David Ogilvy’s letter and my personal response are published below.

April 19, 1955

Dear Mr. Calt:

On March 22nd you wrote to me asking for some notes on my work habits as a copywriter. They are appalling, as you are about to see:

1. I have never written an advertisement in the office. Too many interruptions. I do all my writing at home.

I’m the exact opposite of Mr. Ogilvy. I have never written anything outside of the office. Actually… I take that back. I have never written anything efficiently outside of the office. For me, there are too many interruptions at home. My bed, for starters… I love to nap. Work from home sounds great on paper, but probably wouldn’t do wonders for my productivity if and when put to practice. I guess it really depends on the individual.  

2. I spend a long time studying the precedents. I look at every advertisement which has appeared for competing products during the past 20 years.

Likewise, Mr. Ogilvy. Although, I wouldn’t say I take my research as far back as 20 years! Admirable effort on your behalf, Sir. I would say I spend 75% of my time researching the topic and contrasting the different points of view and 25% of my time actually writing the copy itself.

3. I am helpless without research material—and the more “motivational” the better.

Agree. I’m a strong believer in thoroughly researching before writing. I believe that the more research I consume, the more I am able to give back to the reader in terms of expertise and contrasting outlooks. I always assume that I don’t know anything about the topic at hand. I also find that the more I research prior to writing, the quicker I’m able to flesh out the content… most likely because I’m more confident about what I’m writing.

4. I write out a definition of the problem and a statement of the purpose which I wish the campaign to achieve. Then I go no further until the statement and its principles have been accepted by the client.

Yes, it’s always important to develop crystal clear goals at the start of each and every campaign. Without defining the problem and purpose for the campaign, I feel scattered and am likely to waste precious time heading in the wrong direction. 

5. Before actually writing the copy, I write down every conceivable fact and selling idea. Then I get them organized and relate them to research and the copy platform.

Given the volume of copy our company produces, I believe it would be entirely too time consuming to write down every single conceivable fact and selling idea. Instead, I try to come up with a few USPs – Unique Selling Propositions – and fine tune the one I believe works best for the client.

6. Then I write the headline. As a matter of fact I try to write 20 alternative headlines for every advertisement. And I never select the final headline without asking the opinion of other people in the agency. In some cases I seek the help of the research department and get them to do a split-run on a battery of headlines.

Boy, how things have changed. It seems like The Internet Marketing industry today is a lot faster paced than the advertising industry back in the day. Writing 20 alternative headlines for every piece of copy is again quite a time consuming task given the output required. However, I do agree that it’s extremely important to always ask the opinions of my clients and coworkers before publishing material.

7. At this point I can no longer postpone the actual copy. So I go home and sit down at my desk. I find myself entirely without ideas. I get bad-tempered. If my wife comes into the room I growl at her. (This has gotten worse since I gave up smoking.)

Luckily for my lungs, and significant other, I don’t smoke. I try not to do any stressful work from home and Mr. Ogilvy has just given me another valid reason not to… Not only does it adversely affect my productivity, but it also has the potential to adversely affect my relationship with my significant other. I always try to separate work from home. Some light reading and small tasks are fine, but I try to stay away from completing major projects at home.

8. I am terrified of producing a lousy advertisement. This causes me to throw away the first 20 attempts.

I used to be like this… Until I realized that I was letting my nerves and perfectionist qualities get the best of me. It was holding me back from delivering work on time to the client. The trick is to have a little bit more confidence in your work. First, get the work done… Then you can fine tune it until your heart’s content. Again, ask for feedback from your coworkers and clients. If the client does not like it, at least you had something to show them by the deadline.

9. If all else fails, I drink half a bottle of rum and play a Handel oratorio on the gramophone. This generally produces an uncontrollable gush of copy

… Whatever floats your boat? At our office, shots of Cuban coffee do the job! You can tell we’re located in Miami…

10. The next morning I get up early and edit the gush.

As writers, I’m convinced that it’s in our genes. Perfectionism, that is. Editing and fine tuning seem like a never ending process. Again, I try not to spend too much time editing during the writing process as it interrupts my creative juices from flowing and can also cause me to miss a deadline.

11. Then I take the train to New York and my secretary types a draft. (I cannot type, which is very inconvenient.)

Well Sir, not all of us are lucky enough to have a secretary who can type our drafts for us! Good thing I can type, and type fast at that…79 wpm. Oh yeah!

12. I am a lousy copywriter, but I am a good editor. So I go to work editing my own draft. After four or five editings, it looks good enough to show to the client. If the client changes the copy, I get angry—because I took a lot of trouble writing it, and what I wrote I wrote on purpose.

Again, I used to be like this…. Until I realized that not every client is going to like your style. Copywriting is very subjective. So try not to get angry at the client if they do turn your copy upside down. Always take on constructive criticism and learn from it. Stay positive!

Altogether it is a slow and laborious business. I understand that some copywriters have much greater facility.

This may have been the case for the advertising industry back in the day, but certainly not for online marketing today. At times difficult? Yes. Slow? No, definitely not! The Internet Marketing industry is extremely fast paced, especially with Google’s ever-changing algorithm updates.  Copywriters must strive to keep up to date and on top of such changes as they have the potential to be detrimental to our clients and their online businesses.

Yours sincerely,
With best regards,

D.O.
J.S.

August 1, 2012

Listed below are 10 key elements all of which are essential to crafting homepage copy that converts.

1. Competitor SWOT Analysis

To clarify, you DON’T want to directly mention your competitors on your homepage. Before you start writing your homepage copy, however, you might want to first identify your top competitors and conduct a SWOT analysis. What are your competitor’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats? Do the same for your business also. Now that you’ve ID’d your competitors and conducted a SWOT comparison, it’s time to make yourself tactfully stand out from your competitors without directly mentioning them. Give yourself a competitive edge by emphasizing your strengths, your advantages and how they will benefit from choosing you. Avoid trying to copy or mimic their website style or even their content. Stand apart, stand above them and write about your benefits … i.e. how you can save them money or earn them money, how you save time, how you are convenient or easy to use, make confidence building statements, offer proof, offer peace of mind. These are the things people base their buying decisions on.

2. ID Your Target

Before you write, the next step should be to identify your target audience and adapt your style and tone accordingly. If you’re writing for business minded professionals, keep the language, well, professional. If you’re writing for teenagers, you might want to add a little bit of trendy lingo to your homepage copy.

3. The 5 W’s

If you’re a journalism major or police officer, chances are you’re already familiar with this popular information gathering concept. In order to make it easier for your audience to quickly gather information, the copy of your homepage should particularly emphasize 3 of the 5 W’s. This includes the Who, What, and Why of your business. Who are you? What services does your business provide? Why are you better than the rest? If you’re able to do this, your customers will be grateful that you haven’t confused and frustrated them in the first 30 seconds of visiting your homepage and will reciprocate by giving your website a real chance at winning them over. The other 2 of the 5 W’s include the Where and When of your business. Where are you located? When did you first establish your business? You might want to save these for the About Us page of your website.

4. Reputation, Results and Clients

Contrary to this heading, it’s not all about you… But, only for a very brief moment, it can be. When you’re answering the last of the 5 W’s is the perfect time to toot your own trumpet. Are you an industry leader? Do people generally have good things to say about your business? What achievements are you particularly proud of? Who are your big time clients? Go on, don’t be shy. This is your moment to brag a little. But just a little! Remember, your homepage copy needs to provide direct benefits to the customer. What’s in it for them? Don’t turn your homepage into a gloat session. It will instantly turn many of your customers off doing any potential business with you.

5. USP’s

You need your homepage copy to position your business as the best choice in the market. Therefore, a great Unique Selling Proposition can make the difference between a blasé browser and a conversion. USP’s are all about selling the unique benefits your business can provide to your potential customers. This is particularly where your SWOT analysis comes in handy. What unique benefit can you bring to the table that your competitors cannot? The proposition must be strong enough to move the masses. Your USP needs to cut through the clutter and one way to do this is to identify your target audience’s pain and offer the prescription for that pain. Take, for example, the below scenario:

Pain: I’m so frustrated because all of these big companies are on page 1 of all the major search engines and I’m not! Grrr…
USP: Shock your competitors and boost your rankings to page 1 on Google, Bing and Yahoo!

6. Scannable Content

Bullet points, lists and paragraphs. These are all crucial when writing stellar homepage copy that is easy on the eye. Most web browsers are scanning for content that’s relevant to them. Therefore, you need to make your homepage copy easy to read by breaking the content up into manageable and digestible sections. One great way to do this is with a few catchy headers.

7. Catchy Headers

Take a moment to brainstorm a few attention getting phrases that can be used as headers within your homepage copy. Remember to make sure that they are ROI – Relevant, Original and Impactful. The last thing you want is for the customer to be bored by cliché copy that they’ve already seen on just about every one of your competitor’s websites. Take some time to create headers that make your homepage copy pop!

8. 3S

Short, simple and succinct. And with that, I rest my case.

9. Less Technical, More Conversational

Homepage copy should never be too technical. Simply, the truth of the matter is, the vast majority of the general public is not technical. You don’t want to make them feel like a deer in headlights. The last thing you want is to scare them away with your industry specific lingo. Write like you’re writing for someone who knows absolutely nothing about your business and its services. A conversational tone and good sense of humor goes a long way.

10. Calls to Action

Calls to action should not be confused with USPs… although they do share a commonality in the sense that they both convey value to the potential customer. While a USP attempts to sell the customer with a unique benefit, it is more of an idea or proposal. On the other hand, a call to action needs to be much more direct and convince your target audience to act immediately. Calls to action are also used frequently throughout your homepage copy and create a sense of urgency to act now by contacting the business today. When crafting your calls to action, it’s also a wise idea to use power words such as free, fast, guarantee etc.

For SEO / Copywriting services that create strategic homepage copy, call the experts at Optimum7 today for a no obligation initial consultation!

August 1, 2012

Stephen King’s On Writing

Stephen King is regularly hailed as one of the greatest living writers we have, but many people don’t know about his approach to writing. On Writing is a brilliant piece by a writer who is not afraid to share his own personal trials and tribulations and how it relates to his work. Not every piece of copy has the singular goal of sales. Copy should instead educate a user, while demonstrating your expertise. Bear in mind, it is one thing to write about a subject, it is another to do so in a way that educates your reader.

Copywriter PRO-Tip: Learning to write is a personal process, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be a shared experience. Learn from one of the best.

Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching

The business world is full of traps, mostly meant to drive you to the brink of productivity. In a culture that sees sleep deprivation and honors long work hours as battle scars to be worn with pride, it helps to take a step back and reevaluate your current state. Tao Te Ching is an incredibly short book, but a profound one nonetheless. You can go through it within a matter of hours, but to truly gain any insight, read it slow. Limit yourself to a few pages a day, and pore over each and every last word. The act of reading this book can function as a form of meditation for you and help you analyze your weaknesses and strengths while teaching you the importance of simple, direct, yet deep words and their impact on a reader.

Copywriter PRO-Tip: Think of reading this book as a form of meditation. Reset your mind and clear the clutter away to see what really matters in your writing.

George Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia

George Orwell is famous for novels like Animal Farm and 1984, but one of his most underappreciated novels is Homage to Catalonia. It chronicles Orwell’s time in Spain during the Spanish Civil War and details how intentions can change and how important it is to find a cause, or career, to believe in. He initially entered the fray to cover the war and ended up fighting for the anti-Fascist forces. It’s a testament to the power of immersion, truly taking the time to understand where you are and how quickly your role can change. You may be a copywriter now, but you have a creative side that needs to be explored and put under pressure to truly understand what you’re capable of both as a writer and as a professional.

Copywriter PRO-Tip: You’ll find yourself entering a job with certain expectations. Be prepared to accept new roles and shift accordingly.

Samuel G. Freedman’s Letters to a Young Journalist

Most people that became copywriters didn’t necessarily set out with that career in mind. Some wanted to be journalists. The way we receive our information on a daily basis has evolved beyond the typical news cycle and the journalist, as we used to know it, is evolving. Internet users count on a multitude of sources to gather their information, some even becoming curators of what they deem interesting or informative. But the one thing that hasn’t changed is the truth. Giving the truth to customers, potential customers, even fans should be your priority. Samuel Freedman’s book is fairly short, but reads like a letter from a concerned friend, aware of the struggles you may be facing. The accomplishment in setting that type of conversational tone is something to be emulated, as direct communication will get you further than any sales pitch you could imagine. The essential message to take away is be true to yourself and when you make a connection with people, foster it.

Copywriter PRO-Tip: Give your audience the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis

Franz Kafka isn’t a writer you’d typically associate with delivering a positive message, but there is one to be found in The Metamorphosis. Think to yourself, what’s the worst thing that could happen? Surely you wouldn’t include the fate of the story’s protagonist … becoming a gigantic cockroach … may not be  high on your list of concerns. But that’s just it; there’s the beauty of this and any of Kafka’s work. No matter how bad you may have it, at least you’re not a gigantic, horrifying bug. Bear with me on this one, before I seem to delve into the surreal. There’s no such thing as an insurmountable problem. As a member of a team and even as a single employee, you always have an opportunity to learn from your mistakes and see that problems don’t come the moment you wake up. They take time to develop, the skill comes in identifying them early enough to deal with them. Make sure you track your work efficiently to see problems as they arise and prepare yourself to deal with them; consider the old axiom “life’s not fair.” It isn’t fair, but you always stand a chance to make your own destiny, despite overwhelming Kafka-esque odds.

Copywriter PRO-Tip: Life can get weird sometimes, and life changes may seem to crop up overnight. Staying on track of your work and development is essential to coping with life’s inevitable changes

David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest

Let me be clear, this was included as a test of sheer willpower. David Foster Wallace’s magnum opus weighs in at over 1,000 pages and 300+ footnotes for his fictional world of revolving narrators, tennis and entertainment. To assume you can just walk up and start reading this is fantasy. Consider this your own personal “Moby Dick,” and assume the role of Ishmael in hunting down, and reading, this great white whale of a book. It’s an exercise in research and consistency, two skills that will benefit any copywriter who’s worth their weight in words.

Copywriter PRO-Tip: Finishing this book is the Holy Grail for any writer, and once you finish it, any piece your working on won’t seems to insurmountable.

Bill Tancer’s Click: Unexpected Insights for Business and Life

Bill Tancer’s book Click does two things: provides an insight into Internet Marketing strategies using the right information and how to look at that information to see what others cannot. It’s like Freakonomics applied to the Internet search market. When you look at a piece of information, see the deeper insight, connect the dots and use that to your advantage.

Copywriter PRO-Tip: Follow the information. Pore over the analytics. Information is power and is the new digital currency.

Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers

Any Malcolm Gladwell book is a wonderful and insightful read, but Outliers is an analysis of that which we see as “extraordinary” or “genius.” Instead of the usual methods like IQ tests, he delves into how normal these people were, with backgrounds no different than our own. Genius is a relative term, but in a way, it can be created. With practice, drive and the ability to dust yourself off from a setback, anyone can make something great of themselves and their passions in life. Copywriting is no different. The key is time, so be sure to focus on the chapter detailing the 10,000 hour “expert” rule, where that seems to be the sweet spot in time dedicated to a passion wherein you can consider yourself an expert.

Copywriter PRO-Tip: 10,000 hours. That makes you an expert. Don’t attack it headlong. Instead, take it step by step and write each and every single day.

Ben Mezrich’s The Accidental Billionaires

Facebook is on everyone’s lips and computer screens, but what of its origins. Mezrich’s book details the dirty details, varying accounts and lawsuits that spawned from Facebook’s inception. If there’s one thing to note, it’s the variety of accounts. There’s an infinite way to approach and discuss any subject, but you need to know who it is that you’re trying to reach. Focusing on your target user can help you sort through all the static, much as Mezrich struggled to in this book. A riveting read that proves that there are far more than two sides to every story, and proof that as a writer, you will have to account for every possible angle without losing sight of your core user.

Copywriter PRO-Tip: Make sure you are completely aware of your role in a company.

Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are

A kids book?! Absolutely. Children’s books require an attention to detail and direct language that literally anyone should be able to read it and discern its message. This is not an excuse to appeal to the lowest common denominator in your work, or shy away from more “advanced” topics. Sendak’s classic is a beautiful tale of the universal struggle that is putting a child to bed. A universal idea should be translated by a writer into copy that strives for excellence while keeping flowery language out of the mix. No matter how great a copywriter you become, a good children’s book like this can keep you humble, reminding you that everyone has a specialty, and yours should be, as an old professor of mine put it, “having a mind as shallow as a puddle but as wide as an ocean.”

Copywriter PRO-Tip: Keep your writing simple. Keep your writing beautiful. Keep a consistent theme to build a powerful message.

As a copywriter, new or a veteran, you have to constantly expand your horizons to account for leaps in technology and advances in your industry to effectively relay that message to your readers. Once you can think on your feet and put out engaging copy that speaks to someone who has never seen your site before, you’ll see results. Make the connections strong and you’ll go beyond an immediate response and build a lifelong relationship with your readers / customers; possibly more important than any profit you can hope to turn. You may be a copywriter, but never forget you are still a writer, just one focused in your particular industry. Use these books as a gateway to discovering why you decided to become a writer in the first place and inspire yourself to excellence.

May 3, 2012

“InboundWriter and WordPress is a great marriage to help writers quickly create more relevant and SEO-friendly blog posts. The new InboundWriter for WordPress plug-in enables bloggers to optimize their posts as they type by streaming real-time search intelligence into a familiar interface, as well as providing automated guidance and interactive feedback.”

As SEO copywriters, your primary goal should be to create content that matters to both the search engines and humans. But how do SEO copywriters keep up to date with volatile Google algorithms and the latest social media trends? Eightfold Logic has answered our concerns with the invention of the InboundWriter WordPress plug-in. InboundWriter (minus the WordPress plug-in) first debuted on May 23^rd, 2011 and is one of a kind in the sense that it simplifies the task of creating well optimized content for maximum reach, engagement and conversions. Listed below are pros and cons of Eightfold Logic’s latest tool.

PROs

Free Tool: According to their official website’s FAQs, you can create up to 8 documents per month for free. If 8 documents do not meet your requirements, you can upgrade for a monthly fee of $19.95.

WordPress Plug-in: The one thing that InboundWriter lacked when it first debuted was that it was not a content management system (CMS) and it did not allow users to publish content directly. Writers would have to cut and paste their work into publishing platforms such as WordPress. Cut and paste jobs are now a thing of the past with the announcement of this WordPress Plug-in. The WordPress Plug-in has been dubbed a ‘great marriage’ by social media expert Jay Baer and features it in the top right hand corner of WordPress.

Target Audience: InboundWriter allows you to select your target audience according to their education level. The tool also helps you answer questions such as what are your target audience’s interests? What keywords and phrases do they use?

SEO and People Friendly: All you have to do is provide InboundWriter with three specific focus terms that relate to your topic at hand. After that, you can leave it up to them to search high and low across major search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo and social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter for relevant keywords and phrases. By now you’re probably wondering how they do it, and this is how:

“You may wonder what InboundWriter is doing behind the scenes while researching a topic. While the simple looking progress bar ticks away, the process being followed is by no means simple. InboundWriter scours the web and uses natural language processing (NLP) technology to extract key concepts from web sites and social networks. We then extract terms we understand to be relevant to the topic using a combination of NLP and proprietary term extraction algorithms. At the end of this process we look for associated metrics for the terms like search popularity, competitiveness, etc. The end result is thousands of pieces of reference material analyzed to provide the most compelling and relevant recommendations possible.”
-InboundWriter

Last Thursday, they also announced the launch of Topic Buzz designed to help content producers research their writing topics via Twitter.

Real-Time Functionality: When you’re dealing with SEO, the more up to date and relevant your keywords and phrases are, the better. InboundWriter provides current popular keywords and phrases being used by your target audience at any given point in time across major search engines and social networks. This tool is particularly useful as it allows you to play around with different keywords and phrases and lets you see in real-time how your document score fluctuates based on which keywords, phrases and structure you choose to implement.

Time Saver:Why waste your precious time creating content that isn’t relevant and will never be seen by the online community? InboundWriter saves you valuable time by helping you to craft content that connects with your audience, enhances your web presence and most importantly, converts for you. They do all the research for you based on the three focus terms related to your topic that you provide them at the start of each post. Alternatively, you can start writing your post and once you hit 200 words, InboundWriter will automatically identify and research the topic for you.

Personal Digital Writing Coach: The live coaching makes content creation as easy as 1-2-3. Don’t rely on InboundWriter to turn you into a top notch writer. Instead rely on the document score gauge to advise you how best to structure your online content to be SEO friendly. The document score also advises you which keywords and phrases to use in order to well optimize your content and boost your rankings. Examples of live training steps are listed below and appear directly under your document score.

1. Improve your score by refining the focus of your document
2. Move one of your Focus Terms to the beginning of your document title
3. Shorten your title
4. Use a more highly ranked Focus Term in your title.

As you follow their recommendations, you will see the gauge fluctuate in real time to reflect your progress.

Complete Control:

Remember that InboundWriter asks you to list three specific focus terms related to your topic at the start of the process or you can write up to 200 words and let InboundWriter ID and research your focus terms based on the content you’ve already provided. You’re also able to control your content strategy. Listed below are strategies offered:

Document Strategy

1. Optimize for search popularity (default) – Maximize use of terms which are highly popular on search engines. Competition avoidance.
2. Minimize search competition – Optimize for terms which are less competitive on search engines. Popularity avoidance.
3. Balanced strategy – Blend all factors to give a balanced set of recommendations
Advertising Strategy

1. Not important at all (default) – I don’t monetize via Google AdSense
2. Somewhat important – Google AdSense is one of multiple monetization strategies
3. Very important – Google AdSense revenue is the main factor

Reader Targeting Strategy

1. All education levels (default)
2. Elementary school
3. Middle school
4. High school
5. College
6. Post Graduate

CONs

Limited Free Tool: As mentioned, the free benefit is only good for the first 8 documents per month. In addition, free users of the WordPress plug-in are forced to be subjected to an InboundWriter small logo at the bottom of each of their posts. To have it removed from postings, users must upgrade to the paid version.

Limited Target Audience: For the moment InboundWriter assumes an English speaking audience in North America and only considers education levels. They hope to allow for additional geographic and demographic targeting in the future.

Limited SEO: No technical SEO recommendations are provided. SEO best practices are employed but many non-content related SEO factors are not. Therefore, link building strategies, overall domain authority and technical SEO factors need to also be factored into your online content strategy to boost traffic to your website.

Hinders Creative Process: By focusing your attention on the document score gauge, you run the risk of interrupting your natural writing flow. In a sense, it puts SEO copywriters back on the path of prioritizing keywords rather than focusing on the quality and uniqueness of their posts. This can lead to harmful keyword stuffing practices as well as slow down the content creation process.

No Real Proof of Results: Self explanatory really. Like all successful online content strategies, you need to leverage from Google Analytics and social trending systems to see if InboundWriter’s research processes and coaching are working wonders for your online content or not.

… As you can see, the pros appear to outweigh the cons. Why not see for yourself how it works by downloading the WordPress Plug-in today.

Let Optimum7’s copywriters help you make the most of your content by scheduling free, no obligation consultation. Call (866) 882-8484 or visit our site for more information.

April 30, 2012

The real question is would you want to read an article or blog post if it was assembled by something other than a person? When we think of robo-content, the first thing that comes to mind are the all caps assaults on your e-mail courtesy of Nigerian princes and ads promising Viagra in your mailbox the next day. Content is about highlighting connections between a writer or company and the reader. The mere thought of an automated script gathering text and molding that information into an article alarms some writers, but why? The reaction to change is essentially the same as the 7 stages of grief:

Shock and Denial

When a machine can do a person’s job, the first reaction is panic. A writer will absolutely defend their work, even in the face of valid criticism. “To suggest a robot of sorts will be taking over my job? Never!” The problem with this knee-jerk reaction is missing the bigger picture. Software like Inbound Writer isn’t going to take out the writing industry, it is merely going to become another tool for writer’s to utilize in crafting content. Don’t focus so much on your job security and instead look at innovations in your industry as new opportunities to learn and expand your skillsets and even make your job easier. If the world is changing, then change with it.

Pain and Guilt

“What could I have done more?” a copywriter might ask themselves. Was my content too stiff? Did it not connect with a broad (or narrow) enough audience? Again, you’re just focusing on your job, this time with performance. Get out of this mindset and look at this as an opportunity to evaluate your work using these new tools. Sean Gallagher at Ars Technica had some fun with (and poked fun at) InboundWriter in a post where he tried out the software on his own articles. In the end, new technology will always emerge and beating yourself up about it won’t make you any more proficient in using or accepting it as a part of your work routine.

Anger and Bargaining

Once you’ve taken a look at what’s being developed, your sadness will turn to anger. “How could they do that? Writing is a sacred art!” Your high horse will begin to teeter as your anger grows and you’ll try to strike a bargain in your mind. “Well, maybe I’ll only use it for 20 percent of my content, just to decrease my workload.” Freelance writing sites like Textbroker show that there more to new services than providing a decreased workload. Quality will always matter most. As advanced as algorithms have become, there is still something inherently special about the human brain, the ultimate supercomputer. You’ll still need to review the content to make sure the message is clear, not merely a sputtering collection of words and photos slapped together because your software didn’t quite understand your request. Computers function on the basis of GIGO, that is “Garbage In, Garbage Out.” Research will always require more than raw data, it needs a person to understand and convey the “why” rather than simply stating facts that detail what you can do for a reader.

Depression, Reflection and Loneliness

After some thinking, a copywriter may retreat into their own world. Deep analysis and reflection will follow. Every single article they’ve written will be picked apart, dwelled upon and ultimately regarded as terrible. Instead of approaching your entire body of work, focus on your more recent work or posts. Copywriters, and everyone else in the business world, evolve. Looking back on your earlier content is important, but make it about what you’ve improved rather than what you did wrong. Look for patterns in your period of reflection and see how you can build upon your past successes. Just as important is talking it out with someone. You are writing for an audience, so gauging what they think of your work is more important than your insights. You may think your copy is incredible, but if nobody wants o read it, it’ll have the same impact on the world that a locked journal tucked under a mattress would have. Don’t be lonely, share your work and take constructive criticism in stride.

The Upward Turn

You’ll realize, once you turn that corner and understand that change comes in all industries, just how valuable an opportunity automated writing software can be for you as a copywriter. It’ll free up time to prioritize content and make tedious work a thing of the past.

Reconstruction and Working Through

Maybe you’ll ask for a product demo, play around with some features and get to know your new “robot coworker” a little better. It’s hard to bash something until you’ve tried it, so keep yourself open to new technology and try it out before you start worrying or being dismissive. You’ll save yourself the trouble of having to deal with these stages each and every time a new update or tool comes around.

Acceptance and Hope

Welcome to the end, the light at the end of the tunnel. Once you’ve tried out the software, you’ll realize that it’s less of a Terminator/Skynet future with our coming “robot overlords” and more of a gradual journey to the integration of technology into every aspect of our lives. You might not see your toothbrush or the asphalt you drove on this morning as technology, since there’s no buttons to push or sync options, but they’re still developments in technology. Children now see it as normal to have a toothbrush that counts down how long you should be brushing and new material technology may very well replace the very roads we drive on someday soon. This is hope. This is the realization that you can either be a part of the change or be cast aside as you stand in the way. Software is a tool, an extension of the capabilities you already have. If you can’t produce great content, buying a piece of software isn’t going to change that. It’d be as if you walked into a hardware store, bought a hammer and expected a house to be built. Take the opportunity to explore new technology with a careful eye, not merely to be critical, but to understand just what it has to offer you.

April 27, 2012

Instagram’s rabid fan base of iOS users grew at an explosive rate in the past months, thanks in part to the system’s familiar user interface and most importantly, on the fly photo touchup. While some bemoaned users uploading digital pictures meant to look aged and tattered, the service struck a chord with an increasingly nostalgic younger generation (as evidenced in the resurgence of trends like retro/arcade gaming and vinyl records). The exclusivity gave way to an influx of Android users, with many signing up for e-mail alerts to mark the day it would arrive in the recently revamped Google Play marketplace. Instagram for Android has surpassed 1 million downloads in its first 24 hours, with the current number of downloads hovering somewhere between 1 and 5 million.

The best way to make a product attractive is to offer an air of mystery and exclusivity, which Instagram had certainly accomplished on the iOS platform. The beauty in bringing it to Android (and teasing it at tech-centric events like SXSW) was the already fervent demand. Instagram knew that Android users wanted the app. There were even dozens of clone apps available, but none caught on. As iOS fans bemoaned the loss of status and exclusivity, a willing throng of users joined the ranks and boosted the nascent but powerful social network into a growing threat, even though it is built to share across social networks. Facebook’s acquisition, with a promise to develop the company independently from Facebook, still shows that the world’s biggest social network is prepared to defend itself from any upstart startups, upping the ante with this $1 billion dollar purchase ahead of its impending IPO.

While purchases in the past have shown Facebook cautious or reluctant to really throw its weight around (previously buying companies under 100 million), they have pounced on Instagram for a cool $1B. Rest assured Facebook’s immense presence is being felt and it’s getting stronger with each passing day. The hackers who wanted to connect the world have begun to show their maturity and willingness to take on a fight, be it through patent legislation or incredible sums of cash, and other social networks have been put on notice once again.

April 16, 2012

I’m only just now beginning to realize, however, how difficult it can be at times, to stare at a computer screen for a standard working day—let alone 10 hours. It can take its toll on you and cause your eyes to strain. If you’re like me, your eyelids will get sore and heavy after a couple of hours, and you will experience fatigue. It is an unpleasant feeling and can harm your productivity. Some people even experience blurred vision, headaches or double vision. Lucky for me, I haven’t experienced that yet! If you experience these symptoms, see your doctor immediately.

After discussing eyestrain with my team, we came up with a few quick solutions for our office. Let’s hope they help you to get through the day as well.

Breaks

Like most people, I am aware that taking breaks can help to significantly reduce eyestrain. Unfortunately, like most people, I’m guilty of sacrificing break time in order to get the work done. While it’s important to meet all your deadlines, it’s also important to step outside for a breath of fresh air, to stretch, and most importantly, to rest your eyes. Even if it’s simply taking a brief moment to look away from the glare of the computer screen, it will help ease discomfort and boost your productivity. As a rule of thumb, try the 20/20/20 rule. For every 20 minutes, take your eyes off the computer and focus on something 20 feet away for at least 20 seconds. Take a moment to massage your upper and lower eyelids every now and then. Other eye exercises such as blinking often and quickly also do the trick as it refreshes your eyes. It’s working for me! Go on, try it.

Adjusting Computer Settings

Eyestrain can be considerably reduced by simply adjusting your computer settings. You might want to increase the resolution of your computer screen and change the brightness and contrast levels on your monitor. Adjusting the distance between you and your computer screen is also a good idea. The recommended distance is 20 inches. If you’re having trouble reading fonts from a distance, a convenient feature is the zoom button on Microsoft Office and various web browsers. This feature allows you to zoom in on the text as much as you like, making it easier for you to read what’s on the screen from a distance with minimal strain on your eyes.

Ambient Lighting

Bright lighting in the office will only add to the problem of eyestrain. We recently discussed the possibility of introducing ambient lighting in our office to help combat eyestrain. If you replace bright lights with ambient lighting, it will not only help to reduce eyestrain, but may also increase your productivity. Our office is considering turning off overhead bright lights and using adjustable desk lamps instead. Affordable desk lamps for the office can be found at IKEA. The more focused lighting will allow you to focus better on the computer screen and block outside distractions. Not to mention, ambient lighting looks awesome.

Anti Glare Screen Protectors

Other tools to help combat eyestrain at work are anti glare screen protectors. As the name suggests, the product is placed over the monitor and reduces the glare from the computer screen.
Anti glare screen protectors are available for purchase from Amazon.

April 2, 2012

If you’re a marketing professional, SES conferences should be highlighted on your agenda. If they are not, you’re missing out on invaluable education, tactics and best practices in search and social marketing from industry leaders. The conferences provide you with the latest in social media, integrated marketing, paid search, SEO and more. Don’t just take my word for it either. You can view testimonials online at sesconference.com.

According to their official website, SES NY features 70+ sessions, multiple keynotes, almost 100 exhibitors, networking events, parties and more. Yesterday morning, Google’s Avinash Kaushik spoke about “Business Optimization in a Digital Age”. This is just a sample of the knowledge you can expect to walk away with.

The conference is a great chance to interact face to face with your customers, colleagues, and your competition. Up to 4, 000 online marketing professionals attend SES New York each year to keep up to date with the latest in the industry. The conference is also the perfect opportunity to network, gain leads, strategic partnerships and nurture existing clients.

Sponsoring at SES is another great way to raise your company profile. Take, for instance, the “Search Bash Party” at Hudson Terrace NYC tomorrow. The event is sponsored by Majestic SEO and Textbroker. To keep up to date with the latest news regarding their events, simply log into your Twitter accounts and search for #SES or #SESNY trends. You can also follow the SES Conference & Expo account @SESConf for live updates.

For a full list of upcoming conferences, visit sesconference.com.

March 21, 2012

The title alone was enough to grab my attention. My colleagues then suggested that I write an article on Pinterest and Photoshop an image of myself with a crack pipe and Pinterest logo. Aware that this image of me would be permanently tattooed on the back of the Internet, I politely discarded the suggestion.

For those of you who are unaware, Pinterest is a platform for creating limitless virtual tack boards of images that can be shared with the rest of the online community. I recently gave into the hype and created an account last week. Since then, I am ashamed to admit that I have been sucked into this black hole of beautifully presented collages of anything and everything.

Don’t be fooled, however, as Pinterest isn’t just for women. Businesses are the latest segment of society to capitalize on the “pinteresting” social media site. Let’s explore some of the factors you should consider prior to using Pinterest for your online marketing objectives.

Rapidly Expanding Market

If you aren’t quite convinced that Pinterest is a wise investment for your business, check this out: http://siteanalytics.compete.com/pinterest.com/

Compared to November of last year, the amount of users has almost tripled. The number of unique visitors just last month came to grand total of 11,140,641. That’s a lot of people who could potentially be viewing your company, products and services. Pinterest users also spend an average of 1 hour and 17 minutes browsing the site, well ahead of Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ users.

Referral Traffic

Pinterest really is a great way to drive traffic to your website. According to Shareaholic’s January 2012 Referral Traffic Report, Pinterest now drives more referral traffic than YouTube, Google+ and LinkedIn combined. This is due to Pinterest terms of service request to…

Credit Your Sources

Pins are the most useful when they have links back to the original source. If you notice that a pin is not sourced correctly, leave a comment so the original pinner can update the source. Finding the original source is always preferable to a secondary source such as Google Image Search or a blog entry.

…And it works too! After creating my account last week, I began a Wish List board and finally found the perfect earring rack to pin to it. When I clicked on the image, it referred me to www.shopgetorganized.com. Here, I reviewed the product details and made an instant purchase.

Very Visual

Pinterest users flock to the website to escape their mundane realities and enter a world of beautiful imagery and board presentations. It’s a very simple, clean platform with far less clutter than other social media sites. Big, high resolution images are the focus of this online community. So if your business has plenty of tangible goods to share, the social network is definitely worth a visit.

Nordstrom are just one of the many retailers to jump on the Pinterest bandwagon. Please keep in mind, however, that Pinterest isn’t effective for all businesses. You need to decide if it’s an appropriate vehicle to transport your brand. If your business doesn’t have too many tangible products, you might want to rethink your online marketing strategy and redirect your efforts elsewhere.

“Goodies” and Features

Better yet, the Pinterest Goodies tab offers a “Pin it button for websites”. This nifty feature allows visitors to your website to pin products onto their virtual interactive boards with ease. You even get to design your own button! In addition, you can also get a “Follow Button for websites” which allows users to follow your Pinterest account with just one click.

Pinterest also has a Gift Tab feature which offers a drop down menu of six different price ranges. You then have the option to find a gift within your budget. If you’re an ecommerce store owner, this is your baby! You need to make sure, however, that you have a price listed in the description of your post. Otherwise, Pinterest won’t recognize it.

No Self-Promotion 

If you’re interesting in using Pinterest to market your brand, you need to be careful to follow the “Pin Etiquette” listed in their About Us section. They explicitly state to…

Avoid Self Promotion

Pinterest is designed to curate and share things you love. If there is a photo or project you’re proud of, pin away! However, try not to use Pinterest purely as a tool for self-promotion.

…Bottom line, if you want to create a virtual board to pin your content and products, do it discreetly. Indirect marketing is the way to go if you want to attract a loyal following. Don’t pin every product you sell. Tease them a little and redirect them to your website. Push marketing simply won’t fly in this online community.

Slow Take Off

Looking for immediate conversions? Pinterest is not for your brand. You will need to invest time and energy into creating virtual boards with infographics and aesthetically appealing product photography. Big, high resolution images and thoughtful descriptions are crucial when creating your business profile. Whole Foods Market is a great example of effective Pinterest marketing.

You’ll also need to optimize your profile and share material on a daily basis. To learn how to optimize your profile, visit http://blog.kissmetrics.com/pinterest-marketing-tips/ and scroll down to SEO 101 for Pinterest. Pinterest online marketing is a long-term commitment and only for the creative at heart.

Won’t Stand Alone

If you don’t already have an integrated marketing strategy, forget it. Pinterest alone won’t do wonders for your online marketing efforts. If you do, however, have a large following on other social media sites, encourage them to follow you by streaming content from Pinterest onto these sites.

You can also connect via your Facebook or Twitter account which transports all your existing connections onto your Pinterest account. Small businesses should also be careful to prioritize their social media according to their budgets. One way to track and compare your Pinterest traffic with other social networks is with Google Analytics.

Target Market

As mentioned earlier, the Washington Post declared Pinterest as the “digital crack for women”. KISSmetrics maps the demographic of Pinterest users as 25-44 year old females with an interest in lifestyle. For the owners of Better Homes and Gardens such statistics are music to their ears. Other industries, however, aren’t likely to find the people they are looking for on Pinterest. Until the demographic of this online community expands, you need to decide whether or not Pinterest is worth your efforts.

In the meantime, check out some of the search results for SEO on Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/search/?q=seo

Happy pinning!

March 6, 2012

Let me just be completely honest with you, dearest reader, and tell you that I find it increasingly difficult to tolerate complaints devoid of any substance on the Internet. If you hate something, either bring a solution to the table or let it go. If you cannot do either, rest assured that it is not that important.

Without further ado, I present my favorite response to Facebook Timeline and my takes on their takes.

Alma Matter is a memorabilia company for schools and colleges in India. Their founder, Varun Agarwal, posted a note on Facebook to complain about Facebook (the link in case you want to comment on their page http://goo.gl/kfgpp). I have to admit I’m incredibly impressed with both the company and its founder, both are incredibly successful. But as I read through this list, I suddenly realized the essence of nearly every article on the web denouncing the new feature was here.

While reveling in the meta-nature of the list, there’s something I can’t quite forgive, and that is self-absorbed criticism of the supposedly self absorbed (grammatical errors left for full effect, italics are mine). Bear in mind that nearly every other article you can search on Facebook Timeline will run through similar topics and viewpoints, this just happens to be the most condensed one I’ve seen.

The List

1- Ok firstly I think its really creepy. I mean opening up your entire life to everyone and more importantly your past is a bit uncomfortable.

 You mean what you’ve already posted is now a pressing concern? Please tell me how much you value your privacy as an afterthought.

2. Its too much on the eyes. There’s so much going on I don’t even know what to see and what not to. I think Fb profiles worked because of their simple and streamlined designs. This is quite the opposite.

You mean it’s. Too much content? Too much stuff to do? Change your settings to filter out what you don’t want.

3. Since there’s so much already going on the Timeline page most people will miss out on the FB ads unlike before. This could also mean some loss of revenues from their only source of income.

Dude, those ads are still front and center, creepily accurate links to things I’ve been looking for. I’m surprised for all the hubbub about privacy that this seems the least pressing concern. Since you are a business owner, the surprise wears off very quickly. Also, Facebook Ads should never be your sole source of income.

4. Its way too heavy. I mean if you don’t have a fast internet connection then you’ll just stick to the news feed.

It’s. It’s. IT’S. IT’S. If you don’t have a fast Internet connection, 5 bucks says your neighbors have cracked your WEP encryption.

5. There are a lot of pictures you were tagged in like 5 years back which suddenly pop up. So there will be a lot of untagging to do.

Reliving poor decisions seems to be the only real fun in photos on Facebook.

6. FB says that if you publish your timeline then you cant make any more structural changes to it. So I’m stuck.

I’ll reiterate, if you don’t like something that has a closed system, don’t use it.

7. A certain section of the Orkut crowd that has recently invaded Facebook loves putting up pics of dead or dying people and tag you on it. So you’re timeline resembles that of a convict or a mercenary than anything else.

These sound like true friends. Frightening, disturbed friends that don’t seem to understand that what happens on 4chan should stay on 4chan and not on Facebook, lest someone be offended.

8. Dumwits who love putting up pictures of celebs as their profile pic will now have an even bigger canvas. They can now put pics of 2 celebs rather than 1 as their profile pic.

I can’t even begin to describe how the misspelling of a word meant to belittle someone’s intelligence makes my faith in humanity flicker a moment.

9. Creepy guys will now stalk unsuspecting pretty girls even more because now there’s more to look at even if you’re on super privacy.

Where’s the super privacy button? Also, if it’s on the Internet, it’ll find a way into the public eye, nothing can change that other than simply disconnecting oneself from the Internet entirely. I wish those brave and intrepid souls who seek out the comforts of a Luddite-inspired worldview the best of luck in finding a way to do so.

10. Your mom will now know how much you’ve been drinking, smoking,  partying and everything you’ve been up-to for the past 5 years.

So you haven’t called your mother in the past 5 years? She must be worried. For the record, stupid decisions are rarely private. Having a good time isn’t something to be ashamed of your mother finding out, but this may not be the case for everyone.

 Let me be extremely clear once more: if you don’t want to use Facebook, don’t. It is not mandatory. People seem to forget this, since it has permeated every aspect of our lives (media, advertising, links, Facebook Connect, etc.). There are plenty of concerns to be addressed on the issues of ever changing privacy and debates to be had on the very nature of issues like anonymous v. full name requirements in signing up to use a service. There’s no right or wrong answer on these, and I do not intend on even scratching the surface here. My point in all this is to keep to two simple rules when it comes to being online:

1-    Stick to valid criticism.

2-    Social networks are not mandatory. If you want in, roll with their changes.

My sarcasm and comments may be a bit harsh, but this is the Internet after all. To post and not expect backlash for half-baked ideas is extremely naïve.

See comment button below if you’d like to talk, happy browsing!

April 16, 2012

Reddit is hard to explain. At its most basic, it’s a website like any other. There are users and those users submit and generate content. It would seem any other social networking site like Facebook or Twitter would fill this same need, with micro-blogging clones like Twitter providing a constant stream of news unmatched in providing breaking news and events from around the world. That’s where the differences start to become clearer. While Twitter and the like may give you something quickly, it’s not necessarily trusted content. It functions the same as a strong gust of wind, easily capable of carrying a seed to a safe place it can grow, or whipping a plastic bag from the gutter right into your face. The latter situation seems the most plausible an encounter one can endure in an increasingly modern world, leaving the wonders and beauty of nature to be reminisced about as though it never really happens anymore. I, for one, know I’m among a very small group of people who can even remember planting a tree recently. Continuing on with the “tree/seed” metaphor for an idea, Reddit distinguishes itself from a never-ending swarm of sites claiming to give you the latest and greatest by using a system that works through fostering a sense of community where the best ideas are given the space and the freedom to flourish into something magical.

 While I’ve drank the Kool-Aid on this one (true), the times I find myself discussing Reddit with non-Redditors make me feel like I’m pitching a product rather than advocating a community of which I’m a member. I’ve become more careful in how I go about this now. When you find something cool on the Internet, you want more people to be a part of it. That basic premise and the rabid following that it has developed is what Reddit runs on. Reddit even gets meta on itself (with plenty of self-deprecation and a good sense of humor) when discussions on the site become discussions about the site itself (even having a meta distinction categorizing the smaller communities that make up Reddit called subreddits). To further the twists and turns and help someone who has plunged down the rabbit hole, the site’s blog offers up statistics, the state of affairs on the site and a plethora of useful information to those who come across it.

 Now that you know about Reddit, what to do? Registration is quick and simple, provide your e-mail and register a username. Then you’re set to customize your experience. Right from the start, you’ll be “subscribed” to a few subreddits including pics, funny and atheism (one of the largest communities on Reddit). If you don’t like a particular community for any reason or just don’t care for the content offered, simply unsubscribe by clicking in the same area on the right you’d click to subscribe. Bear in mind, all communities are welcoming, particularly to those who are not a part of the cause or don’t believe in the subject at hand. Skepticism is vigorously encouraged, but hypocrisy is unforgivable to the community at large. Like anything else, be honest and forthcoming and enjoy the general “warm-fuzzies” that come from it. There are subreddits for every perceivable topic. Almost every major city, college, hobby, philosophy, religion and forum is covered. On the off chance it isn’t, simply make it! Reddit is as customizable as content can get.

What makes Reddit even more special is the ability to see the potential for change in the world and reward those who find the best ways to bring about that change. Numerous posts on helping find bone marrow donors, chemotherapy support, even a suicide watch subreddit bring people together in ways both inspiring and heart breaking. What Reddit does is simply show that you’re not the only one out there. For matters happy and sad, difficult or just plain adorable, there’s always someone willing to lend a hand or simply talk with. At the start of the millennium, once hype about the ever impending Y2K apocalypse died down, it seemed the next logical issue to tackle was the growing sense that too much time spent online made someone “antisocial.” Reddit has led the charge against this feeling of despair and discord that seems to haunt the Internet with each and every vitriolic post on some extremist website or child who is bullied on social media websites. It provides a safe environment for anyone to explore their options and share their stories of success and failure. While an extremely lighthearted site, there are times where Reddit comes together to fight injustices and bring help to those who need it.

Some instances have marred this helping hand, with occasional protests and actions taking on a mob mentality with some users a little too eager to sharpen their pitchforks. Sometimes it’s justified, other times have seen innocent people dismissed and trampled underfoot. With the site’s moderators stepping up their “patrols,” this type of behavior is becoming less and less common, in keeping with the site’s true core of upholding honesty and integrity in all posts and comments without sacrificing free speech.

While Reddit is constantly evolving and growing, with an astonishing 2,065,237,338 page views and 34,879,881 unique visitors in December 2011 alone, their main message of a free Internet and free speech above all else has never been stronger. Joining the Internet blackout against SOPA, Reddit’s blackout was as important a statement as those of Internet juggernauts Wikipedia and Google. With floods of calls, emails and faxes sent to representatives and government officials of all factions, Redditors made their voices heard loud and clear. Sure it’s a website where one can blow off some steam and look at pictures of someone’s cat chasing a laser pointer; it’s also a place of deep discussion and an even deeper search for knowledge in every aspect of life. Without sounding too preachy or declaring anything too bold, it’s becoming more and more evident that Reddit is the clearest case of a democracy in action since the founding of the United States. It’s a new frontier, a new forum birthed from necessity, but kept fresh by those who care most: its users.

April 16, 2012

PayPal, under Thompson’s watch, experienced spectacular growth, more than doubling the number of users from 50 million to 104 million and growing revenues from $1.8 billion to more than $4 billion. In fact, PayPal grew at a faster rate than its parent company, eBay. For the last quarter of reported income, PayPal’s revenues grew more than twice as fast as eBay’s, compared to revenues from a year before.

In a conference call on January 4, the day Thompson’s appointment was announced, Roy Bostock, Yahoo’s chairman of the board, said Yahoo has been “treading water.” Bostock said that Thompson had proved at PayPal that he could build the business of a company that had solid assets. Like PayPal, Yahoo also has a wealth of assets. Now it needs someone who can help it grow.

In a press release issued January 4, Bostock stated “Scott [Thompson] brings to Yahoo! a proven record of building on a solid foundation of existing assets and resources to reignite innovation and drive growth, precisely the formula we need at Yahoo! … His deep understanding of online businesses combined with his team building and operational capabilities will restore the energy, focus, and momentum necessary to grow the core business.”

Yahoo’s last CEO, Carol Bartz, was released in early September, 2011, after less than three years on the job. She had taken over from Jerry Yang, who was one on the original founders of the company. The board was dissatisfied with Bartz’s performance because the company’s revenue growth was stagnant.

Scott Thompson received a bachelor’s degree in accounting and computer science from Stonehill, a small Catholic college near Boston. He has a lot of experience applying technology in financial institutions. Before joining PayPal, he worked in information technology for the accounting firm Coopers and Lybrand, and he was the chief information officer for Barclays Global Investors. He was also executive vice president of technology solutions at Inovant, a subsidiary of Visa. He started at PayPal as the chief technology officer before becoming the company’s president.

What he doesn’t have is a background in media, and some pundits wonder whether that will be a problem. Yahoo is both a technology company, because it is on the Internet, and a media company, because it is a major provider of content.

Yahoo may also be selling off some of its assets. The company is being cagey about what its plans are, but it has already received offers to buy part of its assets, and it may even be considering an outright sale of the whole company.

Thompson’s appointment will be official on January 9, 2012. At that time, the current acting CEO, Tim Morse, will go back to being Yahoo’s chief financial officer.

January 5, 2012

Although Fire has received much praise from market experts for releasing the first Android tablet priced lower than the Apple iPad, it has been grilled for its perceived sluggishness, a criticism that could be slowing sales. Many critics continue comparing the Fire to the iPad, not exactly an apples-to-apples match up, handing Amazon a serious challenge.

Changes to the Amazon Fire interface are also expected to make the device easier to use. For example, the touch screen will be more responsive, addressing one major complaint. Changes to the carousel make it possible to remove program icons. This helps users organize and police the listing of their commonly used applications (helpful for those who enjoy alternative content).

Critics first to review the new Fire update have criticized it for failing to allow users to organize their apps by category. For some, the ability to customize the menu is still too limited, not going much further than the changes made to the carousel. The Fire continues with its 7-tab interface and it allows users to sort their apps by name or by date.

PC Magazine staffers have installed and tested the Fire update and have reported that the touch screen is more responsive, but still does not perform as well as does the iPad. Still, the performance increase is enough to be noticeable.

An update to the Fire’s menu for device restrictions now makes it possible for users to disable Wi-Fi network access. This could be in response to concerns that children could use the tablet to access Internet resources without permission. Device owners can now turn off Wi-Fi and require a password to turn it back on. Some analysts believe the placement of the new Wi-Fi feature suggests that Amazon will add more parental controls in the future.

The new Fire update makes it impossible to use popular one-click rooting utilities to gain root access to the tablet. Amazon appears to want to keep its device on lockdown, judging by its effort to make the rooting process more complicated. In the past, applications like SuperOneClick worked on the device, so users could quickly and easily customize it to their own preferences. At the least, the Fire update will make it so underground developers must spend and inordinate amount of time learning how to defeat the new system.

Amazon has made the Kindle Fire updateable via an OTA update. According to that company, the software for version 6.2.1 will download in the background and then self install, so the state of the battery should not affect the update in most cases. Still, Amazon recommends approaching the 182 MB update with a fully-charged battery. Fire users can also download the software update and manually apply it, but at least one technology

December 22, 2011

December 8, 2011

What’s in a Name?
A software company called Basis International complained about RIM’s use of the BBX name as early as October, suggesting neither party was caught off guard by the court’s move. RIM said its use of BBX was justified because it serves a different market than Basis’. The court found that RIM’s use of the BBX trademark nearly identical to that of Basis and suggested that RIM was deliberately trying to steal the goodwill associate with the Basis product. It also found that the two companies serve similar types of customers, rejecting RIM’s argument. The injunction against RIM is only temporary, but RIM apparently saw the writing on the wall and ditched its efforts to use the BBX name. The Basis trademark featured a lowercase x (as in BBx), but RIM’s proposed trademark used all capital letters (BBX).

About BlackBerry 10

RIM, a struggling player in the lucrative smartphone market, has developed BlackBerry 10 to run both its smartphones and its tablets. The company, once dominant, has seen its share of the market steadily erode as consumers and businesses continue to favor Apple’s iPhone and smartphones running Google’s Android operating system. RIM also faces new fears as Microsoft and Nokia unveil a new line of Microsoft Phone-powered devices. Microsoft is also entering the tablet market by including support for mobile processors in its Windows 8 computer operating system.

RIMs struggles were recently highlighted when the company announced a loss of nearly half a billion dollars from its stagnant inventory of PlayBook tablets. Promising to continue fighting, the company hopes to reduce production costs and enhance features by consolidating the operating systems from its two mobile products.

BlackBerry 10 will introduce soft key controls to BlackBerry phones, a key feature of Apple’s iOS operating system and the forthcoming Ice Cream Sandwich release of Android. Equipped with the new operating system, RIM phones will also have the ability to run Android apps as well as apps designed for QNX and BlackBerry 10. They will also feature compatibility with HTML5 and Adobe AIR.

Possible Consumer Confusion
Though consumers will not confuse the new RIM product with Basis International’s BBx product, they may become confused by its new name, BlackBerry 10. The most recent version of BlackBerry is version 7, so some people may think they missed upgrades to version 8 and version 9.

No Estimated Release Date
New BlackBerry phones equipped with the BlackBerry 10 operating systems could emerge early in 2013, but RIM has yet to commit to a release date. The company will also release PlayBooks with the operating system pre-loaded in hopes of stoking interest in its well-known but largely-shunned BlackBerry brand. The BlackBerry 10 operating system is the cornerstone for RIM’s planned renaissance. Its reception in the marketplace could determine whether RIM will survive the coming year in its present form.

December 8, 2011

As the popularity of social networks are on the rise, this has never been more evident with not only the issues around Facebook, but last year’s FTC settlement with Google over a privacy complaint, as well as this year’s settlement with another social networking service Buzz.

Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, did not admit to any violation of laws, in fact, the proposed settlement indicates the company’s denial of the FTC’s allegations. Facebook, which got its start in its founder’s college dorm room, has grown to become the Internet’s leading social media destinations, giving such giants like Google and Yahoo a run for their money when it comes to advertising dollars. Facebook doesn’t publicize its financial results, but certain market research companies predict more than four billion in revenue in 2011, up from about two billion the previous year.

The agreement with the FTC would settle allegations that in 2009 the company made certain information assessable to the public that users of Facebook thought would remain private.

The controversy prompted a swarm of complaints from privacy watchdogs who argue that random changes to Facebook’s privacy settings duped its users into sharing more information to the public that they believed would be private. The allegations alleged that the company shared sensitive information with third-party app developers and advertisers. Another issue of growing concern raised by the FTC is facial recognition, a feature that Facebook rolled out in 2010. The FTC plans to hold a workshop on facial recognition technology sometime this year.

In a blog post, Zuckerberg acknowledged that his company made a “bunch of mistakes,” but downplayed the issue by stating they had already corrected many of the privacy issues and concerns, touted his company’s overall record and reassured that his company provided “transparency and control over who can see your information.”

FTC Chairman, Jon Leibowitz, noted that the Facebook order by the FTC sends a strong message to Internet companies to take privacy matters seriously and build safeguard parameters into their products. But even though the proposed settlement was met with mostly enthusiasm, privacy advocates expressed concern that it would not go far enough to protect the privacy of its company’s users.

American companies are too “secretive,” said Jeffrey Chester, executive director for a Washington privacy advocacy group. The settlement, he claims, doesn’t require companies to be more forthright about how they gather and use personal information of their users. There is little doubt that a good majority of Facebook’s more than eight hundred million users don’t even understand, much less control, “the vast amounts of data mining used to propel its advertising business,” Chester said.

According to the proposed settlement, Facebook will subject themselves to independent private audits once every two years for the next twenty years. The company has also agreed to get its users’ permission on making future modifications to privacy settings. Facebook was not slapped with any fines, but failure to meet the FTC’s terms of the settlement would result in rather severe civil penalties.

This all comes at a time business forecasts Facebook’s value to be around $100 billion, double the valuation of Hewlett Packard, when they offer a $10 billion dollar IPO in 2012. “Facebook’s innovation does not have to come at the expense of consumer privacy,” Leibowitz said. “Nothing in this order will restrict Facebook’s ability to innovate.”

December 2, 2011

Create Urgency: Although there are roughly four weeks between Cyber Monday and Christmas morning, websites will do the most business if they express a sense of urgency on their website. A clock counting down until the end of the Cyber Monday sale, or perhaps until Christmas, will remind shoppers that presents need to be purchased quickly before time runs out. Specify that Cyber Monday deals are a one time only special, and that prices can’t be guaranteed beyond that day, or the days during which the sales are running. This can motivate indecisive shoppers to commit to buying things that they might otherwise consider and then decide against.

Encourage the Holiday Spirit: Nothing can motivate shoppers to buy products online like remembering the excitement of the holidays. Through the use of holiday phrases, sounds, music and festive web design, remind anyone who views your page of the impending holiday season. Positive Christmas memories will be associated with your products, and many shoppers will want to share that joy with friends and family who they can shop for online.

Show Reduced Prices: Remember that people head online to get their shopping done on Cyber Monday because they expect there to be sales and reduced prices. This is a wonderful advantage for online businesses, because before the page has even been opened shoppers are excited and ready to see low prices. Capitalize on this by showing the reduced prices clearly, and offering plenty of sales and deals. Include the original prices alongside the new reduced rates to it is clear that the website is indeed celebrating Cyber Monday and offering sale items. Organize the most reduced products to appear at the top of the page or on the main opening page, so that the first impression is that of a sale.

Use Social Media: In the weeks leading up to Cyber Monday, locate as many followers as possible on social media sites like Facebook or Twitter. Then, during your holiday Cyber Monday sales, you can post links and specials to your profiles. These deals will then be seen by those interested in your products, and can be reached in a single click. This is perhaps one of the best ways to achieve new sales, as well as remind repeat customers of any bargains they might not have noticed previously.

To capitalize on Cyber Monday, one of the biggest online shopping days of the year, be sure to encourage the holiday spirit, show your reduced prices, create a sense of urgency and utilize social media to bring in new customers.

November 28, 2011

November 28, 2011

This foray into the world of television is not a first for Google; they dipped their toes into the marketplace via their own specialized network, entitled Google TV, which is currently available on select Sony and Logitech products. The addition of a Google backed network to the Logitech and Sony products was met with a mixed response, but Samsung is betting that an actual television set entitled Google TV will be met with a much more favorable, and profitable, response.

Samsung and Google have not yet announced a release date for their joint venture, nor have they released a large amount of information about the upcoming TV. Samsung did unveil a Google Blu-ray player at the last Consumer Electronics Show, indicating that the Google TV itself is only a portion of the overall marketing plan. As with the TV itself, however, information about exactly what sets the Google Blu-ray player apart from other Blu-ray players has not yet been released.

Based on the current Google TV network offerings, it can be assumed that the launch of the Google branded television sets will include several internet apps to increase the viewing experience. It is also a natural assumption that Google will be able to utilize the star power of its own name to bring exclusive internet videos and other content to the Google TV platform. Search engine functionality is a virtual certainty and could dramatically improve the current way that viewers search for different programming options. Although most cable providers include a basic on screen TV guide, Google would almost certainly offer an upgrade of this functionality.

Google TVs will also tap into the growing marketplace of viewers who are disconnecting their cable service in lieu of watching streaming content, such as the services offered by popular entertainment companies like Hulu and Netflix. Tech savvy individuals who crave a full and less cumbersome internet experience on their widescreen, high definition televisions will likely flock to a TV set which carries the Google name. When combined with Samsung, who is currently ranked as the most successful television manufacturer in the world, this new product sounds like a natural fit in an increasingly internet oriented world. If all goes well, Samsung’s involvement in this product may be just the thing to help them continue to lead the ranks of the overly bloated television production industry.

November 28, 2011

November 9, 2011

Amazon’s Kindle Fire costs $50 less than the Nook Tablet, but offers a bit less on the inside. The Nook has double the internal memory storage (16GB versus the Fire’s 8GB), a more powerful processor, and a MicroSD slot for up to an additional 32GB if needed. Amazon promises a cloud storage solution in place of being able to add any additional storage to the Fire. The Nook Tablet also has a laminated coating on the screen to fight glare.

Since both devices are running their own customized version of the Android operating system, they both utilize their own app stores instead of the standard one. Given that Amazon has been offering downloadable goods from their online store for a while now, the Fire currently has the edge here with their music products and video streaming, but Barnes & Noble is working to get other companies, such as Netflix, to produce and stream content through their device.

This is perhaps more of a determining factor than anything. Consumers who are already paying to stream and download movies, music, and more from a variety of services will not be eager to pay for Amazon’s similar services on the Fire, which will be locked to those services for the foreseeable future. Of course, there have been recent rumors of Amazon opening up and providing a Netflix app, but it is currently an unknown just how likely such a move would be, since Netflix is a competitor of Amazon Prime.

As these two devices are from a family of eReaders, digital books and magazines are a core function of both. The Nook Tablet will support the ePub format, meaning that digital books purchased through several other eBook/eReader services will work on the Nook Tablet. Amazon, in contrast, relies on its own proprietary format, meaning that anyone switching to or from the Kindle family would need to repurchase or convert their existing library to work with their current choice. In this regard, the Nook makes more sense to purchase for those who lack brand loyalty and go between brands looking for the best deal or best device.

Which way the market swings is entirely dependent on what people want, where their loyalties already lie, and how much of a difference $50 can make in the minds of frugal consumers. The Nook Tablet is looking like it will be a solid device that delivers on the media front, so its a question of how many buyers are interested in a budget-priced tablet with a large library of digital books.

November 8, 2011

November 3, 2011

October 26, 2011

Within just three days of releasing their highly-anticipated iPhone 4S, Apple announced that they had officially sold 4 million units in just 72 hours. This outpaced nearly every other mobile device launch that has ever been carried out, including Apple’s own records. Just one year ago, the iPhone 4 had 1.7 million sales over the first weekend, less than half of the iPhone 4S. On top of a 5% decrease in Apple stocks and only being released in limited countries around the world, Apple is still predicting 25 million iPhone 4S units sold in the first financial quarter alone.

These amazing numbers may have seemingly played out over night, but it took almost a year of preparation to position the iPhone 4S as such a record-breaking device. The late Steve Jobs, one of the founding fathers of the Apple corporation, had become a master at rumors and brand loyalty in his later years. He had built up a passionately fanatical customer base that would scoop up any new device on the market.

To compliment these loyal fans, Apple kept surprisingly tight-lipped about the release of their next iPhone, what many believed would be the iPhone 5. Nearly an entire year went by as websites, analysts, and excited customers looked for any fraction of information on the release date or the specs of the iPhone 4S. Only occasional pieces of information would rise to the surface as false rumors were much more prevalent then hard information.

When the day had finally come, October 14, 2011, anticipation was at an all time high. Pre-orders to nearly all major service providers were sold out as lines began forming at Apple stores around the world. The impressive number of 4 million was not merely the result of fanatical customers and a well-constructed campaign by Apple though. The iPhone 4S also boasts a few impressive features that set a new benchmark for smartphones. This included an impressive dual-core, A5 processor pulled out of the iPad as well as instant access to Apple’s newest cloud data storage, iCloud.

The feature that continues to steal the show is the personal assistant placed on every single iPhone 4S, Siri. This AI program responds to verbal and written questions of all kinds, instantly accessing a huge online and internal database for an answer. User’s question can range from finding the nearest BBQ restaurant with a high customer rating to the appropriate to setup an iCloud account.

No matter the impressive numbers that they continue to put up, Apple never looks to be resting on their laurels. After a record-breaking financial year, the iPhone 4S continues to push the Apple brand forward with just over 4 million sales in just three days. The next number that everyone is looking for is 25 million sales in the first quarter, a feat that may just work over the holiday season.

October 20, 2011

October 20, 2011

The average consumer may be non-technical, but most smartphone users still have a working knowledge of the iOS. Apple’s proprietary operating system gets a lot of buzz primarily because it is proprietary. The iOS is heavily guarded and competitors know about the inner workings of this.

Apple has managed to make the iPhone immensely popular, and a lot of this has to do with this secrecy that is related to the iOS. This is basically the system that is responsible for all the cool features that users see when they are utilizing the Apple products. The iOS is used for the iPad, iPod, and the iPhone.

Most people tend to associate the iOS with the iPhone primarily because this device gets the most attention. The iOS is what is talked about the most when new phones are unveiled. It is through the operating system that users obtain new features for the devices.

It’s easy to think of the iOS as a system that is very similar to an operating system for a PC. The difference is that the iOS is designed specifically for Apple mobile devices. Lots of competitor smartphone manufacturers have tried to emulate what Apple has done. The Android, for example, has become a major competitor against Apple and their iPhone. The producers of the Android phone have their own platform, but smartphone users can see that they have burrowed some elements from the iOS.

Apple has been very secretive with the iOS, but there are a couple of things that have just been facts in concerns to the iOS. Apple has revealed that the current version of the iOS has 200 new features. Many users may not even notice all that is new, but this comes from years of experience in dealing with previous versions.

This is also similar to the comparisons between old and new operating system platforms. It is difficult to tell what the improvements are if you are unfamiliar with the software. Someone that may just seem cool to a new user may be a much needed improvement to someone that was using the old iOS. Some people that could not change the iPhone wallpaper in older iOS versions, for example, will appreciate the new iOS platforms that allow this change. It is little changes like this that can become a big difference for users.

Some people will hesitate about the update process because they want to make sure that the new iOS is fully functional. Apple does internal testing, but the iOS really isn’t put into a real testing phase until it reaches the general public. It is at this time that Apple will discover the true benefits or limitations of a new iOS.

October 14, 2011

October 13, 2011

With another Blackberry Internet outage occurring during the past few days in much of the world, particularity Europe and India, major companies are experiencing growing concerns over the hardiness of the underlying technology. While the parent company, Research in Motion, released statements that the issues affecting their World Wide Web services have been corrected, outages continued to plague various parts of the world. For an organization that is dependent upon the services RIM provides, this can be detrimental to their ability to complete expectations that their clients hold. The bottom line means that these companies need to consider alternatives for ensuring the smooth operations of their mobile operations.

Although technicians for Research In Motion responded quickly to the reports of another Blackberry Internet outage, companies that utilize competitor services continued to operate smoothly. Investors and customers are becoming skeptical of the abilities for RIM to compete in a highly aggressive market within the mobile technology marketplace. Stock prices have suffered and sales of existing Blackberry smartphones have taken fallen sharply. Many other technology companies releasing new products all the time and are offering high quality of service. This means it will be important for RIM to eliminate service outages as much as possible to regain consumer trust. One way the management of Research In Motion is doing this is reminding users of the high quality of their networks and the security features that are an integral part of their infrastructure. These press releases further state that many of the other product offerings on the market do not come close in security features.

Clients of RIM products should be encouraged that the organization is taking proactive measures to prevent another Blackberry Internet outage. Their fast response to these service outages and attempts to communicate updates can help calm consumer fears. Regardless of their intentions, disruptions in business operations can have lasting impact on the success of any organization. Companies need to consider the risk of lost revenue because of circumstances outside of their control and take time to review other options. With a number of viable offerings that help meet business objectives, they may find that their ability to tolerant problems in Internet connectivity may not be as high as RIM hopes. Any resolution needs to be long-lasting.

October 11, 2011

Steve Jobs was born on February 24, 1955 in San Francisco, California and was adopted by Paul and Clara Jobs shortly after his birth. As a high school student, Jobs showed a deep interest in technology, frequently attending lectures at the Hewlett-Packard Company. He was hired by Hewlett-Packard as a summer employee shortly. In 1974, Steve began working for the video game manufacturer Atari, continuing his early involvement in the technology field.

In 1976, Steve Jobs, along with friends Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne, founded Apple. After several turbulent years as a small start-up company, the Apple company under the leadership of Jobs introduced the Macintosh in 1984. This computer was the first commercially successful personal computer. The success of the Macintosh did not lessen the turbulence felt at Apple, nor did it guarantee job security for Jobs. In 1985, Jobs was fired from Apple, a move that Jobs later stated was one of the best things to happen to him.

Steve Jobs did not let his bad experience with Apple dissuade him from remaining in the technology field. Shortly after leaving Apple, Jobs founded NeXT Computer. It was Jobs’ hope that computers could be used to allow individuals to communicate and collaborate. The corporation’s major contribution to the technology field was NeXTMail, which was one of the first email systems that allowed clickable embedded graphics as well as audio samples to be placed inside of email.

In 1986, Steve Jobs branched out from NeXT Computer, purchasing The Graphics Group from Lucasfilm. The Graphics Group was later renamed Pixar, which is now one of the most successful animation studios in the world. After forming a partnership with Disney, the Pixar/Disney partnership produced the wildly successful animated film Toy Story. Over the next fifteen years, Disney and Pixar would produce several award winning box-office hits, including Finding Nemo and Cars. Despite the partnership’s success, Disney and Pixar ended the partnership in 2004 following contract disputes. Less than two years later, Disney purchased Pixar, and Jobs became Disney’s biggest shareholder, owning seven percent of the company’s stock.

In 1996, Steve Jobs returned to Apple after Apple bought NeXT Computer for $429 million. He was soon named the CEO of Apple, once again leading the Apple Corporation through major technological breakthroughs. Jobs brought many of the NeXT technology to the Apple products, including NeXTSTEP, which became the building block for the hugely successful Mac OS X. Following the explosion of success Jobs experienced with the Mac computer, the Apple Corporation expanded into the music field by introducing the iPod and iTunes Store. The iPod forever changed the way consumers purchased music by making compact discs virtually obsolete. In 2007, Jobs introduced the iPhone, which combined cell phone technology with the iPod music technology and Internet browsing capabilities.

In August 2011, Steve Jobs resigned from the position of CEO of the Apple Corporation following an eight-month medical leave due to pancreatic cancer. He remained on the board of directors until his death on October 5, 2011.

Steve Jobs was a true visionary; drastically changing the way people work, play, communicate, and live. He helped bring people from different continents together in a way that would otherwise not be possible. He will be deeply missed.

Steven Paul Jobs, February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011.

October 6, 2011

That’s right, for what may be the first time in Apple’s history, the innovative company behind the Macintosh, the iPod, the iTunes Store, and of course the iPhone, has managed to underwhelm instead of dazzle. For millions of Apple enthusiasts – mostly keen fans of the iPhone – the release of the iPhone 4S was a bit of a letdown. It’s not so much that people were disappointed by the new and decidedly whiz-bang 4S iteration of the beloved smartphone, it’s just that many truly believed that the time was right for the iPhone 5.

To be fair to Apple, when the company invited members of the media and tech industry insiders to the product announcement event, it never explicitly promised that it would be introducing the much-rumored iPhone 5. The invitation to the press whimsically read: “Let’s talk iPhone”, and nothing else. Apple did not disappoint int this regard. A number of Apple executives talked “a lot of iPhone” for over an hour, they just did not mention anything about the iPhone 5.

In the past, Apple has been known to craft a secretive and sensational atmosphere around a product launch. That corporate style can be directly attributed to former CEO and founder Steve Jobs. People could always count on Jobs to essentially pull rabbits out of hats during an Apple product launch. While Jobs’ showmanship and charisma will forever be remembered as instrumental to Apple’s previous success in charming the media and its supporters, new CEO Tim Cook did a grand job handling the media horde assembled at the Apple Town Hall in Cupertino – the same auditorium where the iPod was first announced in 2001.

The first sign that Apple was not ready to unveil the iPhone 5 arrived midway through the announcement. Senior VP Scott Forstall took the stage and ran through some truly amazing features of iOS5 and the new iCloud service. As Forstall talked about iOS5, a large picture of an iPhone 4 was displayed. Two more Apple senior VPs took the stage after about an hour: Eddy Cue and Phil Schiller. The latter was responsible for introducing the iPhone 4S to a hungry audience that managed to produce a lukewarm applause.

Those expecting an iPhone 5 will find many of the rumored features on the new iPhone 4S. The guts of the 4S include the same dual-core chip used in the impressive iPad 2, plus a CPU that is twice as fast as the previous iPhone. The 8MP camera allows HD video recording. Battery life has been upgraded to 8 hours of talk time, 9 hours of WiFi connectivity, and 10 hours of video playback. The new iPhone 4S is truly international: it supports GSM and CDMA modes that can easily switch between carriers. Siri, the new voice control system, promises to eliminate many of the touch-screen functions by encouraging users to talk to their iPhones a lot more.

Pricing for the iPhone 4S will be between $199 and $399 in the United States with a two-year contract from a participating carrier. The iPhone 4 will undergo a price change: just $99 for an 8GB model. The new 4S will hit stores in a few days.

October 5, 2011

Consumers have been waiting for a new iPhone for almost a year; the consensus and prognostications online indicate there will at least be definitive updates to the software, and most likely the hardware as well. Many also have wondered if the retired Steve Jobs will make an appearance at the Media Event.

Apple’s recently released software is expected to receive a definitive update along with a new version of the iPhone at the event. Apple’s rumored recent prohibition of employee vacation requests lead many to believe the release of the new iPhone is nearby in October; this time period is similar to previous release seasons in the past years for Apple.

With Black Friday and Christmas looming, it would make quite a bit of sense to get the new Apple versions out now. It is not unreasonable to expect or anticipate Apple to release both an iPhone 4s and iPhone 5 with new iOs5 software and corresponding updated hardware features on each. Months of rumors have iPhone consumers expecting a wider, slimmer phone with larger buttons and a better camera at the least.

After the recent retirement of former CEO and Apple Founder Steve Jobs, there was a large degree of speculation about the future of Apple. The fact is Apple is about to unveil the newest and most advance product-line to date while company shares are at an all time high. Executive officers and Jobs alike have endorsed Tim Cook as new CEO; this event opportunity is an opportunity for Cook to announce the new direction and business model for Apple. Cook is not expected to re-invent the wheel at Apple but company will develop under his discretion into the future.

Another intriguing aspect of this mysterious Apple October symposium is the question of whether or not Steve Jobs will actually be present. Many have been wondering what future role Jobs will have with the company and just how hands on or interested will Jobs be in Apple’s future. There are also the possibilities Jobs could quickly move n to other ventures or take an extended period off or never do anything innovative again in the tech industry. It will be interesting to many people what Steve Jobs has to say if anything at all.

Apple has been being quite guarded about this entire new line of iPhone products for some time now. The products release by the company has often changed and pioneered the industry, so there is some validity to the limit Apple has put on available information about the new line. Apple provides a high end product and has established a strong niche with incredibly goodwill. The company has not often made mistakes, so the anticipated wait in secrecy and rumors is most likely worth it until October fourth.

September 30, 2011

Apple has made no official statement as of yet, which is typical for products not yet released. The October 5th launch date would fit in with the company’s most recent moves regarding new products; on a Tuesday or Wednesday. While there is no way to know if the anonymous employee is correct, the news has helped to squash ugly rumors of iPhone manufacturing issues and a launch delay into 2012.

If the information proves to be true, the following scenario will play out. One week before launch, Apple will make an announcement about a press conference and will invite those it wants to attend. While nothing specific will be said regarding the purpose of the press event, the invitation will most likely offer hints about the iPhone 5 so the right people show up. The launch will be netcast in order to get all the product information to the consumer as quickly as possible, without the technical media watering it down. It is most likely that Phil Schiller, Apple Vice President, will play host but it is also possible that Steve Jobs himself may put in an appearance. Jobs may want to show investors that he is not on his deathbed and he thinks the iPhone 5 is very important. The press event will also offer a good look into Apple’s new management team.

The phone’s date of release will be one of the final things on the agenda. Employees will demonstrate the new phone and explain iOS features that were not covered by previews earlier in the summer. Hardware will be discussed next and the much-speculated new “killer feature”, which could be a bigger screen area or 4G LTE capability, will be unveiled. This will be followed by a listing of specs and the pricing model. If the Sprint carrier is indeed coming on board to carry the iPhone, CEO Dan Hesse will be on hand to offer a speech. Verizon’s CEO could make an appearance, as well, as this would be the first iPhone launch event it has been eligible to attend.

There is typically a period of two and a half weeks between an iPhone announcement and its actual appearance at retailers, which would put the date at Friday, October 21, 2011. Pre-orders will be taken online a week ahead of this date if there is enough inventory to cover it, however, they may be discontinued quickly if the demand proves to be too high. Consumers will begin lining up outside big box stores such as Best Buy and Radio Shack the night before, which will be a test of how well prepared Apple is.

September 22, 2011

Yes, Facebook is getting a facelift.

f8

Every year, Facebook holds an event in San Francisco, California known simply as f8. Headlined by a keynote speech from Facebook creator himself, Mark Zuckerberg, f8 seeks to bring together all the people responsible for the website’s operation and success.

Much like the keynote address given by Apple kingpin, Steve Jobs, f8 is meant to excite users, intimidate competition and inform bystanders.

It is here, on September 22, that the company expects to make some brave, perhaps startling, changes to the ever-growing force that is called Facebook.

Rumors and remedies

As f8 quickly approaches, everyone is predicting what new changes Facebook will make. Rumors are high regarding a possible redesign. These conclusions aren’t unfounded, considering all the tinkering and tailoring that has gone on this year.

Every day, it seems, users sign into their account and find that something has been changed. Most of these alterations have been small and beneficial, but they haven’t gone unnoticed. The old adage that people don’t like change isn’t absolutely true. People don’t mind change, so long as it isn’t too big or too often.

Constant tweaking, like what Facebook has been doing lately, throws up red flags. Fans step back and enemies begin to circle.

Evolution comes from competition

The technological world functions under a basic survival structure: Those that evolve survive; those that don’t, well, don’t. The greatest growth in any field has come about from competition. Facebook has plenty of it in Google+. The new social networking service could be a real player in a market Facebook has dominated.

Along with Google+, there still is Tumblr and Spotify, platforms that can offer things Facebook is just now trying to implement.

It seems clear what Facebook is trying to do: They want an all-in-one source for everything inquisitive, sharing people enjoy doing.

This year’s f8 conference may allow them to do it.

Fresh face, fresh “friends”

Facebook’s facelift is about more than just keeping current users happy. It’s also about bringing in new ones. The company has altered features in hopes of showing people that they are adapting to new needs.

But it’s in the media department – pictures, audio, video – where Facebook really wants to catch-up. If they can become the most trusted source for media sharing, the lead they have on the competition will probably never be closed.

No news yet

The exact details of what will be covered at f8 are unknown, though most sources keep coming back to the redesign angle, which would most likely include profile changes, as well as some new media sharing options.

As always, Facebook is keeping its mouth shut and its eyes open.

September 21, 2011

Subscribing To Other Facebook Users

Facebook rolled out the new Subscribe Button with everyone subscribed to all updates from their friends. If users change nothing, their Facebook experience stays the same as before. However, they can edit the content received by managing their friends. Users can also change the update settings for a friend while visiting their friend’s Facebook page. Choices include life events, status updates, games, photos and important updates. These new choices make taming the Facebook news feed possible.

With their news feed bridled, Facebook users may find renewed joy in the Facebook experience. No longer sifting through junk, users will see only updates from their friends that interest them. However, subscription content from non-friends will include all their public updates, with no filter options available.

Letting Other Facebook Users Subscribe

Users can now allow non-friends to subscribe to their public status updates. Any posts, photos or other content that they deliberately mark “Public” will appear on subscribers’ walls. Users follow others like they do with Twitter or Google +. To allow Facebook users the option to subscribe to their updates, users must edit their profile and then click the “Subscribers” link under their photo. By clicking the Edit Button, users can turn the new subscriber function on and off. They can also decide whether to allow comments on their public updates.

Benefits Of The Subscribe Button

If you always wanted to get rid of all the junk in your Facebook news feed, than the unveiling of the new Facebook Subscribe Button will make your day. In the past, the only way to stop the endless parade of junk updates was to un-friend the worst offenders. Now users can keep their friends without fear because they can choose to see only the content that interests them.

The Subscribe Button also expands opportunities for all Facebook users because they can now share information with the Facebook community without allowing them access to their wall as a Friend. Similarly, the community now benefits from other users’ public information, even when they are not friends.

Analysis

Analysts will eagerly watch how the social public receives the Facebook Subscribe Button. The extra button and the new Twitter and Google + behavior may be enough to make users abandon those two competing networks to focus only on Facebook.

Others may think the added feature layer complicates a software platform that already has tons of bells, whistles and fuzzy dice hanging all over it. People alienated by the Subscribe Button may find refuge in the simpler worlds of Twitter and Google +.

Facebook holds an ace in its hand that helps guarantee the success of the new button: users must opt in. If they do not choose to use the Subscribe Button, they do nothing and their Facebook world will stay the same.

September 16, 2011

While Apple consumers find themselves with innumerable applications at their fingertips on a myriad of mobile devices, Microsoft has lost industry ground in the tablet and touch screen markets. Windows 8 hopes to lure application developers, aiming to offer consumers as great a variety as is currently offered on their competitors’ platforms (Reuters).

The new operating system seeks not only to enter the tablet and smart phone scenes, but to address the criticisms of its users by restoring some greatly missed features which disappeared with former versions such as Windows XP. Among the most popularly requested returns is the “ribbon” which was no longer used in Explorer starting with Vista, and which in 8 is currently set to include tabs named Home, Share, View, and Manage. The “up” function which allowed users to navigate one tier upward in the folder scheme is also meant to be re-added.

Additionally, the long standing partnership of the Windows PC equipped with Intel processors sees itself in danger with the coming of Windows 8; the development stage operating system aims to also function with ARM architecture, which is a low-power processor type found in most modern mobile devices ranging from PDAs, MP3 players, tablets, handheld games and smart phones (Washington Post).

While making this version of Windows more flexible for different devices was a major scope, other changes to frustrating aspects of operating systems were addressed also, including faster boot speeds and navigation.

The Windows 8 user interface is set to be based on a grouping of tiles, larger than icons and with the idea that each would include more personalization and information about the application within the greater allotment of space. The tiles would take the place of the familiar Start Menu and introduce a new ability for apps to share screen space.

While the interface is being touted as designed foremost for touch navigation, Julie Larson-Green, the Corporate Vice-President of Windows Experience, states in her article on the Microsoft News site that it will be equally powerful and simple for traditional mouse and keyboard users.

Many interested websites and computer news publications agree that while the software giant is typically secretive of its release dates, a common interpretation of comments by Microsoft’s VP for Strategic and Emerging Business Development Dani Lewin seem to indicate that the current projected release date for the new OS would be the fall of 2012.

Whether Windows 8 takes the market by storm and paves the road for Microsoft to be a real competitor on the mobile and low-power device software scene remains to be determined, but one thing is certain: as the world of personal computing changes forms, it is imperative for this industry leader to adapt, innovate and expand, and Windows 8 seeks to accomplish just that.

September 14, 2011

Bartz was Yahoo’s third chief executive in just over four years, having replaced co-founder Jerry Yang in January 2009. She’d previously garnered attention for having reversed Autodesk Inc.’s downhill slide and had a general reputation as a no-nonsense leader in the industry. The spartan management style evinced in her early tenure with Yahoo proved lucrative for the company, allowing it to double its operating margins. These early successes eased suspicions that Bartz’s lack of advertising experience might prove fatal for struggling search giant.

The situation at Yahoo turned pear-shaped shortly afterward, following a seemingly endless attempted buy-out by Microsoft and its eventual takeover of Yahoo’s search-driven display ad business. The company continued to lose ground to Google and Facebook when it came to courting large advertising contracts and delivering display ads to consumers. In fact, in a decade that saw massive increases in stock prices for Yahoo’s rivals, its own shares remained almost completely flat.

Industry insiders acknowledged earlier this year that the company was in trouble. Earlier this year, Bartz was blaming Yahoo’s sales teams for the lackluster display ad revenues during Yahoo’s second quarter earnings call. Then Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., a Chinese e-commerce company in which Yahoo holds a 40 percent stake transferred ownership of one of the company’s prized assets to another company. Yahoo’s share prices dropped again, and relations between the two companies have become quite strained.

Tempers flared during Yahoo’s annual shareholder day in June. Though Bartz and the rest of the board tried to focus on their successes in cost-cutting and the traffic spikes seen during recent environmental disasters, investors were having none of it. Unhappy over the company’s sliding stock prices, the loss of display ad market shares to Google and Facebook, and the exodus of executive talent, some shareholders rounded on Bartz personally to voice their displeasure. Though Roy Bostock, the chairman of Yahoo’s board of directors, voiced the board’s “full confidence” in Bartz after the shareholder’s meeting, it took only three months for that confidence to dissipate.

Yahoo’s former CFO, Tim Morse, has been named the interim chief executive until a more permanent replacement can be found. In the official press release, the board announced the formation of an “Executive Leadership Council, tasked with supporting Morse in managing the Company’s day-to-day operations” until a new CEO is hired. Bartz’s dismissal is cited as being “without cause.” This entitles her to a sizable severance package, though most of it is in stock options that are directly tied to the company’s future success.

The price per share for Yahoo stock rose from $12.91 to $13.72 on Tuesday in after hours trading, a gain of over six percent.

September 8, 2011

September 22 is the day that Facebook will hold its well-publicized F8 Developer Conference and begin sharing information on this new hybrid platform. Facebook has chosen three streaming music companies as part of the initial release: Spotify, MOG, and Rdio. This may come as a shock to the millions of Facebook subscribers that shifted from Myspace’s music-heavy interface to Facebook’s more socially-inclined experience. For Facebook management, this is just one more step in transforming Facebook into a single stop for every internet need.

Unlike some other companies, such as Amazon and Apple, that have decided to fill up their own servers with huge volumes of music, Facebook has gone a different route. They will simply connect the servers of MOG, Spotify, and Rdio to Facebook itself, allowing for a small amount of autonomy. Luckily for these streaming music companies, they will now have instant access to Facebook’s hundreds of millions of dedicated users, a notion that would make any company happy. This is also very similar to some of Facebook’s other deals which have turned small gaming companies into international sensations.

The first time that games were placed on Facebook, they were met with mixed reviews. While there was a huge surge in subscribers for games such as Farmville, many found the constant updates distracting from the true goal of Facebook as a social network. Facebook was then able to work out the kinks as well as expand their database of games. Facebook users that are interested in gaming can now chose through hundreds of games while those who are uninterested will never even know that they are there.

This is the mentality that Facebook has taken with its upcoming music launch. Google+ has recently slammed Facebook for bothering its users with frills that take away from the experience. Facebook’s launch of MOG, Spotify, and Rdio will prove that Facebook can remain a simple social experience for those that want it, but something more for those that want to listen to streaming music or play a few games with friends. This recent merger of music and Facebook also leaves the door wide open for other future launches. The next few years may reveal Facebook as a platform for music, gaming, reading, and even streaming video. Analysts have already begun predicting a relationship between Facebook and streaming video service, such as Hulu or Netflix, within the next year.

While much of the information seems to be set in stone, music lovers and Facebook fans will not have all of the details until September 22. The placement of streaming music onto Facebook seems to be just one more step towards a comprehensive online experience that will leave other websites painfully neglected.

September 6, 2011

Looking backward at the deal, the 6 billion dollars in cash and incentives offered to T-mobile by the AT&T negotiating team as a consolation in case negotiations were not completed by September of 2012, shows a great deal of confidence on the part of AT&T to prevail. With an installed base of over 90 million users set to be combined with the roughly 40 million subscribers that T-mobile provides, the combined firm would offer economies of scale that would allow it to provide a stronger set of services and hardware to its over 40% market share.

From AT&T’s perspective, the move by the third largest mobile carrier, Sprint, to ask the Justice Department to intervene on anti-trust grounds, while annoying, was anticipated. The merger now moves into court, where it will be fast-tracked for a potential decision next year.
On the other side of the aisle, Justice Department lawyers held a press conference to explain their actions. Diminished competition in the marketplace was a primary concern in their viewpoint.

With AT&T and T-mobile competing in almost every large market in the United States, a merger would diminish the number of choices available to consumers and consolidate AT&T’s ability to control pricing and service levels. As 90% of US consumers subscribe to one of only four different companies already, the combination of the second and the fourth largest players is of dubious benefit to subscribers. In looking over the existing competitive landscape, Justice

Department lawyers also looked at the existing cultures of the two firms. T-mobile was portrayed as an aggressive competitor that innovates to gain market share while providing strong service for its customers. AT&T was shown to be somewhat reactive in rolling out new technologies, and was painted as being a company that doesn’t necessarily provide the same levels of customer satisfaction without competition.

The legal thread being followed here is that by allowing a company with a history of reaping benefits from the marketplace to become a behemoth without leading in either innovation, pricing, or customer service, is deleterious to American consumers.

On the consumer side of the merger, a few groups have sprung up online to help fight the proposed AT&T T-mobile deal. Some of the consumer advocates that belong to these groups are former AT&T customers that switched to T-mobile as a provider because of their dissatisfaction with AT&T’s service. It remains to be seen whether or not AT&T’s legal teams will attempt to tie those groups to Sprint or other competitors as they begin to come forward as witnesses.

September 2, 2011

His presence has been so significant that Apple products are often described as ‘Jobsian’, and his departure from the company not only marks the end of a very distinctive creative period, it also marks the end of an Apple brand based on Job’s own cult of personality.

Back in 2004 there were already rumors of his departure from the company after he took a long leave of absence for undisclosed medical issues. It would be some time before the world would know of his pancreatic cancer, but the mystery of his temporary leave alone was enough to drive down Apple’s stock dramatically, taking Nasdaq down with it.

Now that it is official, of course, there is a repeat of history. At the time of this writing, the stock has already lost 2% of its value and is continuing to drop, perhaps as a knee jerk reaction from shocked investors. After all, in the minds of many, Steve Jobs and Apple are synonyms.

Such is the legacy of Jobs that the outcry over the internet is that of ‘the end of an era’, and some simply don’t think Apple will be able to continue producing quality products without him. These are statements that somehow feel exaggerated and a product of the current emotionality left by the announcement. The reality is that Apple will go on, and it will continue to offer products that fall into the well established design philosophy and stylistic choices set forth by its founder; so now all eyes turn to the successor to the throne.

Tim Cook may not be a name that rings familiar to the average Apple user, but for the die-hard fans, it sounds like the next best thing to having Jobs himself at the CEO seat.

Indeed, Cook not only has over 30 years of experience in the industry, he has been Job’s right-hand man since the mid 90’s, when Apple turned back from certain catastrophe to an electronics powerhouse. To the insiders, much of this miraculous recovery is attributed to Tim Cook as much as Steve Jobs.

While Jobs brought the design and products, Cook brought all the business savvy and corporate practices that made Apple what it is. His decisions regarding inventory management versus the release of new models is highly regarded as one of the most efficient manufacturing theories of the technology business and a cornerstone to Apple’s profitability.

Does this mean that Apple will turn more towards the business and manufacturing ends? Not likely. While Cook has been the industrial and corporate half of the Apple leadership, Jobs’ legendary vision is not yet lost. Apple’s creative teams are all familiar with the Jobsian design ethos, and we can surely expect to see new products that look and feel as if they has been handed down from Job’s own drawing board.

August 25, 2011

The first and second quarter of 2011 has been a transitional period for each of the four major carriers within the United States. Verizon has positioned itself as the most popular carrier in the country, Sprint has been pushed nearly into the fourth place, and AT&T has made an offer to purchase the dwindling Sprint/T-Mobile infrastructure. All these factors may have contributed to Sprint’s decision to push for the a deal with Apple to house one of the most popular phones in the world in their stores.

The news of Sprint putting the iPhone 5 on their shelves by mid-October also comes as a boon to Apple fans around the world. After nearly an entire year of rumors, confirmation has finally been received that the iPhone 5 will be available to the masses by October at the latest. Original release dates have hovered around September, but through the first two quarters of 2011 this date has gone back and forth dramatically. Some manufacturers claimed a release date as early as April 2011 while others made a much more pessimistic guess of early 2012.

After Sprint recorded only 52 million subscribers, compared to 106 million for Verizon and nearly 99 million for AT&T, they needed something to keep them afloat through the holiday seasons. A huge dip in Sprint subscribers had many shareholders nervous about the future of their company. Sprint’s press release earlier this year claimed that they were in fact doing nothing wrong, but their competition was picking up speed. They went on to say that a major component of this puzzle was the fact that early 2011 was “the first full quarter both major competitors offered the iPhone.” Sprint decided to take a page from their competitions book and gave shareholders a sigh of relief.

Sprint has also announced that they will be carrying the iPhone 4 at a steeply reduced price as well as all the accessories for both phones. Some market analysts are saying that Sprint may have made the right move at the wrong time. With AT&T’s acquisition of T-Mobile imminent, both companies may use Sprint’s deal with Apple as a reason to finally seal the deal. Others argue that the merger was going to take place regardless of Sprint’s choice to carry the iPhone 5. Either way, Sprint was in desperate need of a change of scenery after their disastrous merger with Nextel that has haunted it for nearly ten years. With millions of iPhones hitting Sprint stores in October, it can be sure that these smartphones that hover around $650 dollars per unit will give Sprint time to rethink the market.

August 25, 2011

Apple is said to be developing a version of the iPhone 4 with reduced memory and less expensive materials. The idea is to create an iPhone on the cheap. Apple made a similar move with the roll out of the original iPhone 4, introducing an 8 gigabyte iPhone 3GS at a significantly reduced price at the same time.

What is different this go-around is that they appear to be working toward reducing the overall cost of the phone, allowing the company to offer the iPhone 4 on a pay-as-you-go basis. Overall, it appears Apple’s goal is to bring the iPhone to the masses with the added ability to purchase a less expensive model smartphone without being tied to a monthly contract and data plan.

Currently, the 16 gigabyte iPhone 4 is available for $199 with a 2-year contract from both Verizon and AT&T. The 32 gigabyte version will run you $299. As things stand right now, in order to purchase an unlocked iPhone and avoid contractual data fees you’ll need to shell out $649 or $749 depending on the amount memory you want.

What is the reason for the huge price difference? Wireless carriers are able to offer iPhones at reduced retail prices because they subsidize their costs through the monthly contract and data service plans.

By using cheaper materials and reduced memory, Apple will significantly reduce the cost of production. This will enable the company to offer the iPhone 4 at a much lower price out of the box without a contract.

Rumors abound that the cost of a new, contract-free iPhone 4 will likely be in the ballpark of $200 or less. It is believed this will be much more palatable than the nearly $700 for the current version. If Apple sticks to its past practices, a retooled iPhone 4 will likely also be available for around $49 with a contract, making it a viable option for consumers who have shied away from the $199 price tag.

A pay-as-you-go iPhone 4 also makes it possible for Apple to break into a more worldwide market, as countries such as Pakistan prepare to make the leap from 2G to 3G. Unlike the $49 iPhone 3GS, which is only available on the AT&T network, the cheaper iPhone 4 can be expected to be available with CDMA technology, making it compatible with Verizon’s network, significantly increasing Apple’s footprint.

August 24, 2011

Field Personnel

Employment Law Advisory Services (ELAS) has been taking calls from employers who have equipped their sales personnel with smartphones for business purposes, but whose productivity is falling. Rapid email, file sharing, financial information and a dozen other apps are at the disposal of such personnel for business purposes. These employees, however, are distracted by tweets and other social media notifications, so they check these, which takes time away from business. The twenty minutes that swapping emails used to take is now stretching into thirty to ninety minutes per day in lost business due to social media and surfing the web. ELAS has advised employers that reclaiming smartphones in favor of ordinary phones is no threat to employment contracts.

Field Personnel

Farm work is suffering from smartphone use, as well. Agriculture can benefit, too, from smartphone use, in terms of recording productivity, yield, plant and harvest dates, meetings at the co-op, and so on. However, some farmers have begun to note that their field personnel are texting when they should be working, and are wondering how to eliminate the problem. Agriculturists are finding that texting suppliers, growers, other employees and business contacts only during breaks of a certain time limit are allowing their employees to become more productive.

Advertisements

Whether people watch TV or videos online, advertising is going to interrupt their viewing. Studies by video ad tech in combination with media lab companies show that among people who watch television, most all checked out their smartphone when ads came on. Among those watching videos online, the distraction posed by the ads themselves kept people from paying attention. This would seem to indicate that a strong case for mobile advertising could be made, since smartphones distract people from watching ads on TV or online. If people ignore those, they also seem to pay more attention to ads on their smartphones.

Smartphones are used by around 26% of Americans. Other phones may have Internet access, but the apps used for business, school, research and the like cannot be accessed. While such a small percentage of the populace is using the ultimate distraction, still other work is getting done, even if it is tweeted or shown on other social media using a tracking app like Foursquare. Users will go to these places, if only to check it out, because they saw it on their smartphone. Such a distraction can work for the good.

August 18, 2011

Japanese tech source Kodawarsian revealed that Apple’s upcoming September 7th news conference could possibly ring in the bell for an epoch-shaking iPhone 5. If this happens, Apple will certainly be on its way to reach the third of the 300 million United States smartphone users who had expressed desires for the iPhone 5.

Second quarter, this year, Apple ruled the roost by knocking off Samsung and Nokia as number one in the global smartphone manufacturer market. Apple already lays claim to an estimated 50 million iPhone users – and 35 million iPod users. Samsung, with Google’s Android operating system, moved to second position, Nokia got third, and Blackberry RIM fell to fourth.

But this could be a mere castling move for Google. Its castling rook is large and firm and spreads over the many market users with the Android open face operating system – open to the extent that Google is pleased with the mechanics. Android can now claim “50% market share across 35 countries across the Globe.” Others, world over, are allowed to build apps on the Android system without paying into a proprietary system, as required under Apple.

Power mover Microsoft had already castled months ago, tying up, for sure, Nokia with its forthcoming mobile Windows 7. But Microsoft has always been hovering over and above the Apple compound. The Windows operating system will continue to gauge more computer desktops and laptops than Steve Jobs will ever sweep. But that’s about the domain of desktops and laptops, a little beyond the concern here.

The concern is the future on the wall, mobile wireless OS technology. Indeed, Microsoft helped Apple — along with an entire consortium including RIM, Sony, Intel, AT&T and Verizon — castle its King as they both moved swiftly down the board across the moat and kept Google from buying bankrupted Nortel’s 6,000 wireless technology patents.

Google’s move, as Apple’s, is a defensive move, one would be led to believe. It places some 17,000 patents in wireless phone technology on Google’s side when the real wars begin.

Through Google, Android already has all the features Jobs expects to introduce in Apple iCloud OS combined with and now, seamlessly, supposedly, integrating the Pad and Phone September 7th. Google is certainly not going to lose Samsung and the others making up its 50 percent share in mobile OS technology. Apple has 18 percent.

Now, with the hardware platform it now has in Motorola, Emperor Google, in a smart move, will certainly fashion a new business model in new clothes.

August 17, 2011

August 15, 2011

Recent articles have given Google the edge of the smartphone wars in a certain way. An edifying view has come from Forbes writer Timothy Lee. His sketch draws a relationship of Apple to Google that was similar to Apple and Microsoft during the early years of the desktop revolution. Apple had prioritized its operating system and its components, software and hardware, whereas Microsoft had merely licensed Windows to quickly move — albeit more quickly than others — into different areas of software development.

And so it is with Google. Google develops and opens up part of the Android, the smartphone operating system. The company licenses the use of Android to platform builders and manufacturers, allowing them to create different flavors of Android while freeing developers across the world to make different software and apps, to boot.

This is what Microsoft did with Windows. While Apple with the Mac maintained a niche market, Windows became an every-person’s operating system. Lee places Apple’s iPhone at the lower end of the funnel, while Google’s Android counts bucks on the wide end, essentially leaving software development to others.

Yet the iPhone maintains the most apt and most desirable user interface, and it is undeniable that Apple makes lots of money at that luxury end. PC Mag observer Kit Eaton notes the iPhone will probably take over Australia, but he wisely acknowledges that 70 percent of the world’s smartphone market, while not yet significantly developed, will be up for grabs.

For Google, it began last year. By fourth quarter, the Android had removed Nokia’s Symbian operating system from first place in the smartphone market. First quarter, this year, Google went on to overtake Research In Motion BlackBerry, coupling first place with 34.7 percent of the market. Research In Motion took second place with 27.1 percent. Apple had third place with 25.5 percent, followed by Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard Palm. The Android platform allowed Samsung to hold on to 25 percent of the market as handset maker.

The world has yet shown its penchant for the high-end smartphone. It stands to be seen that Apple’s supposed de-fanged to mid-range “Lite” model of the iPhone will really make any sense of brand noise or promise outside its niche.

In June, Oracle sued Google over the use of Java in smartphones. In July, Google, preparing for battle, buys over a thousand relevant patents from IBM. Research In Motion lays off 2,000. Android adds 500,000 customers a day. It is possible to see Google going back to court; Apple going back to court; haranguing as these two are prone to do over time-consuming, billion-dollar-dropping ploys of patent warfare while Europe, China, India and Africa become customized by… Androids?

August 8, 2011

Blackberry Bold 9900
Interested buyers can look forward to the Bold 9900 hitting the shelves on August 31. Users who opt for the Bold 9900 get a $50 mail-in rebate when they buy a $20 per month data plan. The Bold 9900 packs everything you’d expect in a Blackberry into one compact device. With a powerful 1.2 GHz processor, 768 MB of RAM, a 2.8-inch capacitive display, full QWERTY keyboard and trackpad, there’s not much that they left out on this particular model. Featuring near field communication (NFC) technology as well as a host of other new features, it’s one of the most anticipated smart phones of the summer.

Blackberry Torch 9860
The latest Torch is arguably the most Android-like phone in RIM’s lineup. It even looks like an HTC or Samsung model to some degree. Featuring a handsome 3.7-inch capacitive touch screen, a robust 1.2 GHz processor, and native 720p resolution, the 9860 could become the most popular new Blackberry model of the year. Navigating the new Blackberry 7 OS on this Torch is a dream, and arguably rivals or exceeds the experience one would expect from iOS or Android. Despite the lack of Flash support, it’s a superb web-browsing machine that can handle anything you throw at it.

BlackBerry Curve 9360 a.k.a. Curve Touch
The successor to the Curve 9300, the Curve Touch aims to rectify the little issues that made RIM’s last stab at an entry-level Blackberry less than a stellar success. The Curve 9300′s trackpad was just one of the major issues users had with the old model, so the Curve Touch will feature a virtual keyboard instead. Details are murky at present, but the Curve is rumored to have an 800 MHz or faster CPU, a 3.25-inch screen, and a 5-megapixel camera. RIM left the Curve out of their early August announcement, so we’ll probably be seeing it later this fall.

Will RIM Rise Again?
Despite recent setbacks and hiccups, Blackberry continues to be extremely popular with professionals and corporate clients in the Enterprise sphere. They even got an endorsement from none other than GOP presidential hopeful Ron Paul a few weeks back. So at least we know that prominent congressmen are still fans of RIM. The upcoming models will hopefully stem the tide of Blackberry defectors somewhat and could even lure a few users back from the Android and iOS folds. Only time will tell how well these new RIM devices are received by the general public. But for now, Blackberry’s near-term future is looking pretty bright.

August 4, 2011

There are also lots of rumors about what the new technologies and capabilities will be. Below is a list of some of the suspected new features of the iPhone 5.

IOS 5

On the iTunes site, there is a list of the features in the new IOS 5. One change is the consolidated alert center. The lock screen will display all notifications, whether email or text in a list that the user can swipe up or down to see. There will also be a Notification Center that will list all notifications. A new messaging service, similar to the instant messenger found on Blackberry’s, is another new feature. This messenger will be included in the Messages application and have the ability photo, text and video capabilities. Lastly, with IOS 5, users will no longer need a computer to sync their device with. IOS 5 will have the ability to update wirelessly, download system updates and edit apps without plugging in to a computer. This means users will be able to own an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch without owning a computer as well.

Face Recognition

Although it sounds like something from a science fiction movie, the iPhone 5 is suspected to have face recognition technology. Once configured to recognize the iPhone owner’s face, no one else will be able to use it. If the iPhone is stolen, the thief cannot use the phone or any of its features.

Longer Battery Life

Anyone who uses an iPhone for more than just a phone will be excited to hear that the iPhone 5 is suspected to have a longer battery life. Supposedly, the batteries will be able to handle up to 14 hours of talk time using a 3g network and 7 hours of talk time using a 4g network.

Shatter Resistant Screen

A shatter resistant screen is something that iPhone users have been wanting since it first came out. Anyone who has ever dropped their phone without putting a super strong case on it, has then had to replace the screen. The shatter resistant screen will make the iPhone 5 a little tougher and enable users to carry it without worry.

Of course, Apple is keeping some of the new enhancements as well as the exact date for release a pretty guarded secret. As October nears, however, more and more rumors are circulating, and more and more excitement for the new iPhone 5 is building. We shall see what the outcome is. Only time will tell.

August 1, 2011

While shortly after its beta release, the number of visitors was projected to outpace even Facebook, after having tremendous growth since its release, Google+ has begun to drop in numbers. Originally, it had gone beyond its expected projections for traffic, but numbers have since dropped by about 3%.

The decrease was not limited to simply the amount of people who visit the site, but also the amount of time visitors actually spent on the site, which has also decreased, by about 10%, in the past month.

There has been a lot of interesting talk as to why these numbers have begun to go down. Part of the reason is probably because in the beta version members can only join through invitation. Many people have complained that they only have a few friends who use the service, because it is not something that just anyone can simply create an account on. It also seems to have certain age restrictions, so even if someone is invited, it does not mean that they will be able to log into their account.

It seems that many people will find it has a slightly more complicated interface when compared to Facebook. This will lead many people who are not so internet savvy to stay away from it, as they are already comfortable with using an already established site such as Facebook. On the new Google+ site, users are able to organize their friends into different circles, so that only certain information will be released only to certain people. This makes it easier to have privacy, as certain information that is put on a person’s page is available to only those within their circle.

Although it is invite only, once an individual is a part of a circle they have full access to what is going on within the circle. This feature makes the site more complicated for individuals to use, though, as they will have to learn how it works, and many people simply aren’t interested in taking the time to learn how to use them.

Another reason for the decrease might be because the creators pulled out the ability to create business profiles. Although they subsequently allowed businesses to create ‘entity profiles’, they weren’t prepared for the sudden surge of businesses that wanted to create their own. As they work on perfecting the personal profile interface, they will undoubtedly work to advance the business profiles as well.

The media hype of the website’s grand opening has died down as well. With less coverage, less people will be attracted to creating a profile. Once the site is completed, increased media coverage might bolster traffic once more.

As the website is still beta testing, many believe that numbers will go up once the creators are finished working out the details. Once Google+ is completed and opens itself to the public, traffic may increase once more.

July 29, 2011

Google does not consider their new service as a social networking site, though. Instead, they prefer the term “social experiment.” But in just the few weeks since the launch of Google+, it is becoming clearer that this experiment is certainly yielding positive results.

Google+ launched on June 28th, 2011 and though the service is currently only allowing new registration by invite only, it reached the ten million user mark only two weeks after it was introduced. According to an Experian Hitwise report, Google+ is averaging about 1.8 million visits a week and has seen an 800% increase in usage in the short time it has been available. While Google+ is a competitor for Facebook, it is interesting to note that one of the most added users on Google’s social networking platform is actually Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Facebook.

Many factors account for the sudden popularity of the service, but it is most likely due to the presence that Google already has on the web. Because Google+ syncs with the services a Google user already has, such as Gmail, Picasa and Blogger, users who already have these services can seamlessly access their contacts, photos and other information.

Another subject that is making Google+ attractive to social networking users is the fact that they do not make any attempts to claim ownership of the content which users post to the site. Currently, Facebook’s user agreement has a clause which gives them copyright ownership of any pictures, video and text on their site. This means that your photos from your Facebook account can be sold to a stock photo company and there is nothing you can do about it. While there have not been any reports of Facebook actually going through with these intentions, Myspace users have had problems in the past of discovering their profile photos being sold to other web sites.

However, Google+ allows users to retain all ownership of any content submitted to the site in their terms of service. In the user agreement for Google+, users only have to acknowledge that Google will allow others to see the content and that it may be accessible by other users of the service. Considering the fact that anyone who shares content on Google+ is likely doing it to have the content seen by friends and family on the site, it is not hard to agree to those terms. Also, this relaxed agreement makes Google+ a much more appealing alternative to creative people.

With the following Google+ has gained, don’t be surprised if/when Facebook becomes a thing of the past, just like Myspace.

July 26, 2011

July 21, 2011

Before hacking the Fox News political page the ScriptKiddies went on to brag about their hacking success on various outlets (including several Twitter accounts that are now suspended). These brags were even found on the Fox News politics page where the company’s logo was replaced by the SK logo and tweets were posted reading:

*foxnewspolitics – @AnonymousIRC TheScriptKiddies would love to assist with #antisec in anyway you need assistance.

*foxnewspolitics – Fox News politics hacked by the scrip tkiddies! Twitter.com/#!/thescriptki… more embarrasement for FoxNews is imitate.

The postings by the hackers started out fairly harmless before taking an ugly turn to tweets revealing:

*foxnewspolitics -BREAKING NEWS: President @BarackObama assassinated, 2 gunshot wounds have proved too much. It’s a sad 4th for #america. #obamadead RIP.

*foxnewspolitics – #ObamaDead, it’s a sad 4^th of July. RT to support the late president’s family, and RIP. The shooter will be found.

This hacking follows a stream of hackings that occurred within the past few weeks largely involving infamous hacking group LulzSec. Some speculations suggest that ScriptKiddies may be in association with the recently dismantled group.

It appears that the Fox News politics did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding this story. The more than 34,000 followers of the Fox News politics page questioned how their timelines were invaded with such false and grotesque news and wondered could the outlet continue to be trusted.

It became even more obvious to many of the page’s followers that the tweets had likely been a result of a page hack after other major news broadcasters failed to report the groundbreaking story.  Following detection that they had indeed been the victim’s of a page hacking, Fox News posted a statement on their website describing the posted tweets as malicious. According to the vice president and general manager of Fox News Digital, Jeff Misenti “We will be requesting a detailed investigation from Twitter about how this occurred, and measures to prevent future unauthorized access into FoxNews.com accounts.”

Since the recent hacking, the @foxnewspolitics account has been removed from Twitter. This just begs the question, what measures will be taken to ensure that hacks like these don’t happen in the future? If the FBI and other government agencies can be hacked and now even our news sources are no longer safe, who or what is? We hope that these hackers can begin to use their abilities for good. If not, there may be a lot of trouble ahead of us, America. Let’s hope this is will bring about the end and not the beginning.

July 5, 2011

Circles

The first level of Google+ social media tools lies in Circles, a tool within Google+ for group management. We travel in different circles, explains Gundotra, and depending on where we are, we might share different pieces of information with different people. Compared to other group management tools, notably Facebook’s, Circles feels fluid and easy, with immediate drag-and-drop functionality to arrange people by category. Links can easily be shared with each category through a new black bar at the top of all of Google’s pages. Currently the bar contains standard Google content, but Google+ will be the search giant’s anchor for social activity.

Sparks

The Sparks feature allows you to look for media related to your interests in a more effortless, fluid way than standard search. It will allow users to connect with media providers directly through connection to Android mobile connections. For instance, if a user takes a picture on his or her phone, it can be immediately uploaded to Sparks for anyone to see, comment on and connect with.

Huddle & Hangouts

These new features are interesting group communication tools for connecting with multiple people at once online. Huddle is a traditional group messaging app, while Hangouts allows for group streaming video chat. The programming behind Hangouts is amazing, acting almost like a video editor to focus the images on users’ cameras on whoever happens to be talking. It allows users to “hang out,” watch online video content and chat, almost as if everyone were spending time together in person.

Google +1 Button

Akin to the Facebook “Like” button rolled out all over the Web, the +1 button plays a small role in Google+, allowing users to share their likes and dislikes with friends and the world. It is by no means a new feature in the world of possible features, but it adds to the overall. A +1 link will be listed next to every organic search term and Adwords advertisement. Enough +1 clicks will bump up the site’s popularity in organic search listings, providing an incentive for developers to place +1 buttons on their sites.

Ultimately, Google+ represents an attempt to capture a niche market of social media that the other sites haven’t quite gotten right – online sharing of non-personal content. Only time will tell whether this attempt will catch on as a natural part of the online experience or whether it will flop like Google’s other social media tools. Analysts have already predicted this to be the most promising of Google’s social attempts thus far, and everyone is eager to see where it goes.

July 1, 2011

The group officially retired on June 25, 2011, citing personal reasons, and that the group was not permanently dedicated to the LulzSec identity. LulzSec encouraged followers and admirers to continue their attacks as part of the anti-government or “Anti-Sec” movement. The group is one of the most infamous anti-government groups in modern times. LulzSec disabled or leaked data from multiple sensitive entities, including the Central Intelligence Agency and the United States Senate, in addition to multiple corporations like Sony and Nintendo.

LulzSec devolved over the course of its existence into a group that hacked for fun. LulzSec even created a hotline for people to suggest targets. Observers have speculated that the group disbanded due to fears of being exposed and arrested. Towards the end of its hacking spree, the group leaked sensitive data related to Arizona law enforcement. The group published private intelligence briefings, training manuals, email correspondence of a personal nature, address, phone numbers and names of Arizona law enforcement officers. The stated reason? LulzSec opposed Arizona’s tough immigration laws and decried Arizona as a “police state.”

The underground hacking community is difficult to grasp fully. In the early days of LulzSec’s existence, rumors abounded that the group split off from the hacking collective known as Anonymous. LulzSec quickly proved itself to be an expert at hiding the tracks of its members. The group has now officially “retired,” even though members seem to have merely continued their activities through other venues. LulzSec proved that information security was not air-tight. Professionals in this industry have to re-evaluate risk management.

It is critical to protect sensitive information from successful hacking attempts. Merely releasing sensitive data exposes law enforcement, government officials and entire industries and countries to attack and defamation. Hacking groups like LulzSec and Anonymous ultimately do pose a threat, but the bigger threat comes from hostile cyberwarfare attempts. LulzSec was akin to a bunch of adolescents carrying out petty vandalism and theft rather than posing a threat to national security. Releasing sensitive data is not the same thing as a sophisticated, widespread distributed denial-of-service attack.

Nevertheless, the next generation of security professionals will have to deal with new hacking threats. In a world of nuclear weaponry and hostile foreign countries, releasing sensitive information could be fatal on a large scale. LulzSec is the latest incarnation of what may be called juvenile anarchism and must be taken seriously.

June 28, 2011

The initial court case against Facebook and the CEO Marc Zuckerburg began when Facebook became a popular social networking website. The Winklevoss twins, who were former classmates of Zuckerburg, claimed that the idea for Facebook was stolen from them.

The case persisted until 2008, when the Winklevoss twins and Facebook agreed to work out a settlement.

In 2008, the Winklevoss twins were awarded with a $65 million settlement. The settlement provided $20 million in cash and $45 million in private company stock. At the time of the settlement, Facebook was valued at approximately $15 billion.

After receiving the settlement amount, the Winklevoss twins appealed the settlement on the basis that some information regarding Facebook was not disclosed that would have added almost double the value to their settlement until after the twins signed the paperwork and the settlement was completed. As a result, the twins were disappointed with their settlement amount and felt that it should have been more. The Winklevoss twins and their lawyer opened a new case to appeal the original $65 million settlement, feeling that they were given false information and made a poor decision as a result.

The case pushed forward through the appeals courts until it reached the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The court ruled that the settlement would remain intact at $65 million and that the twins would not receive more.

While Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss seemed likely to continue their appeal, taking the case to the Supreme Court, their lawyer filed a brief to the court saying that the twins would not continue their case against Facebook.

Facebook representatives issued a statement that the company already considered the case closed and that they were happy to see the Winklevoss twins reach the same conclusion.

Facebook considered the case completed upon the completion of the original settlement, so the company is glad that the twins have dropped the case and do not wish to pursue their charges further.

In the end, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss were awarded $65 million worth of money and company stocks. The estimated value of the original $45 million in stocks has now risen to more than $100 million dollars.

As the value of Facebook continues to grow beyond $70 billion, their stock should increase more, raising the value of the settlement higher as a result. Though the settlement supposedly stopped at $65 million from a $15 billion company, the addition of stock to the company leaves endless potential for further gains.

Furthermore, the court cases have led to the production of a movie, “The Social Network.” The movie based on the Winklevoss twin’s claims was Oscar nominated and showcases the interesting story behind the former Harvard students.

June 27, 2011

It is being reported by the Financial Times (and other reliable sources) that, as early as this summer, Twitter will take yet another stab at including advertisements in user’s timelines. These ads will not be just anywhere on your timelime, however. It is very likely that these paid-for ads will pop up in the middle of your Twitter stream.

Imagine that. Scrolling down your timeline fully amused reading about thoughts, opinions and other ramblings only to have your joy stolen by an ad amidst the goodness promoting auto insurance. Thanks, but not so much. Twitter has tried this before and it didn’t go so well for them. It happened with the Quickbar 1 (I just named it that). Those of you with iPhone’s may know about the Quickbar 1 all too well. Quickbar 1 was a “feature” that floated at the top of Twitter timelines displaying a host of rotating trends, especially those paid for by sponsors. It wasn’t before long that Quickbar 1 adopted the nickname Dickbar named after Twitter CEO Dick Costolo who was in charge of making Twitter profitable.

Users despised the Dickbar, to say the very least. It was intrusive, off-putting and was demanded to be eliminated.  This single mishap-of-a-feature caused iPhone Twitter users to lose pleasure in (and in some cases even resent) the tweeting experience. One would think that by now the point would’ve been made: Ads are unwelcome here!

We get it. Twitter, like every other social network, must make money in order to survive. Is there any way for this to be done minus the sucky intrusive factor? There must be! The middle of a timeline simply does NOT seem to be the appropriate place. Take a page out of another playbook, why don’t ya? Try Google for instance, Google makes great money (I’m sure) from ad sales without imposing on Google users. The ads are strategically placed on the side of at the top of a search where they can be easily ignored at the user’s choice. Google had sense enough NOT to throw an ad in the middle of the search results as they probably concluded (rightfully so) that it would be frowned upon. Placement, Twitter, it all boils down to placement.

It seems that Twitter has their faith set on the idea that this new and improved Quickbar 2 will be much less intrusive on the web. How? No one knows but apparently they have this under control.

Take it from me, Twitter, users raged against the Quickbar once and we are not afraid to do it again. In fact, we are ready and waiting for the chance. Note: Just keep the ads out of my Twitter stream and no one gets hurt.

June 24, 2011

June 23, 2011

Well, believe it or not (and I may be speaking too soon but I’m just going by the numbers here) Facebook is starting to experience its first sign of decline in the United States. Now, knowing Facebook, these newly released numbers are likely not moving them in the least. I just imagine them to be a little cocky like that. I am concerned, that perhaps  ol’ Myspace (or My_____—whichever is clever) felt the same way when their declining numbers were first revealed to them and we all see how that one turned out—ouch.

Maybe these new Facebook numbers aren’t any cause for alarm. Maybe they are just a matter of fact for now and the tide will soon turn back in Facebook’s favor. My only (and very valid) point is that every social network has had its day (doomsday, that is) and I’m banking on Facebook to be no different.

Ok, you look at the current number of Facebook users, you notice that there are nearly 700 million of them and you believe that this still sounds very much like a thriving company to you. However, according to Inside Facebook, the site only hit 687 million monthly users in June and this rate has been slower than normal in the past couple of months.

Of all of the world’s Facebook users, the U.S. accounted for about 155.2 million at the beginning of May but fell a whopping 6 million to 149.4 million users at the end of May. This is the first drop seen in American Facebook users in the last year. Inside Facebook reports that once 50% of a country’s population is on Facebook growth just kind or stops (and in this case, drops).

Just a few simple questions: why is this happening? 6 million in a month’s time seems quite significant, if you ask me. Were all 6 million of those people just “over it” around the same time? Was this some sort of coalition, or some petition that I had no idea about? What did Facebook do (or not do) to cause such a vast and abrupt decline? Has the company run its course in the US? Could it be?

I wonder if the execs over at Facebook are scratching their heads at all about this one as well. Did they have a meeting this morning to forewarn the staff to prepare for the worse? Am I overreacting here? Maybe I am, but if history has been any indication, social networks are fads that eventually phase out. Facebook’s phase may be slowly coming to an end, is all I’m saying. So, that being said, who’s got next?

June 14, 2011

The prescription is reasonably priced at $8 per month, $60 per year and $100 for two years. This makes this service just about as affordable as Netflix. For that price, I’m fairly certain that many people will be signing up to see those articles—not just the nude shots of buxom blondes and brunettes. If you desire to take a stroll down memory lane, this is a great way to do it. The subscription entitles you to view current issues as well, meaning that you will never have to buy an actual Playboy magazine ever. No more hiding them from loved ones or having to covertly grab one at the magazine stand. You can get your kicks from the comfort of wherever your iPad is. Playboy has officially gone digital and I think the world is totally ready for. People that have yet to purchase an iPad will definitely have more motivation now. Whoever came up with this idea is a genius.

There is just one big question that is gnawing away at me: How will Playboy make sure that minors don’t have access to pornographic heaven? I looked at the subscription page where you create an account and it seems like Playboy is depending on Scout’s honor. The page only asks new subscribers to check a box if they are 18 years of age or older and agree to the terms and conditions policy. We all know how well that has been working out for Facebook, whose executives struggle to keep ten year olds off the social network. Children are increasingly more in tune with the latest technology and are light years ahead of their parents. What’s to stop a teenager with credit card access from subscribing, with or without their parent’s knowledge? With all the legal battles and public scrutiny that Playboy has dealt with in the past, I bet they have their ducks in a row on this matter.

Companies like Facebook and Playboy Enterprises have to make it harder for the younger generation to gain access before things get out of hand. Overall, I admire Playboy for taking this step forward. It is yet another sign that the era of the paper book, newspaper and magazine is coming to a screeching halt.

May 19, 2011

The Winklevoss twins want to petition the U.S. Supreme Court to force the appeals court to reopen their settlement. The issue of contention is whether Facebook devalued their stock to avoid paying out as much to the twins who believe that they are owed more based on this alleged illegal activity. The 29-year old Harvard graduates are represented by Howard Rice, the San Francisco based law firm that specializes in a wide variety of practice areas and industries.

I don’t know about you but if someone awarded me millions of dollars after a tedious legal battle, I don’t know how motivated I would be to go after more through the legal system. I feel like I would take my money and go and relax on an island somewhere and sip on a fruity drink with an umbrella and fruit wedge at the top. I can only imagine that I would at least be somewhat content with my settlement and move on to inventing the social networking site that would crush Facebook and put them in a position of utter obscurity. But alas, that may be an impossible feat.

Why do these twins have the audacity to think that the Supreme Court has time for these shenanigans? I would rather see the Supreme Court, which my tax dollars support, allot their time and effort to review cases that actually matter. There are several other pressing matters in this country, like…..say privacy, immigration and religious freedom. I sincerely hope that this matter doesn’t reach the highest court in the land. Actually, on second thought, I hope that it does so that these guys can learn a lesson in humility. I’m sure that whatever legal fees they incur in this venture will teach them to take the money and run next time.

But who am I to judge? These guys are probably only doing what they were taught to do from birth all the way through their Ivy League education. They were most likely taught to fight for what they believe in, never give up or take no for an answer. These life tips are what children are raised hearing—so can you blame them for trying? But if this effort is out of pure greed then I have no sympathy for them. If indeed Facebook suckered them out of millions by participating in fraudulent acts, then I hope the twins get the pay day I’m sure they dream of each night.

May 17, 2011

My switch to Droid created a division that I, honestly, had not quite anticipated. Yes, I figured my BlackBerry loyalist would have their comments, but I never expected my iPhone comrades to act as they did. In short, they were outraged and some even went as far as to question my intelligence. My defense was, and still remains, that in a side by side competition the Android, from screen, to memory, to features, won—hands down.

Those who did not believe that my Droid was a winner were immediately referred to Google. The proof offered by Google did not suffice. The backlash continued. “You just wait until the iPhone 5!” they ranted. “I’m sure you’ll regret your decision then.” I doubted this cause for potential regret then and let’s just say my doubt has grown insurmountably now. Why, you wonder? Well, because there may not be an iPhone 5 at all (insert Dracula laugh here)!

Rumors surfaced today that revealing that what everyone was anticipating to be an iPhone 5 may simply be the iPhone 4S. I wish you could see the victorious smirk on my face. Jefferies analyst Peter Misek just released a note regarding the next-generation iPhone and according to Business Insider, the report claims that the device will “include minor cosmetic changes, better cameras, A5 dual-core processor, and HSPA+ support.”

If the speculations are true, the iPhone 4S will be available on Sprint, T-Mobile and China Mobile and will only be a slight upgrade from the iPhone 4. But wait, here’s the real kicker: the 4S will NOT support 4G connections. Wow. If high speed is what you want you’ll just have to go ahead and settle for HSPA+ connectivity. Misek has stated that there won’t be any LTE support for the iPhone yet, because the anticipated LTE chipset from Qualcomm “is currently not achieving yields sufficient for inclusion” in the next iPhone.

Well, Apple, I can’t thank you enough for helping me silence the naysayers. I almost started to bite my nails in nervousness with all these rumors circulating about the coolness that was speculated to be the iPhone 5. To know that the new device will just be mere tweaks here and there really brightens up a Monday.

Now, if you would pardon me, I have an Android to tend to.

May 17, 2011

This saddens me—and many others, I’m sure. For so long, LimeWire served as my music life-line. Not to be dramatic or anything, but LimeWire may have single-handedly opened my world up to sights unseen. Before LimeWire my musical repertoire was limited…to say the very least. I only knew what played on the radio, thousands of times, and I may have found something new, every now and then, from the music video channels. That’s about as vast as my musical knowledge went; then came LimeWire. This company exposed me to more than I knew existed. It expanded me all its own and for this, I am forever indebted. There were countless hours spent downloading utter randomness that I later grew to love and cherish. Mozella (ever heard of her?), is one of my favorite artist to date and had it not been for LimeWire I may have never had the pleasure.

Yes, I get it, they broke the law and ultimately cost record labels and artists millions of dollars (probably somewhere upward $150 million) but aren’t we neglecting to see the good here? LimeWire changed the way we exchange information today. This platform was brilliant. But no, they do not acknowledge the brilliance; all they can see is theft! Talk about shortsighted.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) Chairman, Mitch Bainwol, says that they are pleased with the settlement. Uhh…ya think?! He goes on to say that “The resolution of this case is another milestone in the continuing evolution of online music to a legitimate marketplace that appropriately rewards creators.” Yea, yea, I guess.

I’m sure that Mark Gorton, LimeWire founder, is just glad this whole thing is over. This has been a battle that has been ongoing since August 2006. Though the outcome isn’t the best, one can imagine that it could have ended up so much worse. In response to the whole debacle, Gorton responds “I was wrong. I didn’t think our behavior was inducing [copyright infringement]. I understand that a court has found otherwise.”

He was only trying to help. I truly doubt that Gorton’s intention, when allowing for the sharing of music, was to undermine the higher-ups. This was all about catering to the underdog, for once, and we greatly appreciated it.

Now that LimeWire is gone and the debt is to be paid I’m wondering what’s next. I’d be lying to say that I’m not actively looking for my next music downloading fix, at all times. If you know of any other free music-lover sites that will capture my heart like LimeWire once did, don’t hold on out me. Please, share.

May 13, 2011

To escape capture while still having great influence over Al-Qaeda, Osama used a system that involved significant trust in one or more couriers. To send information to his terrorist underlings, bin Laden would compose messages on a computer without an internet connection. He would then save the message on a flash USB flash drive. His trusted courier would then go to a spot with internet access, let’s say the Pakistani version of McDonalds or Starbucks, and use their free Wi-Fi. Using the message on the flash drive, the couriers would send an email to up to a hundred or so Al-Qaeda members.

The raid on the compound with no telephone or internet access revealed a lot about the thoughts of bin Laden because of all the files that were retrieved. Several flash drives were collected by the Navy SEALs, which the U.S. government is now translating and dissecting. The measure of bin Laden’s communications with Al-Qaeda was surprising given that they all went undetected. The intelligence community in Pakistan and the U.S. failed to figure out bin Laden’s communications strategy for several years. All I keep thinking about is how this was allowed to happen for so long.

It is inconceivable to me that it took this long to become suspicious about a million dollar mansion with no internet or telephone service. A house where residents burned their trash and were completely secluded from the rest of the neighborhood with a barb-wired wall should have been a red flag long before information was given about a possible courier from a Guantanamo Bay detainee. Even with the capture and death of the most wanted man in the world, there has to be some level of embarrassment in the U.S. intelligence community due to the simplicity of the clues.

In light of the Taliban’s recent terrorist attack on Pakistani citizens in which eighty people were killed, I can only wonder what will be next. The Taliban is claiming that the double suicide bombing was done in retaliation to the slaying of bin Laden. The notion is that the Pakistani government is responsible for failing to thwart the raid that lead to Osama’s death. The Taliban is only linked to Al-Qaeda–imagine what Al-Qaeda is cooking up. The United States and other countries have to step up their game.

May 13, 2011

This debacle came about when blogger, Chris Soghoian, was to be helped by a rep from the firm to write a piece on Google’s services. The rep was even so kind as to offer to help to write the piece. Soghoian declined the offer and opted, instead, to publish some of the emails from the firm. This is when things got a fishy.

In one of the emails, the Burson rep states “Google, as you know, has a well-known history of infringing on the privacy rights of America’s Internet users. Not a year has gone by since the founding of the company where it has not been the focus of front-page news detailing its zealous approach to gathering information – in many cases private and identifiable information — about online users.” The email goes on to refer to Google service as the “latest tool designed to scrape private data and build deeply personal dossiers on millions of users – in a direct and flagrant violation of its agreement with the FTC.”

When questioned about who was paying for this campaign, the Burson rep would not name their client. It was later that a Facebook rep confirmed to Dan Lyon of The Daily Beast that Burson was hired “First, because it believes Google is doing some things in social networking that raise privacy concerns; second, and perhaps more important, because Facebook resents Google’s attempts to use Facebook data in its own social-networking service.”

If you’ve been following this blog, I recently mentioned how Google is well on its way to taking the social networking arena by storm with its +1. It’s also implementing Social Circle, a network of social connections that Google uses to deliver relevant search results. In this same blog post, I offered a fair warning to Facebook and other social networks to take heed as they were well on their way to being weeded out. Well, it appears that Facebook took my warning to heart because they immediately sprung into action.

Listen, Facebook, my advice to take heeds simply meant to get creative and come up with something bigger and better. I certainly did not me sabotage (or try) and get caught. You went about this all wrong. This “plant a story” approach reveals so much about your insecurity, you have no idea. Afraid of a fair fight, are we?

Simply put, this just looks bad. You would have been much better off stating your concerns publicly, Facebook–this is no way to compete. Next time you’re scared, just say you’re scared and leave your bloggers at home.

May 12, 2011

The only problem with children doing this is that they are a vulnerable target. Child molesters and abductors prey on children over the internet more than ever with the help of social networks. Even the most sophisticated teenagers above 13 years of age are susceptible to the cunning lures of perverts. This is why Facebook has made it a priority to make it hard for children under the age of 13 to create and maintain an account. Facebook removes thousands of underage users on a daily basis.

While it is expected that parents monitor their child’s internet usage, it is unrealistic to believe that this alone will stop kids from gaining access. According to Consumer Reports’ newly released State of the Net Survey, Facebook has 7.5 million users that don’t meet their age requirement. More than 60% of these users were 10 years old or younger. In total, Facebook has 20 million users that are minors, or under the age of 18. Almost half of the minors using Facebook aren’t even teenagers yet. To get accounts, these kinds lie about their age and usually hide the fact that they use Facebook from their parents. Sadly, some parents are aware of their child’s Facebook usage and condone it. The ones that do usually fail to monitor and supervise them.

The survey also revealed that Facebook users under their age minimum rarely became Facebook friends with their parents. When parents are friends with their child on Facebook, they can monitor their child’s activities more easily. Privacy settings however can restrict parental access to what their child is doing. A disproportionate amount of parents request becoming friends with their children because many children have Facebook accounts that their parents aren’t aware of.

The issue at hand is that Facebook simply can’t enforce their user requirements. Even if they remove thousands of underage users every day, there is a new crop signing up at the same time. It is ridiculous to think that they will be able to weed out the 7.5 million underage users. Users will probably meet the age requirement by the time Facebook catches up with them. The fact that so many of the users are under the age of 10, really says a lot about the lack of parental control.

May 12, 2011

If you know anything about Google, you know that they are known to take an idea and run with it, far. What we know so far about the +1 is that it’s going to be the “like” button on steroids. This will bring a new social interacting aspect to Google’s platform.

I can just see it now. This button is going to single handedly change how search engine marketing works today. Likes will take the place of many internet marketing strategies to determine where a page ranks in search engine results. Many likes will almost be like popularity votes for your page. If we learned anything from high school we know that the more popular you are the higher in demand you are.

Business will create entire marketing platforms around gaining a +1. It is said that this service is coming fully equipped with its own suite of analytics similar to Google Analytics. You will soon know who +1’d you from, where and how.

The sharing aspect of +1 is what makes it a gem. Yes, Facebook is allowing “likes” to share what users are buying, reading, doing, etc but that’s just Facebook. Imagine when these practices are being implemented on Google. This reaches an unfathomably larger group of people.

Google putting its hand in the social pool will prove to be a venture worth watching. Not only are they adding +1, they are also looking to implement a service where all of your social accounts that use the same web address will be linked simultaneously and your searches can be customized using the information that is gathered from these accounts.

A Google spokesperson explained it like this:

“For example, if your Gmail account is greganderson32@gmail.com and there’s a Twitter account out there for @gregoryanderson32, we’ll make a guess that’s you and offer you the option to connect these accounts to improve your search results. As always, personalized results are only visible to you when you’re signed-in, and no one else is able to see them.”
Google has already added tweets to their search results and now this? Soon enough Google will find themselves as a one stop shop for all things social networking. I imagine that’s the goal here.

With use of +1 and the collaboration of all of your social networks to this centralized location, there will be no reason to go anywhere else.

Google’s new venture is not only a nudge social networks, but to businesses and marketing worldwide. Things are shaping up over there at Google, and its moving fast. It seems to me that your options are to get with this program or prepare to get lost.

May 11, 2011

After many rumors and presumably long negotiations, Microsoft has purchased Skype for the unimaginable price of $8.5 billion—it’s biggest deal ever. My question: was this a smart move? I’m trying to figure out what it is about Skype that makes them worth this much. I must be missing something here.

Maybe Microsoft knows something that I don’t know; clearly they do. What I know about Skype is that they are a cool VoIP service that is not yet profitable. Nothing about that seems $8.5 billion worthy. I’m going to have to imagine that there is some master plan behind this that is larger than any of us common-folk know.

What we know is limited to the news that Skype will be integrated into most Microsoft devices including Xbox and Kinect, Xbox Live, Lync, Outlook, and the Windows Phone, Microsoft will also support and develop Skype on non-Microsoft platforms. I’m no business mogul but I don’t see how any of this will compensate for the amount paid for the service.

Perhaps $8.5 billion is nothing to Microsoft. I imagine that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and his colleague, Charles Songhurst spearheaded this deal with a plan in mind that would make this venture worthwhile. Surely these people didn’t get to the positions they are in today as a result of poor planning.

From a spectating standpoint, I’m puzzled, to say the least. Yes, Skype had operating profits of $264 million and revenues totaling $850 million last year. The company also lost $6.9 million overall and carries a debt of $686 million. To pay $8.5 million for this is starting to seem even more ridiculous.

Microsoft is justifying the purchase saying that part of Skype’s appeal is in the user base of 663 million. 145 million of these users are monthly, 170 million are regular users and 8.8 million of these regular users are paying customers. Majority of Skype users, however, use Skype’s calling service for free. This is essentially what is making it difficult for the company to make money.

There seems to be one set of winners here and it doesn’t appear to be Microsoft. Skype investors, a group that includes Silver Lake, Andreessen Horowitz, Index Ventures and the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) Investment Board have definitely come out on top. Purchase a company for $2.75 billion in September 2009–sell in May 2011 for $8.5 million while experiencing a debt of $686 million; yep, I’d definitely say they won with this one.

Microsoft, I don’t want to speak too soon and say that you jumped in too deep but I think the proof is in the numbers. Unless you have a few major tricks up your sleeve, you may have just lost and lost big. Only time will tell…keep your fingers crossed.

May 10, 2011

After almost ten years at large following the attacks on the United States, Osama bin Laden was killed and later buried at sea. The whole world watched as the news broke about the tactical raid that will surely mark the Obama presidency and the historical relationship between the U.S. and the Muslim world. Osama bin Laden as well as some of his relatives and associates were killed in a raid performed by Navy SEAL Team Six. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) used information derived from Guantanamo Bay prisoner interrogations, surveillance and common sense to determine that bin Laden was using the Abbottabad mansion as a hideout.

“Counter Strike – Source” is a video game that was created as a spin-off series to the original “Counter Strike”.  “Counter Strike – Source” features attacks between counter-terrorists and terrorists. It is one of the many military inspired games that depict extreme violence. There are many proponents of these kinds of video games, judging from the billion dollar videogame industry.  There are however many people that oppose these kinds of games because of the violent images that are displayed, often to children.  Although there are age minimums for purchasing many of the violent games, children are still sometimes exposed to it.

After the announcement of Osama bin Laden’s death, many Americans rallied together outside the White House and at Ground Zero, where the World Trade Towers once stood. Citizens of the Unites States were filled with a lot of different emotions. Relatives of those who passed away on September 11, 2001and of those who passed or are currently serving in the military seemed to feel a sense of relief and victory.  Many people waved American flags and reflected on those who serve in the U.S. military.  I can’t say that I expected as much jubilation as I saw on the faces of people on my television.

What I absolutely did not expect is that less than a week after the raid that lead to bin Laden’s death, a developer would use his hideout as the backdrop for a video game. I didn’t realize how much these war games capitalized on current events to increase relevance and appeal. Maybe another developer will release a level where we see bin Laden’s body thrown in a watery grave. That’s not an image that I will be lining up to see.

May 10, 2011

Don’t get me wrong—I’m semi happy for Apple. After all, I am a Mac user. I’m just dreading the backlash by these iPhone using friends of mine who I had so obnoxiously convinced that “if you aren’t Google, you’re nothing at all.” I’m hoping my friends never get a whiff of this story.

A study was recently conducted by global research agency, Millward Brown, which concluded that Apple has surpassed Google to become the most valuable consumer-facing brand in the world. How did this happen? The iPad and the iPhone 4, that’s how. These devices alone caused for an 84% jump in brand value to a whopping $153.3 billion. Google: a measly $111.5 billion; having experienced a 2% brand decline.

According to Peter Walshe, global brands director of Millward Brown, “Apple’s meticulous attention to detail, along with an increasing presence of its gadgets in corporate environments, have allowed it to behave differently from other consumer-electronics makers. Apple is breaking the rules in terms of its pricing model. It’s doing what luxury brands do, where the higher price the brand is, the more it seems to underpin and reinforce the desire.”

You hear that Google? Time to hike up some prices, release a device or three a year (many of which do the same exact thing in different casing), make the people feel like they have to have it and the rest is “most valuable brand” history.

I really do commend Apple on this accomplishment. I am, however, currently side-eyeing Google. You tricked me. I even googled to find out which brand was best before I committed. I should’ve known what you’d tell me. How naïve of me to think that you would say “yes, side with Apple, they are more valuable than us.”

I will not give up on you yet, Google but I will offer you a little tough love. You have approximately one year from today to prove that you are worthy. At the end of the day, I will always side with the best. Can you blame me?

May 9, 2011

There has to be something that I am not getting here because this can’t be right. I fully charge my phone overnight (seems like it takes all night for it to obtain this full charge), I take my Droid off the charger at about 8:15 and it’s on the outs by 12. What??! This is insane. Of course, I had heard the rumors about Droid’s battery but I guess a few parts of me thought (hoped) the rumors were all exaggerations. They weren’t–the rumors were understated. The battery isn’t “weak” or “could be better”–it’s flat out horrible!

How am I to enjoy the many features this device has to offer if it’s cutting off when I’m just about to get into it? God forbid I spend my days somewhere where there isn’t any power outlet for me to plug-in to. What will I do then? Suffer, that’s what.

I had to do research. I needed to know that this wasn’t about me, it’s about Droid–the blame game always finds its place in relationship turmoil. I start my search and what’s the first thing that I discover? Well, according to Google co-founder Larry Page, it IS me! “If anyone is not getting a full day’s worth of battery, there’s something wrong,” states Page. Uhh…ya think? “It’s probably user habits and third-party apps causing battery woes. “When there is software running in the background, that just sort of exhausts the battery quickly,” he continues.

This device is still new to me so I don’t pretend to know it all. I took Page’s notion into consideration and did a little personal research. I made sure all applications were closed after use, I turned off Wi-Fi when it wasn’t needed, I stopped most syncs and I even dimmed my screen so much that I can barely see it. All this for the sake of my battery and what did it give me in return? That ol’ trusty, orange, blinking indication that it was about to sign off–I give up.

I don’t know what to do at this point. I’m already in love here but this is certainly a glitch. This isn’t a deal breaker for me, and I did know this beforehand but I just wish things could be different. I’ve been told time and time again that you can’t have it all—I was hoping that just this once…

May 5, 2011

To get these images, the business must offer Google several photos.  Google will then combine the images to form a 360-degree rotating image.  Users can enter a business and get a realistic idea of the look and ambiance of the space.  This tool is primarily geared towards businesses that rely on how people view their interior.  Hospitality focused businesses like hotels, restaurants, salons and bars would certainly benefit from offering online searchers an easily accessible glimpse into their establishment from their computer, tablet or smart phone.  Many people prefer to have an idea of the kind of place they are visiting before they go.  What better way to remove the mystery than by providing images.

Google has been looking for innovative ways to increase the use of their Maps feature.  The feature was recently revealed at the Social-Loca conference held in San Francisco.  The first countries that will be able to use the feature include the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.  Many more countries are slated to have the service in the weeks ahead.

I absolutely love that this feature is controlled by businesses.  Google has been getting into a lot of trouble lately in regards to the methods that they employ to capture, store and use images.  Many European countries have filed complaints against Google because of the intrusiveness of the Maps feature.  France, like other countries, has tried to preserve the privacy of their citizens.  In this situation, Business Photos for Maps is totally different.  Business owners can opt to participate at their discretion.  Images can only be provided by business owners that wish to benefit from the feature. If people are included in the photographs, I can only imagine that a release must be signed.  I predict that a lot of service oriented businesses will only have images that don’t have people in it.

Many other kinds of businesses will probably choose not to participate in this service.  Industries and businesses that value design, atmosphere and style will be more likely to turn in their photos as soon as possible.

May 5, 2011

The video shows Beyonce breaking a sweat with the children.  After a quick stretch, the crowd of what appears to be more than 100 girls and boys, began to perform the routine, each with their own flair.  Beyonce stood at the front where she performed the routine with a seemingly light hearted and playful attitude.  If anyone thought that she was a diva, there were no indications of that in the video.  She appears to be having as much fun as the kids.

Michelle Obama has been fighting to raise consciousness about childhood obesity since she became First Lady of the United States.  With her “Let’s Move Campaign”, Mrs. Obama promotes a healthy lifestyle through diet and exercise.  Mrs. Obama has an ongoing community garden project at the White House.  Fruits and vegetables from the garden have been used at formal dinners at the White House.  She uses the garden to emphasize that it can be inexpensive to grow your own produce.  Many children fail to get the proper nutrition because the stores in their neighborhood don’t offer healthy foods at a reasonable price.

With so many children and teens that are classified as obese, it is commendable that Mrs. Obama has made this a large part of her platform as First Lady.  Many people assumed that Michelle would be more of a politically oriented First Lady.  Many thought that she would tackle a heavier subject.  Well she surprised everyone when she decided to focus on the topic of heaviness in children.  Having worked on the board of the largest Wal-Mart supplier, Tree-House, she knows all about the relationship between food, consumers and business.  Using this background, she has joined forces with Wal-Mart to improve the selection and cost of healthy produce options.

Beyonce has had ties to the Obama administration.  She did serenade Mr. and Mrs. Obama for inauguration with the classic Etta James ballad “At Last” after all.  Her husband, Jay-Z, or Sean Carter, has also performed at several promotional concerts for President Obama during his campaign.  The fact that this video has gone viral is great for the movement to end childhood obesity.  Children around the world will be moving their bodies to this tune for a long time.

May 4, 2011

Apparently we can because it seems like now, the people have spoken and Pandora has listened with its new comedy genre. Just like with Pandora’s music offerings, you can search for preferred comedians or genres of comedy to create a channel and Pandora will use a sophisticated algorithm to provide you with your request and so much more.

Tentatively called the Comedy Genome Project, this venture contains 10,000 clips spanning 12 genres. This includes Raw Comedy, Political Comedy, Today’s Comedy and Comedy Icons. There are currently 700 comedians in Pandora’s rolodex to choose from. Some of the featured artists include Eddie Murphy, Joan Rivers, Chris Rock, George Carlin, Chris Rock, Richard Prior, David Cross, Mitch Hedberg and more.

In a blog posted by Pandora today, CEO and founder Tim Westergren stated “”Adding comedians to the mix has been one of the top requests from our listeners. It’s been a very fun experience, taking what we’ve learned in music and applying it to a whole new category. Now, instead of talking about ‘minor keys,’ ‘falsetto,’ and ‘extensive vamping,’ our comedy-analysts capture ‘odd juxtaposition’ (A horse walks into a bar…), ‘misdirection’ and ‘spoonerisms’ (a well-boiled icicle, instead of a well-oiled bicycle).”

Imagine that—you’re sitting at work in your quiet office, a Richard Prior clip comes up and you just burst into an uncontrollable laughter, ahh…good times. This seems like a great idea at first, but then you realize that you have been actively listening to comedians for the past 3 hours and no work has gotten done. Talk about a red flag.

I am all for comedy on Pandora. I feel like it’s a genius idea. I just can’t help but wonder: for the everyday worker that enjoys their favorite music playing in the background to help get them through their day, is this a good idea? As a lunch escape, maybe, but to have as a regular, all-day station, I think not. I guess this is a “use at your own risk” kind of thing. I know for myself, I could never. It’s distracting enough at work when one of my favorite songs comes on my Pandora station. Throw Eddie Murphy in the mix and I spend the greater part of the afternoon quoting obscenities from Raw.

I give Pandora a great, big thumbs up for the new venture while simultaneously giving myself a huge yellow sign cautioning me to stay very far away.

May 4, 2011

Low and behold, right when I’m just starting to get obsessive about me new device (the Thunderbolt, to be exact) news hits that BlackBerry has come up with something new. Can’t say that I’m regretting my decision to leave the company…yet, but maybe with the new developments those of you who are still there will have a little more incentive to stay.

Research in Motion (RIM) recently hosted a BlackBerry World event in Orlando, FL and released a newer BlackBerry Bold 9900/9930 models that is also being referred to as the Bold Touch. Upon first glance this looks like your classic run-of-the-mill BlackBerry but supposedly on the inside it has so much more. The phone is stated to have a sleeker design (10.5mm) than any other RIM phones currently on the market. It also has a 2.8 inch VGA touchscreen. That stat makes me giggle a bit because in a world where screens are upping 4 inches (mine is 4.3, to be exact), it is hard to be in the least bit impressed with a screen that’s half the size–and to make it touchscreen? Really? I hope there is a stylus that comes with that because I don’t know anyone whose fingers are small (or precise) enough for this thing. It sucks that I’m bashing the BlackBerry like this, having just left yesterday and all (where are my loyalties?) but this is just ridiculous. BlackBerry, to remain a serious player in this game you MUST come harder.

The feature that is being depended on to set this new device apart is the networks that are supported by it. The 9900 will run 4G via HSPA+ connectivity (kudos for this) while the 9930 will be RIM’s world version with dual-band CDMA and quad-band GSM (another point for BlackBerry).

Both of these devices have a 5 megapixel camera (my phone has 8, but who’s comparing?), 1.2GHz Snapdragon processor, can shoot 720p video, 8 gigabytes of onboard storage, near field communication capability, and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. They will also be running with new BlackBerry OS7. This platform is said to have a faster browser with improved user experiences.

In other development news, BlackBerry has now opted for Bing as its default Search and Map Service. The partnership promises to provide voice search and Street View maps and will also be integrated at an OS level. I don’t know much about Bing’s search/map abilities but I do know that in most instances, regardless of what the service is, you side with Google.

Overall, what they are offering just doesn’t seem to be enough. How about more apps? Higher resolution? Better camera? Something! You’re losing your appeal, dear BlackBerry. Look around you–it’s a fast and fancy smartphone world out there and you’re not a part of it.

May 3, 2011

The second reason that Nielson speculates is a cause for the decrease in households with televisions is the new generation of tech savvy young adults.  Many twenty-somethings are opting to cut off the cable or just not get a television altogether.  Many Americans in this age group have recently graduated from college and joined the workforce.  With this progress, many are embarking on homeownership or renting an apartment away from their parents.  Young adults, who sometimes struggle with becoming financially stable, forego purchasing a television right away in an effort to save money.  Then there are those that don’t feel that a television is necessary.  Because of the internet and companies like Netflix, there is no desperate need to have a television because clips, shows and movies are available online.

This report from Nielson will definitely change the way that television networks and studios do business.  The dependency on widespread television usage has shaped the way that these networks operate.  If more and more viewers are becoming solely dependent on their smart phones and computers for videos, the dominance of television programming and advertising will dwindle.  Shows may be created and produced to target an online audience specifically.  Fewer people and households with televisions mean that less people are being influenced by a television programming and advertising.

No one should be surprised by this revelation.  People have been weaning themselves off of television for a while now.  There are less people watching their favorite shows on a certain night of the week because they know that they will be able to view it online at their convenience.  People don’t need a television to find out what is going on in the news with many news companies like The Huffington Post and CNN offering up to the minute information.  Televisions have also become very expensive.  It is very difficult to find a traditional set so many people have to create a budget just to be able to afford a flat screen television.  Stores like Wal-Mart and Best Buy are selling televisions for hundreds of dollars, forcing people to think really hard about purchasing one.  Television networks ought to brace themselves for continuous decline in the years ahead.

May 3, 2011

While Amazon and Apple go head to head, who really stands to lose in this situation?  If you guessed the record company and recording artists, then you and I have the same line of thinking.  With the fall of Napster and other similar music sharing sites, the music industry just barely made it out alive.  The profitability of the music industry began to dwindle about a decade ago.  It has yet to return to the viability it had in decades gone by.  By monetizing digital downloads, the record companies and artists saw a glimmer of hope when it comes to being compensated for their creativity and work.  If prices begin to fall, the industry will again move backwards.  The more that Amazon reduces their prices for the consumer, the more likely they will be to decrease the amount of money they are willing to pay the artists, publishers and record companies for licensing.

When I first saw music downloads being offered for 99 cents, I figured that was a fair price.  I considered the cost of an entire album, and how much I would save if I just purchased the songs that appealed to me.  It never crossed my mind that music could or should be cheaper.  If the average album has ten to thirteen singles, I could purchase an album through Amazon for under $9.  Entire albums typically cost more than that.  The math isn’t that great with iTunes where thirteen downloaded singles could end up costing me almost $17.  Either way you look at it, the market is shifting to benefit companies like Amazon and Apple as well as the consumer.  These days, recording artist need to focus on diversifying their methods of gaining income.  Many artists are depending on digital downloads rather than album sales.  Other artists are shifting their focus to live performances, concerts and tours in order to gain additional income.  The music industry is odd.  You could be an artist with the hottest song on the radio, but still be struggling to make a dollar.

May 2, 2011

Every business you can think of currently has a Facebook/Twitter page. They’re everywhere. What’s pointless is when said business only has 12 followers and about 55 friends (and these are just co-workers). There is no reason why these platforms that are so easy to utilize are so mismanaged. And yes, if the fore mentioned numbers reflect your social networking pages, in any way, you are definitely going about this all wrong.

I recently came across a Mashable.com article detailing the things that can be done to help specific industries with their network branding so. In true fashion, it’s only right that I offer my 2 cents. I’m no guru or anything, but I do consider myself to know a thing or two about how to work these sites. Hopefully, the countless hours that I’ve spent on them have offered me something more than a few mouth-drops and chuckles.

First things first: to get a huge following on Twitter you must tweet. That advice probably sounds a little ridiculous because it seems so obvious but you would be surprised as to how many businesses haven’t tweeted in months. It’s the quickest way to get unfollowed. Tweet all the time. If you don’t have the time to tweet, find somebody who does. Perhaps if you tweet more you may be lucky enough to get a re-tweet which could lead to more followers.

Don’t just tweet anything. We (speaking on behalf of follower’s here) hate that. Tweet something witty (this’ll have folks following for sure). Tweet the most interesting thing about your business happenings that you can think of. Tweet a deal that you’re offering—but make it a good one. Tweet a quote if you can’t come up with anything else. For goodness sake, just tweet something. One thing about those on Twitter, they love to tweet-watch. Bring some excitement to a timeline and just see how far you’ll go.

Next word of advice for you, don’t just open a Facebook page and think your work is done. Signing up for Facebook is only the beginning. You may have noticed that when Googling some businesses now, their Facebook page is one of the first things that you see. Who wants to click your page only to be met with a 4 month old status update? Not I, that’s for sure! I want pictures! I can’t tell you how long I sit flipping through photo albums while soaking in envy. Post pictures that make your business seem like the most fantastic place offering the most amazing products/services on earth. If you’re selling something as dull as rocks I’m not exactly sure how you’re going to accomplish this but you have to be creative. Also update your status—often.

I could offer you a few more tips but I’ll pause for now while you master these basics. The bottom line here: Lots of updates and make them count! I usually don’t give advice this golden away for free, so consider yourself lucky.

May 2, 2011

Kate Middleton arrived at Westminster Abbey in a Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen gown and a jewel encrusted head piece.  Once the princess-to-be revealed her gown to the world, there must have been a synchronized gasp heard all across world.  Too bad I was still sleeping at the height of all the pomp and circumstance.  Not worry, I caught all the juicy videos and images online at a respectable time of day.  I knew that many people would be getting up to view this event, but I didn’t imagine that the royal wedding would break a record.  Apparently, the wedding of William and Kate drew 300,000 concurrent viewers, a record for Livestream.  This number accounted for viewers at 6 a.m. eastern standard time.  Livestream is just one of the many sites that offer video of live content.  Overall, the royal wedding has attracted almost five million online viewers.

In addition to the amount of people that viewed the wedding live, there are millions of people that have read and viewed the wedding details from numerous websites.  Even if you weren’t looking for glimpses of the wedding, you were probably bombarded by them against your will.  There seems to be an unhealthy fascination with royalty.  In times past, I could understand all the hoopla over a union like this, but in modern times, I just don’t get it.  Why are people overly interested in what the monarchy is up to, especially since they have relatively nothing to do with the way that the country operates?  Sure, all the ceremonial aspects of the wedding are wrought with European tradition and custom, but how does that explain why so many foreigners are willing to wake up that early in the morning to watch.

In the United States, fewer than 300,000 people watched the results of the presidential election that made Barack Obama president.  People seem to put all of their energy into viewing events that really don’t do anything to change their lives—how sad.

April 29, 2011

The entire notion that social networks charging users comes into play as these networks scramble to find new ways to generate money. I understand that the company’s that host these networks are in this as a business venture where money is to be made but they should leave me (and other users) out of it.

I am almost certain that the billion (I made this figure up, so don’t quote me) current Facebook users will slowly begin to close accounts if a charge was applied.

The real issue here is that before even entertaining the thought of charging user’s for access to these networks a careful brainstorm should take place. Ask yourself, networks, “if we charge, what do we have to lose?” Here’s a quick answer for you: you lose me! I believe that’s something like a big deal.

Fred Wilson, a venture capitalist for Union Square Ventures wholeheartedly shares my sentiments. During a recent panel at the Guardian’s Activate conference in New York, Wilson argued that companies should eliminate the thought of asking users to pay. Instead, these companies should look to support themselves entirely with advertising. For services like Facebook and Twitter where the user provides all the value, it’s absurd to expect users to pay. They’re the ones creating value. To ask them to pay is the most ridiculous assertion ever,” said Wilson. I could not have said it any better.

Don’t go and get too greedy, networks. Part of the primary reason that you are as popular as you are is because you’re free. The minute you lose sight of that simple factor, you lose so much more in addition.

Just imagine a bill showing up to your home every month indicating ________ usage resulting in ________ price. HA! I can just picture myself ripping the bill and deactivating my account in one seamless swoop.

Considering the value that we put on certain things offers such perspective. Chicken Nuggets at Mickey’s D’s for 99 cents–sure, why not? Facebook for 99 cents a month–I most certainly think not! I’m sure I’ve spent more time on Facebook than I have with the nuggets but for some reason the time spent doesn’t at all affect my decision.

Don’t be alarmed by this post, there is no sign of social networks charging any time soon. Just take this as a heads up, networks. You charge, I’m out!

April 29, 2011

If they are found guilty of the charges, these girls could spend a month in juvenile detention.  The prosecutor in King County, Washington, is determined to teach these girls and others a lesson about internet bullying and harassment.  The 11-year-old will participate in a capacity hearing that will decide whether or not she was aware that that her actions were wrong.  In Washington, children 11 and below are deemed to be incapable of knowingly committing a crime.  The prosecutor may only be able to show that the accused 12-year-old was fully aware of her actions and cause her to endure the consequences.

Even with all the recent reports about bullying, there seems to be a persistent urge for young adults, teenagers and preteens to harass and antagonize their peers using online mediums like social networking sites.  Because of the prevalence of this behavior, there has been widespread attention on this issue.  Even Facebook has made an effort to crack down on bullies by encourage people to operate ethically in a safe-space.  With cases like these, I’m not sure that it is working.  After the Rutgers University freshman committed suicide because of what fellow students posted on the internet about his sexuality, I thought that people were taking internet bullying more seriously.  Apparently this is not the case.

Both girls in this case are from Issaquah, Seattle.  It is a small city of no more than fifty thousand residents, with picturesque views of nature and gorgeous scenery.   It is a seemingly quiet city with little problems when it comes to eleven and twelve year olds.  There is no set profile for an internet bully.  Any and everybody seem to be taking part in this outrageous activity.  The facts of the matter however is that there are more than two people at fault.  Facebook is at fault for not making it more difficult for these young girls to create and manage Facebook accounts.  The girls are below the age minimum for users, so how were they able to get an account and page.  Secondly, the parents of these children are at fault.  There was obviously a lack of supervision and judgment, especially if the parents knowingly allowed these girls to use Facebook on their own.

April 28, 2011

You hear it in every seminar and read it on every marketing blog post: create a great social network if you want to experience any success is business. I can definitely understand the logic behind this strategy, as it does seem like social media is the new wave. However, the old saying holds true “everything isn’t for everybody.” There may be quite a few industries that have gone the social media route and experienced immense success—unfortunately, retailing isn’t that industry.

Social media outlets are the place to go when you are looking to form a community and let people know what you have to offer. After that task is done, the rest is left up to your following. I consider myself to be a bit of a networking guru–it’s what I do. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, you name it, I know it like the back of my hand. About 75 percent of the time spent on the computer is spent on one (or a couple) of these networks. Of that time spent I can’t say that there has been a single instance where I’ve been inclined to click anything that leads me to purchasing something. It just hasn’t happened.

I have learned a lot about what many businesses had to offer through use of social network. You offer a good headline on Twitter that’s attached to a link–I click the link and end up at your site. Once I get to your site it is then your job to woo me into buying. I’m there (that’s half the battle) the rest is up to you.

This report was collaboration between Forrester Research and GSI Commerce and analyzed data that was taken from online retailer from November – December 2010. The data indicated that less than 2% of orders were the result of shoppers coming from a social network. There was great theory offered by executive vice president of strategy and marketing for GSI Commerce, Fiona Dias stating “If you go with the theory that you should market where the people are, then you should be running off to market during church services. Facebook has the same analogy. Buying things from retailers is maybe 10th on the list of things they want to do on Facebook.”

Time to go back to the old way of doing things, retailers, it seemed to work out better for you. Email and search advertising are much more effective for turning your browsers into buyers–stick with that. This isn’t to say that you should have no social media presence. Presence on social media generates buzz about your business which could mean more visitors to your site, which means potential sales. Use social media for what it’s worth, but don’t expect it to generate a miracle.

April 28, 2011

As the world has witnessed in the recent past, the internet has been a mobilizing force for citizens of many nations that are frustrated with their government’s lack of effectiveness, decency and humanity.  The countries that have seen the most recent uprisings have been in the Middle East and North Africa.

While the protests in these countries continued, countries like China began to increase their restrictive internet content policies.  Based on their proximity alone, it is no surprise that India has also ramped up their effort to squelch any political animosity that could spread like a wild fire online.

In early April, India’s Department of Information Technology began to implement new rules of engagement for internet content.  Any content that is considered to be questionable by citizens or government officials is at risk for removal.  If someone finds that any published online statements or images are a threat to the security, unity and sovereignty of India, the applicable service provider and web site may be asked to take down the content.

Being asked is more like being told actually.  Sites that host but do not produce content are required to remove the objectionable content within three days of the request.  Many websites have already been banned and social networking sites, like Facebook, are constantly monitored in an effort to minimize the people’s freedom of speech and expression.

Although only about 10 percent of Indians have internet access, the number is increasing on a daily bases.  Not surprisingly, the number of Indians that have cell phones with internet data plans is overwhelming.  Even the poorer citizens of India are gaining access to the online world, something that scares government officials that don’t want to see an uprising that is supported by all kinds of citizens including the wealthy, poor, educated and uneducated.

I think that it silly for countries to try and circumvent the inevitable.  Everyone has a voice and wants to be able to use it.  There is too much globalization in the world to stop people from adopting the foundations and ideals of other nations.  It is just ridiculous to think that blocking the internet will prevent the people from raising their voices.  Eventually, the younger generation will become frustrated to the point where they just can’t take it anymore.

April 27, 2011

To catch those up that may be out of the loop, just last week security researchers Pete Warden and Alasdair Allan released a report stating that your iPhone or iPad is keeping a record of every step you take storing the recorded data and sharing it any device that syncs with your iPhone or iPad. Appalling, yes, I know. This information hit the net about a week ago and Apple JUST decided to address this MAJOR issue today. I’m no Inspector Gadget or anything but to me this reeks of suspicion. What’s been going on over there, Apple? Been trying to get a believable enough story together to silence the alarm in hopes that your iPhoners won’t jump ship? Took you too long to get back to us on this issue, is all I’m saying.

Apple has now offered a little news on this tracking situation explaining that it’s not people that the company is tracking, but rather cell towers. Really, Apple? Had no idea there was a cell tower in my purse but who knows what could be at the bottom of that thing. In a recent press release Apple went on to say “Apple is not tracking the location of your iPhone. Apple has never done so and has no plans to ever do so.”

According to Apple, what users are imagining to be a log is in fact “a database of Wi-Fi hotspots and cell towers.” This database is said to help the iPhone calculate location in a much quicker and efficient manner than GPS. Apple goes on to somewhat explain that when an iPhone is synched with a computer there is an encrypted file that appears. This encrypted file is a cache that is downloaded onto each phone because the entire database is too big to keep on each phone. I’d like you to try explaining that last sentence to me in the comments section because I simply haven’t a clue. Apple goes on to say that it receives all of this information in an anonymous and encrypted form but they can’t identify the source it comes from.

Apple says they haven’t brought this to users attention before because it’s too complicated. You got that right, Apple. I have no idea what you’re talking about and I STILL don’t trust you. Thanks.

Apple has taken users around the block with this loaded explanation and even after attempting to understand most users are still exactly where they started—confused and unhappy. Listen, Apple, I think it’s time that you come up with a better explanation because this encrypted mumbo jumbo isn’t selling. iPhone’s off until further notice! Now try tracking that!

April 27, 2011

Now an ad company has gone even further.  Immersive Lab has taken the next step in advertising by offering technology that is smart.  No longer is the person the only viewer.  The ad can also watch the person.  Sounds crazy, right?  Well it actually makes a lot of sense.  Using advanced technology and imaging software, an ad displaying mechanism or screen has the ability to decipher the age and gender of the viewer.  By doing so, the ad makes a judgment on the type of ad to display next.  For example, if the screen recognizes that a young female is coming closer, the ad will change to depict a product that is geared toward her, like apparel, make-up or tampons.  Once she leaves, the ad will change or remain the same based on the characteristics of the next onlooker.

Not only does the ad recognize age and gender, but also other external factors.  By following Twitter and other social networking sites, the ad knows what topics and trends are occurring at the moment and use that information to determine the type of ad to display.  The software also keeps track of the weather in order to decide on an appropriate ad to show next.  If it is cold outside, a jacket ad might be shown.  With built-in cameras and artificial intelligence, Immersive Lab has found a way to develop a smart screen that knows what to display, when to display it and for how long.  The technology knows which ads are thriving based on how long individual users spend looking at it.

While the ad displaying kiosks are only being tested at the New York City Sony Style Store, there is a plan for future use at John F. Kennedy Airport in the near future.  Immersive Lab doesn’t want you to worry about privacy.  All of the images that are used to determine the ad displays are said to be private.

This kind of technology is just another way for people to make money.  Regardless of what they claim to do with the images, I just don’t feel comfortable with this Big Brother mentality when it comes to advertising.  I think that in the future there will be no limit to what people will do to make a buck off of advertising.

April 26, 2011

As on right now, anyone can sign up for Deals notifications on the feature’s landing page. It is only those users in the five test cities, however, that will be able to see and use Deals at this moment.

Here is where I chime in and offer a little plea: Please, oh please, Facebook, be a little different than Groupon (and by different I mean significantly less annoying). I was once a Groupon user. It wasn’t that long ago. I got all excited with the talk of discounts and deals that I just had to be a part. I signed up for a Groupon account as eager as can be and awaited the rolling in of useful savings. Let’s just say I waited until the very day that I cancelled my subscription.

Groupon woke me up every morning with deals of nothingness. For the first few mornings I thought maybe it was just a fluke. Perhaps the deals that were being offered would be loved by someone else; they just weren’t my cup of tea. It didn’t take too long for me to realize that none, not a single one, of the deals that were offered had my name on it. I couldn’t have possibly been the only one.

Groupon deals seemed useless and far-fetched. I’m hoping that Facebook can step in and do things differently. Here’s a suggestion, Facebook—if you’re out there reading. Do user research. Find out what tends to be trending patterns in user likes and dislikes. No doubt in my mind that your platform is sophisticated enough to access this type of information. Figure out what it is that users like and offer that.

If you see that I’m a lover of fine wine and football (as stated perhaps, in recent status updates), offer me 50% off on a bottle (or several) of white wine, accompanied by tickets to Sunday’s big game. I’d appreciate you for that, really. Don’t offer me 75% off of kayaking if I stated last week that I hate the water. That would be mighty inconsiderate of you.

It doesn’t seem like customizing deals is a part of the new Deals platform as of yet. Facebook is approaching Deals as a medium that offers deals with socializing as the primary concern–figures, with Facebook being a social network and all. A user buys a deal, clicks the like button and the deal is recommended to others and appears in friends’ news feed.

I guess this is semi-cool but it pales in comparison to the deal customizing feature that I mentioned. I’m sure that deal customizing will pop-up sooner or later and I would simply like due credit when it does. You heard it here first, folks. If you notice any platform presenting offer customization, be sure to let me know. Deal?

April 26, 2011

The lull in production of the new Nintendo Wii would be okay if there weren’t other devices (who shall remain nameless) coming up trying to steal your shine. These devices have been doing the most. It is to my understanding that they offer some cool technology where full body motion can be detected while we are still being bothered with the likes on a compact wand that must be detected by a censor. How out of date we are! (I use “we” loosely. Since I grew up with Nintendo I don’t feel that this air of familiarity is inappropriate).

According to an article on Mashable, Nintendo, as of March, sold 86.01 million Wiis (pretty impressive). What’s not so impressive is that from 2009 to 2010 sells dropped an astonishing 20% from 20.1 million units to 15.1. Yikes!  With this, the net worth of the company dropped to about $825 million which is 66 percent less than in 2009.

Perhaps it’s the declining sales that have finally lit a flame under Nintendo to produce another device. Regardless of what inspired to urge to create anew it was definitely time. According to experts Nintendo is said to be looking to repeat past successes in the gaming market. This time around that won’t be as easy as before.

Before Nintendo entered the virtual gaming market as a frontrunner but it appears that now they will be playing catch-up with the companies that have taken a liking to Nintendo’s recipe and perfected it by adding their own elements.

Nintendo has been quite mum regarding details that surround the new Wii. In a recent news conference, Nintendo CEO, Satoru Iwata stated “As for the details of exactly what it will be, we have decided that it is best to let people experience it for themselves at E3. So I won’t talk about specific details today, but it will offer a new way of playing games within the home.”

Let’s hope so, Nintendo; wouldn’t want to continue to see though sells decline. I’m no day in, day out gamer but just judging by what I’ve seen in the world of gaming thus far I have a few predictions as to what’s to come.

I see 3D Wii in our future (prepare to be freaked out by this). I see boxing games where it appears you’re actually being punched in the face and tennis matches with balls flying at your head.

I also see the demise of the hand wand–there will be no more of that. From now on your body will be the controller. You jump and your Mii jumps with you.

Lastly, I see live camera’s in the corner of your Wii screen that offers live chat and interacting abilities with competitors across the world (does this already exist on some platform? If it doesn’t it will, trust me).

My predictions are just stabs in the dark here. It is my hope that Nintendo is cooking up something similar or equally as good. I trust them; they’ve never let me down before.

April 25, 2011

Large grocery store chains like Publix have tried to offer this service before.  Many of them have been unsuccessful in this venture.  The profit margin just couldn’t sustain the service, at least not in every area.  Wal-Mart intends to beat the odds by offering the service to their customers.  If Wal-Mart does find this new venture to be lucrative, they will only be expanding their grocery revenue which now accounts for over 50 percent of their yearly revenue.  With more than $140 billion coming in from their grocery sector, Wal-Mart is no doubt looking to expand on their goldmine.

Wal-Mart will definitely be taking a risk if they ultimately offer this service after the testing period.  But I am pretty certain that they figure they have more to gain than to lose.  This service could potentially expose Wal-Mart to new customers that would normally shop at other grocery store chains that already offer this kind of service, including Amazon Fresh.  Providing an online grocery delivery service will also entice more people to purchase other non-grocery items through their website.  An increase in web traffic and conversions can only add to profits and reduce all the costs that are associated with physically shopping in a Wal-Mart store.  Wal-Mart can also track and use online shopping trends to improve advertising and sales.

The online grocery delivery business makes sense on paper but it doesn’t always pan out because of practicality.  People often want to select their own produce and meat to guarantee freshness.  I don’t know if I would want someone else picking out my strawberries, tomatoes and fish for me.  I think that the reason why this kind of service ends up disappearing is because people are either limitedly interested in having someone select their food items and there is a persistent concern over the freshness of foods.  The internet savvy demographic that would be more inclined to use this service is probably a younger, busy generation of shoppers that might not care too much about grocery shopping altogether.

No matter Wal-Mart decides to do, they are sure to boost their grocery profits.  Last month Wal-Mart announced that they would be adding 8500 items in order to compete with stores that offer a variety of items, as opposed to just a large quantity of a few items.  As Wal-Mart surges ahead to increase their revenue, customers need to speak up and tell the retail giant exactly what they want.

April 25, 2011

According to a hunch blog “We found that people who choose one or the other — and 75 percent of the 400,000 people we asked did self-identify as either more Mac or PC — exhibit very distinct demographics, personality traits, and aesthetic/food/media choices.” This study got as specific as detailing whether Mac or PC users like McDonald’s fries (PC won). Some of the other interesting data that was compiled during the study is address below:

According to the study

• Mac users are 22 percent more likely than PC users to be ages 18 to 34, while PC people are more likely to be 35 to 49.
• 67 percent of Mac users have a degree from a four-year college (or higher) compared to 54 percent of PC users.
• The cult of Mac is 13 percent more likely than PC users to say they’re “unique and different.”
• PC users are more likely to compare discussion about computers to “struggling with a foreign language,” while Mac people are 21 percent more likely to consider themselves “computer-savvy gearheads.”
• PC users opt for the classic Americana of tuna fish, hero and patty melt sandwiches, while Mac users choose hummus, Bánh Mi and shawarm
• PC users are 38 percent more likely to say they have a better grasp on mathematical concepts; Mac users are 12 percent more likely to say the same for verbal skills.

I can see how so of these points may be somewhat valid but in many ways it seems to me that these statistics were gathered out of thin air with no real merit. Patty melt sandwiches against tuna hummus, really? I’d be more inclined to know how something vital like how many of these Mac users were left-handed as opposed to PC users. My guess would be that about 83% of lefty’s rocked with the Mac while the remainder were PC friendly. There is absolutely no premise for this theory outside of the fact that I myself am left handed, mind you, but I figure if Hunch can make something up why can’t I?

Don’t get me wrong—I do think there is something to this whole Mac vs PC thing—kind of along the same lines as the theories describing Blackberry vs. iPhone users.  In the simplest terms one user just comes off a little more saavy and progressive than the other (you take a lucky guess as to which device falls under this category). There is nothing more to be gathered from this than a mere “matter of fact”. Learn what type of computer someone uses and you’ll know everything else you need to know. That being said, what does your computer say about you?

April 22, 2011

• Wael Ghonim: Ranked #1

At the top of the list is a Google executive that helped to change a nation.  Mr. Ghonim helped to transform Egypt through the use of social media and peaceful demonstrations.  He was even held in custody for a period time because of his efforts to unite the youth of a country through civil disobedience.

• Reed Hastings: Ranked # 3

A few slots down is Reed Hastings, the co-founder and CEO of Netflix.  Netflix has totally changed the way that people look at movies and digital entertainment.  You can get your kicks watching flicks that are delivered to your doorstep or that are streamed live to your computer, game console or television.  Netflix is now moving in the direction of producing original programming, aligning them to become even more of a major player in the entertainment industry.

• Mark Zuckerbergy: Ranked #6

The sometimes disputed founder of Facebook has earned his place on the Time 100 list by continuing to be a part of a social networking site that has no intention of slowing down.  People can connect, advertise, share, find love and whatever else you can think of.  With continued innovation, Facebook is bound to become even more of a global phenomenon.

• Peter Vesterbacka: Ranked #7

You can blame Mr. Vesterbacka for all the time you spend playing “Angry Birds”.  He is the Rovio executive that is responsible for developing the game that has already been downloaded 100 million times.

• Julian Assange: Ranked #9

Much of the world was not ready for Mr. Assanges’ brand of muckraking and activism.  The WikiLeaks founder did his civic duty to the world by posting secret and classified information online to hold countries, businesses and regimes accountable.  Of course, this was not received well by the entities in question.  Displaying the truth for the world to see landed him on this list.

• Larry Page: Ranked #56

The new CEO of Google isn’t new to the company at all because he is also the co-founder.  Since he assumed his new position on April 4^th, he has been determined to shake things up.  His new leadership position is set to keep Google at the forefront.

• Arianna Huffington: Ranked #56

This year saw major changes for the Huffington Post co-founder.  A merger with AOL has expanded the reach of Ms. Arianna Huffington.

• Charles Chao: Ranked #97

This Chinese visionary found a way to get the approval of the Chinese government to have a social networking site.  Although it is censored, the Chinese people are able to enjoy the limited freedom of having a place to connect.  With over 100 million users, Charles Chao’s Sina Weibo is Facebook and Twitter’s Asian peer.

These are just a few of the tech related gurus that grace the list.  I can’t wait to see who makes it next year.

April 22, 2011

When I heard this story, I remembered the good old days when anyone could make thousands of dollars on Google Adsense by using Traffic Equalizer to generate millions of keyword spam pages.  The people who started using Google in 2001 know exactly what I’m talking about. It’s crazy that writing original articles is not even enough for the quality standards of Google and internet users. Nowadays, people can differentiate great content from crappy content pretty fast. It just makes me wonder: will we look back 10 years from now and say “Remember when you could write a great article, build backlinks and have a high rank on Google?” It definitely looks like it.

In the meantime, shares of Demand Media, who owns eHow.com, are down 13 percent and the traffic to the site from Google is estimated to be down around 25 percent.  This will likely decrease more in the near future.  Google does not care about JCPenney, Overstock or eHow, companies that use backhanded SEO methods. They only care about relevant results, their users and their bottom line–ad dollars of course. It seems like we will see more of these disaster stories. It’s good to see mainstream media taking part in making the internet a better resource for everyone.

Do you have a multi-million dollar website that generates money from ads? Do you get over 40% of your traffic from Google? Now, ask yourself this question–are you next on Google’s “hit list”?

April 22, 2011

Even the cellphones that they do have are usually prepaid, with a certain amount of minutes.  Many people cut out their landlines because of their inability to pay two phone bills every single month, something that wealthier families have less of a struggle with.  The states that had the lowest cellphone reliance were New Jersey, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and South Dakota.  In these states, no more than 17 percent of adults reported only having a cellphone.  Both New Jersey and Rhode Island reported that 13 percent of their adults only use a cell phone.  Across the nation, the number of households that use cell phones exclusively has increased.  27 percent of households don’t have a landline.  Arkansas increased in this percent by 15.  New Jersey has only increased by 7 percent.

So you might be thinking about what this has to do with rich people and poor people.  Well it just so happens that Missisippi and Arkansas are the two poorest states in the country.  Mississippi is the poorest state with a 21.9 percent poverty rate.  Arkansas isn’t too far behind with a poverty rate of 18.8.  If you look at the poverty rate of New Jersey and Rhode Island, those numbers are on the other end of the spectrum.  Other connections included people that rented where they lived and their age.  Younger people and renters tended to do without a landline.  This is completely understandable as renters don’t necessarily feel a sense of permanence, which is something that a landline represents.  Most young adults in this economy are struggling to find decent paying jobs and therefore have to sacrifice in order to survive and get by.

This survey reveals something that many people didn’t imagine.  Most people would assume that people that are more into new technology, who happen to be in a wealthier demographic, would be reluctant to hold on to an antiquated phone line.  But this isn’t the case.  Even if they don’t use it very much, families with more financial resources enjoy the feeling of comfort they get by having two phone communication options.  Just in case they can’t contact someone on their cellphone, there is assurance in knowing that the reliable landline works.

April 21, 2011

You’ve heard conspiracy theories time and time again about Big Brother always watching. Never did you imagine that Big Brother is sitting right there in your pocket. This seems a bit terrifying. I can’t, by any stretch of my imagination, come up with a justifiable reason for a cellular phone to record your every move; especially without permission.

According to The Guardian, the file that saves your every location contains latitude and longitude on your iPhone with a timestamp which means that where you are, have been and frequent can all be accessed at any given time with a mere sync. Anyone who opens the file that backs up your sync can scroll through and see your entire location history. Let’s just hope that you’re not on the run or have a stalker pending because in that case you’re as good as caught.

It is unclear how far back the stored data dates at this point but it appears that there could be almost a years’ worth of data stored since this “feature” appears to have started with Apple’s iOS 4 updates back in June 2010.

According to Alasdair Allan, a data scientist who discovered the file and Pete Warden, another researcher who looked for similar tracking codes in [Google's] Android phones and couldn’t find any, “we haven’t come across any instances of other phone manufacturers doing this.”

I agree wholeheartedly with Simon Davies, director of Privacy International who went on to state “This is a worrying discovery. Location is one of the most sensitive elements in anyone’s life – just think where people go in the evening. The existence of that data creates a real threat to privacy. The absence of notice to users or any control option can only stem from an ignorance about privacy at the design stage.”

It is a pending theory that Apple may have implemented this tracking because it’s required for a new feature that they may be developing. Riggghht—of course that’s why! (please sense my sarcasm). If this were the case, why not notify users before hand? Why allow this intrusive file to be stumbled upon instead of broadcasted publically with the option of turning this ability off in personal iPhones?

This ordeal has just made the iPhone a lot less appealing. If privacy is the price that must be paid for a few cool applications then you can certainly count me out. The moment I hear that BlackBerry is using a file of this sort to track my every move, the last recorded location of mine will be near a garbage—hmph.

April 21, 2011

So why would this woman be suing them?  It isn’t because she got matched with a person that she didn’t like.  It isn’t because they overcharged her account.  Sadly, it is much more serious than many might expect.  The L.A. woman alleges that she was matched with someone that should have never made it onto the site in the first place.  Apparently, the woman went on a date with another Match.com user and the date went well.  A second date was schedule but only this time, there were no calls for a third date.  The guy ended up following the woman home, breaking into her home and sexually assaulting her.  After the woman did a little digging, she discovered that the many was a registered sex offender that had been convicted of multiple counts of sexual battery.

Now she is suing Match.com in order to force them to cross reference user profiles against public sex offender registries to prevent this from happening to someone else.  The filing calls for the Los Angeles County Superior court to disallow Match.com from adding any new user accounts until they comply with this request and make their screening process more rigorous and safe.  This would be done through an injunction.  Before, Match.com upheld that using public sex offender registries was not a very accurate way to rule out potentially harmful users.  They claimed that there are many inaccuracies with these registries.  A few days after the lawsuit was filed, Match.com released a statement saying that they would now be looking into the backgrounds of users to make sure that sexual predators are not allowed to prey on other users.  Match.com neglected to mention that this new method of operation had anything to do with the lawsuit.

I feel like Match.com should have been screening for sexual predators a long time ago.  Why did it take a lawsuit and a sexual assault to make them wake up and take action?  I wouldn’t be surprised if this concern had been raised before, but profits probably helped to make the decision to accept everybody.  If sexual predators are on Match.com, one of the more reputable dating sites, I can only imagine on what other sites they are on in abundance.  People that go on dates with practical strangers should always be cautious and careful.  Anything can happen, but it would help to know that the site that is putting you together has a vested interest in your safety.

April 20, 2011

It all started in China. Facebook is now in talks with Chinese partners to launch Facebook services in the country where it is currently blocked for use. China, you may know, is far more conservative than the United States in terms of what can, can’t, will and will not be said or displayed on social mediums or other media outlets. There is a huge and largely debatable issue regarding censorship currently brewing throughout the country.

By expanding Facebook into China, it is required that the social platform abide by Chinese law which requires web companies to censor everything from search results to status updates. This is where things tend to get a little tricky. For many of us Facebook users, the beauty of the social network is that we have the space and the opportunity to do, say, update as we please. Facebook offers a platform for us to express ourselves and share our voices to all of our friends who may otherwise have no idea how we think, feel, are.

Free expression and sharing is the thread holding the cloth that is Facebook together. At least that’s how we (if I can speak for most of us) see it here in the United States. Perhaps the Chinese won’t mind. It is quite likely that the citizens of China have grown use to Chinese social networking and search censorship so the same level of censorship that has been grown accustom to added to Facebook will go unnoticed.

Maybe it’s not the Chinese that will mind the censorship so much, perhaps Facebook won’t be able to tolerate this skewed way of expression. Facebook has openly stated in the past that they are dedicated to making the world a more open and connected place. It would be kind of hard to make the world more open when expression in China is actively being closed off.

It appears that Facebook may seek to find a healthy median with this debate. According to Adam Conner, a Facebook lobbyist, “Maybe we will block content in some countries, but not others.” Maybe that’s the best idea in this instance. This way Facebook can still work on obtaining a broader presence without stepping on any toes. Yea, the mere foundation on which the social network is built will be compromised but surely more will be gained, right?

In my opinion Facebook should definitely walk into this one slow and steady. Make no rush decisions as not to offend anyone unnecessarily. Take your time with this was, Facebook. Write a list a pros and cons and take it from there. That strategy always works for me.

April 20, 2011

According to a recently released survey from OkCupid, a dating site, it is possible that Twitter could be the demise of a number of relationships.  In this survey, more than 830,000 people between the age of 18 and 50 participated.  The division in the survey compared the duration of the person’s relationship that used Twitter everyday and the length of the relationships of the person that did not use Twitter daily.  Based on the results, the people that use Twitter everyday had shorter relationships than those that don’t.  The difference wasn’t that major however.  The relationship times of the two groups only differ slightly.  The link may seem haphazard but I think there is truly something that correlates between Twitter and relationship length.

Much like the people that are on Facebook all the time, people that are on Twitter daily can be a bit excessive.  There are literally people that can’t go one minute without checking or posting a tweet.  Since Twitter is updated by the second, people that are addicted to Twitter engulf themselves in reading and writing information, thus consistently neglecting the person they are in a relationship with.  Imagine being on a dinner date and your partner just can’t part with their smartphone because of Twitter.  This becomes a drag and annoyance after a while, which could lead to a breakup.  No one wants to be in a love triangle with Twitter and another person.

I think that people that use Twitter everyday are more likely to be stalking their partner.  If you are in a relationship with a person that is nosey, possessive or insecure, Twitter could be the tool they use to keep tabs on you.  Twitter stalking can be very intense and is ultimately unattractive.  No one wants to date the girl or guy that constantly has to know what you tweeted, when you tweeted, why you tweeted, who is following you, and who you are following.  Twitter can just elevate the craziness of someone that is already susceptible to being a stalker.  I don’t personally think that there is anything wrong with using Twitter every day.  What matters is when and why you use it.  If you have to log on to Twitter every minute of every day to stalk or inadvertently neglect your partner, this is just ridiculous.

April 19, 2011

UberMedia whipped out the big guns about a week ago letting Twitter know that they will no longer be bullied and they have every intention of taking action and starting a micro-blogging platform all its own if Twitter doesn’t stop being such a thorn in UberMedia’s side.

For those unfamiliar with the history, UberMedia was founded a few months back by Idealab and owns UberSocial, Twidroyd, Echofon and UberCurrent–these are all Twitter sending platforms that are responsible for more than 11% of all tweets sent. To make a long story short, Twitter really doesn’t care much for these platforms and recently banned them from all Twitter access citing policy violations, trademark infringement, and changing the content of users’ tweets in order to make money. Twitter later reinstated access to these platforms but the relationship has remained less than friendly.

Since then, UberMedia has threatened to leave Twitter and compete with the social network, while also threatening to take already established UberMedia platforms UberSocial, Echofon and Twidroyd with it. Oh but, wait—that’s not it. UberMedia didn’t only threaten to take what belonged to them; they also wanted to bring TweetDeck along on the venture. This is likely the part that had Twitter shook because boy, did they react.

It appears that as of very recently Twitter has put a bid in to acquire TweetDeck themselves. This war just got a bit more interesting. I admit, I was a little afraid for Twitter upon discovering the potential tricks that UberMedia had up its sleeve. Never did I expect Twitter to respond like this. In fact, I expected quite the contrary–I expected Twitter to hear the threats made my UberMedia, cower then comply. I have never been more wrong…or impressed.

Yesterday the Wall Street Journal published a story claiming that Twitter is in talks to acquire TweetDeck (which is currently the third most popular client on Twitter’s platform) for nearly $50 million.   This is an obvious counter to the $30 million that UberMedia CEO Bill Gross paid to acquire TweetDeck back in February but the deal reportedly never closed or simply fell apart. To this I say—Yikes! Either Bill Gross forgot the financial resources that Twitter has access to or maybe he didn’t think they’d take this route to seize TweetDeck from under him but either way I’m thinking he wasn’t prepared for this one.

Who knows if Twitter ever really wanted TweetDeck but it’s certainly clear that they don’t want UberMedia to have it. Twitter is simply not willing to risk allowing UberMedia to have that much leverage over the Twitter platform.

If this were a game of chess, UberMedia has undoubtedly been checked–one false move and they could lose it all. So what will it be, UberMedia? You’re up next.

April 19, 2011

Now Mr. Jackson believes that the iPad has contributed to the lack of new jobs in this country.  Now the iPad is the reason that American jobs have been lost and are never to return.  The iPad, in his opinion has led to the demise of traditional bookstores like Borders and Barnes and Noble.  These stores are traditional in that they primarily sell books and magazines that are in paper form.  With the iPad, people don’t have to read paper books but can download electronic versions.  By eliminating paper based books, Mr. Jackson believes that the unemployment rate will only increase as the jobs surrounding paper books and newspapers are eliminated.

He goes further to mention that iPads are being distributed to college students in his home state of Chicago and elsewhere across the country.  Colleges are actively trying to do away with paper textbooks to eventually create a paperless environment.  He also mentions the fact that the iPad is made in China as opposed to in America, where American workers are.  Realistically, the iPad is made in several different countries, based on each component.  Mr. Jackson talks about the production of the iPad in regards to outsourcing and the globalization of the workforce.

I understand where Mr. Jackson is coming form but his thought process is a little bit undeveloped.  How can he stand before Congress one week praising the iPad and then criticize it the next.  Beyond the hypocrisy, his argument just isn’t practical.  You can’t stop technology just to keep jobs around.  If people halted technology just to maintain employment we would have no cars all because we wanted to keep horse and carriage workers employed.

All of the innovations that have come throughout the development of the human race have put someone out of work.  That is just the way that it seems to go.  If the cotton gin wasn’t invented, this could have kept slavery going for a lot longer than it was allowed to be legal.  Factories that assembled cars and cut meat eliminated many workers and skilled laborers so that products could be produced rapidly.  The internet has all but demolished the number of travel agents.  This is the very nature of the capitalistic society in which we live.  Big business has their interest in become more efficient, and if that means losing workers, then so be it.

We need to educate the workforce so that new jobs and industries can thrive.  People need to be trained and educated to keep up with new technology and emerging industries.  I do believe that the American workforce should be a part of new technology.  While many jobs have been created to support the iPad, I am pretty sure that just as many jobs will disappear because of it.  It is a part of a cycle that helps some and hurts others.  Until there is more regulation to keep and develop new jobs at home, this is how it will always be.

April 18, 2011

Privacy or exposure on Facebook should be to the user’s discretion. If you want your Facebook page to be exposed to the world, accessed by a mere Google search then by all means, do that. I’ll even give Facebook the benefit of the doubt and suggest that when users sign up everything about them can be as public as Facebook wants it to be until the user states otherwise. It is when the user does, indeed, state otherwise but Facebook insist on finding loopholes in that statement of privacy in order to find a way to reveal something or the other about that user that things get offensive.

You’re a big fish, Facebook. There’s no doubt about that, you’re running things in the social arena, it’s true. It’s also may be true that me ranting on this blog, screaming from my tiny little crevice on the internet likely doesn’t shake you one bit. You don’t even notice I’m here. If you do, by some miracle, come across this blog I ask that you cease and desist!

Excuse me, I haven’t even gotten to the premise of my rage yet. It all started this afternoon when I began reading up on recent technological happenings. Low and behold there’s a Facebook post discussing the lack of privacy on the social network. I click this post with all belief that I’d heard it all before only to discover that I hadn’t. Facebook added more ways to get to me!

I read the first line of this post and immediately log into by Facebook page to make sure the coast was clear—it was not! To my surprise I discover that an “Include me in ‘People Here Now’ after I check in” feature had enabled on my behalf. Uh…thanks, Facebook, but NO THANKS! If I wanted someone to know that I was logged in I’d perhaps open my chat box and tell them. Try not to do me any favors, please, I can handle it.

But wait, that’s not it. This ‘People Here Now’ discrepancy encouraged me to further investigate. I then went on to discover that my profile pictures had been made public. No, again, Facebook–I thought I made that clear before.

These two violations of my privacy are two too many, in my opinion. I may be a tiny little fish in your eyes Facebook, but what happens when a bigger fish notices what you’re doing and bites back? Keep it up, I smell a lawsuit. This is a warning—users, check your privacy settings regularly as there is some fishy activity going on. Facebook, take it easy, I got my eye on you.

April 18, 2011

The charges have been delivered by the Federal Bureau of Investigations from their office in Manhattan, New York.  If having an online poker company is legal, how could they be charged?  Well the answer to that is pretty simple.  While you can enjoy playing card games on the internet, you are not allowed to distribute or collect revenue that is tied to winning or losing the game.  You are not allowed to wager with actual money.  To fool the banks, where money was either deposited or disbursed, the poker companies fraudulently pretended to have legal kinds of business dealings.

The companies would use people to set up bank accounts in order to process payments to companies that didn’t even exist.  Proceeds from the illegal gambling were viewed as payments to these companies.   In this way, the bank would believe that the transactions were legitimate and permissible.  If a bank began to suspect anything, they were coerced and bribed into processing payments with the incentive of getting financial rewards.  Other banks required a hefty fee for such activity.  But for the most parts, the banks remained unaware of the truth.

The companies collectively stand to be fined more than $3 billion dollars and face other penalties that could dismantle the companies and land the defendants in jail.  Almost 80 bank accounts have already been seized along with the domains that host the poker sites of these companies.  The outlook is dismal for all of the people that are charged and accused.  Everyone knows that when the F.B.I comes knocking they already have a very strong case against you.  These companies and defendants have probably been under surveillance for years.  It is probable that all of the eleven defendants will do jail time along with having to pay the fines.

This entire crackdown will send shockwaves through the underground gambling industry, especially for small time companies who have been flying under the radar.  There are certainly other people that are violating internet gaming laws.  These new charges target the criminals at the top of the food chain.  Anyone else who is doing this needs to quit while they are ahead.  Today these defendants found out that the house doesn’t always win.  I’m not sure about what will be done to the banks and payment processors that knew exactly what they were doing.  They need to be held accountable as well.  Of course there will be claims of ignorance, but there are some that knowingly accepted monetary favors.

April 15, 2011

Come on, don’t’ pretend to be oblivious. It starts with a thorough assessment (stalking) of the person of interest’s page, and then progress to a “poke” (a poke being overt flirting, in my opinion) and if/when you are poked back the flood gates open. At least I’m told that this is the way Facebook courting works cause again, I’m no pro.

Well, now you can leave the poking to the amateurs because it seems Facebook has taken the art of internet dating to the next level by eliminating the most awkward aspect of dating altogether—rejection.

Here’s the scoop: there are two MBA graduates from Columbia University (geniuses if you ask me) Jon Budish, 28, and Tariq Chaudhri, 27 who came up with the idea for this awesome new Facebook application currently being called iWould. The way this application works is that it allows you to scour your friend list and select anywhere from 1 to 10 people from this list that you may be interested in dating. After you’ve generated this list of yours the application cross references your list with the list of your friends who are also using the app. If someone on your list also has you on their list, you’ve gone and stumbled upon a potential love connection.

According to Burdish, “We’re trying to help people connect with someone they’re having a hard time connecting with, someone in your life, that starting a relationship with someone can be hard if you kind of already know them, sometimes that’s the most difficult part of dating.”

The most awesome aspect of this application is that almost completely rules out the potential for rejection. In the case of iWould if the interest isn’t mutual between you and your crush, your crush will never know that there was any interest to begin with. I say it almost completely rules rejection out because I’m thinking that it is still a slight form of rejection if you aren’t a match on your crush’s list. It’s like your crush is saying you weren’t qualified to be their potential interest (not even top 10 worthy) without exactly coming out and saying that.

iWould creates a nice little spin on online dating by only matching friends with friends. The only way this application would work at any notable capacity, however, would be if enough friends of yours joined. If enough of your friends aren’t using the app your likelihood of finding a match is sufficiently reduced. The more the merrier with this, like most, dating apps so encourage all (especially your crush) to join in.

So, who’s game from creating a crush list just to see what happens? If it came down to it and I had a moment of desperation, iWould.

April 19, 2011

When discussing a rather lackluster topic like copyright law, YouTube had to find a way to spice it up.  The video features the characters from the Happy Tree Friends series and is entitled “YouTube Copyright School.”  In its own simplified way, the video goes over some of the mistakes that people make when it comes to posting unoriginal content on YouTube.  YouTube has gotten fed up with the amount of copyright infringement that takes place on their site and wants to educate users on the legal guidelines.  YouTube is also trying to warn users about the risks of copyright infringement, both on their site and in the legal system.

While I watched the video for the sheer amusement, many YouTube users will have no choice.  On Thursday, users that are slapped with a copyright notification will be required to watch the video and take a quiz based on what they learned from it.  The video explores the most common ways that people use content in an inappropriate way.  This includes uploading another person’s content without permission regardless of how the content was gathered.  The video even goes into what constitutes a fair use.  The video indicated that users with multiple strikes risked being removed from YouTube and even prosecuted or sued.  The main focus of the video was to break down YouTube’s guidelines on copyright laws so that users could understand what they can and can’t do.  Users will now be held more accountable for their actions.

Google wants to protect copyright holders and their users.  The video explains what the rights of a copyright holder are and what they can do to prevent others from distributing their work without permission.  If a copyright holder wants, they can send a complaint notification to YouTube about the work that is being unlawfully displayed.  The user that posted the video has an opportunity to contest the claim but if found to be in violation of the guidelines, they could face serious punishment.

I applaud YouTube and Google for taking the steps to create an innovative way of informing their users.  Sometimes there are users that just aren’t aware of what is considered right and wrong when it comes to posting videos.  There are those users that need a simplified crash course.  In truth, Google is just trying to protect itself from a potential legal battle.  By making users more accountable in a documented way, they can insulate themselves more easily from financial responsibility.  Using a cartoon video was an ingenious method of making light of what is a rather serious problem.

April 14, 2011