Mashable: Latest 29 News Updates - including “Find the Right Resources for Your Business or Career With Entrepreneur Finder”

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Mashable: Latest 29 News Updates - including “Find the Right Resources for Your Business or Career With Entrepreneur Finder”

Find the Right Resources for Your Business or Career With Entrepreneur Finder

Posted: 09 Dec 2011 08:57 PM PST


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.

Name: Entrepreneur Finder

Quick Pitch: Entrepreneur Finder helps new companies develop.

Genius Idea: Interactive resource that brings together entrepreneurs, professionals, students and investors to grow their companies or find employment.

Although the web furnishes seemingly endless resources for professionals, sometimes it still seems impossible to find exactly what or whom you’re looking for.

That’s why Luke Deering founded Entrepreneur Finder, a free, interactive resource that helps users throughout their entrepreneurial and professional careers. The site aims to establish relationships among individuals and help them find the right people, jobs and opportunities to advance their businesses and careers.

Deering created the site based on his own personal experiences. As an aspiring entrepreneur, he found it very difficult to find the right person with the right credentials to help him with public relations and marketing. He realized that if he had trouble finding the right people and resources, then other entrepreneurs probably did as well.

“It was very frustrating because you sometimes you can’t find what is most relevant to what you are searching for,” says Deering. “I wanted to create a go-to place for students and professionals that feeds entrepreneurship and provides the resources to help people find exactly what they’re looking for.”

Deering designed Entrepreneur Finder to help users do the following:

  • Form new contacts with reputable professionals in specific industries.
  • Find the right business partner, investor or employee.
  • Search for investors to raise capital for a startup or business.
  • Find a mentor or mentor others.
  • Search employment and internship opportunities.
  • Find the right company to invest in.
  • Access a directory of trade shows and business conferences.

    • Users must create a profile on the site that includes details about their profession and what or whom they are searching for. For example, a user can write that he or she is searching for a Princeton University graduate with a degree in economics or a co-investor for a startup. The site’s automatic matching feature will then match users with people who fit the description.

    Similar to Facebook, users can search for people they are interested in contacting, send messages to contacts or add new friends to their profile. The newsfeed feature also lets users post updates and view updates posted by their contacts.

    EPHomepage

    Entrepreneur Finder newsfeed.

    Users can control and limit how people search for them and contact them.

    Although LinkedIn also serves as a resource for professionals, Entrepreneur Finder is different because it focuses heavily on encouraging interaction among its users.

    “I hope to one day hear from someone that used Entrepreneur Finder as a student and found their first internship, mentor and full-time job through the site, and then started a company and met their business partners and raised funding through the site,” says Deering. “Then they can mentor young professionals and entrepreneurs that found them, just as they found their mentors on the site.”

    While Entrepreneur Finder is currently self-funded, Deering plans to expand the site in the future by potentially charging a monthly fee for users who are searching for a professional with very specific credentials. He may also charge a small fee for job postings.

    Entrepreneur Finder is currently in private beta and will publicly launch early next year. Users can request early access on the site’s homepage.

    Image courtesy of EntrepreneurFinder, Entrepreneur Finder

    Series Supported by Microsoft BizSpark

    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, EntrepreneurFinder, entrepreneurs, professional, professional networking

    For more Business coverage:

University Spends $3,000 on XXX Domain Names to Save Face

Posted: 09 Dec 2011 08:18 PM PST

xxx Domain Names

The University of Kansas has bought .xxx domain names, such as www.KUgirls.xxx and www.KUnurses.xxx, hoping to prevent its name from falling into the hands of pornographers. The school, as well as dozens of others, has reportedly purchased $3,000 worth of “.xxx” domain names since they went on sale.

The flagship state university plans to sit on the websites and do nothing with them, the AP reports.

The recently launched .xxx web suffix is intended for adult-only (read: pornographic) content and are a way to more easily sort mature web material. The sites went on public sale for the first time this week, after opening up to companies in September. Some 80,000 pages were reportedly purchased during the pre-sale phase, including Nike.xxx, Pepsi.xxx and Target.xxx.

SEE ALSO: XXX Domains Are Here: Now What?

The AP also says Indiana University, Purdue University and Ball State University have snatched up their self-titled .xxx territory.

While this may seem like a lot of money to spend on

Did you purchase a .xxx domain name to protect your company’s brand? Let us know in the comments.

More About: .xxx, education, higher education, porn

For more Tech coverage:

How to Increase Facebook Engagement Using Custom Page Tabs

Posted: 09 Dec 2011 07:55 PM PST


Meaghan Edelstein has gained national media attention through her blog, I Kicked Cancer’s Ass, which she started to document her battle with end stage cancer. She is an attorney, the founder of the non-profit organization Spirit Jump, and works for the Global Strategic Management Institute.

The year 2011 brought exciting changes to social media marketing, especially when it came to Facebook. One such change is the ability to build customized landing tabs using iFrames, social plugins and geotargeting. These custom tabs open a world of opportunity for brands to increase Facebook engagement.

Brands that invest in building the right types of tabs on their Facebook Pages are more likely to increase Likes and achieve real engagement growth. However, simply throwing a tab up will not suffice. There are certain considerations and important steps to take in order to significantly increase engagement through a Facebook tab.

1. Know Your Audience

Understanding your audience is key to building a tab that will increase both Likes and engagement. "You should think about your audience and what interests them, then figure out how to build a relationship around those things," advises Victoria Ransom, founder and CEO of Wildfire, one of the most widely used tools to build and manage Facebook tabs.

Prior to building tabs, the Mexico Tourism Board (MTB) sought out audience input by launching a consumer survey on its primary website. The survey asked what types of information people would like to get from the MTB Facebook Page. "The over 15,000 responses contributed directly to the architecture of each of the four tabs: Highlights, Celebs, Attractions and Press," says Lane Douglas, executive vice president of vantage strategy. MTB Page Likes increased from 6,000 to 70,000 within a three-week period, and its "People Talking About This" index raised to 14,000 daily.

Audience-relevant tabs allow for delivery of on-point content and rich engagement. The great part about social media is that it eliminates the middle man. Each company can directly target and communicate with its customer base for inspiration.

2. Define Your Goals

Not to overwhelm you, but there are limitless possibilities with tabs. With that in mind, it's not recommended to have just one goal per tab. According to Stephanie Chaparro, senior account strategist for Wildfire, "Brands don't want to use simple goals like 'increase likes' or 'engage fans.' Instead look into the strategy of the tabs and consider what audience to target and what end action is wanted, for example, Like the page, watch a video, share stories or leave a comment. Be as specific as possible in the goals you are setting."

Wildfire contracted Webroot Software to help build and monitor tabs for the company's Facebook Page. Their goal was to deliver personalized content, build brand awareness and increase engagement on a Page that was, for the most part, stagnant and passive. Five months after launching Wildfire's tabs, Webroot Software saw Likes increase by 40,906, a 523% improvement.

3. Build a Cool Tab

Once you've done the research and determined the optimal strategy, it's time to build an effective tab. Focus on including these features: a hook, fresh content and a rich experience. "The best tabs are the ones that have a hook to get people to come back to the page on regular basis, but at the same time, provides a real opportunity for them to engage with the product and share," says Ransom.

Blowfish Shoes implemented a Shoe-A-Day Giveaway tab, a year-long campaign in which the company gives away a different pair of shoes daily. At the end of the year, Blowfish found its Facebook Page Likes had increased by 2,488%. The giveaway tab was so successful, in part, because it contained all the key aspects of the most successful tabs. With a new pair of shoes to feature every day, Blowfish was able to constantly stream fresh content in the form of photos and videos. And by announcing new winners every day, Blowfish gave people another reason to check back. Finally, through strategically placed links, the tab provided an opportunity for product engagement. Sixty-four percent of entrants actually went on to browse the Blowfish Shoes website, and nearly half of all sales during the promotion came from contestants. Through a single tab, Blowfish was able to build brand awareness, grow its Facebook community and increase overall engagement and sales.

4. Manage Tabs

By implementing a clear strategy around tabs, organizations can benefit on an ongoing basis. But in order to sustain growth, there must be a strategic plan in place. "Companies that do the best are those who have a regular plan around their social media (including their Facebook tabs) and who take advantage of opportunities like holidays and events," says Ransom.

Part of the strategic plan should include how to handle multiple tabs. "It's important to be strategic in implementing and running multiple tabs simultaneously. We see a lot of brands put up multiple tabs, each requiring different actions. This can overwhelm the user, " says Chapparo.

If you want to increase overall engagement, do not overwhelm users by requiring multiple actions on tabs. Instead, focus on keeping the wall engaging and fresh, while simultaneously providing tabs for a richer experience. Ideeli, a multi-retail channel, never runs multiple tabs that require actions. "We prioritize our tabs and realize we can only drive people away from our wall so many times," Sarah Conley, social media manager at ideeli. Over the last year ideeli saw its Facebook Page Likes increase by 291%. The company also increased wall engagement by 48%.

5. Support Your Tabs

Facebook tabs cannot exist in a void. "Businesses need to realize the point is not to create a tab and expect to get tons of traffic spontaneously. Tabs can fail when businesses don't have a plan for getting people to the tab," says Ransom.

There are a variety of ways to drive traffic to tabs including Facebook ads, sponsored stories, Wall posts, email blasts, newsletters and share buttons. Webroot Software used video to drive traffic to its tabs. "With our marketplace in mind, we created three humorous videos that each ended with a promotional link to our Facebook Page. These videos have received over 32 million views and counting," shares Chris Benham, chief demand officer at Webroot.

As traffic to the Facebook Page increases, so do Likes and community engagement. Community management will become ever-more important to handle the influx of Facebook activity. "Fans of Mexico came out of the woodwork. As the community began to grow and move through the tabs, they posted stories and photos of their best Mexico vacation experiences on the wall," says Douglas of Mexico Tourism Board.

As Facebook's popularity grows, it becomes more and more imperative to stand out from the crowds by offering valuable content and a thriving community. By executing on-point Facebook tabs, any organization, no matter its size, industry or age, can build a living, breathing Facebook community.

More About: community, contributor, Facebook, features, Marketing, social engagement, Social Media

For more Business coverage:

Meet the 80-Year-Old Woman Who Is a Criminal Duck Feeder [VIDEO]

Posted: 09 Dec 2011 07:17 PM PST


Each day, Mashable highlights one noteworthy YouTube video. Check out all our viral video picks.

Duck feeding is hardly considered a dangerous hobby, but can it be cause for arrest? In the case of one elderly Massachusetts woman, it was.

Clair Butcher has been criminally charged for taking duck feeding too far, following an eight-year battle with the city of Lynn.

City leaders say footage shows her disruptively wheeling cartloads of bread and dog food to places where feeding fowl is forbidden. She has received over one dozen citations, but refuses to pay. Butcher says the animals do not belong to the city of Lynn, rather they belong to God.

More About: poop, viral-video-of-day, YouTube

For more Entertainment coverage:

Facebook Users Mostly Annoyed by Hidden Messages

Posted: 09 Dec 2011 06:18 PM PST

Facebook magnifying glass

Facebook users have noticed their hidden “other” messages en masse and many of them are not happy.

Under the Facebook Messages tab there is an “other” tab, which you very well may have never noticed. It hosts the messages Facebook has deemed less important, often meaning messages sent by events or users with whom you have no apparent connection.

Though the feature is not new, it has recently caught the attention of many, including a Slate reporter who was messaged by a man who found her lost laptop.

Below you will notice where your “other” messages live on Facebook. My inbox has messages from events going back several years. Based on when my unread messages begin, I would guess Facebook introduced the feature in either late May or early June.

We gathered reactions from Mashable commenters and Twitter.


Michelle Goldberg




Click here to view this gallery.

Now we’d like to know how you reacted. Were you upset to find any hidden messages? Did something important go unnoticed?


More About: Facebook, Facebook Messages, reaction

High-Tech Adidas Soccer Shoe and App Track Your Performance

Posted: 09 Dec 2011 05:45 PM PST


Your days of phony hustling on the soccer pitch — appearing to exert maximum effort while actually conserving energy — are over, thanks to a new shoe and app recently introduced by Adidas.

Released this month, the free miCoach Soccer app for iPhone and iPod touch collects and visualizes data wirelessly transmitted from a chip planted into a cavity of the adizero F50 soccer cleat. The shoe and chip came out in Europe, Asia and Latin America in November before debuting in the U.S. this month.

The data transmitted from the chip allows players to track and measure their distance covered, top speed, number of sprints, and other statistics during games or practice. Players can then monitor their progress over time, compare their performance to that of friends and measure themselves against some of the world’s biggest stars while sharing the entire experience via Twitter and Facebook. Brazil and FC Barcelona defender Dani Alves also shares professional training tips via the app.

The new shoe was first worn by Barcelona and Argentina superstar Lionel Messi during a friendly match against Nigeria in September and, according to Bloomberg News, took more than two years to develop.

But it’s not first piece of high tech athletic apparel to cause a stir — in fact, others have even been banned in recent years on performance-enhancing grounds. Last year, the NBA banned a $300 shoe touted to add nearly four inches to a player’s vertical leap. In 2010, swimming’s world governing body banned polyurethane and neoprene suits after competitors broke scores of records wearing the gear.

While the new Adidas cleat and chip don’t directly enhance performance, they do provide advanced analytics that the company says will be a boon for any player looking to get better.

“Understanding individual performance data is one of the best ways to improve your game,” renowned trainer Mark Verstegen said in an Adidas release. “For the first time, amateur athletes can have access to the performance tracking and analysis technology available to professional athletes.”

The tracking chip technology has been available in Adidas running shoes since 2009, but with the release of the soccer cleat and app, made its first transition into other sports. Adidas says basketball, football and tennis versions are scheduled for 2012.

More About: adidas, adizero f50, dani alves, lionel messi, soccer, sports

YouTube’s Most-Shared Ads of 2011 [VIDEOS]

Posted: 09 Dec 2011 04:33 PM PST


If we’ve learned anything about viral advertising in 2011, it’s this — you can’t touch The Force. Also, people will always love crazy stunts and action-packed destruction — especially if there are Angry Birds thrown into the mix.

Pop culture references, especially when Internet-related, also seemed to do really well this year. From the Royal Wedding to LMFAO, using someone or something that has a strong following always helps in acheiving viral reach. And if that doesn’t work, consider a male stripper or a monkey with an AK-47.

We also learned that people like to be tricked. The more realistic your stunt is, the better. There are a couple videos that made the list this year that make you question whether the ad was staged or real, which always leads to sharing.

If nothing else, there are a few touching videos that will leave you affected. From cute children talking about their relationship to the more serious topic of cancer, this list just goes to show that emotive videos can still cut through all the noise on the web.

Special thanks to our friends at Unruly for compiling this list.

Note: The list below does not include music videos, user-generated content or movie trailers. Unruly's Viral Video Chart tracks 18 million shares a day through third-party APIs.


1. "The Force: Volkswagen Commercial" (Volkswagen)


Shares: 4,713,179

This Super Bowl ad for the 2012 Passat features a "pint-sized Darth Vader" who discovers the Force in his driveway. It's incredibly cute and humorous, and was obviously well-executed because it holds the highest number of shares this year.

Click here to view this gallery.

More About: Advertising, features, Marketing, viral videos, YouTube

Ron Paul Only GOP Hopeful With Positive Twitter Sentiment

Posted: 09 Dec 2011 03:42 PM PST

Ron Paul

Texas congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul may be trailing in the polls, but he is the only politician with positive Twitter buzz, according to a new study.

The Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism — which analyzes online conversation, news coverage and more than 20 million tweets about politics over the past seven months — found that 55% of Paul's Twitter followers had positive things to say about him. Only 15% expressed negative opinions.

Other politicians haven't been so lucky. Tweets about five of the seven GOP presidential hopefuls expressed negative feedback by a margin of about two to one. President Barack Obama hasn't fared well either — negative comments about him on Twitter outweigh the positives by three to one.

The report also finds that Twitter and blogs produce harsher comments overall about candidates compared to traditional news coverage. There has also been some notable shifts in the tone of opinions on Twitter for several GOP hopefuls since October – most notably, former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney, Texas Governor Rick Perry and former Republican candidate and businessman Herman Cain, who has since dropped out of the race amid allegations of participating in sexual affairs and abuse. The three politicians experienced their most negative Twitter feedback in the past eight weeks. Meanwhile, Newt Gingrich had his first week of more positive than negative comments the week of Oct. 24.

Gingrich is the politician with the biggest surge in polling numbers in the last month, but he received only a minimal improvement in the tone of his overall news coverage. Until recently, he had the most unflattering narrative in news coverage of any GOP contender, with 17% positive, 33% negative and 50% neutral, the report says.

Do you think this type of Twitter chatter will predict a candidate's likelihood to get a nomination bid? Which candidate do you think is winning the social media race?

More About: BLOGS, politicians, Politics, presidential race, tweets, Twitter

For more Media coverage:

Why Apple Is Winning the Mobile Video Format War … For Now

Posted: 09 Dec 2011 03:16 PM PST


Jeroen Wijering is the creator of the incredibly successful JW Player, which has generated millions of downloads since its release in 2005. In 2007 he co-founded LongTail Video, focusing on a full-fledged online video platform that includes encoding, delivery, syndication and advertising.

The mobile video space has begun to consolidate. In early November, Adobe announced it would stop developing its Flash Player for mobile devices (read: Android). Going forward, HTML5 will be the only method to play back video on mobile phones and tablets.

This is a big win for Apple, the company to most strongly oppose Flash over the last few years. The company is indeed beginning to dictate the industry’s future. In addition to defeating Flash in the battle for video playback, Apple continues to innovate with its H.264 codec, since WebM is still nowhere to be found.

The company has also taken the lead in video streaming. Apple's homegrown streaming protocol, HTTP Live Streaming (HLS), has always been the one and only way to stream content to iDevices. Now, due to the popularity of iOS, many tool vendors and even competing platforms are starting to support it too.

Playback and Encoding

According to Adobe, Android 4 (Ice Cream Sandwich) will be the last mobile platform to use a Flash plugin. The OS is launching without one, though. Given Flash’s terrible track record with mobile, it wouldn’t be surprising if it never arrives. Therefore, video publishers should ensure their Android video works in HTML5.

In terms of encoding, the H.264 codec is baked into the CPU of every single mobile phone today, while WebM is still confined to a software-only (and non-HTML5) implementation on some Android devices. Google is working on hardware, but the path from reference designs to phone integration, and eventually market share, is a long one.

Until WebM hardware decoding is supported by a decent slice of mobile devices, video publishers will continue to focus on H.264. Seeing this, Google continues to support H264 in Chrome, despite announcing that it would drop it almost a year ago. For all intents and purposes, H.264 is the baseline codec for HTML5 video at present.

What Is HLS?

The acronym HLS stands for HTTP Live Streaming. It is a protocol that allows publishers to stream video using plain HTTP web servers, as opposed to using expensive and hard to scale dedicated streaming servers. This streaming is achieved by chopping up the video hosted on the server into small fragments (usually 10 seconds), and then stitching them together again in the browser. The browser only requests the next fragment in line, instead of loading the entire video and wasting bandwidth, which is how vanilla HTML5 operates. See the diagram below for a single fragmented stream.

A video streamed through HLS is usually encoded into multiple qualities, ranging from a mere 180px to full-blown 720px and beyond. Every time the browser returns to the server to load the next fragment, it decides which quality level to load. Thus, the browser continuously adjusts the quality of the stream to best match the available bandwidth. This is hugely important in mobile, because devices perpetually swap between 2G, 3G, 4G and Wi-Fi connections. See diagram below for an adaptive fragmented stream.

In addition, the fragments of HLS streams can be encrypted for secure delivery. Users who intercept these fragments will not be able to play them at all. This is a big security advantage over plain HTML5 video, in which every savvy user can find the URL of a video and download for his own use.

Why Use HLS?

Today’s wide usage of the HLS protocol is a result of iOS success. Apple designated the protocol as the one and only way to stream video to the iPhone and iPad. No Flash, no Silverlight, no RTP or RTSP. On top of that, HLS is required for in-app video. Even simple MP4 downloads, which work for in-browser playback, are not allowed in iOS apps.

Every major publisher, therefore, needs to use the HLS protocol. Every major encoding tool (e.g. Encoding.com or Sorenson Squeeze) and streaming server (e.g. Flash Media Server or Wowza Media Server) supports it nowadays. This broad ecosystem, in turn, now has many devices that support the protocol as well. Nearly every popular set-top box (Xbox, PS3, Roku, Apple TV, Boxee) can play HLS, as will Android phones running the new Ice Cream Sandwich release.

Are there are any competing protocols? Absolutely. Dynamic Streaming from Adobe is one, but requires the (now desktop only) Flash plugin. Also, Smooth Streaming from Microsoft requires Silverlight, another desktop-only (and soon to retire?) plugin. HLS is deployed on top of HTML5, which is easily implemented by both browsers and devices.

A standardization effort is on its way as well, in the form of MPEG DASH (Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP). Supported by many companies (including Apple) and boasting a rich set of features, DASH may well become the single video streaming protocol to replace HLS, as well as RTMP and RTSP. However, progress is slow and broad support is years away.

The Apple Standard

For the foreseeable future, we’ll watch our mobile video the Apple way: HTML5 embedded, H.264 encoded and HLS streamed. Any platform seeking broad support for quality video (Windows Phone?) must implement HLS. And any publisher seeking mobile viewers must encode in H.264, embed using HTML5 and stream using HLS.

Is this a bad thing? Quite the contrary. The alternative is fragmentation: multiple plugins, multiple codecs and multiple protocols. This is an annoyance for large media corporations; it increases their development and delivery costs. However, it’s disastrous for smaller video publishers, since the companies lack the resources to build and support multi-platform video delivery. Ultimately, that is a detriment to mobile video. Like the web in general, mobile video thrives on broad availability of a wide variety of content.

A more open set of standards (WebM and DASH) should come in time. For now though, Apple is the standard.

More About: apple, contributor, features, Flash, iOS, mobile video, Video

For more Mobile coverage:

NBA Fans Turn Over Their Twitter Accounts, Get Season Tickets

Posted: 09 Dec 2011 02:43 PM PST


When Philadelphia 76ers fans Jerry Rizzo and Hunter Coleman took it upon themselves to help out their favorite NBA team on Twitter this week, they didn’t think it would lead to threats of legal action.

The 76ers are in the process of choosing a new mascot, and kicked off a fan voting contest Monday to decide between the final three candidates: Big Ben, a version of Benjamin Franklin; Phil E. Moose, “one of the most regal animals to roam the wild,” according to a team press release; and B. Franklin Dogg, whom the team calls “the All-American pet.”

But the team failed to set up Twitter accounts for the mascot nominees. So Rizzo, 23, and Coleman, 22, did just that. On Tuesday they registered the Twitter accounts @PhilEMoose and @BFranklinDogg. (@BigBen_76ers was already taken.) Hunter and Coleman also set up Facebook and Google+ accounts for the nominees.

Rizzo and Coleman, now tweeting as Dogg and Moose, aimed to drum up support for the contest. By Friday afternoon, @PhilEMoose had nearly 500 followers, while @BFranklinDogg had more than 200. The team has so far received tens of thousands of votes in the contest.

But Rizzo and Coleman also heard from the 76ers organization on Friday. An official email asked them to cease tweeting, shut down the Facebook and Google+ pages, and pass the Twitter passwords over to team officials by 7pm that night, when the contest was schedule to end.

Rizzo told Mashable that the email praised the young fans for their enthusiasm but read, in part, “we’d like you to do this pleasantly without the use of lawyers or anything like that.”

At that point, Rizzo, a self-described “social media sponge,” contacted Mashable with his story. “We were just doing something cool for them, helping them drive the contest,” he said in a phone interview. He was, however, not inclined to hand over the accounts, saying he planned to “just not do anything” and see what happened.

Mashable reached out to multiple 76ers officials for comment, but did not hear back. Hours later, Rizzo said that he and Coleman had changed their minds and were going to hand over the passwords after being offered “a fair deal.”

And what was that deal? Box seats to the 76ers’ home opener and free season tickets in exchange for helping out with future fan engagement.

“Not a bad deal for a few days of tweeting,” Rizzo said.

More About: NBA, Twitter

For more Social Media coverage:

Is Facebook Hiding Your Messages? [VIDEO]

Posted: 09 Dec 2011 02:10 PM PST


There is a tab under Facebook Messages you may have never noticed. It filters out what’s supposed to be less-than-important messages from events and people you have no apparent connection with.

Although it’s not a new feature, the “Other” inbox upsets some users who have only just discovered it and are reportedly missing important messages.

Check out the video to learn more.

Tell us: Are you annoyed by this hidden inbox? Or do you appreciate that it doesn’t clog your email inbox?

More About: Facebook, Facebook Messages, mashable video

The Daily Show Goes After Freemium Apps [VIDEO]

Posted: 09 Dec 2011 01:47 PM PST

The Daily Show Goes After Freemium Apps [Video]

Freemium apps are here to stay, but that doesn't mean all of us like them. Now, The Daily Show has done a hilarious report on parents that let their kids download "free" games only to find massive iTunes charges on their next bill.

Correspondent Aasiv Mandvi's best comment is:

"Turns out these games are free, up until the point when you don't want them to suck."

Take a look:

What do you think? Leave your comments below.

More About: freemium, the daily show, Video

NFL Stars: The Secrets to Their Facebook Success

Posted: 09 Dec 2011 01:22 PM PST


You won’t see Jeff Weiner prowling NFL sidelines while barking orders into a headset, and he’s never won a Super Bowl or coach of the year award. But Weiner, 28, does play a crucial coaching role for NFL players by helping them leverage social media to market themselves and connect with fans. His clients are known for engaging especially well with supporters, and stars like James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley of the Pittsburgh Steelers rank among the most popular NFL players on Facebook.

Weiner created a social media niche for himself in 2009, quickly attracting burgeoning stars like Eddie Royal of the Denver Broncos and Steve Smith, now of the Philadelphia Eagles. His New York company, ESBL Sports Management, now represents more than a dozen NFL players and his work has been mentioned on the ESPN, NFL and NBC Sports websites.

But in contrast to other sports social media gurus, Weiner focuses almost exclusively on Facebook, where he says it’s easier for players to connect with fans through photos and video. For example, Woodley announced a new contract this August by posting a candid photo of himself looking over the paperwork. And fans of Weiner clients certainly appreciate the close connections as well; in 2010, their online votes helped propel Smith into the Pro Bowl.

Mashable caught up with Weiner to get his game-plan for an effective Facebook presence for athletes. Click through the slideshow below to see his secrets to social media success, then let us know what you think in the comments.


Welcome Well




"Pretty much everyone who visits a page wants to go straight to the Wall," Weiner says. "So you have to give them a reason on the Welcome tab -- something extra, like exclusive access -- that gives them an incentive to click the Like button first."

Here, Woodley invites fans to connect by helping his Pro Bowl cause -- if they click the Like button.

Click here to view this gallery.

More About: Eddie Royal, Facebook, James Harrison, Jeff Weiner, LaMarr Woodley, Marketing, nfl, Social Media, steve smith

YouTube Snaps Up RightsFlow Music-Copyright Specialist

Posted: 09 Dec 2011 01:14 PM PST

music copyright

Google just acquired RightsFlow, a company that specializes in helping artists and labels licence and get paid for copyrighted music. Google plans to integrate RightsFlow’s database and technology into YouTube, making it that much easier for Right Said Fred to collect his two bits from that “Too Sexy” manga mashup you keep watching.

How does RightsFlow do that? Since it was founded in October 2007, RightsFlow has been building a database of more than 30 million songs, from almost 10,000 labels. It’s created technology around that data to quickly identify when a song’s been played on a digital music service (though the company serves traditional media such as CDs, too). It can also figure out how much is owed, and handle the payment.

YouTube’s already the home of tons of music videos, some legit and many less so, and uses its homegrown Content ID system to identify which is which. RightsFlow makes that detection system much more powerful and provides a better answer to, “And then what?” when it finds a copyrighted song.

The rights and licenses to creative works can often be complicated, but RightsFlow’s database can sort it out, at least for the labels that participate (and again, there are a lot of them). When Content ID spots copyrighted music in a YouTube video, RightsFlow can determine what may be owed to the rights holder, and provide an easy way to collect.

Does that mean fewer fun mash-up videos? Not necessarily. After all, YouTube’s had Content ID for years, and the vast majority of content owners have clearly chosen to leave those harmless uploads alone. Google said Friday in its announcement that the RightsFlow acquisition will lead to “more music for you all to enjoy, and more money for the talented people producing the music.”

YouTube is definitely casting itself as the champion of musicians, aspiring and established, in this move. But what about users? Do you think this will lead to more or less good music on YouTube? Or neither? Let us know in the comments.

More About: copyright, Music, streaming, YouTube

New Twitter: 25 Tips and Tricks for Savvy Tweeters

Posted: 09 Dec 2011 12:53 PM PST

Twitter Keyboard Shorcuts

The reorganized and refashioned Twitter.com is a markedly different beast than it was just 48 hours ago. Now millions of users who call Twitter’s web destination home are looking for help. Perhaps just 25 soupcons of it. If so, look no further than this list of 25 new Twitter tips.

Sound off in the comments if you have other Twitter tips and tricks to share.

Use These 22 Keyboard Shortcuts

Twitter’s keyboard shortcuts got an update during Twitter’s design overhaul on Dec 8. In the image above, you’ll see the new key strokes. Below is a quick how-to guide to clear up any immediate confusion.

Actions for tweets:

  • Click “f” to favorite a tweet (must have an individual tweet open; test it here)
  • Click “r” to reply to a tweet (must have an individual tweet open; test it here)
  • Click “t” to retweet (must have an individual tweet open; test it here)
  • Click “m” to send a direct message (must have an individual tweet open; test it here)
  • Click “n” to create a new tweet (can do this on anywhere on Twitter)
  • Click “Enter” to see tweet details (must use navigation shortcut “j” first to make this one work; test it here)
  • Click “l” to close all open tweets (open a few tweets using the “Enter” shortcut and then try closing them)

Navigation:

  • Click “Shift” and “?” for a list of all keyboard shortcuts
  • Click “j” to go to the next tweet (can do on homepage or your timeline)
  • Click “k” to go to the previous tweet (can do on homepage or your timeline)
  • Click the space bar to page down
  • Click “/” to search
  • Click / to jump to the search box
  • Click “.” to load new tweets

Timelines

  • Click “g” then “h” to go home
  • Click “g” then “c” to go to the Connect page
  • Click “g” then “m” to go to your direct messages
  • Click “g” then “d” to go to the Discover page
  • Click “g” then “p” to go to your profile
  • Click “g” then “f” to go to your favorites
  • Click “g” then “m” to go to your direct messages
  • Click “g” then “u” to search for any user’s timeline

Move Your Direct Messages and Lists Front and Center

Your Messages tab and Lists pull-down menu are no longer on your homepage. They’ve both been moved to the main pull-down menu next to the blue “Compose new Tweet” button. To avoid having to click twice to get to your direct messages and lists, you can create bookmarks for both and place them on your bookmarks bar.

Embed Tweets Onto Your Website

Developers and bloggers no longer have to take screenshots of tweets to include them on their websites. Now, they can embed interactive tweets that give visitors the ability to reply, retweet and favorite without leaving the page. Below is an sample embedded tweet. Click on the link to learn how to plop one on your own site.

Discover New Topics and People to Follow

Use Twitter’s Discover tab to find new ways to explore topics and find users. Remember, you can employ a keyboard shortcut (click “g” then “d”) to navigate to the Discover page.

  • Stories: This tab sorts stories and trends based on your connections, location and language.
  • Activity: The Activity Stream, which was introduced in August, shows you what the people you follow are doing besides tweeting.
  • Who to Follow: This tab lists recommendations of who to follow “based on who you follow and more.”
  • Find Friends: Go here to search your Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail (and Messenger) and AOL contact lists.
  • Browse Categories (pictured above): Click on a topic such as “technology,” “sports” or “funny” to discover people within those content areas to follow.

Bonus: How New Twitter Looks

Don’t have the New Twitter yet? We’ve got you covered. Watch this video and check out the gallery below. Click here for everything you need to know about Twitter’s recent redesign.



Home Page




Your profile information, suggested followers and trends are now on the left rather than the right.

Click here to view this gallery.

More About: New Twitter, Social Media, tips, Twitter, web design

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5 Small Biz Mobile Marketing Strategies for the Holidays

Posted: 09 Dec 2011 12:47 PM PST


Ted Iannuzzi is the CEO of DIDMO. As co-creator of the company’s flagship product, mobile content creation platform Magmito, he’s passionate about mobile communication.

This year’s record-breaking Cyber Monday and Black Friday sales are a good indication that a successful holiday shopping season is well underway. We’re seeing big retailers pull out all the stops when it comes to holiday-centric mobile marketing campaigns.

In fact, approximately 52% of smartphone users will use their devices to research products, redeem coupons and use apps to assist in their holiday gift purchase.

It’s not too late for Main Street to hop on the mobile marketing sleigh either — you don't need a big budget to execute an effective mobile campaign. Though you may have already launched your print and website advertising campaigns, consider the following five last-minute mobile marketing strategies — and get a jumpstart on 2012.

1. Create a Specialized Mobile Holiday App

One study shows that 43% of mobile shoppers have downloaded a retail app. Even if you already offer an app for your business, consider creating an app especially for the holiday season — it will do even more to attract last-minute shoppers.

With a number of low-cost, DIY tools available on the market, small businesses can easily create and update universal apps that can be ready for distribution the same day. In addition to holiday specials and store hours, your app should include a feedback form and some sort of coupon designed to boost sales during the post-holiday slump. Your feedback form should ask customers what kind of mobile outreach they would be most receptive to and collect their mobile numbers for your 2012 campaigns.

2. Build your Mobile Database

If even the simplest app is beyond your reach right now, collecting customer mobile numbers will be critical for your 2012 campaigns. The increase in store traffic during the holidays will translate to a larger database. Hand customers their very last paper coupon at the point-of-sale to redeem in-store post-holiday, in exchange for their mobile number. You can also add a form field to your website prompting customers to enter their mobile numbers in exchange for a coupon or special offer.

Building your mobile database will allow you to take advantage of text or SMS marketing campaigns next year, a low-cost mobile marketing channel that is accessible to 100% of mobile phone users.

3. Get in on Location-Based Deal Services

Though spending is on the rise this year, consumers are still looking for ways to stretch their dollars, and they're doing it via their mobile devices. Fifty-three percent of Americans are willing to provide their location in exchange for more relevant content and better information, including mobile deals.

Do your bottom line a favor and sign up for mobile deal and location-based platforms to make sure you're discovered. From Shopkick to Groupon, Foursquare to Yelp, research your options and sign up to bring in new — and possibly repeat — customers. For example, consider offering a limited-time holiday special on Foursquare that, once unlocked via checkin, rewards customers.

4. Engage Customers with a Holiday-Themed QR Code

QR code marketing is a great way to build brand awareness and take advantage of a new technology, especially since 90 million people in the U.S. own smartphones — up 10% from three months ago, according to a survey just released by comScore.

It's surprisingly easy to customize QR codes, making yours stand out from the crowd. Do it yourself or visit a website like QRlicious, which promises a QR code turnaround time of 24 hours.

If executed properly, QR codes can transform static print campaigns into interactive, trackable advertisements. EShave, which offers upscale shaving products and accessories, placed QR code posters in several phone kiosks. The QR code leads to a mobile site that lets users create their own shaving sets, and was also designed to drive foot traffic to their Rockefeller Center store in New York.

At the very least, your holiday QR code should link to a landing page that encourages holiday shoppers to redeem exclusive discounts.

5. Provide an Integrated Holiday Marketing Campaign

Integrating all or some of the above tactics will bolster your holiday marketing campaigns, but make sure to also promote your mobile presence in-store. For instance, throughout the store display a QR code that links to your app or a special promotion. Display in your store window to attract prospective customers even when you're closed. Incorporate your QR code and/or app link into your holiday email blasts and promote them on your website and via social media. Companies like Modern Postcard offer quick turnaround and will also print your QR code onto direct mail. Let customers know which deal websites you belong to with store signage and through your usual communication channels.

Mobile marketing is no longer the exclusive domain of big brands. Today’s competitive campaigns and the low cost of entry for many mobile marketing tactics have made it affordable for SMBs to implement multiple strategies. During the holidays you can test out several options and later decide which ones to use for your 2012 mobile marketing plan.

Image courtesy of Flickr, lululemon athletica

More About: contributor, features, Holidays 2011, Marketing, Mobile, mobile marketing, QR Codes, small busines

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Sports Illustrated Wants You to Choose Its Next Cover

Posted: 09 Dec 2011 12:11 PM PST


For the first time in Sports Illustrated‘s 60-year publication history, it is letting fans choose its cover.

Beginning at 3 p.m. ET on Friday, fans are invited to visit the sports newsweekly’s Facebook page to help select the cover for the Best Sports Moment of 2011 double-issue, which hits newsstands on Dec. 21.

Participants are asked to rank five top moments from a pool of 15 nominations. The image that receives the most votes by Dec. 16 will appear on the cover.

The nominees:

  • Pack on Top, Feb. 6: Aaron Rodgers throws three TDs to lead Green Bay to a 31-25 victory over Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XLV.
  • Griffin's Dunk, Feb. 19: In the 2011 NBA slam dunk contest, the Clippers' Blake Griffin soars over a Kia sedan to jam home the title.
  • UConn Survives, Mar. 10: Kemba Walker hits a buzzer-beater to defeat Pitt 76-74 in the Big East quarters; the Huskies roll to the NCAA title.
  • Messi and Barça Reign, May 28: Lionel Messi and Barcelona overwhelm Manchester United 3-1 to win the Champions League title and stake a claim as the greatest team ever.
  • Mavs Win, June 12: Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks beat LeBron James and the star-studded Heat in Game 6 of the NBA finals for Dallas's first title.
  • Bruins Hoist the Cup, June 15: Behind a historic performance from goalie Tim Thomas, the Bruins defeat Vancouver to win their first Stanley Cup since 1972.
  • McIlroy Majestic, June 19: After his epic Masters meltdown, Rory McIlroy bounces back to win the U.S. Open in historic fashion.
  • Jeter's 3,000th, July 9: On a home run at a packed Yankee Stadium, Derek Jeter becomes the first Yankee to reach 3,000 hits.
  • U.S. Women Stun Brazil, July 10: Abby Wambach scores a 122nd-minute equalizer against Brazil in the Women's World Cup quarterfinals, and the US wins on penalties.
  • Djoker's Wild, Sept. 10: Novak Djokovic fights off two match points to defeat Roger Federer in five sets in the U.S. Open semis on the way to the title.
  • Michigan State's Hail Mary, Oct. 22: After unbeaten Wisconsin had staged a wild fourth-quarter rally, Michigan State stuns the Badgers on a last-second Hail Mary to win 37–31.
  • Cardinals Magic, Oct. 27: David Freese's World Series Game 6 heroics—a ninth-inning, two-out triple and an 11th-inning walkoff homer—save the Cardinals.
  • Eric LeGrand Returns, Oct. 29: A year after his devastating injury, paralyzed former Rutgers player Eric LeGrand leads the Scarlet Knights onto the field against West Virginia.
  • Slater Soars, Nov. 6: Kelly Slater advances at the Rip Curl Pro Search in San Francisco, securing his record 11th world surfing title.
  • Stewart Wins the Cup, Nov. 20: Tony Stewart outraces Carl Edwards on the final day to win the Sprint Cup, capping NASCAR's greatest title chase ever.
SEE ALSO: Inside Sports Illustrated: Building a Magazine for the Digital Age

This isn’t the first time a magazine has let its fans choose its cover, but it is the first time a major magazine has crowdsourced its cover choice on Facebook, so far as we are aware.

Before you head over to Facebook to rank the nominations, let us know which one gets your vote.

More About: Facebook, Media, Sports illustrated

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OWS Protesters ‘Mockupy’ Law & Order SVU Set [VIDEO]

Posted: 09 Dec 2011 12:04 PM PST


Occupy Wall Street protesters occupied a TV show set depicting the movement in New York City Thursday night. They organized the march via Twitter with the hashtag ‘mockupy’ and took over the set of Law & Order SVU.

Real NYPD officers removed the protesters from the police drama’s set.

Check out the video above for more details.

More About: mashable video, Occupy Wall Street, TV

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YouTube Revamps Video Manager

Posted: 09 Dec 2011 11:45 AM PST

YouTube revamped its Video Manager on Friday in an update that coincides with the homepage makeover from earlier this month.

Like the new YouTube homepage design, the Video Manager is now cleaner and less cluttered. It also better fits into the larger Google ecosystem.

At the YouTube Blog, the team runs through some of the biggest changes. These include:

  • Status icons to identify a clips privacy setting, monetization options and post schedules.
  • Badges to quickly identify a clip as HD, close captioned or Creative Commons licensed
  • An easier way to upload new clips directly from the sidebar.

The new look goes a long way towards making the video management process within YouTube less chaotic. It also aligns with the company’s increasingly obvious goal of creating a consistent design language across all Google properties..

More About: Google, ONLINE VIDEO, YouTube

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Apple Opens Stunning Store in Grand Central Station [PICS]

Posted: 09 Dec 2011 11:42 AM PST

Apple Store Grand Central

New York City just got a stunning new tourist attraction. Apple's largest-ever retail venue opened on Friday at the historic Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan, as swarms of fans camped out for hours to be among the first to enter.

Hundreds of fans – some of which joined the line at the crack of dawn – were finally greeted by a sea of Apple employees clad in red holiday shirts that waved and ushered them in when the doors opened to the public at 10:00 a.m. EST. Some staffers offered customers high fives and hugs.

“We've been here since 5:00 a.m.," one customer told Mashable. “Seeing a new Apple store is much better than sleeping, and this one is just amazing.”

The first series of visitors to enter the store received black shirts that read “Apple Store Grand Central” in a style that resembles a train schedule ticker.

What sets this store apart from others – in addition to its record size of 23,000 square feet – is its location. Sure, it features Apple's standard service stations — two Genius Bars, a personal pickup location to retrieve reserved items, a training room and a start-up room to learn how to use products – but Grand Central is clearly the star here.

The store overlooks and wraps around the main concourse of New York’s classic commuter station from the East and North East balconies of the main concourse, which serves as a beautiful backdrop to the Apple experience. It's hard to not soak in the view, or to marvel at the spectacular antique chandeliers dangling near one of the Genius Bars. Some 750,000 people will pass by the store in an average day.

Apple first announced the opening of its Grand Central store on a series of ticker screens featured on its storefront last week. Many previously expected the company would open its new store before Black Friday, but construction workers at the location told Mashable that it wouldn't be ready in time.

The store is the first U.S. opening since the departure of Ron Johnson, the former SVP for retail at Apple who helped create its iconic store design with Steve Jobs. Johnson is now the CEO of J.C. Penney.

The Grand Central Apple Store has been said to cost the company more than $1 million in rent each year. But Apple may still be getting a break; recent reports have indicated that Apple is paying $60 for each square foot, compared to other nearby retailers paying $200 for the same amount of space.

A New York Post report also noted Apple will not be sharing revenue with the terminal's operator Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) since the store will likely bring a high amount of additional consumer traffic to Grand Central. In response, the state is launching an investigation.

The Apple Store Grand Central is open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Friday, Saturday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The Grand Central location – which will employ 315 employees – is the company's fifth Apple Store in New York City.

What do you think of the new store? Will it bring too much traffic to an already crowded space?





Apple has opened its latest store at the historic Grand Central Terminal in New York City. The location – which will employ 315 employees – is the company's fifth Apple Store in the city.

Click here to view this gallery.

More About: apple, Apple Grand Central, apple news, Apple Stores

120 Years of ‘Vogue,’ Online for $1,575

Posted: 09 Dec 2011 11:33 AM PST


In fashion, they say, what goes around comes around. Now designers, fashionistas and historians — as well as advertisers and the simply curious — can browse Vogue‘s new digital archive for inspiration. It contains every page of every U.S. issue of Vogue published since the magazine launched in 1892, indexed and searchable. A yearly individual subscription is $1,575.

The archive, which is entirely web-based, contains more than 425,000 images, 300,000 ads and 100,000 articles, according to the WSJ.

Subscribers can clip, print and share content, but “anyone who sees a link on social media would encounter a paywall if not a member,” Matt Dellinger, director of the Vogue Archive, told Folio. Members can “create folders for collaborative projects, which are accessible by other Vogue Archive members.”

WGSN, an online trend-analysis and research firm based in London, is managing subscriptions. The archive is also hosted on ProQuest for library and academic use. Businesses can sign up for multi-user Vogue Archive subscriptions. Subscribers to the print edition of the magazine will receive access to some of Vogue Archive’s content next year.

Much online discussion of the archive has centered around how expensive it is. The site has no advertising, New York magazine points out, but the scarcity of some of this content also relates to its high price:”It’s almost impossible to get your hands on some of these issues, and people spend years and tons of money amassing just a tiny fraction of the full archive.”

More About: magazines, paywall, vogue

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8 Weeks Later, How Do iPhone 4S Users Feel? [STATS]

Posted: 09 Dec 2011 11:13 AM PST


The iPhone 4S went on sale eight weeks ago Friday. So now that the hoopla has died down, the Apple store lines are a distant memory, an early bug with the phone’s battery life has been resolved, and users have spent some time with Siri, how do they feel about their purchase?

Crimson Hexagon, a social media analytics firm, did some Twitter sentiment analysis to find out. The company examined more than 2 million tweets that mentioned the iPhone 4S, looking for strong opinions one way or the other as well as more nuanced, neutral reactions.

The result? Not quite as positive as Apple might wish. Some 37% of the tweets were generally favorable, 29% were negative, and 34% were neutral. More worryingly, the percentage of negative responses to the device is growing.

Not surprisingly, Siri dominated the conversation — and by a slim margin, tweets about Siri are more negative (12%) than positive (11%). All of the neutral tweets were about Siri, too, detailing questions that had been asked of the 4S-based voice assistant, and the difficulty she often has in understanding users with accents.

SEE ALSO: Siri, Seriously: 10 Ways We're Really Using Apple's Voice Assistant

Perhaps the most troubling news for Apple is that the battery problem with the iPhone 4S, supposedly solved by an iOS 5 update, does not appear to be going away. Some 11% of the tweets examined mentioned an issue with the battery draining faster than expected. When Crimson Hexagon did an earlier analysis of iPhone 4S tweets, in mid-November, just 7% had a negative impression of the phone’s battery.

So how are you feeling, iPhone 4S owners? Are you happy with your purchase? Still getting used to Siri or dumped her altogether? And how’s your battery life? Happy or regretful, angry or neutral, let us know in the comments.

More About: apple, iphone, iPhone 4S, sentiment analysis, siri, Twitter

‘But What Does it Mean?’ Computer-Generated Rainbows Reveal Some Answers [VIDEO]

Posted: 09 Dec 2011 11:02 AM PST


UC San Diego computer scientists intended to understand how to create rainbows digitally. And along the way, they made some discoveries about the physics of rainbows that occur in nature — including the awe-inspiring double rainbow.

"This goes beyond computer graphics," said the advising professor. "We now have an almost complete picture of how rainbows form."

To learn more about their discoveries, watch the video above, and check out the narrated slideshow, below, from the researchers.

Thumbnail image courtesy of Flickr, geoffeg

More About: CGI, mashable video, rainbows

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What It Takes to Build a Thriving Design Business on the Web

Posted: 09 Dec 2011 10:52 AM PST



The Leaders in Design Series is supported by Volvo.


Jesse Thomas founded the creative agency JESS3 as a student in 2007. In a few short years, he managed to climb an impressive entrepreneurial ladder. The company has completed projects for Facebook, Google and NIKEiD, among dozens of other tech companies, publications and brands.

Thomas spoke to Mashable about his proudest moments, which include the NASA campaign that checked astronaut Doug Wheelock into Foursquare from outer space. He also reveals the clinical nature of design, explaining that sometimes his work feels more like plastic surgery than an academic endeavor.

Read on to discover where Thomas began and what he sees for the future of design.

Q&A With Jesse Thomas, Founder of JESS3

Explain in your own words the concept and work behind JESS3.

"Our approach to design and strategy is very academic and surgical. Some days we feel like brain surgeons at a top military hospital, other days we feel like plastic surgeons.”

We embody the youthful spirit of our team and clients by constantly pushing to be as great as the masters we study. The vision of JESS3 as an agency has always been to experiment with cutting edge technologies and creative techniques for application in advertising/marketing efforts. Our drive is combining social technology with raw creativity. We have always been interested in visual storytelling and have recently been focusing on data art.

Our approach to design and strategy is very academic and surgical. Some days we feel like brain surgeons at a top military hospital, other days we feel like plastic surgeons. Our clients allow us to think big, and we like that. My goal for JESS3 is two separate paths: [to become] an agency conglomerate like WPP, [and to develop] product design and services like Microsoft.

Your list of services reads like a six-page diner menu. Is there anything you don't do?

We focus on the things we are good at. But part of being independent is trying things out and seeing what works and what doesn’t. Our core focus has always been interactive design, but as we started doing more information design projects, we needed to have in-house research people.

Our clients wanted us to focus on just strategy, so we started hiring people to do that. We saw an opportunity to combine our infographics design with the modern version of PR, in which the focus is targeting bloggers, so we did that. And clients wanted us to build them large installations for their events, and it seemed straightforward enough, so we learned the bits we weren’t familiar with and made it happen.

The name JESS3 is somewhat eponymous. How did you land on it?

Years ago when I was a student … Eminem was quite popular, and he was writing his name in all caps with the second E as a 3, but because it was in all caps it was subtle. People told me it was a bad idea to use my name, but I looked at successful brands like Ogilvy, and thought about the lineage of consultants like lawyers and doctors, and realized that naming something after yourself is how it's always been done. Plus, I always liked putting my name on stuff, and it was an excuse to print up stickers and write my name all the time.

Define your own design philosophy and how it continues to influence your company.

We always strive to get things right the first time. Being precise with creativity is not easy, and thus we have needed to hire a team of dedicated professionals that share the same passion for accuracy. We often mock-up multiple directions to find that perfect one, instead of forcing one process to produce that perfect product. We never know what the next project might be, but we can plan ahead and use our experiments in new client projects. We operate like a creative lab in that sense.

What are the projects you're most proud of?

 

I'm most proud of our diverse body of work: from an outer space Foursquare check-in for NASA to a stop-motion video production for Google. I am most proud that Facebook asked us to build a site for their 500 million user announcement. It was such an honor at the time, and we continue to work with Facebook.

Where should today's designers be looking for inspiration?

Look for inspiration in the real world. The web is a great place to start, but strive to see for your own eyes the best works of the world. Go outside and take a pen and paper. I also use Delicious to save all my web links for inspiration, and I still love magazines like Monocle and Wired. Dribbble and Forrst are great new interactive design communities that didn't exist a year ago. Go there! Communities like Kickstarter, Behance and Etsy are great new places to meet like-minded designers and be inspired by their work. And make sure to always study the history of design — those that forget history are doomed to repeat it!

What's in the cards for future design?

"Audiences didn’t want rich websites. They wanted the illusion of a lighter option, which to purists is simple, soulless crap.”

Design is on the front lines of everything from saving lives to entertainment. I think you will see more exciting partnerships between industries like music and design. Perhaps it is a combination of game, website and music? Google, for instance, has a sweet small team called Data Arts, which created Arcade Fire's Wilderness Downtown.

One key thing to look for in the future is better, more accessible tools. Right now we have a huge gap between professional and consumer, which I think will close in the future. I think it totally sucks that Apple and Adobe don't get along. Apple is the kind of brand that should offer better design tools natively. Motion and Final Cut Pro are great for video and animation, but where are Apple's Photoshop and Illustrator killers?

Ten years ago we had glorious Flash sites, and that kind of rich experience is what got me excited about digital design. Then web 2.0 came along and social networking made it cool to have a lame website with no design. Somehow we allowed ourselves to step back for the sake of scaling across mobile and unprecedented growth. Audiences didn’t want rich websites. They wanted the illusion of a lighter option, which to purists is simple, soulless crap. Social networking killed the web-design star!

Series supported by Volvo

 

The Leaders in Design Series is supported by Volvo. Experience the newest Volvo for yourself. Step inside the 325hp 2011 Volvo S60 T6 R-Design at volvocars.us

More About: Advertising, data visualization, design, features, Leaders in Design Series, mashable, web design

HP: WebOS Is Now an Open Source Project

Posted: 09 Dec 2011 10:35 AM PST


WebOS may be more tenacious that we thought. The Linux-based OS with a rocky history has officially risen from the ashes of HP’s TouchPad bungle to be reborn as an open source project.

HP made the announcement Friday, in the wake of increasing speculation that we would all learn the fate of the beleaguered OS before day’s end.

Introduced by Palm at CES 2009, webOS was on an upward trajectory, first with the launch of the Palm Pre mobile phone and then when HP scooped up a stumbling Palm for $1.2 billion in 2010. Excitement grew to a fever pitch when HP unveiled an aggressive plan to roll WebOS into everything from their printers, to desktops and laptops to new phones and, most importantly, the HP TouchPad.

A few months later, after a somewhat tepid response to HP’s 10.1 inch tablet, HP’s then-CEO Leo Apotheker scuttled the tablet and, it seemed, the WebOS business. A $99 HP TouchPad fire sale over the summer proved that there was still interest in HP’s tablet and, more importantly, the WebOS platform.

But HP’s new CEO Meg Whitman has kept her plans for WebOS vague until now.

The company will now “contribute webOS to open source license” — another way of saying that the code will be available under open source license. HP’s role will be an active one as it continues to contribute development, engineering and support resources.

Next steps include engaging with the open-source community to define the WebOS open source charter and develop a plan for how that will be governed. It will likely run under an Apache-style license.

What does this mean for current TouchPad and Pre owners? Sources tell Mashable that they can expect to receive software updates in the future. In fact, one source told us that this move will accelerate platform and ecosystem development, benefiting current and future users.

“Future” is a clear indication that more HP webOS hardware could be on the radar. HP is not committing to this, though. However, our sources note that the open source nature of the new webOS could drive it onto hardware from a variety of vendors.

Of course, some open source projects can get a bit too open. Some complain that, for example, the Google Android community is forking the code. Certainly, Android developers enjoy reskinning the mobile OS and are often out of step with platform updates found on other Android products.

HP is looking to avoid platform confusion. Our sources indicate that it will use a Redhat/Fedora model, one which more strictly controls enterprise-level Linux. If this works, it means that HP may have final say on what webOS updates look like. That kind of control could mean that future versions of webOS work on existing hardware, like the TouchPad.

Making webOS open source leaves the door, well, open for a variety of options. But is this the magic bullet that will save the platform and put HP’s mobile plans back on track? Let us know in the comments.

More About: HP, hp touchpad, Linux, open source, palm, palmpre, webOS

Want to Use Xbox Live? First Agree Not to Sue Microsoft

Posted: 09 Dec 2011 10:17 AM PST


Microsoft just rolled out a big dashboard update to the Xbox 360. In addition to new voice and gesture controls, Microsoft has also updated its terms of service agreement with a new clause that prevents users from suing Microsoft in the event something unexpected happens to the Xbox 360 or the Xbox Live service.

The gist of the legal document is this: Microsoft wants to settle potential legal issues out of court and in arbitration. Therefore, if you want to use the Xbox Live service, you must agree not to sue Microsoft or to enter into a class action lawsuit. For those who are legally inclined, the full terms of service (TOS) for U.S. users is available online and the legal disclaimer stuff starts at section 18.1.4.

Microsoft is no stranger to class-action consumer lawsuits in relation to the Xbox 360. Early iterations of the console were plagued by the “red ring of death” and the company was forced to extend its warranty and replace a significant number of broken consoles.

Sony updated its PlayStation Network terms of service to prevent class action lawsuits in September. This move followed the massive PlayStation Network hack in April, 2011. Sony continues to face legal challenges over that security breach and presumably decided to limit its liabilities in the future.

Electronic Arts has also updated its terms of service to include “no sue” clauses.

Though understandable from a liabilities point of view, forced mediation is bad news for consumers. Microsoft says that there is no way to opt-out of this agreement. In other words, if you want to use Xbox Live, you can’t sue Microsoft.

What do you think of these types of terms of service clauses?

More About: law, microsoft, XBox live

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Zite, the Magazine That Reads You, Hits the iPhone

Posted: 09 Dec 2011 10:05 AM PST


Hot on the heels of Flipboard for iPhone and Google Currents, social news reader Zite released an iPhone version of its app Friday.

Zite, which launched on the iPad in March, is a smart magazine that learns what you like to read, notes how long you spend reading it, and delivers more stories along those lines. Its storied reputation on the iPad appears to have preceded it on the iPhone. “We had more than a thousand downloads in the first hour — before we were even searchable in the app store,” Zite CEO Mark Johnson told Mashable.

CNN purchased Zite back in August. Since then, the personalized news competition has only become stronger, with Yahoo launching its iPad app Livestand and Google aggressively going after the space.

The iPhone version of Zite links up to the iPad version. iPad users can create an account with Zite — though it isn’t necessary to use it — and logging in with that account will showcase the kind of news that Zite has already learned you like.

Zite can hook into Twitter, Google Reader and a new source — Read it Later — for populating and suggesting stories.

Zite for iPhone [iTunes link] also lets users share their articles across social networks, as well as reading platforms like Instapaper and bookmarking services like Pinboard.

What do you think of the trend of smaller-screened social news readers? Will Zite beat Flipboard in the iOS magazine stakes? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

More About: Flipboard, social news, zite

Top 8 iPhone Games for the Holiday Season

Posted: 09 Dec 2011 09:47 AM PST


1. Elf Command




This time management game has players trying to deliver items like peppermints, trees, gifts, and other holiday-appropriate items out of the factory with the help of robot elves. Santa's upgraded his facilities, apparently. There are two conveyor belts, and each robot can only deliver items on its own side of the screen. As the pace picks up and each delivery point starts to have more possible items, the game gets very frantic and fun. An update will add Game Center and iPad support soon.

Click here to view this gallery.

Ho ho ho! Welcome to the most hectic and jolly time of year: the holiday season. The App Store has a variety of games that celebrate the season, including new holiday-themed versions of ever-popular favorites.

SEE ALSO: 10 Best Racing Games for iPhone

Of course, this being the App Store, creative developers have been having a little irreverent fun with holiday themes. From the zany to the sincere, here are the best holiday games for iOS.

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Will Apple iTV Trade the Remote for Kinect-Like Control?

Posted: 09 Dec 2011 09:04 AM PST


When Steve Jobs told Walter Isaacson in Jobs’s recent biography that he had “cracked” the secret to controlling an Apple TV set, most people assumed he was talking about Siri, the voice assistant in the iPhone 4S. But a new patent suggests he might have meant something closer to Microsoft Kinect.

The patent, filed in August by Apple, outlines a “three-dimensional imaging and display system” that detects a person’s motion via an infrared laser, and interprets the gestures to control a display.

If that sounds like Kinect, that’s because it’s conceptually very similar. Both systems use infrared scanning to detect body movement in 3D space in order to control what’s happening onscreen. However, the system outlined by Apple appears to be more limited than Kinect — more suited for menu selections than actual gameplay.

Assuming that’s the case, that would make it an ideal user interface for something that is more than arm’s length away, like a TV set. After all, there’s little need for motion control like this in the typical devices Apple makes: computers, phones, and tablets.

It’s admittedly speculation, but imagine an Apple TV controlled primarily via motion control, with Siri thrown in for when you want to lower the volume without putting down your martini glass. That could be what Jobs meant when he had figured out the ideal TV remote control: the viewer.

A real Apple TV has been rumored for years, but reports of an “iTV” have piled up lately that it could come to market soon, possibly as early as 2012. With Sony and others losing tons of money on TVs, the television business would be a tough one to crack for Apple, but considering the power of the brand, anything’s possible when it comes to Apple and the buying public.

[via Unwired View]

More About: apple, itv, kinect, mashable video

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Thanks to Mashable’s Socially Savvy Supporters

Posted: 09 Dec 2011 08:25 AM PST


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With the explosion of mobile devices, advertising dollars will begin to shift to mobile for tech marketers this year. IDG Global Solutions President Matt Yorke talks about the rise of social and how IDG helps marketers create social campaigns. The line is fading between social media and traditional media. Earned media or sharing of information within social networks is becoming mainstream whether on a PC or mobile device. Learn more.

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