Mashable: Latest 9 News Updates - including “41 New Digital Media Resources You May Have Missed” |
- 41 New Digital Media Resources You May Have Missed
- A Look at the Growing “Work From Home” Phenomenon [INFOGRAPHIC]
- 5 Online Learning Resources to Help You Run a Better Business
- Sweet Elderly Couple Tests Their New Webcam [VIRAL VIDEO]
- The Sad State of AT&T’s Quest to Acquire T-Mobile
- What Are You Most Excited to See at The Emmys? [OPEN THREAD]
- Fall TV Goes Social: 27 New Shows to Watch
- Happy 20th Birthday, Linux: 10 Cool Devices That Embrace You
- 3 New Takes On Instagram Photos, Professional Profiles & Virtual Goods
- This Week in Politics & Digital: The Attack Edition
| 41 New Digital Media Resources You May Have Missed Posted: 17 Sep 2011 02:16 PM PDT      The features roundup is back and kickin’ more than ever. Tune in as we neatly package all of the past week’s features coverage, analysis and trending topics that span the digital realm. So, what’s breaking these days? For starters, we got a peek at an early beta of Windows 8, and Mashable staff was eager to write about it. We also analyzed daily deals and Facebook contests. Finally, in honor of the anniversary of 9/11, we took a look at the homepages published that day 10 years ago. As always, please share further tips, observations and resources in the comments below. Editors’ Picks
Social Media
For more social media news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s social media channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook. Tech & Mobile
For more tech news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s tech channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook. Business & Marketing
For more business news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s business channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook. Image courtesy of psdeluxe.com More About: Business, Features Week In Review, List, Mobile, Social Media, web For more Social Media coverage:
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| A Look at the Growing “Work From Home” Phenomenon [INFOGRAPHIC] Posted: 17 Sep 2011 01:50 PM PDT Working from home is more prevalent and more widely accepted than ever. With 26.2 million teleworkers in the U.S. in 2010, the virtual workforce is expected to grow in coming years. For starters, 56% of senior leaders and hiring managers at Fortune 500 companies believe that the workforce will steadily or greatly increase at their companies, according to a recent survey by WorkSimple. The study findings outline the changing virtual workforce with a number of compelling stats and findings, as seen in the infographic below. Have you noticed an increase in the number of employees at your workplace that work remotely? Let us know your story in the comments below.   Infographic courtesy GetWorkSimple; thumbnail graphic courtesy iStockphoto/LajosRepasi More About: job search series
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| 5 Online Learning Resources to Help You Run a Better Business Posted: 17 Sep 2011 01:14 PM PDT
If your web travels are anything like ours, it seems like every day someone's pitching a new online tool that's going to "triple productivity!" or "help you scale your business quickly!" or "make doing payroll more fun than 10 barrels of monkeys!" OK, maybe not that last one. Payroll is never that fun. But if, again, you're like us, you rarely get around to implementing that tool. Why? Because you take one look at the site, shake your head in confusion at the seemingly extensive steps to get started, and go back to canoodling with the Excel spreadsheet you rode in on. Or, perhaps you actually do try and get started, but the FAQs don't shed too much light on how you actually use these tools. So you sort of try to teach yourself, and everything you ever end up doing seems like it might be correct. But it also seems like your efforts might lead to the eventual implosion of your site, because, well, you don't really know what you're doing. What's an entrepreneur to do? As with learning any other skill, practice helps, but so does good instruction. Check out these resources that can help you develop skills you need to run your business — so that next time, you know how to get the job done right. 1. Grovo This New York-based startup won hearts at last September's New York Tech Meetup with a charming, quirky video featuring their team. It was a fitting introduction, given that their main product is, in fact, approachable video content. Specifically, the site boasts a fairly broad catalog of video tutorials on a variety of personal and enterprise web tools, from topics as advanced as in-depth Google Analytics functionality to simpler lessons on things like getting started with Facebook. And even if you are fairly skilled at using the tools you encounter on a daily basis, Grovo might be able to expose you to new ones. "For a lot of people, it serves as a discovery platform," co-founder and CEO Jeff Fernandez says. 2. Codecademy For coding newbies, just familiarizing yourself with the general syntax in an approachable way can be a good place to start. Codecademy, a startup founded by two Columbia undergrads, makes getting acquainted with programming a little bit more fun by adding in novelties like badges for completing certain levels. Right now, the site covers the basics of JavaScript, but in the coming months they'll be expanding to include more advanced lessons and eventually other languages. Co-founder Zach Sims, a current student at Columbia who taught himself Java in order to work on the site, describes Codecademy as "one of the first times it’s been fun to learn how to code. We start you off slowly and move on to more advanced topics at your own pace." 3. Khan AcademyKhan Academy boasts quite a large library of videos, but most of us are (thankfully) past the time in our lives where we need to be practicing how to factor a trinomial. But for the entrepreneurs in the audience, there's an entire section of video tutorials devoted to topics that many of us do come across, such as accounting and raising rounds of funding. The founder and president clearly have a penchant for learning themselves — between the two of them, they hold seven degrees from MIT. 4. E-Business NowThe SCORE Foundation has a whole suite of tools and services that they offer to small businesses, but E-Business Now is a particularly accessible one — the instructional video workshops are available on-demand at no cost. The lessons start out at a basic level designed to familiarize small business owners with the value of leveraging technology. Some of the later lessons, though, provide a good overview on topics like cashflow management. Even a tech savvy entrepreneur might be able to use a refresher on nitty-gritty like the different types of payment options out there. 5. Think Vitamin If you're the "I watched a video and now I totally get it" type of learner, this one might be for you. They cover some pretty heavy stuff (what is "graceful degradation," anyway?) as well as intro-level lessons. The elegance level is high, which aesthetes will appreciate, but at $25 or $49 a month, you need to be pretty sure that you'll get enough use out of it to justify the price tag. With a seemingly unending list of useful skills out there, getting started can feel overwhelming. According to Fernandez, having a clear plan of action can help. "It’s very very important not to bite off more than you can chew," he says. "Understand the tools that are available to you, start using them and set reasonable metrics." Sims, too, suggests that setting parameters is one of the keys to successful education — and execution. "Pick a definable project you’re looking to learn to create," he says, "and then learn the skills you need in order to make that happen." Image courtesy of iStockphoto, shironosov More About: features, online education, Small Business Resources
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| Sweet Elderly Couple Tests Their New Webcam [VIRAL VIDEO] Posted: 17 Sep 2011 12:41 PM PDT
This video is quickly going viral, showing an older couple checking out their new computer, not aware that their webcam experimentations are being recorded. While we marvel at their obvious mutual love and respect for each other, it brings up the question: How do we show our parents and grandparents how to use technology? Are they getting better at it? Do they need our help, or would some good documentation do the trick? SEE ALSO: 20 Most-Shared Video Ads This Month Tell us about your experiences teaching those in the chronologically challenged age group about technology and social media. Update: This couple is so charming, skeptical commenters thought the video was fake, but here’s a story about the couple and their new-found Internet fame. More About: Seniors, viral video, viral-video-of-the-day, webcam, YouTube
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| The Sad State of AT&T’s Quest to Acquire T-Mobile Posted: 17 Sep 2011 11:50 AM PDT   The Social Analyst is a column by Mashable Editor-at-Large Ben Parr, where he digs into social media trends and how they are affecting companies in the space. It’s safe to say that AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson has had a pretty awful couple of weeks. When AT&T announced its blockbuster acquisition of T-Mobile, it seemed as if a fundamental shift in the wireless market was inevitable. Even with opposition from Sprint, many assumed AT&T’s strategic planning and lobbying dollars would win it approval for the $39 billion deal. All of AT&T’s plans are out the window now, though. Late last month, in a surprisingly swift move, the U.S. Department of Justice moved to block the deal. The DoJ filed a civil antitrust lawsuit backed by the FCC, drastically reducing the chances that the wireless giant could complete the merger. AT&T and Deutsche Telekom (parent company of T-Mobile USA) quickly moved to downplay the decision, claiming that they were “confident that this merger is in the best interest of consumers and our country, and the facts will prevail in court.” Since then, two more parties have gotten involved on each side of the debate. On one side, 15 Democratic members of the House of Representatives sent a letter to President Obama urging his administration to resolve its concerns about the deal and “approve the proposed merger between AT&T and T-Mobile USA.” On the other side, seven states this week joined the Department of Justice lawsuit. California, Illinois, Ohio, New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Washington are now parties to the case. Their entry doesn’t bode well for AT&T. The PossibilitiesAt this point, there are four potential outcomes for this case:
Of the four, #2 is the most unlikely. The DoJ doesn’t like picking antitrust fights it cannot win, and AT&T would definitely have to find creative ways to convince a judge that a T-Mobile acquisition wouldn’t hurt competition. Outcome #1 is also unlikely — we believe that AT&T would withdraw its acquisition before suffering an embarrassing defeat in court. That leaves either a settlement or a withdrawal of its acquisition. It’s clear at this point that AT&T is hoping to find some way to settle with the DoJ to get the deal done. “We have been and remain interested in a solution that addresses the DOJ’s issues with the T-Mobile merger,” AT&T said in a statement when the news broke of the seven states joining the DoJ’s case. In the end, this could all be posturing by the DoJ to get concessions out of AT&T before approving the deal. More likely though, this is the DoJ putting its foot down on a deal that many (including me) believe to be bad for consumers. AT&T’s arguments that the deal will not hurt competition sounds like convoluted drivel from desperate spin doctors. One of the company’s big arguments — that the merger would bring 4G LTE coverage to rural areas faster — was quickly destroyed after a leaked letter revealed AT&T could make the same 4G LTE upgrades for $3.8 billion, a fraction of the cost of T-Mobile. The bottom line is this: The merger is anti-competitive no matter how you slice it, and there was no way the DoJ could let this deal pass. It’s not the outcome Randall Stephenson was hoping for. AT&T is going to experience a lot more pain before the outcome of this case is finally decided. More About: acquisition, att, Department of Justice, T-Mobile, The Social Analyst
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| What Are You Most Excited to See at The Emmys? [OPEN THREAD] Posted: 17 Sep 2011 11:32 AM PDT   Mashable Entertainment Editor Christina Warren will be on the scene at the 63rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday. She’ll be sparking a digital conversation about the changing nature of social media and television, talking with the winners about how they use technology — and, of course, watching the awards as they happen. We want to know: What are you most looking forward to about the show? Are you pulling for Tina Fey to win her eighth Emmy? Hoping host Jane Lynch invites her Glee co-stars on stage? Dish on your favorite Emmy-nominated TV shows and celebrities in the comments below. Christina and our team at Mashable HQ will include the people and announcements you want to see most in our live blog, which kicks off at 7 P.M. ET on Sunday. Our coverage will feature Christina’s live updates as well as the best tweets, photos and videos from around the social web. We look forward to watching the 2011 Emmys with you! More About: award shows, Emmys, Emmys 2011, live blog, social tv For more Entertainment coverage:
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| Fall TV Goes Social: 27 New Shows to Watch Posted: 17 Sep 2011 10:53 AM PDT
In celebration of the new season, we’ve decided to take a look at each of the new shows and the various social strategies at play. Check out the captions in the gallery for details. What Will You Watch?This week, we asked you to vote for which shows you’ll be watching. Here’s what came out on top at the time of this writing for each day (click on the days to see full results):
MONDAY: The Playboy Club Network: NBC Start Date: Monday, Sept, 19 Time Slot: 10:00 p.m. ET - 11:00 p.m. ET Description: "It's the early '60s, and the legendary Playboy Club in Chicago is the door to all your fantasies...and the key is the most sought after status symbol of its time." How It's Using Social Media: In addition to the official Facebook Page and Twitter account, NBC has staged various promotions using its Fan It affinity game. NBC started promoting The Playboy Club in earnest over the summer and its campaign has paid off. The show already has nearly 94,000 likes on Facebook. How to Follow: You can follow @NBCPlayboyClub on Twitter and like NBCThePlayboyClub on Facebook. MONDAY: Terra Nova Network: Fox Start Date: Monday, Sept. 26 Time Slot: 8:00 p.m. ET - 9:00 p.m. ET Description: "A family travels from the year 2149 to the prehistoric past in an effort to help recolonize the planet and save mankind." How It's Using Social Media: Fox has put a lot of effort into crafting its official Terra Nova website, including videos, photos and "behind-the-scenes" psychiatric evaluations that give you a better sense of the show and its characters. At LiveTerraNova.com, you can sign in to a site called "The Lottery" using Facebook to access a more enhanced, viral/second-screen aspect of the show. How to Follow: You can follow @TerraNovaonFox on Twitter and like TerraNovaonFox on Facebook. MONDAY: Hart of Dixie Network: The CW Start Date: Monday, Sept. 26 Time Slot: 9:00 p.m. ET - 10:00 p.m. ET Description: "Fast-talking New Yorker and brand new doctor Zoe Hart has it all figured out -- after graduating top of her class from medical school, she'll follow in her father's footsteps and become a cardio-thoracic surgeon. But when her dreams fall apart, Zoe decides to accept an offer from a stranger, Dr. Harley Wilkes, to work with him at his small practice in Bluebell, Alabama." How It's Using Social Media: The CW has dedicated a Facebook Page to the show, as well as a Twitter portal. The network is also using its official Twitter account and YouTube accounts to promote the show. How to Follow: The CW has a handy social Twitter portal setup for its various shows, including Hart of Dixie. Cast members @ScottPorter and @Jaime_King are actively tweeting. MONDAY: 2 Broke Girls Network: CBS Start Date: Monday, Sept. 19 Time Slot: 9:30 p.m. ET - 10:00 p.m. ET Description: "2 Broke Girls is a comedy about two young women waitressing at a greasy spoon diner who strike up an unlikely friendship in the hopes of launching a successful business -- if only they can raise the cash." How It's Using Social Media: Beyond just having official Twitter and Facebook accounts for the program itself, most of the cast members associated with 2 Broke Girls are also on Twitter. Lead actresses Beth Behrs and Kat Dennings are both actively tweeting in the lead-up to the show's premiere. How to Follow: You can follow @2BrokeGirls_CBS on Twitter and like 2BrokeGirls on Facebook. CBS is also using the official Twitter hashtag, #2BrokeGirls for the show. TUESDAY: |
| Happy 20th Birthday, Linux: 10 Cool Devices That Embrace You Posted: 17 Sep 2011 09:56 AM PDT   The Linux operating system is not just for nerds. Even though you may not realize it, chances are you probably have a version of Linux running right under your nose. It’s found its way into a multitude of devices, both large and small. Today, Sept. 17, 2011, is the 20th anniversary of the date when the first Linux kernel (version 0.01) was released and uploaded to an FTP server by Linus Torvalds in Helsinki. Although Torvalds had been working on the code since April, 1991 (recognized by some as the birthday of Linux), it wasn’t until September of that year that he released the first Linux kernel to the world. That early iteration consisted of a mere 10,239 lines of code. Fast-forward to the present day, where the Linux kernel 2.6.35 contains more than 13.5 million lines of code, and controls gadgets, devices and instruments you might never have expected. Take a look at our gallery below and be surprised by the ubiquity of this useful, versatile and compact operating system on its 20th birthday: 1. TiVo Underneath the digital video recorder TiVo's user-friendly and popular interface is a modified version of Linux. We have a hunch that those Linux underpinnings are responsible for TiVo's snappy response and smooth video playback. 2. Android The Android operating system is showing up in multitudes of handheld devices. It was created by the Open Handset Alliance, headed up by Google. Lots of smartphone providers place their own brand of user interface enhancements on top of Android, and there's a lot of tricky programming called middleware in between, but underneath? Good old Linux. 3. AT&T MiFi This pocket-sized device gives users a mobile access point that makes it so multiple people can use a single 3G connection. That gives any Wi-Fi device the ability to go online practically anywhere. What's in it for you? Imagine never having to pay a $12.95 Wi-Fi charge in a hotel again, thanks to Linux. 4. Large Hadron Collider When it's time to answer big questions, physicists are turning to Linux to run the Large Hadron Collider, the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator. Just what questions are they trying to answer with this $9 billion scientific instrument? They're trying to understand some of the deepest and most fundamental laws of physics, such as the structure of space and time. 5. Refrigerator (Electrolux Infinity I-Kitchen) Why would you need Linux in your refrigerator? How about running a touchscreen on the front, storing your contacts and calendars, recipes and reminders, and letting you keep your family organized with electronic Post-it notes? And, some refrigerators are smart enough to remind you that it's time to buy more milk. 6. Sony Bravia HDTV We tested the latest Sony Bravia connected TV, which brings you your favorite video-on-demand service from Netflix or Amazon and a lot more. That's thanks (in part) to its Linux underpinnings. Of course, it can show you the latest 3-D video, and the one we tested was even smart enough to turn itself off if there was no one sitting in the room. 7. Chumby This little supersmart alarm clock runs more than 1,000 apps, and it's all made possible by Linux under the hood. Don't let its diminutive size fool you -- this gadget can display video, call up your favorite Pandora Radio channels and remind you of appointments. Best of all, it's fun. 8. GPS (Tom Tom) Bet you didn't know that GPS unit on your car's dashboard was running Linux. Humming away inside many Garmin, Tom Tom (and other) GPS navigators are versions of Linux. Now if the accuracy of the maps could measure up to that sharp Linux code running inside, we wouldn't have to recalculate so often. 9. Kindle The electronics reader that made e-reading famous is the Amazon Kindle, and displaying its E-Ink screen with enough speed to make it a pleasure to use is -- you guess it -- starts with an "L." 10. Self-Driving Car Self-driving cars, otherwise known as autonomous vehicles, are not perfect yet, but they're getting there. Many of them are running Linux, and researchers are using the operating system to find their way toward someday eliminating the need for traffic signals, driver's licenses, and maybe even rules of the road. Graphic courtesy iStockphoto/DNY59
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| 3 New Takes On Instagram Photos, Professional Profiles & Virtual Goods Posted: 17 Sep 2011 08:47 AM PDT   The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.
This week we’ve chosen new takes on showing off Instagram photos, sharing professional profiles and buying virtual goods. Take a look at Followgram, Zerply and Openbucks and let us know what you think in the comments. Followgram: a Follow Button for Instagram Quick Pitch: Followgram is an easier way to share your Instagram photos. Genius Idea: A follow button for your Instagram that can be added to any site. Mashable’s Take: Users have snapped more than 150 million photos with Instagram, but the mobile app lacks a web component that makes it easy to showcase these photos on the web. Follogram gives your Instagram photo gallery a web presence by giving you a vanity link you can share (check out my example here) and a button that you can post on any website to encourage people to follow you. The button looks and works like this: It’s a handy tool. Building a product based solely on another service, however, is usually risky business. Instagram could swiftly wipe Follogram out by adding either of these features itself. Zerply: a New Twist on Professional Networking Quick Pitch: Sharable professional profiles. Genius Idea: Connecting you to similar users through tags and an easy system for endorsements. Mashable’s Take: It takes about five minutes to go through the four-step process of setting up a profile on Zerply — less if you choose to link your LinkedIn or Facebook profiles to populate most of the information. The result is a spiffy looking professional profile with a custom URL that makes it easy to share. But what separates Zerply from most other professional networking sites is the way that it uses the tags that you assign yourself when you sign up. In my case, these tags were reporter, writer, editor. Zerply used the tags to show me other people who share skills with me in addition to people in my area. Companies also work as tags, so it’s easy to find everyone who has worked at, let’s say, Mashable. Clicking on tags in somebody’s profile presents an option to endorse them for that specific skill. There’s also a button on each profile that makes saving a contact easy. While LinkedIn relies on personal connections, Zerply is much more open. Profiles are public and easily shareable, and anyone can communicate with anyone else — regardless of whether they have a Zerply profile themselves — through buttons for their social profiles. More than 100 million people have a presence on LinkedIn, and most of them won’t want to set up a separate profile. Despite this, Zerply has managed to sign up more than 29,000 users since it launched its public beta in June. Openbucks: A New Way to Pay for Virtual Goodshttp://mashable.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Shop-screenshot.png Quick Pitch: Openbucks allows users to pay for stuff online using gift cards. Genius Idea: A way to pay for virtual goods without sharing credit card information. Mashable’s Take: Many teenagers don’t have credit cards, which means that buying virtual goods can be tricky. Openbucks makes it easy by allowing them to use giftcards from retailers such as Subway, Circle K, CITGO, Hess and Sports Authority to pay. Retailers receive free online exposure, and theoretically, increased gift card sales. Games can collect money from a demographic they couldn’t previously reach. And Openbucks collects a percentage of each sale completed using its embedded digital store. Eventually the startup hopes to expand beyond virtual goods to online shopping in general. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, mbortolino Series Supported by Microsoft BizSpark  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. More About: bizspark, followgram, Openbucks, Startup Weekend Roundup, Zerply
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| This Week in Politics & Digital: The Attack Edition Posted: 17 Sep 2011 07:36 AM PDT   This week two very different types of attacks affected the intersection of politics and social media. President Obama has launched a website to help combat (re: fact check) smear campaigns heading into the 2012 election, and a Marine received the Medal of Honor for saving lives in combat. His story became a nice show of how Twitter helps bring people together — even if those two people are a decorated hero and the President. This is the Week in Politics & Digital. President Obama Launches Attack Watch President Obama always swore he wouldn’t engage in “attack politics” and smear campaigns, but that hasn’t stopped some of his opponents. Well, the president is fighting back with a new site called Attack Watch, designed to find out and correct any false claims made about him. While the idea behind the site isn’t revolutionary, it’s been getting some heat over its design. The site is admittedly a little aggressive both in its design and its slogan, “Get the facts. Fight the smears.” Some right wing bloggers have said the site’s wealth of rebuttal information on Obama will actually help attackers looking for more nuggets. The site is paid for by Obama for America. Medal of Honor Plays Out On Twitter Corporal Dakota Meyer received the Medal of Honor on Sept. 8 for helping save the lives of 36 U.S. and Afghan troops by rushing into a “killing zone.” Surprisingly, much of the festivities honoring Meyer showed up on Twitter. Meyer’s sole request was to share a beer with Obama. Not only was Meyer’s wish fulfilled, but the White House Press Secretary (@PressSec) shared the news on Twitter along with a picture (above) of the two. At the ceremony itself, Meyer declined to comment to reporters but instead responded from his own Twitter account with: “A sincere thank you to everyone who has reached out today. Semper Fi,” The Washington Post reported. Image courtesy of Flickr, Howard Dickins, United States Government Work More About: barack obama, Politics, President, Social Media, US, week in digital politics
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