Mashable: Latest 29 News Updates - including “Salesforce Acquires Radian6 For $326 Million”

Additionally, approximately $10M in stock and $4M in cash will be issued to founders and will be subject to vesting conditions over two years. The acquisition has been approved by Radian6′s board of directors and stockholders and is expected to close by July 31, 2011, subject to customary closing conditions.

“With Radian6, salesforce.com is gaining the technology and market leader in social media monitoring,” chairman and CEO of Salesforce Marc Benioff said in the company's announcement.

This is the third large acquisition in recent months by Salesforce, which has acquired Ruby cloud platform Heroku for $212 million in December. That same month, Salesforce also acquired contact management startup Etacts for an undisclosed amount, and in January, the company scooped up web conferencing service Dimdim for $31 million.

Social media management and monitoring space has been the center of several large investments and acquisitions lately. In February, Vitrue secured $17 million in funding, while Buddy Media raised $23 million last October.

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The company launched Skype in the Classroom, a dedicated teacher network, on Tuesday. Using the platform, teachers can create profiles that describe their classes and teaching interests. They can also search a directory of teachers from all over the world by student age range, language and subject.

Since the beta version launched in December, about 4,000 teachers have signed up. Many of them have used the network to coordinate Skype projects with other schools. Teacher Kara Lornejo, for instance, used the directory to find five partner classes for a “weather around the world” unit she was coordinating for her fifth grade class in Missouri.

“We use Skype all the time in my classroom…I always had to find teachers over Twitter or some other resources,” she said in a video about her experience. “Now to know that Skype has their own directory is awesome.”

A “project” tab in the new version of Skype in the Classroom allows users to post and search for projects that, like Lorenjo’s weather project, require collaboration. A map that shows teachers by location is also a new addition to the site.

Accommodating teachers is a natural move for Skype. Several independent sites have already established Skype teacher phone books, class collaboration directories and virtual language exchange programs to accommodate the growing number of educators who are using the videoconferencing platform as a learning tool.

“We saw that growth, and we wanted to find a way to support that community,” Skype spokesperson Jacqueline Botterill says. “There are a number of online platforms that were trying to galvanize those communities, but they’re quite fragmented and disparate, so we’re trying to create one place where teachers can come together.”

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"Apple is great if you've got a lot of money and live on an island. It's not so great if you have to exist in a diverse, open, connected enterprise; simple things become quite complex," Andy Lark, Dell's global head of marketing for large enterprises and public organisations, said to CIO Australia.

As a company that plans to build tablets based on Android and WP7, it’s understandable that Dell is bearish on Apple’s iPad. Unfortunately, Lark chooses to back his claims with an example that simply doesn’t add up.

"An iPad with a keyboard, a mouse and a case [means] you'll be at $1500 or $1600; that's double of what you're paying. That's not feasible," says Lark.

The cheapest iPad 2 model costs $499. A dock is $29, and a wireless keyboard is $69. Case options abound and range between $20 and $100, with Apple’s Smart Cover starting at $39. The iPad doesn’t natively support a mouse (you can use a hack on a jailbroken iPad to use a Bluetooth mouse with a device, though), but even if it did, you can get a decent wireless mouse for $20.

Add all that up, and you’re nowhere near Lark’s figures, even if you go with the most expensive iPad model which costs $829. It’s fine to believe in the success of Android, but if you’re going to dismiss the iPad, using bogus numbers simply won’t convince anyone.

[CIO via TUAW]

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Viewers who want to pair real-time online conversation with television, however, are still left out when it comes to television-on-demand.

Startup service TweePlayer, which launched its public beta Tuesday, aims to provide a solution for these viewers that gives the best of both worlds. The product records real-time conversations surrounding television events and syncs them with recorded episodes.

Users can select Twitter conversations from shows, sporting events or award shows to play as they watch the recorded event on their televisions. If they want to add something, their tweet is inserted into the conversation as though it were actually happening in real-time. Other TweePlayer users who play the conversation will see that tweet at the appropriate time.

So far, the startup has a list of about 5,000 events for which it is recording conversations based on dynamic target keywords. While television shows make up the bulk of this list, it’s also possible to apply the tool to conference videos, podcasts or any other type of media. Users can create their own “Twitter event harvests” by following @TweePLayer on Twitter and adding an event.

Eventually the company plans to give users an option to create more specific conversation channels. Someone could, for instance, create a “spoiler free” channel for a television show. Options to limit conversations to social network connections or people nearby are also in the pipeline.

When it comes to monetizing the tweet harvester, CEO and founder Mick Darling says there are a few options. Tomorrowish, the startup behind TweePlayer, might provide white box solutions for companies like Hulu, or it might sell premium accounts that include commentary from people like actors and conference keynotes. Darling is also talking with several brands about providing sentiment and engagement analytics for specific television shows.

[data via NYT and Park Associates]

More About: DVR, Tomorrowish, TweePlayer, twitter

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Name: Evisors

Quick Pitch: Evisors is a marketplace for expert advice.

Genius Idea: Making it easy for anyone to connect with an expert regardless of their networking skills.

Anybody who has ever worked an alumni directory or searched for a job understands the power of expert advice. But as powerful as the right advice can be, soliciting it is a challenge for those who lack natural networking prowess.

Evisors cuts out the introduction dance involved in soliciting expert advice and replaces it with a marketplace.

Experts set their own hourly rates, ranging from $75-$600 per hour, for which they are willing to take phone calls or answer questions by email. Customers browse experts’ work history and educational backgrounds to determine who will best be able to help them. If they find someone who fits the bill, they can sign up for an open time slot in said expert’s schedule. Evisors then charges them a fixed percentage of the consultation in exchange for coordinating the meeting.

To find experts for the site’s September beta launch, Evisor’s four co-founders relied on their own networks. Three of them are recent Harvard Business School graduates, and one is a Wharton School of Business graduate. CEO Fredrik Maro is a veteran of prestigious consulting firm McKinsey. Between the team’s connections, they had no problem signing the first 250 experts.

The current directory of about 600 experts looks a bit like an exclusive LinkedIn. Most advisors were referred to Evisors by other experts on the site, but there is also a selective vetting process that sometimes includes an interview.

Some of the site’s experts, being such, surely make more than the highest listed hourly rate on Evisors, but Maro says that it’s about more than a cash exchange.

“What we noticed at business school, is that a lot of people get asked for advice: Can you look at my resume? Can you look at my application? And they’ll help their immediate network of family and friends, but beyond that they can’t justify the time,” Maro says. “At Evisors, we try to solve that problem by making it easy … all they have to do is click yes and at 2 p.m. the phone rings and they talk for an hour … I think the main motivation is that people enjoy helping out, and us paying them helps justify the fact that they’re talking to strangers.”

For now, the startup is focusing on career advice and school admissions advice. There is also a general advice section that includes experts in everything from investment strategy to restaurants. Maro says he hopes to expand the later section as the company grows. It is currently wrapping up a seed investment round that might help with this effort.

Another developing revenue stream for Evisors is from universities like Cambridge and McGill that have started purchasing memberships to Evisors for their career departments. Memberships give the schools a discounted rate on the paid-by-the hour advice. Schools sign students up for appointments to review resumes, attend mock interviews, and converse about their job searches with industry experts.

“Basically, they’ve outsourced their alumni networks,” Maro says.

In the same vein, Evisors is developing a white-label version that would allow companies to offer up their own experts for hire or for universities to create better alumni directories of their own.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, pearleye

The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark, a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.

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In-App Billing gives developers another way to monetize their Android apps. iOS has had in-app purchasing since June 2009, helping app developers generate millions from virtual goods, in-game upgrades, content purchases and more. Like Apple, Google will take a 30% cut from all in-app purchases.

Google says that several apps are launching with the new in-app billion system today, including Disney’s Tap Tap Revenge, ComiXology’s Comics and Glu Mobile’s WSOP Hold’em Legend.

The launch of Android Market In-App Billing has been highly anticipated since Google first announced the feature at its Android Honeycomb event last month. The search giant pre-announced the feature last week to prepare developers for the change.

It’s well-known that mobile application developers have had a harder time monetizing Android apps compared to iPhone apps. Add the fact thatin-app purchases yield more revenue than mobile ads, and you can see why Android developers have been clamoring for this feature.. Hopefully the release of in-app purchasing for Android will help close the gap and give developers more revenue streams for their hard work.

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Atlassian recently announced a donation of $1 million to Room to Read, a global non-profit aimed at improving literacy and gender equality education in developing countries. They did this through their “Causium” campaign, a twist — and portmanteau — of “freemium” and “cause marketing.” The name fits: Rather than just give away its products for free, Atlassian charged a minimal amount of money and donated all proceeds to the non-profit.

Freemium runs on the premise that if you give away a curtailed version of your product, your fans will enjoy it enough to then upgrade to a paid subscription. Causium, for all intents and purposes, is freemium in the sense that Atlassian doesn’t receive any money from the heavily discounted sales. It does, however, give the product a nominal value and help brand Atlassian as a charity-minded company.

Started in 2009, the Causium model raised $100,000 in one week through sales of $5 starter licenses for Atlassian products. When the influx of customers didn’t slam Atlassian’s customer support, the company began selling 10 user licenses for $10. Right now, it sells approximately 14,000 of these licenses per week, generating close to $80,000 per month for Room to Read, according to Jon Silvers, director of Audience and Community.

Even if you haven’t heard of Atlassian, you definitely know its clients. Atlassian’s software helps power major brands like Nike, Cisco, Ikea, Adobe and HP. Given its success, Atlassian initially struggled with whether to go freemium. “There are a lot of pros and cons to freemium, and whether it is the right approach,” Silvers said. “We definitely felt like we kind of stumbled on a way to combine the same concepts of lowering the barriers to entry to your product and how to do that nobly.”

More than a one-off, Causium creates a constant annuity stream for Room to Read that Atlassian donates on behalf of its users. The $10 licenses can be renewed each year to get software fixes and keep customer support. Any upgraded subscriptions will continue to donate $10 of the standard fee to charity.

Donating to just one charity meant that the company could better track the good that subscribers were doing, Silvers explained. As of 2010, this includes impacting 45,000 children across four countries in Asia by establishing 99 libraries, building four schools and supporting the holistic education of 430 girls. Atlassian makes sure to follow up by sending emails to its users about where their money has gone, said Jay Simons, VP of Sales and Marketing.

Atlassian has even gone so far as to create a foundation dedicated to charity work. It donates 1% of company and employee time and 1% of company equity to the foundation. Each year, employees are actually given five days of “foundation leave” to volunteer at local charities.

While Atlassian has certainly benefited financially from its take on freemium, the organization has done a tremendous amount of good without cutting corners. Causium may not seem like much, but it ably combines social good into an expanding business. Even if it’s just $10, Simons said, “That $10 license means a lot to a little girl in Cambodia.”

What’s your opinion of mixing freemium with charity? Does this make you more or less willing to buy a product from Atlassian? Sound off in the comments.

Image courtesy of Flickr, Taekwonweirdo

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Amazon Cloud Player allows users to upload their music archives to Amazon’s servers. Once uploaded, customers can access their playlists and stream their music from any compatible computer or Android device (check out our initial review to learn more).

The streaming capabilities of Cloud Player is rubbing the music labels the wrong way though, according to Reuters. Apparently the labels were informed of Amazon’s new cloud-based music service just last week and Amazon only recently brought up the issue of music licensing.

“We hope that they’ll reach a new license deal, but we’re keeping all of our legal options open,” a Sony Music spokesperson told Reuters.

Are Amazon’s Users At Risk In a Legal Battle?

It’s no surprise that the music labels have already brought up the potential for legal action; after all, the recording industry is known for its lawsuits. The central issue here is whether it’s illegal for Amazon to provide music streams that users have individually uploaded to the technology company’s servers.

There’s another potential legal wrinkle in this whole debate: what if the labels sue Amazon, demanding it to turn over personal data on users they suspect have uploaded illegally-obtained music? As one of Mashable‘s commenters pointed out, Amazon Cloud Player’s Term of Use states that music that infringes on the rights of any copyright owners isn’t allowed. In addition, it says that user is “responsible for complying with all applicable import, re-import, export, and re-export control laws and regulations.”

If a user uploads illegally-obtained music, will Amazon fight to protect that user’s identity or simply give those credentials to the music labels in order to avoid a lawsuit? The answer to that question will color the inevitable conflict between Amazon and the labels.

Image courtesy of Flickr, santibon

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“I’m not ready to talk about what I have planned next,” wrote Williams. But “it's time to pick up a whiteboard marker and think fresh. There are other problems/opportunities in the world that need attention, and there are other individuals I'd love to get the opportunity to work with and learn from.”

Williams, 38, is one of the Bay Area’s best-known entrepreneurs. His first company, Pyra Labs, created the prototypical blogging tool, Blogger, which sold to Google in 2003. He then founded a podcasting venture, Odeo, followed by a kind of mini-incubator called Obvious Corp. It was in 2006 that Obvious Corp created the service known as Twitter, which incorporated as its own company the following year.

It is no secret that Williams has had a contentious relationship with Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, whom he displaced as CEO in 2008. Williams himself stepped down as Twitter CEO in 2010 to make way for Dick Costolo. At the time, it was said that Williams was stepping down to focus on product strategy. But little came of that move, and yesterday Twitter confirmed that Dorsey — still Chairman of the company — would be taking a more hands-on role in product strategy. In the blog post, Williams admits that “my mind started to wander.”

According to the New York Times, Williams has been spending a lot of time at Lake Tahoe mulling his next role. Today’s blog post is the first hint at what that might be — and it is extremely short on details. There’s a lot of praise and nostalgia for his colleagues at Twitter, and a prediction that the service will become “bigger and better” in the future. Williams also promises he won’t be abandoning the company altogether. “I remain on the board of directors and will frequently meet with many folks there to help in any way I can,” he wrote.

“I doubt I’ll get so lucky a third time,” Williams mused. As for what he’ll be trying his hand at: “details to come … let’s see what happens.”

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Once a user adds Google Talk Guru to his or her Google Talk chat client, he or she can send it instant messages with a pre-determined set of commands. Here are the current list of commands Google currently supports, as well as some of the company’s examples:

Sport scores: “score arsenal”
Weather: “weather Nairobi”
Calculate: “123 * 45″
Currency: “120 KES to USD”
Definition: “define laptop”
Translation: “translate earth to French”
Web result: “web Mount Kenya”
Help: “help translate”

Unlike the traditional chatbot, Google Talk Guru doesn’t engage in conversation with users; it simply answers queries. It’s yet another way to access Google’s archives of information, though the company’s search engine can perform all of these tasks and then some.

What do you think of Google’s new IM bot? Will you use it? Let us know in the comments.

Thanks to Steve Rubel for the tip

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“Friday” is officially the most despised video on the Internet, not-so-narrowly beating out Justin Bieber’s “Baby” by around 27,000 dislikes on YouTube.

The single is still available for sale on iTunes, but around 4 p.m. PDT, it mysteriously disappeared from YouTube. In fact, the entire account (trizzy66) that originally housed “Friday” was closed for about an hour.

Love it or hate it — and chances are, you hate it — Rebecca Black’s music video “Friday” has racked up an impressive 64 million YouTube views since its inauspicious debut last month. However, when it comes to sentiment, “Friday” is killing it, and by “it,” we mean “any feelings of charity or kindness you may feel toward Ark and its teenie bopping popsters.”

“Friday” has racked up around 1.19 million dislikes on YouTube; Justin Bieber’s “Baby,” its nearest competitor for the dubious honor of “most hated video,” has only 1.162 million dislikes.

But Bieber’s clip has more than 501 million views. When you do the math, that means Rebecca Black’s video is actively disliked by almost 1.88% of viewers who saw the video. “Baby” is disliked by a mere .23%.

We’ve written about Black’s first foray into Internet fame a few times (okay, more than a few), and not everything we’ve had to say has been nice. After all, the teen singer was given only the briefest radio play, and she reportedly didn’t even make that much money from the video, especially when one considers the amount of exposure and emotional pain that comes along with such an ordeal. For the time being, we’re willing to give Black and “Friday” a hall pass.

We have reached out to Ark for a statement on why the video was pulled in the first place. So far, Ark hasn’t mentioned anything on its website, where a YouTube placeholder for Black’s video remained on the site.

UPDATE: Ark Music Factory owner Patrice Wilson reported that his YouTube account had been hacked last Thursday; however, he reported back yesterday that the account status was “all good.”

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His new title is Director of Global Creative Solutions, and his specific duties will include coming up with interesting and valuable ways for marketers to integrate Facebook in their campaigns.

We already know that Facebook’s ads are remarkably well targeted and deliver fabulous results to many advertisers and marketers, be they big-brand ad agencies or mom-and-pop SMBs. In fact, the company reportedly took home $1.86 billion in 2010 from ad sales alone.

But recent intelligence suggests that Facebook’s display ad offerings may not be performing as well as traditional banner ads. The social network’s clickthough rate of .05% to .06% fell short of the industry standard of .1%. But Facebook marketing is about a lot more than just display ads.

And the realm of marketing beyond display ads is exactly within D’Arcy’s purview. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Facebook’s newest employee said, “There is a great need for the creative community … to learn how to leverage the incredible power of Facebook to improve the way brands tell stories.”

D’Arcy also highlighted the difference between intruding on someone’s digital life and engaging them in a way that gives value to both the consumer and the brand.

Previously, D’Arcy was President of Time Warner Global Media Group and Senior Vice President, Time Warner, positions he had held since June 2009. He joined Time Warner in 2004; for 15 years prior to that, he was an award-winning advertising writer and creative director at various ad agencies.

D’Arcy, 39, hails from New Zealand.

Typically, “getting creative” with Facebook as a marketing platform is something that brands have had to do for themselves, so we’re excited to see what this new creative force will bring to the table. What do you think of Facebook’s latest hire?

Image courtesy of StopPress.co.nz

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However, in light of the release, some of the new terms and policies within the game have FarmVille addicts storming the Zynga forums and Facebook, animated pitchforks in hand.

The cause of all of this drama? Rather than allowing users to maintain both farms simultaneously, moving from one farm to another puts the dormant farm in “pause mode.” That means that crops don’t grow, trees don’t bloom and animals don’t do whatever it is that makes that shiny pink dot appear above their heads.

The decision to pause farms makes it difficult for power players who want a way to maintain both farms at the same time. Because English Countryside gives users a fresh slate, so to speak, it takes time to grow crops so that money for new animals, buildings and land expansions can be earned.

A post asking for player feedback regarding the pause issue on the official FarmVille forum spans more than 830 pages and 8,300 posts. Most of these posts are full of anger and frustration. An anti-pause PicBadge is making its way across Facebook. Nearly 12,000 people have joined a Causes petition on Facebook asking for the option of keeping both farms active.

Before we go any further, I should note that ever since I was asked to write up FarmVille for iPad last October, I have found myself addicted to this game. You can laugh at me all you want — I own it. That said, because I don’t play FarmVille like it’s World of Warcraft, I probably am not as affected by the pause issue as some of the angriest players.

For Zynga, the problem is that the angriest players are some of the most active players. That means these are the players that spend as much time as they can in FarmVille and probably buy the most Farm Cash. Angering this group could be costly for the game itself.

FarmVille has already lost approximately 15 million players since it reached a peak of 63 million back in August. The biggest Zynga game right now is CityVille.

Not surprisingly, the game play elements in FarmVille have shifted from being more open-ended in nature to becoming more task- and goal-oriented, a la CityVille. This is especially true in the English Countryside expansion.

Aside from the pause issue, players are also complaining about the increased prices for items in the new expansion and the inability to take items from your old farm and use them on the new farm. The general sense that I’m picking up on from reading various FarmVille websites and forums is that users feel stretched to spend more money at every turn.

As the social gaming industry continues to grow, companies like Zynga will have to balance the desire to keep the profits rolling in, while also keeping the annoyance factor at a tolerable level. Consumers can be fickle, especially when real money is involved.

Have you played FarmVille English Countryside? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

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ShapeMix [iTunes link] — available now for $4.99 — was developed by Colin Owens, a musician and graphic design professor at RISD, as well as Legion Enterprises. ShapeMix is the first company to come out of Legion Enterprise's incubator program.

Owens thought of the idea after exploring audio mixing interfaces on the computer in the pre-tablet days. “I thought they hadn’t translated well over the computer,” he says. “As a musician and engineer, I thought we could do this in a more interesting and intuitive way.”

At the time, he was working with a touchscreen he had imported from Korea, but when the iPad came out, everything came together. The device replicated the tactile sensation of working with a mixer much more than anything he had experienced on a computer.

The app itself is extremely easy to use. Full disclosure: I have absolutely no experience mixing music, but I was still able to pick up my iPad and navigate through the app rather rapidly.

Within the app, there are more than 100 free tracks that one can use to create a mix. Each song within the app is broken down into such tracks, which are basically instrumental sections (piano, drums, organ, stutter, boom, etc). One can also mix tracks from different songs — so, for example, you could add the drums from “Dirty South” to “Ghetto Blaster.”

Once you’ve chosen all of your tracks, you can toggle between two screens. The first comprises a series of colored circles denoting an instrument, which you can move up to make the instrument in question louder, and down to do the opposite. Moving them left and right changes the panning of the sound (left ear, right ear). One can also hold down on a track to add effects (reverb, delay, flanger, low pass).

One can then toggle over to the “time” screen, where one can decide which tracks come in where over the course of the song, and how they mingle with other tracks. A finished track can then be saved and published to Facebook or to another website. You can also save a track to your account and share it with a friend. (The only places you can access a mix are ShapeMix’s website, Facebook and in-app, however, which is a drag.)

Soon, the app’s catalogue of music will receive a major boost through a partnership with Downtown Music Publishing. Users will be able to buy those songs and tracks, and remix them at will, keeping ownership to the mixes they make. The app will also feature about six to 10 new, free songs per week.

“I originally thought of this as a tool for professionals,” Owens says. “But I kept getting feedback that this would be an awesome apps for kids, or for anyone who’s a novice.”

Mike Sepso, CEO of Legion Enterprises, concurs. “Legion’s core audience is digital natives,” he says. “We’ve created a new app that will engage an audience that doesn’t traditionally buy music.” Sepso thinks there’s an allure to buying music in ShapeMix because users can manipulate it themselves.

We think this app is ideal for the audience that Sepso described, but can’t see it truly catching on among working musicians unless it affords them the opportunity to upload and remix their own, original music. However, Owens and Sepso say that this could be a possibility in the future.

Musicians and mixers both casual and pro: What do you think of ShapeMix? Would you use it to create your next big jam?

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The bicoastal trucks hit the pavement Monday morning as part of LinkedIn’s social-media-meets-the-street marketing campaign to promote LinkedIn Today, the 100 million member site’s personalized social news product.

The trucks will be dolling out free, locally-brewed coffee — the hot news you have to grab via LinkedIn Today, though brand ambassadors and employee volunteers will deliver street demos to consumers — between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m local time in San Francisco and New York for the remainder of the week.

Should you wish to track down the truck, you could stay on the lookout for the blue and white print-themed trucks. You can also follow the LinkedIn Today Twitter account or #LinkedInTruck_SF and #LinkedInTruck_NY hashtags.

The trucks’ schedules are fairly flexible, LinkedIn’s Mario Sundar tells us, so a tweet or two could cajole the powers that be into changing course to your neck of the woods. On Wednesday, however, Mashable has learned that the truck will be affixed outside LinkedIn’s offices in both Mountain View and New York (outside the Empire State building) following the company’s all-hands meeting.

The week-long promotion is a bid to drum up enthusiasm around its new aggregated content vertical. At the very least, the free coffee will be a welcome pick-me-up for the New York and San Francisco denizens who stop by the trucks.

LinkedIn Today Truck

The LinkedIn Today coffee truck stands out on the streets of Manhattan (and San Francisco). Photo by: Vadim Lavrusik, Mashable

LinkedIn Today Truck

Photo by: Vadim Lavrusik, Mashable

LinkedIn Today Truck

New Yorkers line up to satisfy their coffee (and news) fix. Photo by: Vadim Lavrusik, Mashable

LinkedIn Today Truck

LinkedIn Today Truck

LinkedIn Today Truck

LinkedIn Today Truck

LinkedIn Today Truck

LinkedIn Today Truck

LinkedIn Today Truck

LinkedIn Today Truck

LinkedIn Today Truck

LinkedIn Today Truck

LinkedIn Today Truck

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Here in the Bay Area, hundreds of lesser-known startups have plans for massive hiring growth this year. That’s always a challenge, but even greater when hiring for positions that didn't exist three years ago. How do you find experienced employees for a completely new industry?

Many fast growing companies in emerging industries, such as social gaming, green tech, cloud technologies, and mobile development are experiencing the same thing. It's a problem created by successful innovators. By 2015, 60% of new jobs being created will require skills only held by 20% of the population, according to a report from the American Society for Training and Development.

So how do you hire hundreds of community managers, super moderators, gaming producers and social media marketing specialists when there just aren't enough qualified people looking for work?

"We Need Another You"

Traditional methods such as posting a job listing on your company website or on a job board will get you a wide variety and large quantity of applicants with varying qualifications. Frankly, it can be a crapshoot.

The alternative approach boils down to an executive or manager speaking with one of their most valued employees and saying, "We just created this new position and there aren't a lot of people out there with the qualifications for it. We need someone with your skill set and qualities; we need another you! Do you know anyone?"

This type of conversation has been going on for years because employee referrals generate hires who frequently become productive more quickly, stay with a company longer and perform better. And employees tend to refer those contacts who they believe can do the job and do it well.  In fact, among our customers, one in 12 referral applicants is hired compared with one in 100 general applicants.

Beyond the Resume

When you approach an employee and say, "We need someone like you," you're not just referring to experience and expertise, you're also referring to important intangible factors, such as work ethic, motivation and potential. These are hard qualities to ascertain by simply reading someone's resume and interviewing them once or twice. And they become even more important when you have to take a flexible approach to qualifications in a new industry.

Scott Thomas, head of talent acquisition at Kabam, says "we focus on the sharps, the attitude and the work ethic. And engagement counts – we're impressed by people who make an effort." Company interviewers look for indications that candidates have that "It" factor that will help them thrive in the new industry. Does this candidate make the most of their opportunities? Are they consistently overachieving? Are they doing things outside the scope of their role? 

The New Social Supply Chain

Fortunately, the social technologies that create the demand for talent are also helping to supply it.  Social media offers ways for companies to amplify job referrals, create awareness among prospects and interact with candidates. Here are a few strategies that companies are employing to engage with talented people who aren't actively looking for a job.

• Expand your reach. Use multiple social media channels to communicate your company to the kind of people who would be interested in your jobs — on the company blog, Facebook Page and dedicated “Jobs” accounts on Twitter.
• Raise awareness about your company and jobs. Social media offers an inexpensive way to grow brand awareness in target communities in a more personal and genuine way.
• Encourage employee involvement. Encourage employees to spread the word about current openings via LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and other communities. Social media can help the company grow social referrals beyond employees' first-degree connections.
• Engage in more conversations. Quick exchanges on social networks are low overhead for prospects and recruiters, but they eventually lead to applications from people who would not have responded otherwise.
• Take it offline. Send invites via social media to Friday happy hours and other events. Use social media in creative ways to drive the conversation to an in-person space.

---

Got “It?”

---

As the economic turnaround picks up steam, more companies will face shortages of talented, experienced workers who have "It." And don't forget, employees want to work for an "It" company. Social outreach and engagement helps position employers favorably with target candidates. A newly hired engineer recently told us that when a recruiter contacted him through Twitter, he immediately knew this company was a better fit than those whose recruiters were calling and emailing him. 

Companies now growing at extraordinary rates are figuring out how use social media to compete for talent and proving that you don't need to be big to build a strong employment brand in your target market.

Disclosure: Kabam is a client of the author’s company.

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Interested in more Business resources? Check out Mashable Explore, a new way to discover information on your favorite Mashable topics.



Image courtesy of iStockphoto, VikramRaghuvanshi

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The new feature, available from junaio [iTunes link], identifies local deals when a consumer points his or her camera phone in the direction of nearby businesses. Coupons offered by merchants as far as 5 feet to 20 miles away pop up on the app. When clicked, the offers lead to a mobile website where consumers can sign up for the deals. There's no need to print the coupons. (See video below for a full description on how the app works.)

Valpak, a unit of Cox Target Media that sends mailers to some 40 million U.S. households, is jumping into a fairly crowded market at the moment. LivingSocial began offering mobile-based local deals this month, and Facebook also introduced a service called Deals in November that targets local users for offers. AT&T also entered the market recently with ShopAlert, which texts offers to consumers when they’re near a participating store or product.

The move comes after Valpak introduced Valpak Deals, a Groupon-like daily deals site, in September.

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The company has introduced Secure Profiles, a new feature that prompts users to confirm or cancel tweets before sending them. In a blog post, HootSuite cited recent blunders such as social media agency New Media Strategies’ mistweet on behalf of Chrysler and the American Red Cross's less than sober tweet as the impetus for the new features.

Before the new security measures came along, “a team member who isn't paying attention might accidentally select the wrong profile to publish their personal message to,” HootSuite says. “Before you know it, you could have a tweet expressing views on anything from driving skills to drinking preferences which may not be reflective of your brand.”

While the Chrysler and Red Cross incidents were attributed to clicking on the wrong account (though only the Red Cross used HootSuite; New Media Strategies employee Scott Bartosiewicz blamed his rogue tweet on TweetDeck), the recent Marc Jacobs intern meltdown tweets came about because there was no way to distinguish between a supervisor and, in this case, an intern. HootSuite also added new multi-tiered account provisioning to address that problem.

“Each of these unique situations caused marketplace confusion and affected brand sentiment,” HootSuite says. “And they were all preventable.”

Image courtesy of Flickr, ktpupp

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Worried about your data? If you're not, you're kidding yourself. It's become clear over the past few months that the risk of security breaches has reached a new and frightening level — from sophisticated tools in the hands of national governments and organized crime to spontaneous attacks harnessing the resources of thousands of loosely connected vigilantes. Add to that the dizzying array of devices now used to access, move and store data. Security strategies that seemed airtight only a few years ago now look like so much Swiss cheese.

In this light, your first instinct might be to pull back from cloud computing, viewing it as inherently less secure than keeping data and applications locked into hardware. After all, the word "cloud" itself implies that your precious assets are out there floating around somewhere, right? It's an understandable reaction and one that couldn't be more wrong. In fact, the cloud is now the safest place for your data.

Think about it: Data is lost when an organization loses control over it, including how it's stored, how it's transmitted, and what end users do with it. Clouds, and the virtualization technologies on which they run, give you back that control, from data center to delivery to endpoint.

Deliver User Experiences, Not Vulnerable Data

A key tenet of security is making sure data doesn't go astray when it leaves the enterprise. But what if data never left the enterprise in the first place? Desktop virtualization means that all data, applications and state remain centralized; users can access an immersive experience indistinguishable from traditional computing (actually even better in some regards, like instant-on apps) using either a hosted desktop or application experience, or a rich client experience. IT gains precise, granular control over applications and data. Everything is encrypted at rest, using keys that never leave the data center. Meanwhile, full back-end automation means less human involvement and less human involvement means less chance of things going wrong.

A locked down data center is all well and good, but how are workers supposed to be productive if they can't move data around? With virtualization, data is available from multiple points. Accordingly, there's never a reason to save anything to removable media (like the kinds that seem so often to fall into the wrong hands). A good desktop virtualization solution lets you set policies as to what kinds of client-side devices can be used, from thumb drives to printers.

What about offline use? No problem. Any data delivered to the desktop cache remains encrypted at all times, and IT holds the keys. Lost laptop? Disgruntled employee? Hotel room theft? Not to worry.

A New Perspective on Endpoint Security

A moment of silence, please: Traditional endpoint security is dead. It's simply no longer possible to detect attackers faster than they can mutate, and managing antivirus protection guest-by-guest can't possibly scale. It's also fundamentally incompatible with virtualization, since we can't have every endpoint in the organization trying to update a centralized attack file and index its virtual hard disk at the same time. Symantec, it's time to rethink your business.

What if we take the reverse perspective? If we can't make data invulnerable, what if we make attacks less relevant by ensuring that each endpoint is in its best possible state? When a hypervisor is booted, one of the first things it does is check that it hasn't been modified since it was last signed by its creator. The same applies for each virtual machine. After each login, each VM is returned to its original state, so attackers have no way to gain a foothold in your environment. This approach — essentially, moving from blacklisting to whitelisting — is a fundamental shift in endpoint security.

There's still an important role for the security vendors to play in making virtual desktop security simpler and more scalable for large enterprise deployments, such as integrating in-hypervisor threat detection into both client-side and server-side virtualization products. Some of the top security providers are already doing exactly this, working in tandem with virtualization solution vendors. More will follow suit or find themselves stranded in an outdated and shrinking space.

Deny DoS Attackers

Even the best data security can't protect against a denial-of-service attack. You know what can? Truly massive perimeter control. But don't start pouring your own concrete yet. Why do you think people started keeping their money in a bank instead of at home? Because the bank has a better safe. So does Amazon. It’s even better, as we've seen, than PayPal and Visa. The largest cloud providers have defense resources far beyond anything you could match in your own datacenter.

Any way you look at it, the bottom line is clear: The online world may be getting more dangerous by the day — but the cloud is safer than ever.

Images courtesy of Flickr, Rocío Lara, blendwerke

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Based on several tests conducted by Microsoft, it would seem that IE9 makes fewer demands on a computer’s battery — at least in certain scenarios. Firefox 4 came in a close second in every test; Opera 11 was the least energy-efficient browser in most tests.

Researchers at Microsoft put Chrome 10, Firefox 4, Safari 5, Opera 11 and Internet Explorer 9 head-to-head in three different test scenarios. First, they measured baseline power consumption with no browser running, then they looked at how much power the browsers used on an about:blank page. Next, they ran a typical news content website, which showcased power consumption in a typical web-browsing situation.

For the final tests, each browser ran Galactic, an HTML5-based browser performance test, and the FishIE Tank, another performance test.

Microsoft ran these tests on an Intel laptop running Windows 7; to make truly definitive statements about browser efficiency, the same tests would have to be run on a variety of devices and OSes. We’d love to know if IE9 holds up as well on an Android tablet, for example.

Here are graphs of the test results:

While it’s nice to know that IE 9 might help your battery last longer, these stats may not have much impact on the ongoing browser wars. Internet Explorer has been losing ground to Chrome and Firefox in particular for far too long; and for most consumers, energy efficiency might not be a deciding factor when choosing a web browser.

What do you think? Do these stats affect your opinion of IE 9? Would they make you want to use this browser over one of its competitors? Give us your opinions in the comments section.

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We’ve been following the evolution of this mobile browser since its pre-alpha days, when it was better known by its codename, Fennec. Since its buggy, crash-inducing beginnings, the browser has evolved into an elegant, feature-rich alternative to the native browser that current Firefox users in particular will find a joy to use.

The driving ideas of Firefox for Mobile's UI and UX are less typing and more web. In other words, Mozilla wants the browser controls to disappear when you don't need them. The aim is to make manual text entry a rare inconvenience, rather than the necessary task it is on most native mobile browsers.

One of the most exciting features, and one that makes total sense for desktop Firefox users, is Sync. It allows the user to carry all of his or her bookmarks, browsing history, log-in credentials and even open tabs from the desktop to the mobile device. This kind of portability, where the devices become less important and the data lives outside them, is almost futuristic and a boon to anyone who needs or desires greater mobility in life and work.

Tabbed browsing is easier with the Firefox interface; a single left-to-right swipe shows you all your open tabs in a slender column on the left side of the screen. A right-to-left swipe brings up options for one-touch bookmarking, add-on browsing and other settings.

Firefox for Mobile supports HTML5 and other web standards; Mozilla is hoping devs will embrace the browser as the perfect platform for creating, executing and marketing powerful, rich mobile web apps.

The beta version of the browser arrived in October 2010, and the release candidate was rolled out one week ago.

Mozilla made this video to show off some of the newer features of the mobile browser:

The browser is available now in the Android Market; Maemo users can get the browser directly from Mozilla.

More About: android, Firefox, Firefox 4, Firefox 4 for mobile, Maemo

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We’ve got 10 suggestions, ranging from vintage classics to more up-to-date tricks that you can play on your colleagues, friends and frenemies.

If your office has a good sense of humor and you’re looking for a bit of light-hearted, harmless fun this April 1, take a look through the gallery for our ideas and please share your own suggestions in the comments box below.

1. Speech Recognition

Create an official looking notice (as per the house style of your workplace) informing staff that an item of office equipment is now equipped with speech recognition technology. Add a few suggested commands. Stick the notice to the equipment. Sit back and watch your colleagues shout at an inanimate object. Secretly video the action for prolonged fun.

2. Crossed Wires

Simple, yet effective. Just switch the telephone plugs of your colleagues' phone lines (leaving their phones in exactly the same place) and enjoy the confusion as they repeatedly receive calls for each other. Works best with coworkers that aren't on the best terms to start with.

3. Quick Change

This one requires a little planning and collaboration, but the effect will be worth the effort. Arrange with coworkers to each bring in several changes of clothes. Then, throughout the morning repeatedly switch items of clothing. Ensure your mark sees you all in as many different items as you can manage. Wait for the other shoe to drop.

4. Fun with Mice

Anyone leaving their mouse unattended around April 1 deserves punishment. While the classic trick was to remove the mouse's tracker ball, nowadays you can achieve the same effect by putting some tape over the mouse's laser tracker. Alternatively, and if you can find time with an unattended computer, change the mouse's settings for maximum confusion.

5. Hunt the Paper Clip

This is another oldie-but-goldie for anyone in an office where a photocopier is still regularly used. Place a paper clip over or on a piece of blank paper and make several copies. Now, place them back on the top of the paper tray. Hang around to see your colleague's confusion as they desperately try and find the strange paper clip that's showing up on all their copies.

6. This Stall is Occupied

For this you'll need a pair of shoes, a pair of trousers, some newspaper (or something similar) for stuffing and possibly a step ladder. In a toilet stall with a gap at the bottom, set up your items of clothing to look as if someone is using the conveniences. Lock the stall (from the outside if possible, otherwise this is where the step ladder comes in) and leave your mystery "person" to confuse (and very possibly worry) restroom users for the rest of the day.

7. BSoD

This is perhaps more effective with older colleagues who are likely to have experienced the pain of the "Blue Screen of Death." For this prank, it's just a matter of finding an appropriate screen grab and either leaving it on your co-worker's display, or setting it as the screen saver for a nasty surprise.

8. Can You Hear That?

Find, or make a recording of a repetitive noise (a heart beat works well for maximum distress) or dig out a portable radio. Set the volume to just audible and hide it in a filing cabinet, cupboard, drawer, etc., near to your mark. Now wait for your colleague to ask if anyone else can hear that heart beat/static/music and prepare to deny all. Several times. A straight face is essential.

9. Wrong Number

Does your office issue a paper list of phone extensions? If so, there's fun to be had. You need to access the master doc (or re-create it if need be). Swap the extensions and then replace your target's list with the doctored version. Obviously you'll need to replicate any creases, edits, coffee stains and so on, but if you can pull this off, you're in for a treat as your unsuspecting mark blithely dials a work buddy and instead gets the MD.

10. Just Smirk it Out

Our last prank is especially effective if your colleagues are expecting you to pull some kind of stunt. This April Fools', just do nothing. Sit and smirk at everything on the morning of the 1st. They will rack their brains desperately trying to work out what you've plotted. You can help out their anxiety levels with loaded comments to match your smirk. "Enjoy your coffee." "Have you used the water cooler yet today?" "Aren't you going to answer that?"

Thumbnail image courtesy of iStockphoto, kutaytanir, gallery images courtesy of Flickr, Josh Derr, Kate, jrpinky_boi, Daniele Pieroni, jessi, Eric P, Josh Liba, Ren Adams, Martin Pettitt and Tricia

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Take a moment away from being super, super important (a.k.a. stapling papers together and scowling) and watch this glorious medley of Pixar animation.

My heart would be warmed, if it were not so paralyzed by fear of anything that wanders into the uncanny valley.

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Developed by RockLive (whose first game starred Chad Ochocinco), the free game [iTunes link] is a modern twist on the classic, with the user fighting his or her way through a series of progressively more challenging opponents and a variety of boxing rings to get to Mike Tyson.

Graphically, the gameplay, characters and animation look a lot like the NES original. Using your iPhone or iPod touch's screen, you can throw punches by tapping the "R" or "L" icons. There's also a directional touchpad which lets you move around and dodge punches (dodging punches also rebuilds your stamina), which can also be used for additional punching maneuvers.

A special power punch can also be activated at times during the fight depending on your performance. If you get knocked down, stars spiral around you — tapping enough of them gets you back up before the 10 count, though it becomes progressively harder to do so the more you get knocked down.

Beyond the gameplay, Main Event has its own in-game currency called RockCash, which lets you buy virtual goods like power punches. You can also automatically share out your wins to Facebook and Twitter, where characters from the game also have their own accounts (for example: @jordymcdirt, who you can see I knocked out in the image above). Meanwhile, GameCenter integration lets you earn points for various achievements to compete with others.

Main Event will surely attract some interest on nostalgia alone. Like the original, however, there's an addictive component in wanting to eventually get to and beat Tyson, and with in-app purchases that can help you get there faster, RockLive has a potentially lucrative business baked into the game (though there are also standard ads).

Tyson has also recently re-emerged in the public eye, with his own reality show (that coincidentally employed "Angry Birds" in a recent viral video) and a memorable performance in The Hangover. We talked to Tyson about the game and his other projects at SXSW.

You can check out our interview, as well as an ad for the game put together by RockLive, below:

Mashable Interviews Mike Tyson

Mike Tyson Main Event Commercial

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News Corp. is in preliminary talks to hand over MySpace’s reins to music video upstart Vevo in exchange for a stake in a new venture, according to Bloomberg.

A representative for Vevo declined to comment on the matter. We’ve reached out to MySpace as well.

We’ve been hearing the death knell of MySpace for a while. In January, it confirmed that parent company News Corp. was looking for a way to unload the social web property and reduced its staff by 47%.

Despite a redesign and a slew of new entertainment initiatives, the site is still suffering: Its worldwide traffic fell 29% to 62.6 million visitors in February from 88 million in October 2010, according to Bloomberg.

With News Corp. looking to other avenues for music content — namely, Beyond Oblivion, a yet-to-be-launched music service that scored $77 million in funding in a round led by News Corp. and global charity foundation Wellcome Trust — we’ve all been wondering for a while now: If MySpace goes under, will it be the day the music dies?

Well, if this deal is actually a possibility — and not just another unsubstantiated whisper — it could bring MySpace back from the brink.

It started off as a social network — the most popular in the U.S. until Facebook eclipsed it — and then started moving more into the entertainment realm, encompassing everything from television to music to film. Still, what MySpace has always done best has been music.

Search for a band. Any band. What comes up near the top of the search results? Its MySpace page. Despite all the other features and integrations that MySpace has added in the past few years, musicians seem to be the site’s most loyal members.

Consequently, many band folks have been wondering where to go when the music’s over. Facebook has been the obvious destination post-exodus, with services like FanBridge, RootMusic and Songkick helping artists plug into the social media site to reach fans.

Still, since Facebook lacks any native tools for artists (players, etc.), the move isn’t exactly a smooth one; MySpace is still the easiest solution. Furthermore, since Facebook is a massive social network, it’s not as if bands are getting the curated exposure they need to get ahead — unless they’re Jay-Z and Kanye.

Which is why a Vevo/MySpace merger would be so effective. Vevo has the labels and music (it’s owned by some heavy-hitting record companies). Launched in 2009, it already rivals MTV as an online music video destination.

MySpace, for its part, has the music as well — and a much more diverse selection at that. It also has the social element. Together, Vevo and MySpace could turn the former “Place For Friends” into the ultimate “Place for Music.”

Image courtesy of Flickr, leonelponce

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The application allows the user to shoot, upload and edit video via iPhone, or browse, watch and discover Vimeo videos.

Vimeo for iPhone [iTunes link] marks the IAC-owned company’s first foray into the native mobile application frontier. Vimeo took much longer than anticipated to release the iPhone application because it wanted to best Apple’s own iMovie experience in price point and feature set, according to CNN. The Vimeo application is free of charge, which means it has succeeded at one of those missions.

The video editing experience, on an initial test run, appears to be slightly more intuitive, albeit a smidgen more buggy, than its iMovie predecessor and allows the user to import or shoot video clips in HD or SD, insert transitions and add audio tracks to movies. The user will find a limited set of audio clips, but the transition options are more than passable and the editing process will be navigable for novices and experts alike.

The overall application experience is just as elegant as the video editing offering, making it an application ripe for video consumption and discovery.

Perhaps, the only real concern is that Vimeo is just now releasing an iPhone application. The timing may not be all that poor as mobile application users are clamoring for fast and simple ways to share video and photos, but when startups such as Justin.tv (Socialcam) and Color are experimenting with new formats for mobile video sharing, Vimeo for iPhone feels out of season. Also, the application may be compatible with the iPad 2, but the experience is not yet tailored to the larger screen.

Still, we have an inkling that Vimeo’s user base will be quite pleased with the quality and feature set of the application.

Vimeo has “shelved” development of an Android application after running into video editing challenges, according to a statement Andrew Pile, head of product development, made to CNN.

My Stuff

My Video Library

Browse

Recordings

Project Detail

Video Editor

Video Transition

Audio Library

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Protests this year in Tunisia, Egypt and elsewhere have highlighted Facebook’s potential for activism. After all, if the social network were a country, it would the world’s third largest. So if you’re trying to gather a critical mass around an issue it makes a lot of sense to be there.

Using the platform effectively, however, means using it cautiously. This is especially true in repressive environments like Syria, where authorities are currently arresting activists for subversive social media activity. The below tips are relevant for anyone and everyone looking to organize online for social or political change.

1. Take Care of Your Information

Your content and your contacts are on Facebook’s servers; not yours. If your account gets deactivated by mistake or because you violated the company’s Terms of Service, you’ll lose all of this information unless it’s backed up.

Under Account Settings go to: “Download your information,” then “Learn more,” and then click on the download button. You can also get an Adobe Air application called SocialSafe or a Firefox extension called Archive Facebook which downloads your profile, social graph and photos onto your hard drive.

These apps, however, will not download your contacts, so save those somewhere else manually. It’s a tactic used by Egyptian activists running the We Are All Khaled Said page in the weeks before Internet access there was shut off.

2. Use HTTPS

Regular old HTTP (what you likely see right now in the address bar at the top left of your web browser) is unsecured and subject to interception, eavesdropping and surveillance. HTTPS, on the other hand (an acronym for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure), makes the transfer of information between your browser and Facebook’s servers a lot safer. Remember that HTTPS does not mean that you will be completely protected, so don’t throw caution to the wind just because you were smart enough to enable it.

Set it as your default by clicking on “Account Security” under “Account Settings” and checking the box under “Secure Browsing” that says “Browse Facebook on a secure connection (https) whenever possible.” While you’re there, and especially if you frequently access the site from Internet cafes, also click the box next to “send me an email when a new computer logs into my account.”

Remember to log out when accessing Facebook from a computer that is not your own.

3. Stay Anonymous Without Getting Kicked Off

Facebook groups, pages and events are as helpful for dictators as they are for activists. The site is essentially a Yellow Pages of protest organizers, complete with times and locations for planned demonstrations. This makes it a lot easier to squash those protests and detain whoever was involved. Of course, this is more of a concern in repressive environments but that doesn’t mean that anyone using the platform shouldn’t be aware of and cautious about just how much of their identity can be kept secret without violating Facebook’s Terms of Service.

So what’s in the ToS, anyway? It includes a real name policy prohibiting joiners from using pseudonyms. That said, plenty of people do. The site’s crackdown on these users has been arbitrary and erratic, so if you create a pseudonym on Facebook to protect your identity, avoid getting kicked off by making it a convincing one. Most importantly, have a plan of action in the event that your account does get deactivated.

Part of your plan of action should include learning the ToS so you know whether you violated it as well as how violations get reported (by other users, which can also be abused). If you don’t have time for this, then get in touch with someone who does and who has the time and resources to contact Facebook directly on your behalf.

Editor’s Note: Mashable does not condone the violation of Facebook’s Terms of Service.

4. Anonymity Is More Than Just Your Name

What other information might identify you? Is your phone number public? Is there a picture of you next to an identifiable landmark in the neighborhood where you live? (You should avoid using an actual picture of yourself as your profile photo in the first place.) What about the people you’ve friended? A close connection on Facebook to someone who has been arrested for political activism, or is involved with a group that you don’t want to be associated with, may get you in trouble, so be careful about who you friend. Monitor your connections with tools that allow you to analyze your networks. For example Friend Wheel or Social Graph.

If Facebook privacy settings have got you confused, remember you can always preview how your profile looks to others and what information you’re exposing by going to Account > Privacy Settings > Customize Settings > Preview my profile (see picture above).

5. Use Facebook So Long As It’s Helpful

Facebook proved a helpful forum for recent movements to gain critical mass, but once enough people hear about your plans, don’t be afraid to take communication offline and to the street. Do as much coordination as possible face-to-face or on other online tools. Some of these have been made by activists for activists, like Crabgrass, which you can download here.

6. Learn From Your Peers

Chances are, this post will be outdated in a matter of months. Why? Because people spying on activists are adapting their online strategies just as quickly as activists are. It’s important to pay close attention to what others around the world are doing to stay safe, and to constantly update your precautionary measures.

Image courtesy of Flickr, KOREphotos

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Based on user feedback, GetGlue made the decision to ramp up its offerings to sports fans. That includes a new “watching sports” button on the GetGlue iPhone app, as well as some new partnerships with major sports leagues and networks.

GetGlue will offer stickers and rewards for the NHL (Stanley Cup), Turner Sports (NCAA Tournament), the San Antonio Spurs, Fox Sports (MLB and Nascar), HBO Sports, Showtime Sports, NFL Network, Speed, Fox Soccer Channel, Fox College Sports, and Fuel TV. ESPN is the only major sports network not included in GetGlue’s current lineup, but CEO Alex Iskold said that the company is looking at finalizing “other major partnerships” in the coming weeks.

Foursquare Integration

In addition to adding more direct support for sporting events and activities, GetGlue is also using the Foursquare API to attach location information to checkins. The impetus behind this integration is to give better context to the content checkin.

For instance, instead of checking in to Foursquare when I go to the movies and adding a note about what movie I’m seeing, I can just check in via GetGlue. That way, my friends on GetGlue and Facebook get to see what I’m watching and I can still share location-based information about the event.

This creates a lot of possibilities down the line for GetGlue to offer more localized recommendations that extend beyond just content. Iskold told us that the company hasn’t cemented all of its plans for how location can serve recommendations, advertising and partnerships going forward, but, to us, the potential is huge.

Foursquare integration is not enabled by default and when checking in, users must specifically select the Facebook button on the checkin screen. This is by design. Iskold says that not every GetGlue checkin needs location information and this can help ensure that users aren’t accidentally broadcasting a location or activity.

Check out GetGlue’s new video of what’s new in the iPhone app and website.

More About: entertainment checkins, foursquare, getglue, iphone apps, location based social networks

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Amazon launched its Cloud Player and Cloud Drive services Tuesday, offering users a way to access their music files from a web browser anywhere. Amazon also released an official Android app for Cloud Player that lets Android fans listen to their tunes on the go. What about iOS users? Well, it would appear at first blush as if owners of the iPhone, iPod touch or iPad are out of luck — the Cloud Player website simply doesn’t want to work with Mobile Safari.

After assessing the situation a bit, it’s clear that this is a limitation not born out of technical necessity (read: This isn’t because of Flash) and is either a simple oversight or an intentional decision to block iOS devices.

Users who attempt to access amazon.com/cloudplayer in iOS are greeted with a message that the browser is not supported and they should “try Internet Explorer.” Ignoring the message will serve users the standard Cloud Player interface, but pressing the play button on any track will lead, well, nowhere.

Reports from Android owners indicate that they can access the website without a problem, so the issue must be with the user agent string that the website is detecting from the web browser. As far as we can tell, it appears as if Amazon either doesn’t support or is blocking Mobile Safari from direct player control.

The Workaround: Mobile Safari Method

First off, we’ll warn you, while this method certainly works, it isn’t the most streamlined solution. The workaround is to click on a song name and then select “Download” from the drop-down menu. This will force Mobile Safari to open the file. If you have apps like GoodReader, Filer, or iUnarchive installed, you may be able to choose to open the file in those apps.

More recent tests indicate that what will likely happen is that the music file will play back in its own browser window. The file will play like any other QuickTime file, meaning you can pause, scrub forward or backward and adjust the volume. This also means you can listen to the song while in other apps.

This method works pretty well, however, the reality is that you need to do this for every song you want to hear. That makes listening to multiple tracks or shorter songs problematic.

Alternative Two: iCab to the Rescue

The Mobile Safari workaround works now, however, it’s possible that Amazon could change the way it serves files and downloads to iOS devices. If that happens, another option exists.

The fantastic alternative browser iCab Mobile [iTunes link] offers a ton of additional features that make the typical iPhone or iPad browsing experience even better. These features include saving websites to Dropbox, adding bookmarks to Pinboard, Readability or Instapaper and saving sites or portions of text to Evernote. For $1.99, the app is value packed.

One of the standout features of iCab Mobile is the ability to change the browser User Agent. In other words, this lets the website think that you are visiting from a browser other than Mobile Safari.

Changing the Browser ID to “Safari 5 (Mac)” will allow users to download music using the Mobile Safari method, even if Amazon does change how it serves downloaded files.

This Is Not a Technical Problem

The lack of iOS support for the Amazon Cloud Player website is not a technical problem. Music “downloaded” from the site works just fine in Mobile Safari on the iPhone and iPad. There is no conceivable reason that streaming HTML5 audio tags could not be used to provide playback in the browser or in a web app.

The rationale behind the decision not to support iOS is unclear, and we’re not going to make assumptions as to Amazon or Apple’s intentions in the matter. Understanding that the lack of support is not technical, however, may open up some additional solutions for enterprising web developers.

In the interim, at least iOS users can play a song here or there in a jam.

More About: amazon, Amazon Cloud Player, apple, icab mobile, iOS, ipad, iphone

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It’s no surprise that the latest generation of startups is combining these two concepts.

These six new location-based Q&A services send questions about places to locals likely to have the answers. Some of them, like Localmind, even go so far as to track down potential answerees, while others solicit more general suggestions.

1. Loqly

Loqly users can find local businesses via a Google-powered search, browsing by popular categories or by asking for a referral. Each business page has an option to share, mark as a favorite, or view its Yelp reviews. From the same business pages, users can ask specific questions about the business to other users in the area. “What days of the week do they have free salsa classes?” or “What are some good strong beers here?” are some sample questions.

People can also use Loqly for more general recommendations like “What is a good sushi restaurant in the area?” After users tag the question with a city and category, Loqly adds it to a question queue for local users.

2. Crowdbeacon

Crowdbeacon helps users track down answers to location-based questions by directing them to local experts nearby. When users first download the app, they’re asked to identify their location and broad categories for which they feel comfortable answering questions. These sections include active life, beauty, restaurants, shopping, etc.

When you ask a question, you identify which category experts it should be sent to. Founder Robert Boyle’s vision is that some respondents will be local businesses who have whatever it is that you’re looking for and can offer you a deal. There are about 100 such businesses currently participating in New York — home of the just-launched startup’s strongest user base.

If you happen to live elsewhere, you might need to recruit some fellow users before you get regular responses to your questions.

3. Ditto

Launched in early March by Jaiku founder Jyri Engestrom, Ditto encourages users to state what they’re going to do before they do it. They can either push these statements to their friends or to strangers nearby. The idea is that others who see something like “I’m going to breakfast” will naturally respond with something like “Oh, I know a great place.” Better yet, they might offer to join.

Ditto is unusual among location-based Q&A apps in that it covers activities in addition to location. Users can just as easily solicit book and movie recommendations as they can restaurant and bar recommendations.

4. Loqize.me

Switzerland-based Loqize.me is a Q&A service exclusively for location-based questions. Founder Philip Estrada Reichen was inspired to start the company after he moved to New York City. Most of the questions he asked using social media had to do with where to find things (a haircut, dinner, a place to watch a game, etc.) in the city.

“The way I solved it is I posted questions on Facebook, I tweeted, I asked my friends, but there was no real easy way to get these sort of questions answered,” he says.

Loqize.me is still in private beta. It allows users to tag their questions with a location. Users who “follow” that city or that user will see the question in their feeds and have an opportunity to answer it or to read others’ answers. It’s also possible to browse the questions by most recent or unanswered questions.

5. Hipster

Formerly stealth startup Hipster gave the world a peak at its location-based Q&A service at SXSW this year with a trial version dedicated to the conference.

If Yelp and Quora had a child under the influence of GPS, it might look a bit like this web app. Users see newsfeeds of popular, recent and friend activity. They can also follow people, categories, neighborhoods, and specific questions to create a “My Topics” feed.

The app integrates with Foursquare, Facebook and Gowalla accounts to let users follow locations that they’ve checked in to.

6. Localmind

Localmind’s specificity sets it apart from most other location-based Q&A services. When you launch the app, it presents you with a list of locations that other users near you are currently checked in to. You can send those specific users questions about their current location. You can build karma points by answering these questions, replying you’re busy, checking in, and inviting friends to join. Users who rack up enough points earn titles like “expert,” “champion,” and “legend.” When users reach the expert level, they’re able to answer questions regardless of whether they are checked in to a specific area.

“One vision we have for the expert layer is a crowdsourced customer support network, where your customers answer questions on your behalf, and are recognized for it,” explains founder Lenny Rachitsky. “Recognition could be [as] simple as a deal/coupon, or as interesting as a plaque on the wall at the venue that we ship to the venue.”

Localmind was smart not to launch its own check-in service. Accepting check ins from Foursquare, Gowalla, and Facebook gives it a broader reach and increases the chances you’ll find someone to answer your local question. There’s also an option for people who don’t use check in services to sign up using their Twitter accounts.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, cosmonaut

More About: Crowdbeacon, Ditto, foursquare, hipster, List, Lists, Localmind, location, Loqize.me, Loqly, q&a, quora, social media, startups

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