our articles on How to Leverage Social Media for Career Success and How to Find a Job on Twitter. But we’d like to help in a more direct way, too. Mashable’s job boards are a place for socially savvy companies to find people like you. This week and every week, Mashable features its coveted job board listings for a variety of positions in the web, social media space and beyond. Have a look at what's good and new on our job boards: Mashable Job PostingsVP Product at Mashable in San Francisco, CA. Ruby on Rails Developer at Mashable in San Francisco, CA. Regional Sales Director at Mashable in San Francisco, CA. Regional Sales Director at Mashable in New York, NY. Events Content Coordinator at Mashable in New York, NY. Ad Ops Manager at Mashable in New York, NY. Community Intern at Mashable in New York, NY. Marketing Intern at Mashable in New York, NY. Mashable Job Board ListingsTechnical Producer at BLT & Associates in Los Angeles, CA. Media Relations Director at PMK*BNC in West Hollywood, CA. Digital VP at Digitas Health in Philadelphia, PA. YouTube Expert at Maker Studios in Los Angeles, CA. Project Manager at Orbitz Worldwide in Chicago, IL. Associate Product Manager at Wall Street Journal Digital in New York, NY. Head of Social Networking at CIGNA International in Philadelphia, PA. Junior Account Executive at PMK*BNC in West Hollywood, CA. Account Executive at PMK*BNC in West Hollywood, CA. Senior Web Developer at Seattle Children’s in Seattle, WA. Executive Director, eCRM at Comcast in Philadelphia, PA. Sr. Manager, Product Development at MTV Networks in New York, NY. Director, Digital Audiences at Story Worldwide in Norwalk, CT. Web Designer/Programmer at Eyeboogie, Inc in Los Angeles, CA. SEM Data Analyst at ResortQuest in FL. Web Producer at Digitaria Interactive/JWT in New York, NY. Software Engineer at DonorsChoose.org in New York, NY. Director, Business Development at Break Media in Los Angeles, CA. SEO Specialist at Empire Covers in Jenkintown, PA. Emerging Technology Developer at Allen & Gerritsen in Watertown, MA. Community Manager at G3 Communications in NJ. SEM Analyst at Big Fish Games, Inc. in Seattle, WA. Executive Assistant at a confidential company in New York, NY. Account Executive at FEED COMPANY in Los Angeles, CA. Marketing Manager at Insight Cuba in New Rochelle, NY. Marketing Associate at Insight Cuba in New Rochelle, NY. Director, Social and Communication Products at Univision Interactive Media in Miami, FL. Social Marketing Coordinator at FEED COMPANY in Los Angeles, CA. Senior Social Media Manager at Eileen Fisher in Irvington, NY. Online Media Manager at noise in New York, NY. Marketing Campaign Specialist at Time Inc. in New York, NY. Account Executive at Adknowledge in FL. Account Executive at Adknowledge in New York, NY. Web Designer at Foundation Center in New York, NY. Web Designer at TMG in Washington DC. Web Optimization Analyst at Demand Media in Santa Monica, CA. Director of Email and CRM Marketing at ModCloth in San Francisco, CA. Software Engineer at Google in New York, NY. Blackberry Java Developer at Huffington Post in New York, NY. Product & Business Development at InTheMO in Los Angeles, CA. Front End Developer at Napkin Labs in Boulder, CO. Account Supervisor at Spring Creek Group in Seattle, WA. Internship, Entertainment Media at Kaiser Family Foundation in Menlo Park, CA. Actionscript3 Developer at eFashionSolutions in Seacaucus, NJ. Marketing Team Manager at Train Signal Computer Training in Schaumburg, IL. Digital Account Supervisor at iris in New York, NY. Front End Developer at Golin Harris in Chicago, IL. Front End Software Engineer at Google in New York, NY. Software Engineer in Test at Google in New York, NY. PR Manager at fresh and easy Neighborhood Market in . Director, Advertising Sales at SmartBrief in San Diego, CA. Social Media Marketing Analyst at Barnes & Noble in New York, NY. Community Manager at Savings.com in Los Angeles, CA. Product Manager at Savings.com in Los Angeles, CA. Assistant Manager, SEO at Direct Brands Inc. in New York, NY. Online Communications Director at Center for Community Change in Washington, DC. Brand Strategist at Sweetgreen in Washington, DC. Social Monetization Manager at Cox Media Group Digital in Atlanta, GA. Interactive Website Project Manager at TIG Global in Chevy Chase, MD. Manager, Digital & Social Media Analytics at a confidential company in New York, NY. Social Media & Digital Content Consultant at Fastrack Media in Washington DC. Software Engineering at Microsoft in Bellevue, WA (nationwide). IT Manager at e-Corp English in Middlebury, VT. Product Manager at e-Corp English in Middlebury, VT. Software Engineer at e-Corp English in Middlebury, VT. Tech Lead at e-Corp English in Middlebury, VT. 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 For more Social Media coverage:
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| Twitter Set New Tweets Per Second Record During Super Bowl Posted: 09 Feb 2011 12:45 PM PST   Twitter users set a new tweets per second record during the Super Bowl Sunday, the microblogging service announced Wednesday. At 10:07:16 p.m. ET — one of the final moments of the game — 4,064 tweets were sent, the highest number of tweets sent in a single second during a sporting event. That’s a healthy jump over the 3,283 tweets per second set during the World Cup in June 2010. Twitter users actually broke that record six times over the course of the game, Twitter disclosed in a blog post. The second-highest peak occurred when Usher made a surprise appearance during the Black Eyed Peas‘s halftime show performance. Despite the Twittersphere’s intense interest in the game, it still wasn’t enough to break the all-time record of 6,939 tweets per second, which was set shortly after midnight on New Year's Eve in Japan. More About: Super Bowl, twitter For more Social Media coverage:
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| 5 Decadent iPhone Apps for Chocolate Lovers Posted: 09 Feb 2011 12:34 PM PST In the spirit of this month and the upcoming Valentine's Day holiday, we thought it fitting to dedicate a post to delicious and decadent apps that are all about chocolate. Chocolate elicits such passion among its most loyal admirers. And why shouldn't it? It is silky, smooth and downright delicious. The added health benefits that have been long touted (gotta love those flavonoids) are a bonus, and all the more reason to enjoy this delightful treat. Since health professionals recommend consuming dark chocolate every day, the following iPhone apps will whet your appetite for this sweet seductress. Now, go eat some. It's good for you. 1. Chocoholic Traveler   Chocoholic Traveler is a guide to help you find anything and everything chocolate-related, including factory tours, attractions, stores and themed events. If you happen to be in the Mount Washington area in New Hampshire on Feb. 27, and you are a skier, you can partake in the annual "Sweetest Day on the Trails" event that combines ski trails with stops offering chocolate treats. If not, this app will let you scope out other attractions and events in your area, and provide details and contact information for each. Cost: $1.99 2. Chocolate -- Irresistible Recipes What better kind of chocolate to eat than a scrumptious dessert you make yourself? Chocolate –- Irresistible Recipes provides you with step-by-step instructions and photos for creating 55 different chocolate-inspired creations. With treats like Chocolate Covered Caramel Squares and Mint Chocolate Gelato, every baker's sweet tooth will be satisfied. Cost: $2.99 3. iChocolate iChocolate is another recipe app, but it also offers savory dishes in addition to those sweet ones. For the more adventurous, how about serving Sticky Ribs that are made with chocolate or a Chocolate Gravy alongside some turkey for your next family gathering? iChocolate also includes tips for cooking with chocolate as well as a helpful conversion measurement chart. Cost: $0.99 4. Sweet Spot When you have a hankering for something sweet, Sweet Spot will locate a bakery, ice cream shop and/or candy shop nearby. The app maps them out, complete with contact details and links directly to any Yelp reviews of the location. With Sweet Spot, you'll never be far from indulging a sugary craving. Cost: FREE 5. Ghirardelli Chocolate Mobile Your close friend's birthday is next week and you completely forgot. Quick, what does she like? Ohhh, chocolate, of course! With the Ghiradelli Chocolate Mobile app, you can quickly order from a bevy of chocolate gifts, including baskets, towers, favor boxes and boxed chocolates directly from the site. If your chocolate groove is more Godiva than Ghiradelli, they have a free app, too. Cost: FREE BONUS: iPhone Box of Chocolates If you really love chocolate and you really love your iPhone, you must check out the cleverly designed and beautiful iPhone box of chocolates on Etsy. For $56 (excluding shipping), you can send someone these hand-crafted masterpieces from France and say oui to the ultimate marriage of chocolate and technology. More iPhone Resources from Mashable:
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, WillSelarep More About: apps, chocolate, iphone, Mobile 2.0, mobile apps, valentine's day, Valentines For more Mobile coverage:
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| Andreessen Horowitz Buys a Chunk of Twitter Posted: 09 Feb 2011 12:12 PM PST   Andreessen Horowitz, the up-and-coming venture capital firm invested in social startups Foursquare, Zynga and now Groupon, has snatched up $80 million in Twitter stock by way of secondary markets, according to a new report. The news, reported by All Things D, is a surprising development considering that Twitter just closed a $200 million round of funding in December led by the senior firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and Andreessen Horowitz did not participate in the round. That round put Twitter’s valuation at $3.7 billion. With Twitter now estimated to be worth $4 billion, Andeessen Horowitz’s $80 million stock buy equates to roughly 2% of Twitter. While not a bargain buy, Andreessen’s gamble will payoff handsomely should Twitter’s valuation continue to skyrocket. Firm partners Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz were not immediately available for comment. “Sources said that the firm made the move because it is already deeply invested in other key companies in the social space,” according to All Things D. Image courtesy of Business Insider More About: andreessen horowitz, secondary market, stock, twitter For more Business & Marketing coverage:
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| Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? Comes to Facebook Posted: 09 Feb 2011 11:42 AM PST Listen up, gumshoes. Another blast from your suppressed childhood is coming to Facebook: game show/computer game Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? This game comes to the social network courtesy of The Learning Company, which recently bestowed upon Facebookers a modern version of Oregon Trail. Like Oregon Trail, Carmen Sandiego makes use of Facebook Credits and allows you to invite friends to join in on the hunt for the elusive Carmen and her henchmen, which also puts it on level with games like CityVille and FarmVille. Also, like Oregon Trail, the game is a bit difficult to navigate — it even has a TLDW-esque training video to help users . Still, if I remember correctly the original computer game was also a bit tricky; It even came with a World Almanac. Will you take a trip back to your past with Sandiego? While you mull that over, here’s Rockapella. Take it away, guys! More About: carmen-sandiego, social media For more Media coverage:
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| Amazon Announces Kindle App for HP Touchpad Posted: 09 Feb 2011 11:36 AM PST   Amazon has announced that it plans to launch a free Kindle app designed specifically for HP’s forthcoming, webOS-based TouchPad, which was unveiled at a press event Wednesday. Both the TouchPad and the app are scheduled to debut this summer, though neither Amazon nor HP have named a specific date. The apps will allow users to purchase and read Kindle books on both kinds of tablets, automatically syncing with apps on their other devices, including desktops (Mac, PC and web), smartphones (iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and Windows 7), iPod touches and iPads. It’s all part of Amazon’s strategy to make the Kindle Store available on as many devices as possible. This is the fourth app Amazon has announced designed specifically for tablet devices. Amazon already has an app available for Apple’s tablet, the iPad, and said in January that apps for Android and Windows-based tablets are in the works. More About: hp touchpad, Kindle For more Tech & Gadgets coverage:
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| HP TouchPad Takes Aim at the Competition [VIDEO] Posted: 09 Feb 2011 11:33 AM PST   At HP’s webOS event Wednesday, the company officially unveiled the next generation of webOS devices, including the new tablet, the TouchPad. The TouchPad is HP’s big move into the white-hot tablet space. Looking at the specs and the form factor, it’s clear the TouchPad has taken a lot of cues from Apple’s iPad, while still giving the device a flair of Palm panache. Check out this video from HP’s site: The TouchPad’s physical dimensions should be very familiar to iPad owners:
When we go under the hood, what we see looks similar to the Motorola Xoom and the rumored specs of the iPad 2. The TouchPad includes:
3G and 4G versions of the device will hit the market after the Wi-Fi model arrives and feature on-board GPS. On the accessory front, HP will be releasing an innovative Touchstone dock that acts as both a cables-free charging station and a stand. For the expected release date, HP says “summer” and is staying mum on the price for now. WebOS looks great on a larger device and we look forward to seeing what apps head its way. What do you think of the TouchPad? Let us know! More About: hp palm, hp touchpad, palm, tablets, Touchpad, trending, webOS For more Tech & Gadgets coverage:
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| HOW TO: Run a Global Charity Event From Your Laptop Posted: 09 Feb 2011 11:02 AM PST   On a Thursday in early February, Amanda Rose was sorting through non-profit applications from around the globe and setting up calls with her equally international team in a massive effort to organize Twestival Local, an international “Twitter festival” that uses social media for social good by connecting communities on a single day to support local causes. The next day, Rose came down with flu-like symptoms and spent most of the day trying to recover — not just her health, but also lost time. Began in 2009, the next Twestival event is scheduled for March 24. Its success, however, is tied to Rose: “I can’t be sick for a week,” Rose said. “It would just put me back too much.” Twestival tries to leverage online tools to create offline change. The event takes place on a single day and alternates between Global, where communities help one cause, and Local, where those communities pair up with local charities and non-profits. This year, local volunteers will select a charity with a social media presence and throw an event to raise funds and awareness. For two years, Rose did much of the work: reviewing submissions, spreading the word, vetting charities, coordinating press and follow-ups. This year is the first that Rose has been able to bring in staff to help her sort through the rapidly expanding charity event. Considering the global scale — more than 125 cities are holding events from Doha to Tunisia to Rochester, NY — it’s easy to imagine that Rose’s phone bill must be terrifying. Thanks to social media, though, it’s actually pretty reasonable. Twestival is possible because of a suite of online tools, a little missed sleep, and an enthusiastic team of global do-gooders. Read on for a behind-the-scenes look at how it all happens. Social Media Tools
Cloud computing has helped centralize Twestival’s planning process and make documents available to the entire team. Huddle, which costs $15 per month/per person, is a project management application that operates much like Google docs. Rose said that Huddle offered its service to Twestival for a substantial discount, though, so for those on a tight budget or a gigantic team, Google docs offers comparable, though slightly less comprehensive, services. You’re probably familiar with how Twitter works, but Rose and her team have made it a key component not just of the final event but of the planning stages. The global team regularly uses Twitter to send @replies or direct messages to local event organizers. Unlike e-mail, Twitter is a chattier, informal way to communicate — a huge benefit when the global team needs to quickly befriend, plan, or problem solve with organizers who may come from different cultural backgrounds. By regularly using Twitter to interact, Rose and the team are also training local organizers to become more comfortable with using social media to communicate and promote. SystemsTwestival prides itself on being about the community, but Rose needed to institute some organizational hierarchy to have any chance at success. Rose leads a group of four managers that oversee key aspects like volunteers and digital communications. This group then works with 15 regional managers in charge of areas like the “Middle East,” “Canada,” and “Nordic Region.” These regional managers are responsible for talking to the local volunteers that actually host the events. Despite their official-sounding titles, most of the “managers” are simply enthusiasts with applicable expertise. A journalist and teacher, Aleksandra Tsekhmistrenko is the regional manager for Russia. Tsekhmistrenko got involved with Twestival to help boost the profile of charities in Russia. “Project Manager” Gaëlle Callnin got involved with Twestival two years ago. “The charity at the time was to provide lightly worn kids shoes for kids in Africa,” Callnin said. “I have three kids, so I gave something like 20 pairs of shoes and I was just really, really impressed.” Next year, Callnin, the chief marketing officer at a Denver-based translation company, offered her firm’s services pro bono to help translate Twestival’s site and materials. Despite being a Twestival vet, Callnin hasn’t met a single person on the global team. “But even just now I’m working with one of the volunteers in Saudi Arabia,” she said. “We’re going back and forth in Twitter and DMs, and I’m starting to get to know him and see him on Foursquare.” Trust At the top of the pyramid is Rose, a soft-spoken Canadian with an international background and penchant for charity. Speaking from her family’s home in Cambridge, Ontario, Rose explained over the phone that trust was the most important part of Twestival. That mentality has led her to turn down sponsorship and overt branding. Local events can’t use any money from ticket sales to help fund the event itself: 100% goes to the partnered local charity (all of which are personally vetted by Rose). Companies are allowed to host events, but their brand must take a back seat to the local cause they’re supporting. Rose isn’t trying to limit participation, she’s trying to curtail corporations from using her event for the wrong reasons. With hundreds of events in 125+ countries, Rose can’t possibly monitor every dollar and every event taking place. Even the regional managers can be spread thin with the volume of events and local charities they need to manage. “When you put that trust out, that’s almost the payment, that’s the ‘salary’ that people are making on this,” said Cian O’Donovan, Twestival’s digital communications manager based in Ireland. “I guess what I’m saying is, trust is [Twestival's] currency.” O’Donovan is currently building out a keyword matrix for hashtags so that each event can maximize their spread across social media. He’s also putting together “How-To” videos to help with fundraising, promotion, and best practices. ChallengesHolding a global event for charity with a short staff and budget requires accepting some limitations. You have to know what you can’t control and who you can trust to take care of it for you. These factors include cultural differences and regional situations. Rose explained that the volunteers from Doha were some of the most active with a total of 50. But learning more about the community, she realized that she would need more than one community leader. “You really have to get up on the knowledge if that person is respected by the community,” Rose said. She uses LinkedIn and Twitter profiles to get a glimpse of these leaders and gauge how well they can connect with their communities through social media. These micro-decisions dominate Rose’s day, spent mostly on her computer either managing requests (an event blog isn’t working, a volunteer needs help designing a logo) or attending to more serious concerns, like finding out a British charity wasn’t actually registered in the UK. Of course, the hardest challenge is creating a global community of enthusiastic volunteers managed by a team you can trust. That takes time, and there are unfortunately no shortcuts. Rose was able to build her current team thanks to two years of running Twestival largely by herself. She’s also made sure to show, as best she can, how the money raised is being used. Every year, Twestival releases a feedback video like the one above featuring Miriam’s Kitchen, a DC-based homeless services agency. The videos go a long way toward promoting the festival and its charities, and showing participants how their money went to use. ConclusionPlanning for this year’s Twestival is far from over, with more than a month before the 24th officially hits. In the mean time, Rose and her team will be busy managing minor flare-ups, stoking volunteer enthusiasm, prepping support materials and troubleshooting problems, technical and otherwise. After Twestival, Rose plans to shut herself off from tech for a few weeks to decompress before — potentially — launching into Twestival Global 2012. She remains amusedly committed to the cause: “All they’re doing is throwing an event and getting drunk, but really the only way you can change things is with small steps, and to do that with enthusiasm.” More Social Good Resources from Mashable:
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, CostinT More About: Amanda Rose, charity, global, non-profit, social good, social media, twestival, twitter For more Social Good coverage:
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| 5 Tech Advances That Are Transforming Digital Entertainment Posted: 09 Feb 2011 10:50 AM PST
Fire used to be a really big deal, but now, with motion gaming, 3D technology and touchscreen interfaces, you can get that campfire experience with some of the latest, most creative advancements in digital entertainment. The picks below are obviously not exhaustive, and the timeline necessarily skews to more recent tech (the radio was also a huge advancement, but you’ve probably heard of it). Still, the selections below promise — or promised — to blow open how we experience digital entertainment. Gather ’round. 1. Motion GamingWhen the next generation video game consoles hit the market, most hardcore gamers saw the Nintendo Wii as a novelty — a toy. The console lacked the computing power of the Xbox 360 or PS3, and you played by waving your controller at the screen. The Wii then proceeded to outsell both consoles consistently. Oh, snap. The Wii has not only been a success, but it has changed the way video games are played. Sony and Microsoft have both now jumped into the motion gaming craze with the Playstation Move (with controllers much like the Wii’s) and the entirely hands-free Xbox Kinect. Both the Move and Kinect have been selling well, with the Kinect actually outselling the Wii, ending Nintendo’s dominance on the console sales charts. Despite some grumbles that motion gaming is just for the casual crowd, its simplified and natural controls make it a good time to be a gamer of any skill level. 2. 3DGone are the days when 3D was just a gimmick stapled onto bad theme park rides. Also gone are the days of having to put on those red-and-blue glasses to get a grainy 3D experience. The new wave of 3D is sharper, more colorful, and more complex than ever. Plus, we get to wear much cooler glasses. 3D has not only changed film, but its also invading our homes with 3D-enabled televisions and even game systems like Nintendo’s hand-held 3DS. While 3D technology has been around for a while, technology, like upped frame-rates and extraordinarily fast computers have made it both easier and less-expensive to produce. The tech is also making its way to consumer cameras and even 3D-enabled laptops. Not only has 3D changed the way we experience entertainment, it’s changing how much we’ll pay for it. 3D movies both cost more and make more money, while TV execs are scrambling to get 3D shows for those expensive new TV sets. The highest-grossing movie in the history of movies? James Cameron’s 3D spectacular, Avatar. 3. Digital TelevisionDigital television providers like Hulu may not seem like a big deal. It’s just the television you’d normally watch, but on a smaller screen, right? Hulu has changed how we receive our shows (a day late, but with total control) and has changed how advertisers think of commercials. You’re able to vote up commercials you like, and even enjoy interactive features like brief product demos and videos within commercials. Digital (and usually free) television has also paved the way for a whole new generation of TV viewing with the release of a slew of digital cable boxes like Google TV, Apple TV, Roku, Boxee and more. These boxes make it possible to get movies from Netflix, watch television through digital providers, and sometimes even circumvent major providers like Time Warner and Comcast. The digital format allows for more interactivity with social networks while doing away with some downsides of appointment television. Digital television probably won’t kill the TV business as we know it, but it is a creative and viable competitor to the long established giants. 4. AirPlayWireless networks like Bluetooth and grand-daddy Wi-Fi have had a huge impact on digital entertainment. More than just connecting to the Internet, these network make all those television boxes mentioned above much easier to use and far more flexible. Bluetooth headsets, either the bane or light of your existence, wouldn’t be possible without wireless networks. Apple is trying to up the game on Bluetooth as well, with the introduction of its aptly named AirPlay system. By putting wireless technology into your speakers, you can play media from iTunes on any enabled speakers with just the click of a button. More than that, AirPlay also allows you to send videos, photos, and more to any screen that is hooked up to the system. 5. TouchscreensTouchscreens had a mixed reputation for some time. The idea always fascinated us, but the grimy, ill-functioning screens stationed at museum information posts didn’t leave a great first impression. Apple upped the game with the iPhone and it’s incredibly responsive, entirely enjoyable UI. Since then iPhone, imitators have had their shot at touchscreen fame. The iPad was just the latest iteration of Apple’s touchscreen magic. The next wave of tablets, however, look like they will give the iPad a serious run for its money. Touchscreens are a must-have UX for any company’s stable of mobile products and has actually created a new style of enormously successful apps. Do you think Angry Birds would be as much fun on a QWERTY keyboard? What are some of your favorite pieces of creative tech that have changed the way we consume digital entertainment? Does YouTube count? What would you add to this list to make it better? Sound off in the comments. Series Supported by Dolby  The Innovative Entertainment Series is supported by Dolby. On February 18th, Adam West comes to Facebook to make status updates sound amazing. “Like” the Dolby page to get started. More Tech Resources from Mashable:
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, enot-poloskun More About: airplay, Apple TV, gaming, google tv, hulu, Innovative Entertainment Series, nintendo 3ds, playstation move, video games, xbox kinext For more Tech & Gadgets coverage:
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| Kmart Launches “Concierge Service” for Fashion Week Attendees Posted: 09 Feb 2011 10:35 AM PST   A select number of New York Fashion Week attendees, including bloggers and other “influencers,” will be getting a little extra attention this week, courtesy of Kmart. The mass retailer has equipped a number of them with a “survival kit” containing an assortment of small essentials, including lip balm, breath mints and stockings, to help them make it through the week. Should kit recipients need a refill of any of these items — or if they should need, for example, stain remover or a compact sewing kit — they can simply send a request to @KmartFashion over Twitter, select menu items using the #KmartConcierge hashtag and direct message their location details for hand delivery. The service is available between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. through next Thursday. It’s a clever initiative — and the first the retailer has launched during Fashion Week. Many a Twitter user will be avidly following the tweets of New York Fashion Week attendees, and Kmart hopes that the #KmartConcierge will be intriguing enough for followers to click through to learn more. Its success depends, of course, on whether those who receive the kits will use them, which will depend in turn on whether they need the items, and whether they find it it easier to wait for delivery or to run to the local Duane Reade. Perhaps the novelty of the service will be enough for them to try it amidst the minute-to-minute parade that is Fashion Week in New York. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, sjlocke More About: fashion, fashion week, kmart, MARKETING, nyfw, twitter For more Business & Marketing coverage:
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| HP Unveils the Palm Pre 3, TouchPad Tablet and More [LIVE] Posted: 09 Feb 2011 10:06 AM PST   HP is about to launch a wave of new webOS devices, including the Palm Pre 3 and its answer to the Apple iPad. We’re here live at HP’s webOS event in San Francisco, where the company is expected to unveil a series of new phones and a tablet called the TouchPad. HP has decked out the Herbst Pavilion in San Francisco for the main event, and the room is filled with journalists, analysts, partners, staff and guests. HP acquired Palm last year for $1.2 billion, and now the company is looking to cash in on its investment. Can the hardware giant help Palm make a comeback in a market dominated by Android and iOS? Will the TouchPad be a viable competitor to the iPad or will it simply flop? What else does HP have up its sleeve? We’re about to get some answers. Here are my live notes from today’s event: HP’s WebOS event: Live Notes & PicsHP Event HP Event HP Event HP Event HP Event HP Event HP Event HP Event HP Event HP Event HP Event HP Event.JPG "HP Event") HP Event.JPG "HP Event") HP Event.JPG "HP Event") HP Event.JPG "HP Event") HP Event HP Event HP Event HP Event HP Event HP Event HP Event HP Event HP Event HP Event HP Event HP Event HP Event HP Event HP Event HP Event HP Event HP Event All times are in Pacific Time 9:55 a.m.: After waiting in line for 20 minutes, I’m finally in the Herbst Pavilion. There is HP blue everywhere. 9:58: We’re being ushered into the room now. There’s a giant screen with HP’s logo and at least 200 people packed in this room. I hear there won’t be any “special guests,” so don’t expect some type of surprise partnership announcement. 10:05: Event still hasn’t started yet. So, who wants a TouchPad? I wonder how much it will cost. 10:10: Still no event. It’s been leaked that one of the phones it’s launching today is incredibly small, like pebble-sized. At least that’s what tech blogger Robert Scoble says. 10:14: The techies are still working on the podium. And I just spotted a photographer that looks just like Justin Bieber. As you can tell, I’m getting bored waiting for HP. Show us some tablets already! 10:15: Lights are dimming, here we go. 10:15: Todd Bradley, the EVP of HP’s Personal Systems Group is on stage. He’s speaking about “firsts” — first experiences, breakthroughs, etc. He’s going to argue that what they’ve done with webOS is a “first.” 10:18: HP made the first portable PC, the first inkjet printer, the first pocket calculator, Bradley brags. 10:21: More on HP: It ships 120 PCs per minute and 120 printers per minute. 10:22: Bradley is talking about his relationship with the Palm team. He assigned hundreds of extra engineers to an “already talented team” to take webOS to the next level. 10:23: It’s a connected world with Facebook, YouTube, Pandora, etc. But nobody has created a solution for effortless access to “that digital universe, no matter which HP device you access it on.” 10:24: We’re making something unique, that will engage and get people excited, Bradley says. 10:25: Bradley is introducing John Rubinstein, the former CEO of Palm and senior vice president and GM of the webOS division. 10:26: “Synergy” — Rubinstein is talking about the webOS feature…but nothing revealed quite yet. 10:28: Rubinstein just quoted one of my articles! Kind of exciting. Will upload a picture. 10:30: The industry has been moving toward larger and larger phones, but that’s not the right size for everyone. 10:31: HP Veer announced. Size of a credit card, 2.6-inch 320×400 touch screen, QWERTY keyboard, GPS, Adobe Flash. USB port… 10:32: HSPA+, 802.11 b/g, bluetooth, 8GB storage, same RAM as the Pre 2, uses Qualcomm Snapdragon second generation processor. Accelerometer included. 10:33: HP Mobile hotspot feature. 10:34: HP’s second phone is for professionals: the Palm Pre 3. 10:34: Largest QWERTY keyboard, gesture area, 3.6-inch 480×800 WVGA display, 5-megapixel camera, front-facing camera. 10:35: HSPA+ and EVDO rev. 1.4GHz Snapdragon processor. 10:35: Pre 3 available this summer. 10:36: HP Touchstone technology. When you’re charging your phone, the phone goes into “exhibition mode” to show off your calendar, pictures, etc. It’ll know what content to show based on where you’re docked — it’ll be work stuff at work and personal stuff at home. 10:38: HP launches the Touchpad. 13.7mm thick, 1.6 pounds, 9.7-inch 1024×768 display, 1.3-megapixel webcam, video calling, Beats Audio technology, stereo speakers. 10:39: Wi-Fi 802.11 and Bluetooth 2.1, 16 or 32 GB storage. Gyroscope, accelerometer and compass. 10:40 The tablet version of webOS uses “Card Stacks” to manage applications. You just flick applications to open/close/use them. 10:41: “An unmatched e-mail experience.” If you already own a webOS phone, you just have to type in your username and password and all of your information shows up. 10:42: Rubinstein is talking up its ability to work for both the workplace and for fun. 10:43: Accessories: stand, compact wireless keyboard, Touchstone charging docks, can charge it even if it’s in its case. 10:44: Demo by Sachin Kansal, director of product management. He’s demoing some of the new webOS devices and their features. 10:46: He’s discussing how seamless it is to move from one webOS device to another. 10:47: Nice demo. Kansal got a text message on his Pre, but instead of grabbing the phone, he pulled it up on the HP webOS tablet. You can text from the tablet if you have a webOS phone. 10:49: Showing off the different apps. Calendar…browsers…and now stacking. You can stack different apps/activities in one place. To close it, you just flick it off the screen. 10:50: “This takes tablet UI to a whole new level.” 10:51: Now HP is showing off e-mail in the TouchPad. You can just drag the e-mail left and right to make it full screen or reveal your Gmail inbox. 10:52: There are three views for TouchPad e-mail. You can see all of your inboxes, a specific inbox and a specific e-mail on one page. 10:52: “Multiselect” — feature that lets you select multiple e-mails and delete/archive/move them. 10:53: A full version of QuickOffice will be available for the TouchPad. 10:55: Kansal is showing off Flash on the TouchPad. No apparent slowdowns. It works just like a video. 10:57: Demo of the message notification system. You can just swipe through chat messages and e-mails until you find something you want to reply to. 10:58: You can change the size of the virtual keyboard. 11:00 HP has expanded on Apple’s Spotlight Search feature. Not only can you search universally, but you can access actions like sending a tweet, updating your Facebook status and more. 11:01: The TouchPad photo app can access not only your photos, but your Photobucket and Facebook photos. Oh, and it supports printing on HP network printers over the last few years. 11:02: You can even view or add Facebook comments right from HP’s photo application. 11:04: In a few days, a game developer was able to port a game to the webOS platform. Games don’t look as crisp as they do on the iPad, but it does look good. 11:05: Amazon is partnering with HP to include Kindle books on the TouchPad. Smart move — why reinvent the e-book wheel when you can just put the biggest e-book store out there on your device? 11:07: Very simple interface, but with some webOS flair. 11:07: Video chat is being demoed on stage. Rubinstein just called Kunsal on stage. Seems to run pretty smoothly. 11:10: Awesome feature: You can just hold your webOS phone on top of the TouchPad and it will automatically transfer web pages between the two devices. It’s called “Touch to Share.” 11:12: Rubinstein is back on stage to talk about partners. DreamWorks is partnering with HP to deliver movies to the TouchPad at launch. 11:13: Video: DreamWorks CEO talking up HP and the TouchPad. 11:14: Wi-Fi verison available this summer, 3G and 4G-enabled version will follow that launch. 11:15: Qualcomm CEO Dr. Paul Jacobs is now taking the stage. 11:16: “We really focus on building innovative technologies and solutions that enable our customers to deliver the best mobile experiences possible.” 11:17: 399 million chipsets delivered in 2010. 11:17: Focusing heavily in R&D. We can offer what no other company can. 11:20: More rah rah talk about Qualcomm, about being the best at ARM chipsets, more rah rah talk about the Snapdragon processors. 11:23: Still more ‘Hooray, Qualcomm’s processors are awesome’ talk. Nothing you wouldn’t expect from an adept CEO who knows what the hell he or she’s talking about. 11:25: Jimmy Lovine, CEO of Beats by Dr. Dre and chairman of Interscope Records is on stage. 11:26: Beats by Dr. Dre is a company trying to fix the “degradation” of music quality. Working on everything from the file to the PC to the headphones and to speakers that will deliver a better audio experience. 11:27: Interscope, Beats by Dr. Dre, etc. are going for 24-bit music now, rather than the 16 bit that is usually shipped by record labels. Apple’s been working with them on music quality. 11:28: Bradley and Lovine spoke about improving sound quality for HP devices. They started with the HP Envy…had Kanye West, Bono and other musicians listen to the qualities. Now 1 million HP laptops ship with Beats by Dr. Dre. 11:31: You can’t help but listen to this guy. He cares about music quality…a lot. He seems proud to be working with HP to truly improve music quality. “Only PC in the world that can do that.” 11:34: HP SVP of Applications and Services Steven McArthur is talking about developers. They worked with Facebook for the new webOS app. 11:38: WebOS 2.1 will launch soon. McArthur is talking about application developers, different applications that are being built for the device, and tonight’s webOS developer event (we will be there). 11:39: HP Movie Store…and a series of new webOS games. Rock Band, Sims, Assassins Creed… 11:40: Oh, and of course, he’s thrilled the Amazon Kindle app is on webOS. 11:41: Digital video about Time Magazine‘s integration with webOS. 11:44: Randall Rothenberg, Time‘s chief digital officer, is now on stage. As you might expect, he’s talking about Time‘s integrations with webOS. 11:48: My laptop’s at the end of its battery, so I’m closing shop. Things are wrapping up here. Will have more pictures of the device later today. Thanks for reading with us! More About: HP, Mobile 2.0, palm, Palm Pre, PalmPad, Touchpad, webOS For more Mobile coverage:
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| Palm Planning to Launch TouchPad, Pre 3 and HP Veer Posted: 09 Feb 2011 10:00 AM PST   HP/Palm is holding a special webOS event in San Francisco Wednesday and thanks to a leak from the HP website, we know the company will be announcing the HP Veer, the Pre 3 and the pièce de résistance, the TouchPad. We’ve been expecting some sort of webOS tablet to hit the market, practically from the moment HP announced it was acquiring Palm. According to PreCentral, the new TouchPad — formerly known as Topaz — will weigh 1.5 lbs and be 13 mm thick. If that sounds familiar that’s because those are the same dimensions as the iPad.  As for the other two devices, the Pre 3 is expected to be an update to the venerable Palm Pre. Meanwhile, Robert Scoble has already had a look at the HP Veer and he calls it “the smallest little phone I’ve ever seen.” Mashable will be reporting live from the HP/Palm event. [via Precentral 2] Photo courtesy of @derSnemelc For more Mobile coverage:
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| The iPhone Ad War: AT&T vs. Verizon Posted: 09 Feb 2011 09:09 AM PST   Verizon’s iPhone hasn’t even hit stores yet, but the telecom and its rival AT&T have already started a fight via TV advertising. Verizon’s iPhone goes on sale Thursday, about a week after the two brands started lobbing advertising jabs at one another. Verizon’s first iPhone ad, which went live on January 20, features lots of ticking clocks, dramatic music and shots of people waiting nervously for midnight to roll around so Verizon could begin offering the iPhone. Voiceover: “To our millions of customers, who never stopped believing this day would come. Thank you.” AT&T responded by running an ad playing on the Verizon iPhone’s biggest handicap: the inability to talk and surf at the same time. The ad, which hit YouTube on February 4, shows a man working late in the office when he receives a call from his wife reminding him that that night was their anniversary. The man then frantically searches restaurants on his iPhone while carrying on the conversation. The next Verizon ad took off the gloves. The spot, which ran during the Super Bowl in some markets, including New York, featured the Verizon Test Man offering a variation on the company’s tagline: “Yes, I can hear you now.” Zing! Finally, Apple’s iPhone ad took a “can’t we all just get along” approach, showing both phones performing at the same speeds. The kicker: “Two is Better Than One.” What do you think? Whose ads were the best? More About: advertising, att, iphone, verizon For more Business & Marketing coverage:
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| Chrome Extension Surfaces Most Relevant Tweets Based on Your Reading Habits Posted: 09 Feb 2011 09:00 AM PST   My6sense has launched a Google Chrome extension for Twitter.com, designed to make it easier to find a user’s most relevant tweets while filtering out the junk. My6sense is a platform that takes streams of data (primarily RSS) and tracks your reading behavior in order to figure out which content you like the most. It then bring stories it anticipates you’ll like to the top of your stream while burying the rest, utilizing an algorithm it calls “Digital Intuition.” The company launched its iPhone app in 2009 and debuted its Android app and Attention API last year. My6sense for Twitter.com, launching today as a Google Chrome extension, adds a new “my6sense” menu item to the Twitter.com homepage. It utilizes the same underlying technology as its iPhone and Android apps to figure out which tweets you’re mostly likely to find relevant and bring them to the top of your stream. Instead of having to read through thousands of mundane tweets from the people you follow, my6sense chooses a small selection of tweets you’re likely interested in, based on your previous reading habits. My6sense for Twitter.com has four filter options that only surface the most relevant tweets from the last six, 12, 24 and 48 hours. Unlike the Twitter timeline, my6sense doesn’t order tweets chronologically, but by relevancy. While my6sense has garnered attention for its ability to detect personally relevant content, the Chrome extension is not perfect. The best results will be achieved by regular users of my6sense because the service already knows what type of content they are interested in reading. The Twitter.com extension also has a bias towards tweets with links. That makes sense (links tend to be the most useful part of any tweet), but that bias might bury something like an important life update from your friend. The need for a Twitter filter is there though, especially as more content is produced on Twitter and more people use it as their primary source of news. Removing the tweets about making sandwiches in favor of articles concerning the Egypt crisis could make the life of a busy professional just a little easier. My6sense hopes to bring its Twitter relevancy filter to other browsers (like Firefox) and to other platforms in the near future.  More About: chrome, google chrome, my6sense, twitter, Twitter.com For more Social Media coverage:
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| Send a Free Card to Your Valentine Courtesy of Quotes Website Posted: 09 Feb 2011 07:44 AM PST   Have a lovely beau, but no dough? Well, thanks to online quote community Quotables, you can send your significant other a free card on V-Day, emblazoned with words of your own choosing. For the next 48 hours, Quotables is making on-demand cards and e-cards for the lovelorn masses — for free. Just visit the site, type in a quote (you know, a line from “Sonnet 18,” or something more homespun), choose a delivery method (those in the UK can send physical cards, everyone else has to stick to the digital variety) and wait for the confirmation e-mail. Following arrival of said e-mail, you can address your card to your friend, lover or cat. Your card should arrival on February 14. If you’ve already entered our nerdy Valentine contest, you’re sure to have some zingers already up your sleeve. How do you plan to woo your significant other (real or imaginary) this Valentine’s Day? Photo courtesy of Flickr, Wolfiewolf More About: pop culture, valetine's day For more Media coverage:
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| Nokia CEO Says Company Is Standing on a “Burning Platform” Posted: 09 Feb 2011 07:26 AM PST   “We too, are standing on a ‘burning platform,’ and we must decide how we are going to change our behaviour.” This quote comes from Nokia CEO Stephen Elop. The platform that he refers to is metaphorical, but one can easily understand it as Symbian, or Maemo, or MeeGo or any of Nokia’s attempts at developing or upgrading a smartphone platform that would be competitive with the modern mobile operating systems, such as Apple’s iOS or Google’s Android. To many users, it’s been apparent for years that Nokia has failed to keep up with competitors. It is now easy to substantiate this claim, as Nokia has been rapidly losing smartphone market share in the past couple quarters. But it’s been even easier to realize this by using a smartphone built by Nokia and an iPhone or Android device. Simply put, Nokia’s smartphones aren’t good enough. Now, in a surprisingly honest internal memo, Elop has addressed Nokia’s employees, admitting exactly that. You can read the memo in its entirety below, but here are some of the highlights. Starting out with a parable of a man on a burning platform, Elop says the man had a “radical change in his behaviour.” He then talks directly about Apple and Android, admitting that Apple has “changed the game, and today, Apple owns the high-end range,” while “Google has become a gravitational force, drawing much of the industry’s innovation to its core.” Elop then admits that Nokia “fell behind,” “missed big trends” and “lost time.” Finally, he announces a big strategy change. “When we share the new strategy on February 11, it will be a huge effort to transform our company,” he said. Could Nokia be abandoning Symbian and, possibly, MeeGo as well? Could it finally be joining the ranks of manufacturers that embraced Google’s Android as the platform of choice, content merely to produce the hardware and perhaps add a thin layer of its own user experience on top? We don’t know, but we agree with Elop: Nokia needs to drastically redefine its smartphone strategy. Check out the entire memo below.
More About: android, apple, burning platform, Google, iOS, Nokia, Symbian For more Mobile coverage:
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| Mitsubishi Breaks 5 Guinness World Records in 24 Hours [VIDEO] Posted: 09 Feb 2011 07:14 AM PST   Mitsubishi is taking a unique approach to draw attention to its all-wheel drive vehicles: The automaker broke five Guinness World Records relating to driving in winter conditions. Mitsubishi, along with its agency, 180 Los Angeles, and Guinness World Records, traveled to Ghost Lake in Alberta, Canada, with the goal “to do something that’s never been done before, set as many world records as possible in 24 hours.” The Outlander and Outlander Sport are now the most awarded family of all-wheel drive vehicles, having done just that. This feat marks the latest marketing campaign for the company, as it celebrates the five records broken in that time span, including:
The broken records and marketing campaign demonstrate the power of the all-wheel control system on the Outlander family of vehicles, which “makes driving in adverse road conditions more stable, more predictable and safer overall,” as described by Mitsubishi. Mitsubishi’s VP of marketing, Greg Adams, notes that the control system is “even more relevant given the recent unpredictability in the weather.” The campaign launches today, featuring television, digital, social media and PR efforts. Two television spots highlight the Outlander’s performance in extreme conditions and will run on 12 network and cable TV stations. The digital component, traditional in approach, will include homepage takeovers, online banners and social media marketing. All digital assets will point consumers to Mitsubishi’s website for a behind-the-scenes look at how the Outlander family performed on each world record. Here’s an overview: This initiative follows Mitsubishi’s recent “Live Drive” campaign, the world’s first online test drive, where the Outlander Sport was awarded its first Guinness World Record for the longest distance driven by a vehicle operated online. It looks like Mitsubishi is on a roll to rack up world records. What do you think of this marketing strategy? Let us know in the comments. More About: business, guinness world records, Mitsubishi, Outlander For more Business & Marketing coverage:
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| 7 Ways Print Magazines Are Using Social Media to Engage Readers Posted: 09 Feb 2011 06:49 AM PST   Gina Gotthilf (aka “ginafrombrazil”) is a social media and emerging technologies strategist at BlueGlass Inc. She focuses primarily on fashion and publisher strategies and has worked with some of the largest names in both industries. You can connect with her on Twitter or learn more about her on LinkedIn. The demise of print media is commonly attributed to the success of free, easily accessible digital media. However, some editors have embraced it as a way to enhance their magazines' content and increase revenue. We've compiled seven ways in which magazines are successfully employing social media to create an editorial journey for readers, rather than just a linear reading experience. 1. Curating ContentThe proliferation of online content has led many publications to embrace collaboration and external content curation. Editors are striving to provide the most value to their readers in part by recommending articles from other sources and niche publications to follow, as well as by sharing links posted by their community. On Twitter, magazines have begun to recognize that being seen as the authority in their field is more important than just tweeting their own content. Editors are occasionally retweeting external links that they find relevant to their community and using Twitter lists to suggest additional accounts worth following. Tumblr, the platform recently touted as the print magazine messiah based on its (apparent) rescue of Newsweek, is also being used to curate content in the form of reblogging and “Tumblr Tuesday” recommendations. Newsweek, The Atlantic and The Huffington Post (the ultimate content curator) all reblog content from around the web on their Tumblogs. The result is a network of dynamic, interactive and ultra-relevant magazine outlets. 2. Expanding Editorial Content Magazines have always sought to understand their audience and cater to their interests. Now, savvy publications are using social media to harvest ideas based on feedback from their social media communities to efficiently craft future issues. By asking questions across social profiles, monitoring comments and measuring response rates, editors can measure their readers' pulse more accurately than ever. Some editors are even using social media as a direct source of content. The Travel + Leisure Facebook Page, for instance, wisely entices its fans with the opportunity to be featured in one of their favorite print publications while collecting quotes and content to plug into upcoming pieces. The possibility of being featured in one of their favorite print publications entices fans to contribute online. Playboy Magazine's #FriskyFriday takes reader contribution a step further, allowing female followers to submit nude or provocative images of themselves. Many other magazines encourage photo submissions via contests or prompt fans to respond to Facebook polls. Beyond adding depth to upcoming issues and digital content, these publications have opened a regular dialogue and established a lasting relationship with their readers. 3. Offering Expertise in Real Time Magazines are invaluable sources of niche content thanks to their qualified staff, influential connections and collective knowledge. Some editors are providing their readers with the ability to connect with experts in real time via social media platforms. Food & Wine Magazine, for example, hosts periodical Twitter and Facebook chats in which fans and followers can speak to selected editors or chefs about recipes and dining tips. Conde Nast's Traveler Magazine similarly encourages its followers to ask editors travel questions using Tumblr's Ask feature. Meanwhile, Lucky Magazine has created a Foursquare page with tips for shopping destinations that readers can access on-the-go from their smartphones. Spin Magazine created a musical scavenger hunt during last year's SXSW festival, featuring band recommendations within the location-based application, for its most geeky followers. By positioning themselves as the information destinations — with more than static articles — these magazines have become a part of their readers' daily routines. 4. Catalyzing Connections Knowing that friendships often evolve from similar interests, some magazines have taken to helping their community members meet and interact amongst themselves. Facebook and on-site communities are being optimized for conversation. Cosmopolitan Magazine, for example, promotes community member questions on their site via Facebook. This generates very personal comments and responses to and from Cosmo readers as members relate to each others' experiences and offer advice. Offline, Meetup.com offers the easiest and most relevant platform for forming connections around similar interests. Philosophy Now has built its own Meetup Everywhere page, encouraging readers to congregate across the U.S. and U.K. to discuss their favorite magazine-related topics. The tactics adopted by these marketing-savvy publications generate relationships and conversations around their brand — on and offline. 5. Leveraging Influence While the average Twitter user has fewer than 350 followers, brands and well-known magazines spend time and money collecting large, relevant groups of thousands of followers. As a result, a tweet from a magazine such as Vogue has much larger amplification and will likely generate far more retweets and replies than that of an average user. With the goal of adding value to their followers, some magazines are using their niche influence status to help users obtain the responses they need by retweeting questions. Not only does this strengthen these magazines' relationships with their readers, but it also positions them as the ultimate source for information — even when they merely act as conduits for that information. 6. Extending the Editorial Experience With social media, magazines can add context and entertainment value to otherwise flat pieces of writing. Beyond text and images, stories may be enhanced with polls, videos, games, real-time chats, answers to tangential questions and a peek behind the scenes. Cosmopolitan already has used Facebook games to entertain bored fans at work. Time allows its Facebook community members to create faux "Person of the Year" images to share with their friends. Magazines have also begun to make use of the newest social media sweetheart, Instagram. National Geographic shares beautiful photos with the smartphone application, while Playboy uses it to share backstage moments. 7. Monetizing Social Media Banner ads may still be the most common form of digital monetization for online magazines, but creative uses of social media profiles have increased opportunities for partners and advertisers. Sponsored Twitter backgrounds and tweets, as well as sponsored Facebook messages and landing tabs are a few ways in which magazines are taking advantage of their large social media audiences for direct revenue. Have you seen interesting uses of social media by print magazines? Will this newfound openness to digital media suffice to save traditional print-based media? Let us know in the comments below. Disclosure: Food & Wine and Travel + Leisure are clients of BlueGlass Inc. More Social Media Resources from Mashable:
Thumbnail image courtesy of Flickr, Rodrigo Galindez. More About: facebook, magazine, media, print, social media, twitter For more Social Media coverage:
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| Michelle Obama Doesn’t Want Her Kids to Use Facebook Posted: 09 Feb 2011 06:43 AM PST   Is Facebook a good place for kids? U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama doesn’t seem to think so. She says she’s happy her daughters aren’t using the popular social networking service. Obama’s daughters, Sasha, 9, and Malia, 12, aren’t allowed to use Facebook for security purposes. However, the first lady isn’t too concerned about her daughters missing out. Facebook is “not something they need,” she said. “I’m not a big fan of young kids having Facebook,” Obama said on NBC’s Today Show Wednesday. President Obama is also aware of the perils of social networking. Speaking to students in a Virginia high school, Obama also warned the kids about Facebook, telling them to be “careful about what (they) post on Facebook” as it will be “pulled up again later somewhere in (their) life”. Facebook restricts user sign up to 13 years of age or older, but at what age should parents start allowing their children to use online social networking services? Please, share your opinions in the comments. Image courtesy of whitehouse.gov. [via Associated Press] More About: facebook, Kids, michelle obama, social networking, trending For more Social Media coverage:
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How do you manage a team of 20 people spread across different countries and multiple time zones? Rose has assembled a paperless “office” (picture at right) and relies heavily on Skype and Huddle to both set up group calls and make changes to key documents. 
The idea of “sitting around the campfire” persists into the modern age. Now, however, there is much less “campfire.” The idea has come to mean a group of people sitting around a communal piece of entertainment.| You are subscribed to email updates from Mashable! To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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