The Idea Man Live

This Saturday, The Fat Man in the Red Suit is Headed to Afghanistan. Help Us Pack the Sleigh!

2011-12-01T18:29:00.001-05:00

I spent a lot of time today thinking about how I was going to approach this post. I even consulted with an Army Ranger buddy to ask him what I could write that would really help drive home the emotional hardships our troops must experience while deployed during the holidays. His answer really surprised and humbled me.

He said, "...sure we miss our families, but we make it through. We're all there for a reason, we all know it, and so we're all there for each other. We are a family."

It's that type of dedication, from the fearless Men and Women who serve our great country, that makes this Saturday's Troop Packing Event at Seminole Lanes so important to me. It's why I've dedicated my time--along with so many other great volunteers--to really say thanks. Nothing else is as important. Not to me, anyway. Our lives could be quite different right now. And that's something we are all guilty of taking for granted sometimes.

Help Us Pack A Sleigh Full of Goodies for the Troops this Saturday, Dec 3rd

We gather at 9am on Saturday morning. If you can join us, that's great. If you can bring something we can send the troops--that's great, too. Here's a list. Christmas goodies--and even chocolate--should be at the top of your list.

Postage Donations Always Help!

If you can help us with postage (Each box costs $12.50), we can always use it. People are often surprised that we have to pay for shipping. To be honest, in the beginning, many of us were, too. The shipping cost actually gets the packages to New York, and the military takes it from there. We're planning to pack over 100 boxes this time around.

A special thanks to all of the donors who have helped us these past few years. We now feature them on our website. Click here to see our full donor list.

What the Troops are Saying...

Even if you can't donate, we'd still love for you to come by and feel the energy that this great even generates. You can't help but feel it, and the troops really appreciate it. Click here to see excerpts from some of the messages we've received back from the troops!

Finally, I'd like to thank Dave & Rhonda Dabney (and Carter and Tori, too!) for starting it all. This year has been an amazing journey. In an age where everybody seems to be living in a land of entitlement, your unending, selfless dedication has become addictive--AND contagious. In fact, I believe it's the reason we continue to grow and reach more troops with every packing event. If I haven't said it enough, let me say it again...THANK YOU!

See everybody Saturday!

- Ken

Adam Carolla Rants About OWS Generation

2011-12-01T11:03:00.001-05:00

Adam Carolla, comedian, and now the host of one of the most-downloaded podcasts on the internet, gave us this little gem as only he can. Remember when you got that strange feeling in your stomach when you found out that all of the kids on the soccer team were going to get a trophy? Well there was a reason for that. All of the coddling, as Adam suggests, has led to a culture of "...self-entitled monsters." While you can form your own opinion, it's hard to deny that Adam has a point. If you take out the atrocities of the Wall Street crooks and really break it down, what's left is these kids asking their parents for money and shouting "it's not fair" to those who have made something for themselves and have all the money. They're looking for a handout...a "fair game" where they can share the tropy, regardless of who actually won the game for the team.

As always, your comments are welcome.

Google Catches JC Penney's Dirty Tricks: What You Need to Know

2011-02-28T12:53:00.002-05:00

As a web designer, I spend a lot of time trying to learn what is and what is NOT OK to advance a site's importance with the search gods at Google. It's a never-ending battle, however most of the solutions for getting ahead in an organic search are there, right in the webmaster's tools area. But companies still cheat. What amazes me is that sometimes when they cheat, they cheat hard.

Last week, JC Penney got caught loading up over 2,000 shallow websites with links back to their site -- something Google looks at when determining page rank. The only problem was, the sites were usually irrelevant, and in some cases, seemingly abandoned. Not good for JC Penney, but even worse for BMW, who recently had one of their European sites completely dropped from the search results for creating doorway pages--another big Google no-no. See the complete story in the links below, but pay attention to the second link, which has an interview with Matt Cutts. He's Google's anti-spam king, and he and his team make the final decision as to when to change the algorithm and effectively ax you. From what I can see, they're on top of their game. Please leave a comment and tell us what you think.

JC Penney's Dirty Little Secret
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/business/13search.html?src=busln

Update: JC Penney Fires Back
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2380306,00.asp

Matt Cutts Interview
http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/2011/02/25/04

Here's the 6 Top Dirty Tricks to Avoid:
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/220431/6_dirty_seo_tricks_you_must_avoid.html

Facebook Messages Will Change the Face of E-Mail

2010-11-15T21:56:00.002-05:00

By: Lance Ulanoff (PC Magazine)

Note from The Idea Man: The last paragraph is most important here, this will definitely draw a "line in the sand," between personal (social) and private (business, inner-circle) email--whether you want it to happen or not. Start thinking about your "@facebook.com" start email address! ;-)

Someone asked me why Facebook would want to get into the e-mail business. I told him that there were 500 million excellent reasons. With Facebook's official Facebook Messages announcement that it's unveiling radically reimagined messaging, Facebook has, indeed, stepped into the e-mail fray, though the company is at pains to call it anything but e-mail. Email, messaging, whatever you call it, Facebook's Facebook Messages rethink will certainly change the way we think about e-mail.

Some of what Facebook unveiled is not particularly revolutionary: folders, junk mail, a Facebook.com e-mail address. However everything else will take e-mail and messaging to new, unexplored places. Imagine your e-mail system choosing for your how to message a contact based on where you are and what you're doing. I'll be honest, it might freak me out if the message I started typing in Facebook "e-mail" suddenly shifted to Facebook "chat" because the contact happened to be live on the Facebook service. That agility, however, will likely be welcomed by the core Facebook audience.

Such an agile message system will quickly break down the walls separating texting, IM and e-mail. This is a truer form of conversational interaction than the "conversations" on Gmail, which is really nothing more than message threads.

There will be privacy concerns, because that glare shines on almost anything Facebook introduces. The now fluid mix of various conversation platforms will startle some, but there's nothing intrinsically intrusive or unexpectedly open here. Chat, Messages and SMS conversations as they currently stand are point-to-point conversations, easily controlled by Facebook users. If, for example, you want to hide your existence as a live user on Facebook Chat, you can do so. In theory, if you're not visible on chat in the new service, then your messages could not automatically switch gears.

One of the big changes will be all the incoming mail. New services and people who aren't even on Facebook will be introduced to your Facebook e-mail address and to your Facebook inbox. What a marvelous branding engine—even more impressive because Facebook did not use the much shorter FB.com. I'm sure Facebook members will happily use the new vanity e-maildomain. It will be interesting to see how much of users' every day mail actually ends up in the Facebook in-box. Facebook is providing some storage space, and I'm certain it'll be able to handle all the mail you can throw at it. I bet, though, that some mail may take a while to make it into the Facebook e-mail inbox. Will anyone want their financial and healthcare e-mail messages in an inbox inside Facebook? I doubt it.

Facebook's Zuckerberg said he isn't positioning Facebook Messages as a Gmail killer, and I believe him. I don't see people leaving Gmail or any other messaging service for Facebook Messages. On the other hand, 500 million people getting a blend of social and e-mail messaging in one package, may start to demand the same from their other e-mail services. Microsoft, Yahoo and Google are certainly trying to blend the social with e-mail, but coming from the other direction—e-mail-to-social, which is a much tougher climb. People have a deep-seated distrust of e-mail going social, especially when it comes to their contacts. I think that was the problem with Google Buzz. No one was happy when Google created all your Buzz friends out of your Gmail contacts, without first asking permission. Google's spent most of the time back peddling away from this decision ever since (even fending off a lawsuit). I'm not sure Buzz will ever recover from this first misstep.

Facebook's contacts are already part of your social circle. I don't expect anyone to squawk.

Though I just said Facebook message won't kill other e-mail messaging platforms, I do believe it will change the e-mail landscape. The line between personal and private mail will become much more pronounced. The linear world of work email and even Gmail-style services will be about tasks, work and getting things done. Personal e-mail will be about fluid social interaction that can happen anywhere, at anytime and any way Facebook likes it.

Facebook Messages Will Change the Face of E-Mail | Lance Ulanoff | PCMag.com

Launch Day: iPhone 4 – The Experience

2010-06-28T16:08:00.001-04:00

My friends still think I'm crazy.

One would assume, by now, with all the advancements in technology -- especially in smart phones -- that everyone would understand and share in my excitement over the release of Apple's latest communication revolution, the iPhone 4. Unfortunately, that's not the case.

Pre-Ramble

If they would just try it, I thought to myself. It changed an industry and how we interact, I argued silently. Non-geeks don't realize that, I rebutted.

That's about the time I felt the twinge in my lower back that painfully reminded me of the "quality time" I spent in line at International Mall in Tampa Thursday. Like some 600,000 other enthusiasts, I pre-ordered my iPhone online the week before--dodging and darting error screens on the Apple Store website for an entire day, until finally receiving the friendly, "We'll See You at the Store" message that signifies you've made it. You're in. No worries, Ken: we're gonna hold a brand new iPhone 4 for you. Come and get it!

To me, this was more than just a geek boy's dream of the front facing camera that every iPhone owner has been dreaming about since the phone's inception in 2007. This wasn't just me being one of the crowd--having to have the latest phone just because nearly 35 million people (and counting) are using it. None of the above. For me, it was how Apple does it. How do they create this frenzy? How do they handle it?

AT&T has shown its shortcomings, to be sure. But Apple has remained as cool as a cucumber throughout their upgrade announcements and product launches, including the unexpectedly-hot iPad--now selling at a rate of 1 every 2 minutes worldwide. All Steve Jobs has to do is take the stage and the lambs lie down--even if he is introducing features or services that competing products have had for years. Everything is met with thunderous applause as if he, himself, had created it and empowered us to use it for the very first time. Jobs then always ends by asking for the sale. He gives a price and then a launch date, and then we wait...and wait. OK. So far, so good. He's built excitement. But other manufacturers make announcements all the time. I get the fact that we like Steve. He built Pixar, he revived Apple with the wildly-popular iPod. I get it. In business, this guy's a rock star and we treat him as such. But when it comes to the iPhone 4, why were all these records being broken? Like the two-thirds of the 600,000 reservations that came from people who already owned an iPhone. That's never happened before--with any mobile phone. But more importantly, why did people all over the world stand in line for an entire business day, breaking Apple's previous record numbers, to be the first to own one? That's never happened with ANY mobile OR electronic device. EVER. So I decided to find out for myself.

The Arrival

When we arrived at the International Mall at 7:00am Thursday, the first thing we saw were the microwave antennas from the news vehicles. As we got closer, we saw the line. Your mind does a funny thing when you see a long line. It starts to do basic calculations on the wait time. That works for the first 20 or 30 people, and then all bets are off. This line stretched the length of Dillards--probably several hundred yards--and then all the way around the corner, down the hill, and into the parking area in front of the other side of the retailer on the lower level. As we walked the length of the line, it was clear that there were people who had been there for an extended period. The hardcore had sleeping bags, camping chairs, coolers, portable TVs, and yes--lots of iPhones in iPod mode providing "hold" music. My friend had called a relative to announce the fact that we might be on TV! Meanwhile, I was expanding the memory in the on-board people/wait time calculator in my brain to handle the larger crowd count. As we started reaching the end of the first leg of the line, we could see the parking area below and where the line ended. We could see additional people joining the end of it like dancers in a chorus line; seemingly coming out of nowhere to add their part of the performance to a show we all knew would seemingly never end.

"Two thousand?" I asked. "Nah...maybe a couple hundred," said a red-haired woman, two people up. That comment was quickly met with expressions of disbelief on the faces of everyone around us. It seemed like a thousand or more people, but I would later learn it was closer to five hundred at that time. Five hundred people from all walks of life. There were young and old, geek and hippie, doctor and college student. Some had to get to work eventually. Some took the day off. It was clear that this product's reach had gone beyond the geeky people and had made it into the mainstream. One couple even brought their children. Big mistake, I thought. Because it was HOT.

Settling In

We had no relief from the direct sunlight that was scorching us for the first 45 minutes in line. We made the best of it, got to know the people around us, and shared our love for the product. One man, Kyle, was a college student at HCC and warned us that he would probably have to leave to take one of his final exams at 9am and then come back. We promised to take a picture of him in line with us (on our iPhone, of course), so he could guarantee his spot upon returning. As the line wound around the corner and up to the next parking level, trees within the landscaping shaded us, and up ahead, we could see that the West side of the Dillards building would provide the same protection from the sun as we approached the mall entrance where the Apple Store was. The line moved pretty quickly at this point, so beating the high noon sun to the mall entrance seemed extremely doable. Heck, it was only 8am. We had already moved this far. Piece of cake, we thought. But our adventure was just beginning. We realized there would be news coverage, but what happened next took us all by surprise.

"How many of you are still virgins?" A voice cried out.

"Don't you people have jobs?"

"When you get your phone, make sure the first app you download is I'm a Loser"

Those were the humorous jabs, delivered by megaphone, by a member of the MJ Morning Show. With microphone-carrying assistant in tow, the heckler delivered the blows one-by-one as MJ recited them through his ear piece live, on-air, from the studio. It would have been funnier if the iPhone hadn't become so mainstream. Maybe in 2007 the stunt would have worked on the early-adopters, but all this one did was irritate hot people. He was quickly escorted away by mall security and just as quickly forgotten.

Saved by Chikin

Up ahead, in the distance, we could see a figure of some official capacity, dressed in maroon, and pushing a cart of some kind. Oh great, I thought. They're bringing them to us. No waiting! The figure turned out to be an employee with Chick-Fil-A, who was bringing us bottled water to help us stay hydrated. And it wasn't just this one employee, but the whole store ended up serving us. For the entire day. They proceeded to hand out free water, juice, Chick-Fil-A sandwiches--and even toys during the entire duration of our wait. At no point were we ever thirsty or hungry. There was always Chick-Fil-A just a few moments away. Amazing. To what do we owe this extension of charity? Was it the restaurant taking advantage of a captive audience? Was there another "angel" somewhere funding all this? After some quick investigative work early-on with my newly-found chicken provider, Vicki, I learned that Apple had footed the bill. How much did that cost? Mind calculator overload again. In fact, this time, I thought I smelt something burning when I tried to do the math. If you weren't a fan boy before, it would be hard not to become one now. I mean, sandwiches? All day? I was on a diet and had already brought along some salt-free almonds to snack on, but you better believe I had a couple of those free Chick-Fil-A sandwiches during my sentence. It is amazing how great stuff tastes when it's free! Thanks, Mr. Jobs!

Our Own Horror Movie, Starring AT&T

Maybe it was Apple's generosity that kept everybody cool. At the 3-hour point, under the shade of the towering Dillards building, an Apple representative came by and gave us the unsettling news that AT&T's servers were buckling under the stress of the entire world attempting to validate iPhone 4 upgrade eligibility. Dammit AT&T! He went on to say that individual activations were taking as long as 30 minutes PER phone. You can imagine the collective sigh that came across the crowd. Even Kyle, who had just returned from his first exam, and had to work that day, realized he might have to call in sick. This time, me and our new friends in line looked to the friend I came with to perform the new mind-crushing calculations. This people-time equation was going to require algebra or calculus--or something--and he recently graduated from a gifted program with some type of scholarship. "3 hours," he said. "So right about 3 O'clock." Almost like a scene out of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds, everyone within earshot of my friend's voice looked straight up at the sky. After 5 long hours of relative comfort, the sun was, indeed, preparing to breach the edge of our concrete and steel sun shade, exposing everyone on the West side of the Dillard's building to direct sunlight and a heat index approaching 105 degrees.

A little while later, Apple employees started visibly pulling people out of line and making them stand out in the road. They were being given white slips with numbers on them and marched off in large groups. It was hard at that point not to make historical associations with prison camps. They had us under their complete, captive control and we were going to do anything they told us to do. It turned out that they were removing people who did not have reservations and putting them in another line, where they would be processed slower. Three reservations to one walk-up. Seems fair, but it didn't make the line moving any faster. It was beginning to get even hotter.

The Lost Hours

Time seemed to blur and run together. I'm not sure how this crowd of over a thousand people kept their cool and didn't lose it. It may have been the new friends we made. It might have been the intermittent interviews with the local news crews. Even I got on and said something like, "I'm still alive and that's all that matters." The clip was never used. But for all of these people to bear the oppressive heat, and not start some type of altercation--or even complain very much, was a miracle in itself. Yes, we were all there by choice. One could argue that. Our part of the line stayed in the sun for two more hours before they began moving a sizable portion of the line inside to get people out of the heat. Standing in line with strangers in adverse conditions for all that time made everyone realize we were part of something much bigger. And that was evident when we got inside.

Light at the end of the tunnel

At 2:00pm, we made it inside the mall, where two additional lines were formed in an effort to get people out of the heat. We were at the front of that line, and for the next hour could see people leaving the Apple Store with their new iPhones while employees clapped and cheered their achievement. Wow. Clapping and cheering? It's just a phone, right? Every time the claps and cheers permeated the crowd, the Greek programmer behind me raised his head to try and see what all the fuss was about. "Who's clapping?" he'd ask. "I don't know what the big deal is," he concluded, as he jockeyed for another subsidized Chick-Fil-A sandwich and juice box.

Upon finally being granted the permission to enter the store, it was abundantly clear what the big deal was. We were shuffled into a final holding que, just 15 people long and it was moving briskly--even thought they were now evenly serving those who had reserved and those who had not. From the vantage point of this corner of the store, you could see everything. The store was bustling with activity. There were no more lines. People were everywhere. The store was open to everyone--even those who weren't there for an iPhone. You're probably thinking, "what?" It's true. Even though there were probably 2,500 people in lines for the iPhone throughout the day, the store was still open to sell other products. And people had their hands and fingers all over them. There were Mac and MacBook displays, iPad displays, and even an interactive FaceTime display right at the front of the store featuring eight numbered stations where customers could try out the anticipated iPhone 4 feature by dialing the number of another phone at the table. It was a product display which was beautifully executed, as was the border of clean, stylish product photographs and copy that lined the top four feet of the entire store. You could feel the excitement. This was Oz. This is what we had all been waiting to see. It was a marketing engine at full steam. It was a store of wonders created by a company that repeatedly dared to break the mold. Now they had done it again. And I was next.

UTOPIA

Each person in line was handled by their own individual Apple Store rep. Our's was Lisa.
She greeted us with a smile and genuine, friendly conversation that made the previous eight hours seem like a few measly unimportant moments as she walked us toward the Genius Bar at the back of the store. Here we met another rep who confirmed our upgrade eligibility and handed our rep our new phones. From there, we were quickly escorted to a clear spot on the iPad display table. Our rep scanned our credit card and offered to email us the receipts.

We agreed. Then, we were off again.

This was a moving transaction. I don't mean it made me emotional. We were physically moving during the whole process. It was almost as if they were taking us around to meet the family. We were part of the family now, right? Our next stop was another rep who helped us activate our new phone. In order to do that, we were asked to complete the Apple tradition of "unboxing" our product ourselves. Wait. Did I hear that right? Hey, you open it. I just waited in line 8 hours. Actually, this was another piece of marketing genius. Apple has (for years) added a whole additional level of magical wow to their products by making their unveiling, from announcement to unpacking, a production in themselves. This was no different. I was asked to remove the lid, pick up the phone, and hand it to the rep. It's because they want me to be responsible if it falls on the shiny hardwood floors coming out of the package, right? "It's tradition," the rep offered, noticing my friend's puzzled look. Within seconds, we were set to go. Total time in store: 10 minutes. "Congratulations," he told us. "Enjoy your new iPhone!" Immediately people around us started to clap. What? We hadn't even left the store yet. This time, the people clapping were other customers. Just a few of them, but their applause was so unexpected that it caught me off guard and I think I blushed. I later remember telling my friend that the whole process felt like I had just been knighted. That wasn't a purchase. It was an experience.

EPILOGUE

Apple has found a way to perfect and brand something no other company has achieved as effectively to this day: the whole experience. From the product innovations they have introduced that have sold millions and sparked our imaginations, to the hands-on, one-on-one interaction you receive at the retail end-of-the-line, Steve Jobs has us hooked. That's because he's driving the boat of a company that knows how to break through the rules of big tech to catch us, and he's using the future as bait.

Etacts Transforms Your Gmail into a Contact Management Hub

2010-05-17T09:13:00.000-04:00

from Mashable

Note from Ken: I just installed this and I'm already impressed with the Gmail integration. Really helps with Gmail's weakest link--contacts. Will continue to test and keep you updated.

Etacts, which just presented earlier today at Y Combinator’s Demo Day, is an attempt to bring advanced customer relationship management to your personal contacts list via a few simple features and a slick Gmail integration.
Let’s all just agree: Contact management is a pain in the butt. You want to keep in touch with your friends, business contacts and others, but solutions such as Google Contacts don’t offer advanced customer relationship management (CRM) features like what you see in Salesforce — even though a lot of us could use it. That’s a need Etacts seeks to meet.
Signing up for Etacts essentially occurs in one step: You connect to Etacts via Gmail Oauth. Once that’s done, it automatically imports your Google Contacts into its database and provides you with great information, such as how many e-mail conversations you’ve had with someone, when you first contacted someone, the amount of days since last contact and more. The usefulness of this data becomes immediately apparent as soon as you see it.

The usefulness ramps up to another level when you start using the system to remind you to reconnect with friends and business contacts. You can tell Etacts to remind you to contact your professor once every year or your friend in VC every month. It will e-mail you these reminders.
The killer feature is Gmail integration. Within your Gmail, Etacts will integrate with your e-mail and remind you if someone hasn’t followed up with you, display social media contact information, and provide a general overview of your contacts.
The website is simple and still sparse, but with a bit of effort, Etacts could become a central hub for contact management. The company believes that people will eventually spend “hours a day” within Etacts, because it will be your gateway to your friends.

Sports Illustrated Brings Fantasy Football to Facebook

2010-05-04T10:10:00.001-04:00

from Mashable
Sports Illustrated announced this morning that it’s creating an SI-branded Facebook game for fantasy football. The app will launch in time for the season, and game play will extend to the Sports Illustrated website and existing mobile application so players can have even more access to their teams.
Sports Illustrated is also giving players Fantasy Intelligence Reports across all three channels. Reports will include breaking news, analysis and advice, player performance updates, video reports and commentary from football experts. Players can use the Facebook app to connect to their friends, post updates and collect fans for their fantasy teams.
The app is a result of a partnership with social game company Watercooler. This company has been developing sports-related Facebook apps since 2007 and has previously worked with major athletic brands such as Nike, Reebok and CBS Sports.
We don’t have screenshots of the SI app yet, but to give you an idea of what might be coming, here’s a look at a fantasy football app Watercooler created in partnership with Coors last year:

Microsoft's Docs for Facebook: A Hands-On Tour

2010-04-22T11:37:00.000-04:00

Look out, Google. There's a new Docs game in town. This article is significant because the internet giants see us all sharing documents. What do you think? Do you think we're all going to be passing around documents and spreadsheets for each other to comment on? Presentations, maybe, but...seriously?

Here's the full story. I'm off to test Microsoft's Docs for Facebook now.
Microsoft's Docs for Facebook: A Hands-On Tour

Announced Today: Facebook's BIG Changes:3rd Parties Could Get Info about You--Like It or Not

2010-04-21T09:29:00.034-04:00

By David Goldman, CNN Money staff writerApril 21, 2010: 8:21 AM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Facebook, the world's largest social network, is set Wednesday to unveil changes at its f8 developers conference that have already caused a stir.

Though Facebook hasn't officially announced any new features, hints have emerged about what will be included.

Ready for one of the more daring and controversial changes? Facebook is expected to announce that it will start providing users' personal information to some select third-party Web sites.

Sites could use that information to display what a user's Facebook friends have read on that site. Users could also share more between their social network and the outside Web.

Critics have already expressed concern about the privacy implications of such a service. A similar program called Beacon, unveiled in 2007, caused such a stir among users that the company canned it last year.

Note from Ken: be sure to read the rest of this article. It goes on to talk about how your public posts will be searchable on services like Google and Bing. This is already being done on Twitter, but Facebook has mostly been a "closed" system. And, unlike the Facebook Id that you use to sign-in to sites, they're talking about keeping track of what you're looking at on the web and sharing it with people. I'd like to see what you think about this. Be sure to comment.

Ready to Have all Your Public Posts Searchable? It's Coming. Read this whole Story Here >

Have We Become Suckers to Social Engineers?

2010-04-19T18:14:00.001-04:00

By Ken Donofrio, The Idea Network

While listening to one of my weekly tech podcasts, the subject was brought up that America has become a nation of suckers. They didn’t mean the type of sucker you normally think about—like the ones who get taken advantage of when purchasing a product. This sucker—you, me…everybody—has been entranced by the new social landscape’s bevy of games and interactive time-wasters. Farmville is now just one of many.

As the chart below shows, Farmville has steadily been averaging around 82 million active users. Of course, that’s world-wide. But think about this. If it was all Americans, that would be nearly a THIRD of the total population. What have these “social engineers” (the developers) hit on that has made us all lemmings? More after the jump…

The popular theory is that our natural community responsibility instinct is to blame. If you get an email saying that your friend needs you to water their plants for them, wouldn’t you do it? Of course you would. That’s exactly how Farmville has captivated a large percentage of the planet. At least that’s the theory.

I’m interested to see what you think. What IS it that draws us to these things? Are our physical lives so boring and uneventful that we have to supplement them (or in the case of Second Life, replace them) with virtual alternatives?

Leave your theory here (via comment) or post it as a comment under this article’s Facebook post on my wall. I’ll compile the answers and let everyone know the consensus. Be sure to share this on your Facebook wall. Let’s see how many theories we can drum-up! Thanks for playing!

The Jay Leno Rule of Social Media

2010-04-17T10:57:00.001-04:00

By Steve Rubel

I am a big believer in using stories and visuals to convey a message. My teammate David Armano is helping me with the latter. Here's a metaphor that I have been using with our clients that might be helpful to you. Some businesses have a Twitter or Facebook presence or a blog, yet they're not getting the kind of activity or engagement they hope to receive. This is understandable and a common problem. There's a lot of competition for attention. But one night I was watching the Tonight Show and it hit me. From that point on I started talking about "The Jay Leno Rule of Social Media." It's simple and it works.

If you think about it, the celebrity slots on The Tonight Show are pretty formulaic: guest walks on; guest engages/yucks it up with Jay about broad human interest topics (life stories, current affairs, etc.); guest promotes his/her book, movie, TV show, event, shows a clip, etc.; guest moves down the couch; rise, repeat, wash. This has been the script for decades, going all the way back to Jack Parr.

It struck me that this is a great model for any company hoping to build relationships through social media. The "Jay Leno Rule" is deceptively simple and easy to implement. Basically, here's how it works...

If you want to get people to care about what you're selling, you have first to get them engaged by being informative and/or entertaining. In short, you need to get us interested in what you - a brand, an NGO, an individual - have to say beyond your domain. Such pathways to engagement include stories, humor, links to interesting information, ideas, questions and participating in other discussions (e.g. Follow Friday, etc.) Then, once you get us hooked, it's easier talk about what you want to sell us. We'll be more receptive.

This isn't rocket science. In reality, it's human relations 101 - but it's something a lot of companies forget. After all, most marketers focus on themselves and what they want to say.

Mint is a company that does this quite well. They embrace the Jay Leno Rule. Mint has a great blog that shares lots of tidbits that encourage financial well-being. Then, once in awhile, they interrupt the flow with product news. It's simple and gets me reading more.

Simple enough, yet effective, right?

Facebook tightens its grip on the mighty Google - Times Online

2010-03-21T10:48:00.000-04:00

This is an important article for everyone to read. It gives great insight on the current status of the web.

Larry Page turns 37 on Friday. The billionaire co-founder of Google has a lot to celebrate. In 12 years he and his business partner Sergey Brin have created one of the most powerful companies on the planet, seen off rivals big and small, and emerged as the kings of the internet.

Life in the digital world, however, moves quickly. Last week Page and Brin’s crown passed — for who knows how long — to a 26-year-old rival who has every intention of keeping it.

Hitwise, the internet industry tracker, announced that Facebook had dethroned Google as the world’s most popular website. For the week ending March 13, the social networking site set up by wunderkind Mark Zuckerberg got more traffic than Google in America. It was a milestone likely to be revisited as Facebook and Google limber up for what looks set to be this decade’s defining technology battle.

“Google must feel very threatened by Facebook,” said one leading Silicon Valley entrepreneur last week. “It’s the first viable competitor to emerge since they became dominant. They have come at it from different angles, but the bigger Facebook gets, the more they compete.”

Read the full article here:

Facebook tightens its grip on the mighty Google - Times Online7

Study finds few people are 'True Twitter Users'

2010-03-14T04:33:00.001-04:00

Study finds few people are 'True Twitter Users'

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PCWorld ranks AT&T tops in 3G performance test

2010-02-23T20:20:00.000-05:00

We all have something of a need, a need for speed, and while most won't have an opportunity to go all Maverick on some MIG-28s somewhere over the Indian Ocean, we can do our best to get the quickest wireless on offer. Last summer, when we stacked the top four mobile broadband cards against each other, we found that AT&T came out on tops for peak performance, and now nearly a year on PCWorld has come to the same conclusion, finding that Ma Bell offers upload and download speeds that are twice some of the competition. The seven page test splits everything out by city and goes into more details than we'll tire you with here, but do note that all this testing was done in urban areas, so don't forget to double-check the coverage map before you sign the next 24 months of your life away.

[Thanks, A. Dewan]

PCWorld ranks AT&T tops in 3G performance test originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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FCC's 100 Megabits to the Home: What It Means To You

2010-02-17T03:44:00.001-05:00

There's little debate that the United States lags behind other industrialized nations in high-speed Internet use. According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), more than 100 million Americans don't have broadband at home because they either can't get it, can't afford it, or aren't aware of its benefits. Some 65 percent of U.S. households have broadband, a far lower adoption rate than in other technologically advanced countries such as Singapore (88 percent) or South Korea (95 percent).

And that's why FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski is proposing a National Broadband Plan that would greatly widen the data pipe to most American homes. Speaking in Washington D.C. on Tuesday at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners conference, Genachowski set an ambitious goal: His “100 Squared” initiative would bring 100-megabit-per-second broadband to 100 million U.S. households by 2020.

Pipe Dream?
Is the 100 Squared plan doable? It depends on whom you ask. Qwest Communications CEO Edward Mueller tells Reuters that not only is the plan is unrealistic, but that consumers don't want 100-Mbps broadband. But at DSL Reports, blogger Karl Bode writes that not only are home broadband speeds of 100-Mbps very feasible within 10 years, they'll arrive whether or not the FCC gets involved.

It's true that home broadband providers are busily upgrading their networks to enable faster connections. Verizon's FiOS Network could easily bring 100-Mbps service to the home, and cable companies are implementing the DOCSIS 3.0 spec to achieve similar goals. Comcast's Extreme 50 Service, for instance, currently offers download speeds as fast as 50 megabits per second. At AT&T, there's a broadband Uverse package with 24-Mbps downloads. Add these efforts together, and it's a reasonable assumption that 100-Mbps broadband in the home could happen within ten years.

Will it reach 100 million homes? That's questionable. Certainly, consumers would benefit greatly from increased competition in the home broadband market — something better than today's telco-cable duopoly.

Don't Forget Google
Google is planning a series of "experimental" fiber optic networks designed to bring blazingly fast 1-gigabit-per-second broadband — yes, that's 10 times faster than the FCC plan — to a small number of U.S. communities. While no one's suggesting that 1-gig service will go mainstream anytime soon, a successful Google broadband implementation would no doubt boost consumer demand for broadband service that far exceeds today's relatively poky DSL and cable modem connections.

Do we need 100-Megabit or 1-gigabit broadband? Absolutely. This is one of those build-it-and-they-will-come scenarios. "They," in this case, are the online applications that require faster broadband than what's currently available.

Genachowski points out that various Internet apps that aren't feasible today, such as numerous health care and educational uses, would be enabled by ubiquitous, super-fast broadband. I'd also add that the growing popularity of movie-streaming services such as Netflix, VUDU, and Amazon On Demand, are a good indication that consumer demand for a faster Internet will only continue to grow.

Contact Jeff Bertolucci via Twitter (@jbertolucci ) or at jbertolucci.blogspot.com

- Posted from my iPhone

Facebook Is the Web’s Ultimate Timesink [STATS]

2010-02-17T02:34:00.001-05:00

The average U.S. Internet user spends more time on Facebook than on Google, Yahoo, YouTube, Microsoft, Wikipedia, and Amazon combined. Think about that for a moment.

New numbers released by Nielsen today confirm what we've known for a while: Facebook is the web's #1 time sink. What's more interesting though is just how much more time we spend on the world's largest social network today than we did 6 months ago.

Back in June 2009, Nielsen estimated that the average U.S. user spent 4 hours and 39 minutes on Facebook per month. That's about 9.3 minutes per day in a 30 day month. In August, that number rose to 5 hours and 46 minutes, or 11.5 minutes per day.

In January 2010 though, the amount of time the average person spent on Facebook jumped to over 7 hours. Each American Facebook user spent an average of 421 minutes on Facebook per month, which amounts to over 14 minutes per day. Even if you lump together the time spent on Google (1:23), Yahoo (2:09), YouTube (1:02), Microsoft/Bing (1:35) Wikipedia (0:15), and Amazon (0:22), it still doesn't beat Facebook.

As you can see from the tables above, there are a few other interesting stats (the average number of websites people visited rose by 8.4%, while the amount of time people were on the PC went down by 8.2%), but the clear story seems to be Facebook's still-meteoric rise.

How much more time can we sink into Facebook? Let us know what you think in the commments.

Rev...

Study Suggests There's a "Texting While Walking" Epidemic Too [Texting]

2010-01-17T12:50:00.001-05:00

Study Suggests There's a "Texting While Walking" Epidemic Too [Texting]

Forget the grisly effects of texting while driving for a moment, if you can. Instead, focus on a new epidemic, one that's admittedly much sillier than the driving one, but no less dangerous. Ladies and gents, meet texting while walking:

Slightly more than 1,000 pedestrians visited emergency rooms in 2008 because they got distracted and tripped, fell or ran into something while using a cellphone to talk or text. That was twice the number from 2007, which had nearly doubled from 2006, according to a study conducted by Ohio State University, which says it is the first to estimate such accidents. [New York Times]

Yes, folks, the situation is so bad that there are now studies on it. There are reports of concussions, sprained ankles and broken appendages, not to mention the countless number of people who hurt nothing but their pride by walking into a parked car and never went to an ER (happens all the time, apparently). Darwin Award winners are not far behind.

Of course, there's a larger trend here, of which walking while texting is but a small part. It goes by many names: multitasking, information overload, a Gizmodo weekday writer's normal schedule. Whatever you call it, neuroscientists, cognitive researchers and other professionals are now actively studying its impact on our gray matter. So far, it's bad. Basically, talking on a cellphone takes up so much of our attention it's overwhelming ever-important things like, say, our survival instincts. Yes, say researchers, that conversation with your bro about the next Android OS is higher on the pecking order than keeping an eye out for that oncoming train or approaching light pole.

That said, a number of the people interviewed for this story were texting while walking, sure, but they were also flirting or talking with their significant other at the time of the accident. Seems to me the whole texting thing may be a boon to the species after all. Or not. [MSNBC]

Watch Out for the New Craigslist Scam

2010-01-15T09:41:00.002-05:00

by Ken Donofrio

This is the first time some spam got through one of my email accounts that really made me think, “hey, this one could really do some damage.”

A lot of my friends—and clients--are on Craigslist, the popular free classified service, now owned (in part) by eBay. They advertise everything from trade services to solar energy, and they get a lot of attention. The site works. (It’s free, why wouldn’t it?)

In order to advertise a service on CL, you have to create and verify an account. You have to use that account—which you verify by phone—to post. That’s why this latest email scam made me realize a lot of people could get hurt. This is the body of the email (I disabled the link):

__________________________________________________________

Subject: Important NOTICE: Registration Suspension

Important Craigslist Information
We recently have determined that different computers have logged into your account, and multiple password failures were present before the login. Therefore your account has been blocked.

To avoid deletion of your Craigslist account please Sign In :

Click here to confirm your Craigslist account.

Thanks,
Craigslist team

_____________________________________________________

At first, they had me. That was, until I realized that I had never set up an account. The link was pointing to somewhere in Thailand, I think, and would probably have landed me in trojan horse hell.

Please let your friends that use CL know this scam is out there.
It could prevent a weekend of computer hell.

THIS JUST IN!

This is so funny… Conan Obrien Puts the Tonight Show Up for Sale on Craigslist!

Google Reacts To Nexus One Complaints. A Lesson in Customer Service.

2010-01-12T14:41:00.004-05:00

Google's web-only model has worked well in the world of web-based services, but has already begin to fail out in the real world. Here's a lesson about customer service EVERYONE should read.

With complaints about its online-only support for the new Nexus One smartphone piling up, Google said it is moving as quickly as possible to address customer dissatisfaction.

By Antone Gonsalves
InformationWeek
January 12, 2010 09:52 AM

With complaints about its online-only support for the new Nexus One smartphone piling up, Google said it is moving as quickly as possible to address customer dissatisfaction. The company's support forum is loaded with complaints about spotty 3G coverage from carrier partner T-Mobile, a lack of information on delivery status after a phone is purchased and getting the run around when customers call T-Mobile and HTC for help.

The issues appear to be less about the Nexus One itself and more about Google's online-only approach to support. Customers can only buy the device and get support online, mostly through help forums, which Google monitors.

Read the whold story here

Facebook, Twitter Becoming Business Tools, But CIOs Remain Wary

2010-01-12T08:07:00.002-05:00

Will 2010 be the year Facebook and Twitter take over the business world? The social networks are growing in popularity by the day, both for personal and business use, yet many IT and business executives remain wary of the risks posed by the online services and skeptical about potential benefits.

Read entire story at MacWorld.

Eureka Earthquake: Twitter Pics Tell the Story [PHOTOS]

2010-01-09T21:57:00.003-05:00

We're in a new world, where there's no longer a wait for news. Today it's instantaneous with services like Twitter. The picture above hit the service literally minutes after the quake. Even CNN had to interrupt Campbell Brown to tell the story. But even then...they weren't THERE. It was almost non-news on all of the 24/7 cable news networks. No big deal. Fox barely covered it at first. Twitter was first...again.

Eureka Earthquake: Twitter Pics Tell the Story [PHOTOS]

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How Social Media and the Web Helped Avatar Make $1 Billion

2010-01-09T11:51:00.002-05:00

The Simulcam and Fusion 3D camera inventions were not the only technologies that made James Cameron’s Sci-Fi epic Avatar a massive box office success. While smaller films have used social media to spread the word guerrilla-style, no other major blockbuster has employed a full-on social web marketing assault quite like Avatar.
The results in its case were a $232 million opening weekend, a total of one billion dollars in revenue by year’s end, and the rank of #2 highest grossing film of all time. Cameron’s $500 million act of hubris has paid off. Here’s an outline of the social media moves Avatar’s team made to achieve success.

The Basics: Facebook, Twitter, MySpace

Avatar has its own Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter pages. That’s getting to be standard these days. The 18,000-follower Twitter account has tellingly not been updated since a few days after the film’s theatrical release; once the word was out, the job was done. While it was active, though, its followers would retweet updates to their followers, who (if interested) would do the same, spreading the word all over the web. The Facebook Page is even more impressive, with over 700,000 fans.
Facebook’s updated Page features make it the place to be for brands seeking exposure. The site allows brands to push updates to fans. Those fans see the updates in their personal news feeds, and they can then share them with others, just like on Twitter. Avatar’s Facebook Page is also where the MTV-hosted live webcast was hosted — more on that later.

Reinventing the Movie Trailer Online

Granted, Avatar wasn’t the first film to take its trailer in a new direction for the web. It actually wasn’t first at any of these things, but an expansive strategy combining many of the best existing ideas was what made the film’s social media campaign a success.
It started out with something a lot of movies do now: an Apple trailer debut, announced on Twitter. Anticipation was high enough that the servers struggled to get the video out to everyone who wanted it. A second trailer rolled out a month later. The web trailers gained additional buzz when fans remixed them and mashed them up with other movies, something that the folks behind the Avatar marketing machine smartly didn’t interfere with.
It was yet another trailer that impressed us the most, though. An interactive trailer was presented as an Adobe Air application. It required a download, but it was worth it for Avatar fans. They could see featured content and they could read the latest social media updates about the movie from within the trailer. The stunt got press coverage and word-of-mouth buzz.

The Facebook and MTV Webcast

On December 3, MTV.com put together an Facebook-hosted, LG-sponsored webcast called “Avatar Live.” Director James Cameron, producer Jon Landau, and stars Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana were interviewed by MTV News’ Josh Horowitz, but the questions were submitted by fans in the days leading up to the event.
The 30-minute interview might have been the most glamorous webcast to date; you just don’t see that many huge Hollywood names sit down to take questions from Internet fans all at once. Though community engagement from a director at that level is quite rare, we were reminded of Peter Jackson’s almost-daily video updates from the sets of The Lord of the Rings.
In both cases, people who didn’t know much about the films tuned in and were sold on them. Existing fans became more passionate about spreading the word and showing up on opening night.

Broadcasting the Premiere Live On Ustream

The red carpet premiere of Avatar was broadcast live to web audiences on video streaming web site Ustream. Apart from the tech media coverage this got, we’re not sure how much this helped put bums in the seats, and the Twilight saga’s New Moon had already done the same thing, but it was neat. Any way you can expose audiences to your film certainly helps.
The broadcast’s sponsor was MySpace, so it reached an audience that might have been missed on Facebook. Fans could watch the video on the film’s MySpace page in addition to the Ustream website. The red carpet premiere came a week before the film hit theaters, so this was just one more way to generate buzz and get press in the final days leading up to the movie’s release.

Do you have any insights about promoting films and other media on the web? What are the best practices? Let us know in the comments.

Reviews: Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, adobe AIR, twilight, ustream
Tags: 3D, Adobe Air, avatar, facebook, Film, films, james cameron, MARKETING, mtv, myspace, social media, trailer, trending, twitter, ustream

Palm CEO: “I’ve Never Used an iPhone”

2010-01-09T11:47:00.000-05:00

Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein came out with an utterly unbelievable line during an interview at CES today, claiming he’d never used an iPhone.

Rubinstein, named a geek of the year 2009 by Fast Company, lives in the shadow of Apple’s hugely successful smartphone as Palm struggles to return to its former glory.

But the Palm boss is dismissive of his competitor, conducting this exchange with All Things D’s Kara Swisher at the Consumer Electronics Show:

Rubinstein: “We don’t pay that much attention to Apple….I know it sounds really strange”
Swisher: “Really? You don’t worry about the iPhone?”
Rubinstein: “No, I really don’t”
Swisher: “I don’t believe you”
Rubinstein: “I don’t have an iPhone. I’ve never even used one.”

Somehow that doesn’t pass muster. We can’t wait for the video of the interview to turn up online.

[image credit: AllThingsD]

Tags: CES, CES 2010, iphone, palm, trending

What to Watch in 2010: Social TV.

2009-12-02T10:35:00.002-05:00

It was only a matter of time--and we all knew it was coming. Maybe not so fast though. Great story on what's next.

http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/30/social-networking-tv-cmo-network-steve-rubel.html

Google Voice: Free Calling Has Arrived

2009-11-17T12:30:00.001-05:00

Free phone calling is finally here, and Google is leading the charge.
by John C. Dvorak

When I wrote a story about various VOIP initiatives a decade ago, nearly every expert I spoke to spouted the same prediction: within 10 years, all phone calls will be free.

The rationale behind the pronouncement was that the wires and systems used for phone calls will eventually be used to transfer data, just like everything else. You don't get charged for visiting a Web page, so why get charged for making a phone call, if both are essentially data? The prediction seems like a sound one, but tradition stood in the way.

One product leads the way in the realization of this prediction: Google Voice. I use the service for al of my domestic long distance calling. I pay nothing, and the calls are routed over normal phone lines and dedicated VOIP networks, rather than the Internet.

Some years ago, my family got tired of AT&T's billing practices, so we discontinued all long distance service, opting to use calling cards. It was inconvenient to dial in lengthy calling card numbers, but once memorized, it was a better solution than having a pricey long distance phone service. The system saved us about 80 percent in long distance fees. AT&T kept re-installing long distance, and we kept fighting them. The company finally gave up, but it insisted that we pay for service that we never ordered. The more dealings I had with AT&T, the more I hated its sleazy business practices. The company is the main reason I refuse to get on the iPhone bandwagon.

A number of voice-over-the-Internet and call-back technologies have appeared over the years. It was just a matter of time before they were consolidated by a company with the clout to push the technology into the mainstream, the way Google has with Google Voice.

As the product continues to expand, I can see a number of scenarios play out. Google Voice is a nearly-complete solution to phone management. All that's missing is free calling overseas. Once a Google Voice-like service appears in a European country, you can be sure that peering will link the two services. Other companies will soon take the hint, and we will eventually see free calls over normal phone lines throughout Europe.

Europeans seem even more intent on this sort of thing than we do. Skype first appeared over there and became popular before arriving in the US. Everyone in the tech scene had an account and were using them to byass the nation phone system. Many voice on cell phone WiFi connection technologies were developed there, as well.

Now that Google is behind the latest push for free calls, the whole process will likely be accelerated worldwide. Soon enough we'll all be wondering why the whole process took so long, and why Google had to be behind it. Where was Microsoft? Or IBM? What about the almighty Apple? None of the CBG (Came Before Google) companies seem to have any telecom vision whatsoever.

Google entered the phone business with Android. The company saw Google Voice as the next logical step in the evolution of its it telephony business. There's even a Google Voice Android app that gives Google phones a cost-cutting edge. Of all of the major players in the phone space—Nokia, Ericsson, Sony, Samsung, Apple, Motorola—only Google thought of this idea? Ericsson has been in the phone switch business and knew the writing was on the wall. What were they thinking? Nokia was working on all sorts of mesh-technologies, saw thing coming, and did nothing?

The notion of the IP routed free phone call has been openly discussed for a decade or more. You have to wonder if Google is the only company out there that is actually on the ball. It's as if they have zero competition in the ideas department. Apple has a lock on handsome designs and the cool factor, and Microsoft has a lock on the mainstream OS, because it understands the concept of legacy computing. But who is as aggressive as Google?

Yahoo might have been able to create such a service, but the company lost its way when it went Hollywood under Terry Semel, and it has failed to reset itself. Yahoo could have done Google Voice.

Once it dawns on everyone what Google has really done here, you can be sure mediocre clones from companies like Microsoft will suddenly appear. But those products will almost certainly be polluted with notions like "free phone calls for $10 a month!" and other idiocies.

Once again Google has managed to make other tech companies look foolish. It's a recurring theme.

The Death of the Newspaper - The Stats!

2009-09-25T09:41:00.002-04:00

Check out these statistics. This graphic puts it all in perspective!

http://www.mint.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/MINT-DEATH-OF-NEWS-R2.png

The article from The Mint is here: The Death of the Newspaper

White Paper: Engaging the New Influencers

2009-09-08T09:45:00.000-04:00

Download now or preview on posterous

2009 NMAS White Paper - Engaging the New Influencers FINAL.pdf (2442 KB)

One of the most remarkable things my employer does is host a world-class summit for academics every year on new media. We do so even in downturns, like the one we're in now.

This year's event, which featured both industry and academic insights, was held in Washington in June. Edelman just released a white paper summarizing the day, which you can download or peruse below. Videos from the event have been posted as well. I highly recommend the read. The event included representatives from GE, McDonald's, UPS, eBay, Humana, Starbucks, AstraZeneca, The Lance Armstrong Foundation, Whirlpool, the Mayo Clinic and many more companies and NGOs. I am featured in the wrap-up section on what's next.

AT&T to Launch MMS for iPhone September 25

2009-09-08T09:33:00.000-04:00

AT&T has announced that on September 25, it will roll out a software update that finally adds support for MMS messages for iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS customers.

One of the longstanding complaints from iPhone customers has been the lack of MMS support. For a revolutionary phone, you’d think such a standard would be readily supported. Although Apple added MMS support in its 3.0 software (see our guide) in June, the one caveat was “if your carrier supports it.”

AT&T cites projected data usage as part of the reason for the delay.

Here’s the company’s statement:

“We know many of our iPhone customers are eager for an update on our rollout schedule for Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS). We’ve been working for the past several months to prepare our systems and network to ensure the best possible experience with MMS when it launches – and that launch date is: September 25 for iPhone 3G and 3GS customers. MMS will be enabled through a software update on that day.

We know that iPhone users will embrace MMS. The unique capabilities and high usage of the iPhone’s multimedia capabilities required us to work on our network MMS architecture to carry the expected record volumes of MMS traffic and ensure an excellent experience from Day One. We appreciate your patience as we work toward that end.

We’re riding the leading edge of smartphone growth that’s resulted in an explosion of traffic over the AT&T network. Wireless use on our network has grown an average of 350 percent year-over-year for the past two years, and is projected to continue at a rapid pace in 2009 and beyond. The volume of smartphone data traffic the AT&T network is handling is unmatched in the wireless industry. We want you to know that we’re working relentlessly to innovate and invest in our network to anticipate this growth in usage and to stay ahead of the anticipated growth in data demand, new devices and applications for years to come.”

How do you plan to celebrate the ability to use MMS?

Tags: apple, att, iphone

Psychologist: Facebook Makes You Smarter, Twitter Makes You Dumber

2009-09-08T09:24:00.000-04:00

Of course, it’s not that simple; but if you believe Dr Tracy Alloway from the University of Stirling in Scotland, Twitter and Facebook are very different beasts when it comes to improve your “working memory“, which relates to “the structures and processes used for temporarily storing and manipulating information in short-term memory.”

Dr. Alloway has developed a working memory training programme for slow-learning children aged 11 to 14 at a school in Durham, and she found out that Facebook did wonders for working memory, improving the kids’ IQ scores, while YouTube and Twitter’s steady stream of information was not healthy for working memory. Also, playing video games, especially those that involve planning and strategy, can also be beneficial.

As with any such study, one needs to take the results with a grain of salt. Without going into the benefits of training working memory for improving your IQ results, it’s obvious that Facebook and Twitter are hard to compare. Facebook is extremely versatile: you can play games there, chat with your friends, view photos and videos; you can even take IQ tests.

Twitter is a much simpler, more streamlined service. Does that fact alone makes it detrimental to your working memory? Dr. Alloway claims: “On Twitter you receive an endless stream of information, but it’s also very succinct. You don’t have to process that information. Your attention span is being reduced and you’re not engaging your brain and improving nerve connections.” That may be true, and while looking at Twitter like a zombie for the better part of the day is probably bad for you, if you mix it up with other online activities – such as Facebook – I doubt you’ll see any negative effects.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, mpabild

Reviews: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, iStockphoto

Tags: facebook, IQ, memory, twitter

11 p.m. is officially party time on the Internet

2009-09-03T08:48:00.000-04:00

A new study has determined that Internet usage is highest at 11 p.m. Eastern Time. Although there's a big jump around 4 p.m. - people at work getting bored, probably - and a gradual increase in traffic starting at 8, it turns out that 11 is peak time. I can definitely speculate about what so many people might be doing online at that hour of the night, but it turns out that I don't have to. The study looked at that, too. If you guessed 'porn,' you're right! Traffic for pornography (and Internet video in general) plays a big part in the 11 p.m. spike.

While YouTube viewing is at its highest around midnight, gaming peaks at 8 and stays strong until 11. The study's authors speculate that's because a high number of World of Warcraft raids are planned around those times. No word from 7-11 on whether sales of Funyuns and Mtn. Dew see a big increase around 7. The study seems to have used a large enough sample to be reliable: the participating ISPs account for about half of North American traffic.

Wondering if a Lot of People are Using Gmail?: Outage Causes a Google Frenzy

2009-09-03T08:36:00.000-04:00

Like most bloggers and news watchers, we like to keep our eyes on Google Trends to see what the world is currently searching for. As we all know by now, Gmail went down earlier today and inconvenienced a majority of Gmail users for an extended period time.

In a somewhat ironic twist of fate, the world was turning to Google for answers about the downtime — so much so that for a window of time, 18 of the top 20 US searches on Google were queries related to Gmail being down.

Rarely does any news, regardless of how monumental, become a Google Trend so many times over. It seems as if the world stopped to search about Gmail issues:

Of course, Gmail is up again, but the frenzy of Google searches on its status certainly proves how widespread the outage was, and how many millions of people were affected. We’ve never seen anything quite like it. At the very least, now we know that Gmail extends well beyond the social media realm in terms of users and influence.

Reviews: Gmail, Google

Tags: gmail, gmail down, gmail outage, google trends

Thieves Clean Out an Apple Store in 31 Seconds

2009-09-03T08:31:00.000-04:00

Have you ever thought about just how much stuff is on display in an Apple store? Those Macbook, iPhones, and iPods are probably worth hundred of thousands of dollars. Apple products aren’t cheap, after all.

Maybe that’s why these crooks targeted an Apple store in Marlton, New Jersey for a seemingly well-plan heist. The result was that five men were able to nab 23 Macbook Pros, 14 iPhones, and 9 iPod Touches. The kicker? The thieves were able to steal all of this stuff in exactly 31 seconds.

Video obtained by WPVI-TV highlights the tremendous efficiency of the operation. They quickly broke the glass and grabbed a range of Apple gadgets in speedy fashion, all while threatening a security guard with a possible firearm. Their faces were also covered to elude identification by the security tape. These are not your ordinary crooks.

If You're Still Using Internet Explorer 6, You're Stealing Food from Starving People [Microsoft]

2009-09-01T16:19:00.000-04:00

For every copy of Internet Explorer 8 downloaded from here, Microsoft donates $1.15 to Feeding America—but if you upgrade from IE6, they'll double their donation. Even if you switch to Firefox immediately, help give Microsoft's money away: [BrowserFortheBetter]

BREAKING: Disney to Acquire Marvel for $4 Billion

2009-08-31T12:07:00.001-04:00

The Walt Disney Company has announced it will acquire Marvel Entertainment, Inc. in a stock and cash transaction worth 4 billion dollars.

Disney will pay Marvel shareholders a $30 per share, plus approximately 0.745 Disney shares for each Marvel share they own, based on the closing price of Disney on August 28, 2009. What makes this deal huge, as far as content goes, is the fact that under the terms of the deal, Disney will acquire ownership of not only Marvel itself, but also over than 5,000 Marvel characters. Disney will now benefit from any movie or a game based on characters such as Iron Man, Spider-Man, X-Men and many others; extending its reach to the young male population it had somewhat neglected will definitely be good for the entertainment giant.

Ike Perlmutter, Marvel’s Chief Executive Officer said that “Disney is the perfect home for Marvel’s fantastic library of characters given its proven ability to expand content creation and licensing businesses.”

“This transaction combines Marvel’s strong global brand and world-renowned library of characters including Iron Man, Spider-Man, X-Men, Captain America, Fantastic Four and Thor with Disney’s creative skills, unparalleled global portfolio of entertainment properties, and a business structure that maximizes the value of creative properties across multiple platforms and territories,” said Robert A. Iger, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company.

Read the official announcement here.

Tags: disney, Marvel

Bob Dylan to mumble GPS directions?

2009-08-26T09:51:00.000-04:00

When it comes to enunciation, Bob Dylan falls somewhere between Scooby Doo and Miss Teen USA South Carolina. But people love their celebrities (and irony) so even Dylan could have a bright future in GPS navigation voiceover work. Mr. Zimmerman admitted to "talking to a couple of car companies about the possibility of being the voice of their GPS system," during his late-night BBC radio show. Naturally, it will happen with all the press he's received. And when it does you'll be on you own with no direction home, dig?

Filed under: GPS, Transportation

Bob Dylan to mumble GPS directions? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Aug 2009 03:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Schwarzenegger Launches Twitter Powered MyIdea4CA

2009-08-25T20:29:00.002-04:00

via Mashable! by Jennifer Van Grove on 8/25/09

California is by no means the perfect state. Case in point, the ongoing budget crisis, which ultimately makes Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's job as the public face of the state difficult at best, with anything he says or does open to immediate ridicule.

Given the very public nature of his role and his many critics, you would think that Governor Schwarzenegger would shy away from social media and the risks associated with it. But like many other politicians, the Governor has instead embraced communication opportunities available via Twitter (@Schwarzenegger) to not only connect with residents but elicit feedback he intends to put to use.

Today, the Governor is turning his Twitter power into a channel to officially collect and harness ideas from other Twitterers interested in contributing to California change. The new initiative, MyIdea4CA, is a Twitter forum that pulls in tweets using the hashtag #myidea4CA, and creates a space where people can vote on the ideas they like, leave comments, and share their own ideas.

In conjunction with the site launch, we were able to interview the Governor on his social media outlook, the MyIdea4CA site and idea evaluating process, learn about the background behind it, and the Governor's forward-thinking social media initiatives.

MyIdea4CA Overview

On June 9, 2009 the Governor tweeted, "I love public participation so I want to hear your ideas for solving our budget, no matter how radical. Use #myidea4CA."

That tweet created a Twittersphere raucous where responses flooded in, with over 1,000 replies in the first hour. The tweet also resulted in mainstream media news coverage, and ultimately inspired the Governor and his new media team to build a site where people could share ideas, vote on the ideas they like or dislike, and add comments. The idea evolved into MyIdea4CA and they're officially launching it to the public today.

There aren't too many bells and whistles, but the basic idea is that your #myidea4CA tweet will be pulled into the site, with additional hashtags used to categorize tweets, for the general public and California government to review and consider (based on popularity). Comments are powered by Disqus, and you can filter tweets by category to find ideas you think will move California forward.

Governor Schwarzenegger on MyIdea4CA

Of course we had to wonder how engaged the Governor would be with the site, so we took the opportunity to ask him about his involvement, how ideas will be implemented, and the general process for managing the influx of Twitter ideas. Here are our questions and answers verbatim:

Q. How actively will you be monitoring the Twitter ideas shared through MyIdea4CA?

I have always been active in looking at ideas sent to me from my Twitter followers, so the MyIdea4CA website will be an even easier way to stay on top of this process.

Q. How do you see the process working once an idea becomes popular amongst the community? What steps will you take to implement good ideas?

There are many different types of ideas and they are all great places to begin discussions on how to move California forward. The conversation surrounding these ideas will add value and allow us to see all sides of an issue and identify new ways to approach the situation. When I see a good idea that we can use, I won't need a set of steps to move on it; we'll roll it out immediately.

Q. Is the focus primarily to find ideas to solve California's budget problem, or are you looking for ideas on all state matters, like transportation, and if so, how will these be shared with their respective departments?

Ideas are categorized in eighteen sections that cover a diverse range of issues from education to water management, and because it is a public forum, everyone working in those respective areas will have access to it.

Q. If an idea is implemented, will you give credit to the Twitter user that submitted it?

Absolutely. What is so wonderful about Twitter is that it is a direct dialog with people. I'll take this opportunity here to thank one more time @RyanStothard for his suggestion to me to sign car visors for our car garage sale. You can see me signing those car sun visors in photos I've posted through Twitter.

Governor Schwarznegger on Social Media

The Governor's social media efforts have been newsworthy at times. From the initial tweet with the #myidea4CA hashtag, to the TwitVid.io (the site is now called Vidly) where he brandishes a knife, we asked the Governor to go on the record about lessons learned from his foray into social media (the answer about the knife is certainly worth a read). Here are his candid responses:

Q. You've embraced social media channels for connecting with California residents. What have you learned through your efforts?

What I've learned is that the people of California really appreciate having a dialog where a question is asked and an answer is given, and we don't have to rely on the media to interpret for us.

Q. Are you actively monitoring any particular topics on Twitter?

One of my favorite topics on Twitter has been the #myidea4ca hashtag which was a call for new ideas on the state budget. This really resonated with people and gave everyone the opportunity to share the best of their ideas with me and made it easier to track those ideas.

Q. What are your favorite Twitter apps?

I like to share photos so people can see what I am doing during my day and using the TwitPic service has been good for that.

Q. How do you react to negative feedback that you receive via social media? Do you ever respond to your Twitter critics?

I have been quick to respond when appropriate and to correct misconceptions. I have seen suggestions to cut my staff numbers or for me to take a pay cut as a way to lead by example in this tough economic climate. I've responded through Twitter that my staff has been reduced by 24% since 2007 and that I've never taken a salary for my work. I work for free because California has already given so much to me.

Q. Would you redo the controversial TwitVid.io if you could?

I thought it was great so many people worldwide watched a video where I thanked my Twitter followers for their suggestion that I autograph surplus cars to be auctioned for the state. Had I known holding a large knife would help pull in such big viewership, I might have started all my Hollywood movies that way. I do think the people of California know they elected someone who isn't afraid to have a sense of humor or be a little more entertaining to get a point across. The knife happened to be a gift I had just received that day from a friend and it's now been retired to my home so we'll have to wait and see if it makes any more appearances in future videos.

Q. What are you hoping to accomplish by meeting with the Twitter team?

Twitter has been such a great communication tool for me and the people of California, so I really wanted to take the opportunity to meet the people behind it. This type of entrepreneurial spirit is great for the state of California and the world. We'll be conducting a live question and answer web chat where I'll talk to Biz Stone and Ev Williams and take questions from people on Twitter. One thing I will talk to people about is the California garage sale we'll have Friday which includes all types of surplus state goods including such things as CHP motorcycles. We have an eBay auction going on right now as part of the garage sale that includes cars with sun visors that I have autographed. You can go to www.garagesale.ca.gov to find more information about it.

What's Next for the Governor and Social Media?

MyIdea4CA appears to be just the beginning for the socially savvy Governor. In fact, as the Governor mentions above, tomorrow he is heading to Twitter HQ for a live webcast and question and answer session with Biz Stone and Evan Williams at noon PST, where they'll chat and take questions from viewers via Twitter.

Also on the agenda is a website to create the full picture of the Governor's social media presence. The site is currently in development, but when it launches it will automatically pull in social media conten from Twitter, MyIdea4CA, Tweetcast.in, and TwitPic, as well as highlight the Governor's popular social media activities.

The Governor also has his own custom branded site for webcasts, called Tweetcast.in, where he'll live stream events — like tomorrow's visit to Twitter HQ — and viewers can use the Tweetizen powered discussion section to participate and add their Twitter comments.

Reviews: Disqus, Tweetizen, Twitpic, Twitter

Tags: arnold schwarzenegger, california, governor, myidea4CA, twitter

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Texting While Driving Video: Will Graphic Imagery Change People’s Behavior?

2009-08-25T14:26:00.004-04:00

via Mashable! by Adam Ostrow on 8/25/09

Many of us are guilty of it: texting (or tweeting, or updating our Facebook status) while behind the wheel of a car.

Now, a public service announcement created by the Gwent Police Department in Wales designed to stop teens from doing it is quickly becoming an Internet hit, garnering thousands of views on YouTube, and being featured in a segment on The Today Show this morning (embedded below).

The reason for its viralness has much to do with the graphic nature of the content (the full video is available here). The video features a total of four people being killed – two of the teen driver's friends, and the parents of two children in an oncoming car.

As The Today Show segment explains, some of the video's success is being attributed to parents outside of Wales showing it to their teen drivers. Clearly, however, the video has spread well beyond its intended audience, and may have an impact on behavior at large. Will it change the way you think about texting while driving? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Reviews: Facebook, YouTube

Tags: texting

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Apple’s Social Media Strategy = iTunes?

2009-08-19T20:12:00.003-04:00

Over the weekend, an intriguing report caught our attention: the possibility that iTunes 9 would include integration with Facebook, Twitter, and Last.fm. Now, we have some additional details about that rumor, once again courtesy of The Boy Genius Report.

At the heart of the supposed features is the ability to broadcast what you're listening to, as well as an application – separate from iTunes – that would consolidate all of your social networking profiles. BGR says this app is comparable to Yahoo One Connect, a mobile application that the ~~search~~ media company launched last year.

While playing in the same arena as Facebook (especially post-FriendFeed acquisition) sounds like an unlikely route for Apple, it would clearly make sense for them to allow you to easily broadcast what you're listening to, song purchases, and ratings/reviews to social sites.

One can easily imagine Facebook Connect and Sign-in With Twitter options being added to the product, with status updates that automatically include short links to the music (not to mention movies, tv shows, and apps) that a user is broadcasting about. That would directly translate to additional revenue for Apple, without requiring them to make significant changes to its iTunes strategy. Details, as with most things Apple, are scarce, but this will be a development worth keeping an eye on.

Facebook Phishers Target Notification Messages [ALERT]

2009-08-19T19:32:00.002-04:00

To-date, Facebook phishing scams have mostly targeted users by way of sending suspicious looking messages to your Inbox that direct you to a site that looks like Facebook (see examples here and here). These typically come from friends who have had their username and password stolen by the same site.

While users (well, those who read Mashable anyways) have become familiar with these, a new series of scams adds more confusion to the mix, because it targets users with Facebook notifications that look just like real activities you're used to being notified about.

Security firm Trend Micro explains:

"Using an already compromised account, I loaded up the app page for the malicious app "Posts" today, it immediately messaged my friends with a link to the "Stream" app I have already blogged about. However, when I loaded up the "Stream" App page, it also sent out new messages, the link in the message went to an external (to Facebook) link, which in turn holds a redirection script that pushed me to another new malicious app called "Your Photos" [Other apps spreading the scam include one called "Inbox" and another called "Birthday Notifications"]

The application then goes on to send spam to all your contacts, without asking for permission of course… The notifications sent to friends all point back to the fucabook phishingsite. Worthy of note also is the fact that both malicious applications use the same graphical icon to identify themselves. The icon itself has been lifted from the very familiar and entirely trustworthy Facebook Wall application which most users will be used to seeing in their notifications on a regular basis, adding further surface credibility to the attack."

And here's a screenshot of what such notifications look like:

It's easy to see how this scam could trick even seasoned Facebook users, as Inbox, Birthday Notifications, and Photos all sound lik...

Reader’s Digest Headed For Bankruptcy

2009-08-19T11:35:00.000-04:00

Reader's Digest Headed For Bankruptcy

One of America's most iconic names in print media is set to file for bankruptcy. According to The Wall Street Journal, Reader's Digest has "reached an agreement with its lenders on a restructuring plan that it will likely complete under a prepackaged bankruptcy filing in order to reduce its debt."

While the magazine still has one of the largest circulations in the US, it would appear that the same issues that have recently sunk other print publications – like Vibe and The Seattle Post-Intelligencer – are in play here, with ongoing attempts to improve revenue and cut costs ultimately not going far enough to save the company from bankruptcy.

That said, for now, it appears that Reader's Digest will survive, as the company says in a statement that it will "continue to operate normally throughout the restructuring process." With an incredibly well-known brand, it's unlikely the publication will disappear completely anytime soon, though, like other troubled print media, it may have to take on a much different, more digitally focused approach to survive in the long run.

Tags: magazines, media, print media, reader's digest

Dear iPhone, I'm Sorry...

2009-08-19T00:48:00.000-04:00

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDz8h-TmSdU

Windows Live Writer – A Great Blogging Tool

2009-08-18T20:34:00.001-04:00

I just downloaded and installed Live Writer, part of the suite of tools in the new Windows Live. This post is a test of the tool, and my first impression is, “cool!” It’s extremely easy to navigate and use, and allows you to get everything looking good BEFORE you make a fool out of yourself. This is a picture of me, pointing to my new chin strap…making a fool out of myself. LOL

Anyway, the tool makes it pretty easy and I’m impressed with both the new Windows 7 AND its integration with Windows Live. More on this soon.

7 Good Reasons to Switch to Windows 7

2009-08-18T18:18:00.007-04:00

It's safe to go back to Windows again. Really!

Landing in stores October, Windows 7 is sparking a surprisingly heated debate (in our forums, at least) on whether or not upgrading from XP is a good idea. If you’re in the “nay” camp, we’re going to lay out seven reasons why you should consider switching your stance to “yay.”

When scanning our list, we politely encourage you to ask yourself, “Do I really want to continue using an eight-year-old operating system?” Followed by “Don’t I deserve better?” Because no matter how comfortable you are with XP, you do deserve an OS that’s both newer and better, and Windows 7 will deliver. Not convinced? Then read on.

You Asked for This
Remember Vista? We know most of you don’t want to, and that’s because the OS fell short of many consumers’ expectations. As a result, many — especially power users — elected to skip Vista entirely, and have continued running Windows XP. Hence Microsoft’s attempt at a redo with Windows 7. This time around, the software giant made an effort to crowdsource feedback from Microsoft enthusiasts by distributing a free beta version of Windows 7 in January.

You complained, you demanded and in response Microsoft slapped something together to ship October 22. The result? The overall presentation of Windows 7 is familiar enough to welcome XP users, but fundamentally it’s different enough to make you change the way you think of Microsoft. (I can vouch for that, being a long-time Mac user/ex-Windows fan).

Read More at Wired:

7 Good Reasons to Switch to Windows 7

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Google Street View Adds More International Coverage

2009-08-18T15:06:00.000-04:00

Note from the Idea Man: After clicking on the link...be sure to watch the video of the Google Geek on the bike filming stonehenge. It's classic.

Google Street View Adds More International Coverage: "Google’s effort to photograph every corner of the earth – better known as Google Street View – is already fairly far reaching in the US and in parts of Europe. Now, a few additional countries are being added to the mix, namely Taiwan, Portugal, and Switzerland.
Additionally, the Google MapsGoogle Maps team announced that they’re now collecting imagery from private property (with permission). So far, additions include Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca,Thunderhill Raceway Park, San Diego State University and LEGOLAND California.

GoogleGoogle also took the opportunity to further familiarize us with their “Trike,” a tricycle-like apparatus being used for photographing some harder to reach places. The company explains:
“To be able to explore more pedestrian-focused areas, such as a campus, we’re using a new platform called the trike, a bicycle-based version of a Street View system. With the trike, it gets us almost anywhere the car doesn’t fit. You can see that the trikes resemble an ice cream cart a bit.
It uses the same camera system we have on our cars, but we’ve transplanted it onto the trike. It’s built onto a 3-wheeled bicycle base and we’ve added a few of our own tweaks. We’ve gone through a few versions to get to where we are now; the first one came in at 500lbs, and the newest version has slimmed down to 300lbs. Believe me, our riders are very happy about that.”"

Think You Can Really Text While Driving? Try This Test

2009-08-07T09:05:00.000-04:00

Think You Can Really Text While Driving? Try This Test

The New York Times has created a game that lets you test if you really are capable of texting while driving. Don't try this at home. (Via Dwight Silverman)

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Atheist challenges ‘In God We Trust’ motto - Life- msnbc.com

2009-08-06T14:38:00.000-04:00

Atheist challenges ‘In God We Trust’ motto - Life- msnbc.com: "SAN FRANCISCO - An atheist who has spent four years trying to ban the Pledge of Allegiance from being recited in public schools is now challenging the motto printed on U.S. currency because it refers to God.
Michael Newdow seeks to remove “In God We Trust” from U.S. coins and dollar bills, claiming in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday that the motto is an unconstitutional endorsement of religion.
Newdow, a Sacramento doctor and lawyer, used a similar argument when he challenged the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools because it contains the words “under God.”"

Live Vote: Should ‘In God We Trust’ be yanked? - Faith- msnbc.com

2009-08-06T14:32:00.000-04:00

Live Vote: Should ‘In God We Trust’ be yanked? - Faith- msnbc.com

A Google Wave reality check

2009-07-31T17:16:00.001-04:00

This (and tools like it) are the future, my friends.

Sent to you via Google Reader

A Google Wave reality check

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--Lars Rasmussen sighed, half an hour into a demonstration of Google Wave, the company's audacious attempt to reinvent Internet communication: we'd found another bug.

Rasmussen had patiently worked around other minor bugs during the demo Tuesday at Google's headquarters, but when images dragged into a wave wouldn't load properly, he asked his brother Jens, seated at the conference room table, to get an engineer on the issue right away. It's about two months before Google opens up Wave access to a larger audience, and there is a ton of work to be done.

Google's Lars Rasmussen demonstrated Wave for the first time in May, and is now focused on stamping out the bugs.

(Credit: James Martin/CNET)

Google Wave was unveiled in May at the Google I/O Developer conference, and dazzled attendees with its goal: a combination of real-time communication with social-networking and search capabilities built into a familiar interface. Wave is more than just an in-box on steroids, however. It's also a communications platform that developers can use to build their own applications, something that many were excited about in the early hours of Wave's life on the public stage.

Behind the scenes, the reality is sobering for the Rasmussens and the 6,000 or so people actively using Wave. Job No. 1 for the brothers Rasmussen--who are managing the Google Wave project--is making sure Wave is stable enough to accommodate 100,000 new users that will start doing the Wave after September 30, when Google opens up the limited preview to a wider audience.

At the moment, around 25 percent of all Wave sessions end in a crash, Lars said. That's obviously not acceptable and, in an ironic twist, the highest priority bug on Google Wave at the moment involves search.

"I would imagine in six months this will be fast, slick, stable and usable," Lars said. "Right now, you have to be a super early adopter (to use Wave). By September 30, an early adopter."

Wave has been in the works for about two and a half years. The original prototype--constructed in nine months to pitch the concept to CEO Eric Schmidt and co-founders Sergey...

Creative Advertisements Around The World: "An advertisement by Jung von Matt/Alster for watchmaker IWC. Bus straps have been fashioned from images of IWC’s Big Pilot’s Watch to allow bus travellers near the airport to try before they buy at Berlin, Germany."

2009-04-05T09:59:00.000-04:00

Happy Family.
Another great shot from my Safari company client.

2009-04-05T09:41:00.000-04:00

A Lion in the Rough.

No, really. This is an actual picture from an African Safari, taken by a friend of my named John. The friend he went with loved the Safari so much, he started a Safari company and is now one of my clients. Watch for Once In A Lifetime Safaris

Do Sports Drinks Really Work?

2009-02-01T11:14:00.001-05:00

Welcome Travelers!

2008-12-08T13:40:00.002-05:00

If you're like me, you're thinking... why am I here?

Well, the truth is, I never thought I'd be starting a blog, but it looks like I am. I'm not going official, until I officially get this template looking good. But stick around awhile and look at the crazy pictures, visit my Facebook link if you're really bored, and make sure you subscribe to my feed (top right of page). Big things are about to happen here!

Have fun--and be careful out there!

The Idea Man Live

This Saturday, The Fat Man in the Red Suit is Headed to Afghanistan. Help Us Pack the Sleigh!

Adam Carolla Rants About OWS Generation

Google Catches JC Penney's Dirty Tricks: What You Need to Know

Facebook Messages Will Change the Face of E-Mail

Launch Day: iPhone 4 – The Experience

Etacts Transforms Your Gmail into a Contact Management Hub

Sports Illustrated Brings Fantasy Football to Facebook

Microsoft's Docs for Facebook: A Hands-On Tour

Announced Today: Facebook's BIG Changes:3rd Parties Could Get Info about You--Like It or Not

Have We Become Suckers to Social Engineers?

The Jay Leno Rule of Social Media

Facebook tightens its grip on the mighty Google - Times Online

Study finds few people are 'True Twitter Users'

PCWorld ranks AT&T tops in 3G performance test

FCC's 100 Megabits to the Home: What It Means To You

Facebook Is the Web’s Ultimate Timesink [STATS]

Study Suggests There's a "Texting While Walking" Epidemic Too [Texting]

Study Suggests There's a "Texting While Walking" Epidemic Too [Texting]

Watch Out for the New Craigslist Scam

Google Reacts To Nexus One Complaints. A Lesson in Customer Service.

Facebook, Twitter Becoming Business Tools, But CIOs Remain Wary

Eureka Earthquake: Twitter Pics Tell the Story [PHOTOS]

How Social Media and the Web Helped Avatar Make $1 Billion

The Basics: Facebook, Twitter, MySpace

Reinventing the Movie Trailer Online

The Facebook and MTV Webcast

Broadcasting the Premiere Live On Ustream

Palm CEO: “I’ve Never Used an iPhone”

What to Watch in 2010: Social TV.

Google Voice: Free Calling Has Arrived

The Death of the Newspaper - The Stats!

White Paper: Engaging the New Influencers

AT&T to Launch MMS for iPhone September 25

Psychologist: Facebook Makes You Smarter, Twitter Makes You Dumber

11 p.m. is officially party time on the Internet

Wondering if a Lot of People are Using Gmail?: Outage Causes a Google Frenzy

Thieves Clean Out an Apple Store in 31 Seconds

If You're Still Using Internet Explorer 6, You're Stealing Food from Starving People [Microsoft]

BREAKING: Disney to Acquire Marvel for $4 Billion

Bob Dylan to mumble GPS directions?

Schwarzenegger Launches Twitter Powered MyIdea4CA

MyIdea4CA Overview

Governor Schwarzenegger on MyIdea4CA

Governor Schwarznegger on Social Media

What's Next for the Governor and Social Media?

Things you can do from here:

Texting While Driving Video: Will Graphic Imagery Change People’s Behavior?

Things you can do from here:

Apple’s Social Media Strategy = iTunes?

Facebook Phishers Target Notification Messages [ALERT]

Reader’s Digest Headed For Bankruptcy

Reader's Digest Headed For Bankruptcy

Dear iPhone, I'm Sorry...

Windows Live Writer – A Great Blogging Tool

7 Good Reasons to Switch to Windows 7

Google Street View Adds More International Coverage

Think You Can Really Text While Driving? Try This Test

Think You Can Really Text While Driving? Try This Test

Atheist challenges ‘In God We Trust’ motto - Life- msnbc.com

Live Vote: Should ‘In God We Trust’ be yanked? - Faith- msnbc.com

A Google Wave reality check

Sent to you via Google Reader

A Google Wave reality check

Top 5 Marketing Stories of the Week: Back to Basics

Sent to you via Google Reader

Top 5 Marketing Stories of the Week: Back to Basics

1. How Truly Serious Are You About Being Social?

2. The ROI of Social Networking

3. Twistory 101: It's All About Small Business

A Facebook Primer for Small-Agency Owners

Sent to you via Google Reader

A Facebook Primer for Small-Agency Owners

The Online Ad Recession Continues. Is This What A Reset Looks Like?

Sent to you via Google Reader

The Online Ad Recession Continues. Is This What A Reset Looks Like?

Creative Advertisements Around The World

Do Sports Drinks Really Work?

Welcome Travelers!