Thousands of “guests” around the globe will be encouraged to tweet live pictures of Perseid meteors and other celestial sightings during the event horizon, as the Earth’s orbit passes through debris left behind by the tail of the Swift-Tuttle comet.
The Twitter Meteorwatch event is being planned in conjunction with the International Year of Astronomy. The Newbury Astronomical Society’s President Richard Fleet explained the idea behind the celestial tweetup:
“We realised early on that what people want are images of the night sky, so we used our array of telescopes and cameras to provide a constant stream of pictures which we uploaded straight to Twitter…we had thousands of people who had probably never looked through a telescope before asking us questions directly and viewing images.”
Wait a minute, this can’t be true. In a StudyBlue survey conducted by SurveyU, students went on the record to say that they are much likelier to spend more than three hours studying online each day than participating in any other online activity, such as using Facebook or other social networking sites.
StudyBlue, an online academic network that aims to help students study smarter, used SurveyU’s high school and college student panel to survey about 1,500 students, ages 13 – 24, about their online study habits. While we expect students to actively use the web to enrich their study experience, we’re a little surprised that studying won out over social networking. After all, we use Facebook and Twitter all day long.
The study found that 60% of students plan to study online three hours longer than doing anything else online, while only 26% of respondents predicted that they will spend more time online social networking than studying. Thankfully, 84% of surveyed students think the web has helped them perform more effectively and efficiently in school, and 54% have plans to increase their online studying habits this year over previous years.
A few other interesting stats from the survey:
College students are about twice as a likely to plan on spending 3 hours or more a day studying and doing homework online than they plan on going to social network sites (26%), communicating (email, IM, Chatting, etc…) (28%), or watching TV, Videos and online movies (22%)
College students are more than 6 times as likely to plan on spending 3 hours or more a day studying and doing homework online than they plan on spending playing online games (9%)
College students are three times as likely to plan on spending 3 hours or more a day studying and doing homework online than they plan on reading blogs/news and other content (18%)
On a semi-serious note, however, social media is proving to be an educational resource and utility, so even if students aren’t explicitly social networking as much as studying, they are likely using tools with lots of social baked in (and 3 out of 4 say they “would like a way to connect and share information online with others in their class.”)
In fact, even StudyBule is touting an online service with collaboration tools and an iPhone app. Clearly, the boundary between online studying and social networking is blurred at best. But, regardless, we’re a little encouraged to know America’s youth is busy using the web for more constructive purposes than updating their status on Facebook.
On Twitter, your status update is yours for the selling (for now). In fact, services like Sponsored Tweets help you do just that, though not without creating a stir in the Twitterverse. Many users are vehemently opposed to seeing paid advertisements in their Twitter stream.
Until now, Facebook has stayed neutral on the paid-for-status-updates issue. In fact, we’ve seen a service called Status Plug give Facebook Page Admins the ability to sell their updates. Should the just proposed changes to Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibility become the status quo, however, you’ll be bound by the new terms of service from outright selling your status update.
The new pending policy on status updates is in section 4 of the agreement and reads, “You will not use your personal profile for your own commercial gain (such as selling your status update to an advertiser).”
We’re actually a fan of the new rule, and think it could ensure that Facebook users maintain a level of integrity that could be compromised on Twitter by services like Sponsored Tweets. What interests us more, though, is that Facebook felt the need to explicitly spell this out. Have they been watching the negative backlash directed at Twitter advertising platforms like IZEA? Are they concerned about the purity of status updates?
Or, is this more a move to accompany Facebook real-time search? Think about it, with public status updates and site-wide search, an opportunistic Facebooker could sell their updates and reach a wider audience, possibly polluting the whole ecosystem.
Facebook has obviously learned their lesson from the last time they changed their TOS, so you can review all the proposed changes before they go into effect. You can even become a fan of the Site Governance Page to weigh in with your comments before August 18.
Traditionally, companies hold contests to get people excited about their brand and to gather names for mailing lists to push even more promotions. Now that social media is in vogue, there’s no reason to limit a content submission to just a one-way promotional mailing list. Social media contests are multi-directional — they allow for increased customer engagement and content generation.
With creativity and a thoughtful connection to your audience, a contest can provide a host of benefits beyond just a list of names. Read on for ten examples of companies that ran social media-enabled contests, each successfully achieving a different goal.
Bring people together
1. Build community
Every weekday the Downtown Ithaca Alliance hides a garden gnome somewhere in downtown Ithaca, New York. They then post a clue to its location on their Facebook Fan Page. The first person to email or SMS the location of the gnome wins free coffee and bagels for their office. All types of local professionals, from lawyers, accountants, and university professors have gotten into the game, said Vicki Taylor, the director of marketing and events for the Downtown Ithaca Alliance. “Some offices send out the gnome finding team as soon as the clue is posted,” said Taylor, “The purpose is to make downtown feel like a community. We want people to be excited about being here.” Even though some contestants have been ruthless, Taylor claims, “No gnomes were harmed in the game, so far.”
2. Connect your brand to an existing community
At the South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive Conference in Austin, Web application developers Iridesco connected with the social media savvy with SXSW Bingo, a game where contestants used Twitpic, Twitter, and the hashtag #sxswbingo to document people and items at the ultra hip social media conference. Examples included people playing Rock Band, a pie chart in a presentation, Gary Vaynerchuk drinking a glass of wine, and other Internet celebrities who were all very cool about being photographed as they became part of the game, said Michael Dolan of Iridesco. People had a lot of fun playing and SXSW Bingo got a lot of traditional and social media coverage. But more importantly, said Dolan, the game allowed Iridesco to introduce their products Get Harvest (time tracking) and Co-op (group communications) to an influential audience.
Trivia is simply fun
3. Promote a new service
For Comcast, and movie and TV trivia fans, every Tuesday is #TriviaTues, a day-long trivia event where Twitter users who follow @FancastTrivia answer twenty trivia questions to win free DVDs, movie tickets, and t-shirts. The goal of the weekly trivia game is to raise awareness for Fancast, Comcast’s competitor to Hulu. The game requires a full day’s commitment for fans online via Twitter, and the audience appreciates it as they’ve responded by really getting into the trivia and offering up some tough questions themselves. So far, according to Comcast, Fancast referrals from Twitter have increased 400 percent. But for a company as large as Comcast, they’ve still got lots of work to do; as of writing this article, @FancastTrivia has less than a thousand followers.
4. Raise awareness of your company
Improving recognition of your company and product is one of the most common reasons for holding a social media-powered contest. SmartyPig, a company that offers a simple online savings account application, runs a monthly Twitter trivia contest where followers of @SmartyPig are asked questions about SmartyPig’s services, which forces contestants to learn more about the company. To pick winners of the $100 gift cards from those who answered correctly, SmartyPig conjures up some creative selection techniques that they perform on videotape. Watch them pick winners by dropping watermelons off a balcony, putting golf balls, and throwing snowballs.
Make business decisions
5. Bridge physical gaps between offices
To show off how great it is to work at their company, long term home healthcare operator Interim Healthcare decided to produce a documentary. The problem is they didn’t know which of their 350 offices they should profile. Instead of guessing who would be the best, they created an internal “A Day in the Life of a Nurse” contest where offices would shoot their own three minute videos to tell their stories. Even though staff members weren’t video producers, ten percent of the offices participated. All the entries were then uploaded to Interim’s Intertube site. While they ended up picking an office in Bakersfield, California to produce the documentary, they didn’t expect the new closeness the videos created among all the offices. People were able to match a name with a face in a culture where everything was email and a voice on a phone, said Christian Boswell, creative director with bfw Advertising, the company that produced the contest.
6. Seek out hard to find resources
Charles Orlando, author of “The Problem with Women… Is Men,” uses contests to garner data for future articles and books. As a relationship and sex writer, Orlando is often seeking very personal stories on very sensitive subjects. To get women to open up and tell emotional and revealing stories, Orlando will hold contests on his blog where he’ll give away designer handbags and spa treatments for the best tales. It can be hard to get sponsors to pony up the expensive prizes, but they pay off. For his last contest, the prize was an $800 Marc Jacobs designer bag, and Orlando got 252 entries.
We’ll promote you and in return you’ll promote us
7. Show off your work
“Holding a contest is a great way for small business owners to launch their new products or services on a budget,” explained Jennifer Haubein, owner of web design firm, Best Biz Website Solutions. Having spent no money on advertising, Haubein hosted a “Get Your Business Online” giveaway. Contestants entered on her blog and explained why they should get a free site developed by her. Haubein picked a winner and then produced the site live on Ustream over a series of episodes where people could watch and ask questions as she worked. She said the show has really helped build trust between her and her potential clients.
8. Get the best company testimonials
Franchised staffing company Express Employment Professionals wanted to produce testimonials that really resonated with potential employees. To find the best ones they created a contest for people they’ve placed to produce a video explaining how Express has helped them in their job search. The top vetted videos were posted on YouTube and anyone could choose their favorite. Voters won cash prizes as did those who produced videos. While the public voting helped determine which testimonials resonated most strongly, the video stories also motivated current Express team members, said Tiffany Monhollon Wilson, Express’ Corporate Communications Supervisor.
Work for us
9. Get the best help for free
Boxee is an open source social media center for viewing online video content. A real grass roots startup, Boxee’s staff was so small that they didn’t have enough people to staff their booths at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this year.
One thing Boxee does have in spades, however, is tons of passionate users. Reaching out to those super users, Boxee offered them a chance to come to Las Vegas and staff their booths. Turning the request into a contest, Boxee asked their users to send in a video of themselves demoing the product. The Boxee staff chose the presentations they liked the most and declared those people the winners, flying them out to Las Vegas and paying for all expenses.
10. Creative brainstorming
If you’re looking for some new creative ideas, give people a reason to help you, like the incentive of a prize. TechPad Productions, producers of iMEvil, a soundboard application of scary lines voiced by notorious horror talent David Sobolov, asked its users how they’ve used their product to scare the pants off their friends. Entrants can submit through Twitter and the best stories will win a prize. The contest is in full swing and if you want to win, TechPad Productions’ co-founder, Ben Fisher says, “[They'll] reward the fan who best personifies evil!”
Recently, MySpace launched a new feature for its millions of users: @myspace.com webmail. While it's unclear if Facebook plans to follow suit any time soon, some new features the social network is announcing this afternoon could make member inboxes a bit more interesting, by way of third-party applications.
Facebook has introduced two new APIs: Inbox and Notifications. For users, what this means is that developers could soon launch desktop applications that integrate features like checking your messages and receiving app notifications. For example, an app like TweetDeck or Seesmic Desktop could now offer alerts when any of these activities take place on Facebook.
Although Facebook isn't yet offering an option for sending messages (you'll still have to login to the site), they don't rule it out, writing "we’re always thinking about new functionality to offer through Facebook Platform." I'd certainly love to see this feature, as the current Facebook Inbox leaves lots of room for improvement (a new version is on the way however), and a slick third-party app could create a better interface and user experience.
This development follows news last week of the Open Stream API being extended to Facebook Pages, allowing users to push and pull Page updates to and from desktop apps. In all, it looks like Facebook is quickly getting serious about giving app developers the tools to build great desktop apps. Now, we wait to see who will build the best mouse trap.
Former West Wing writer Aaron Sorkin has taken on the task of writing the screenplay for the upcoming Facebook Movie, currently with the working title “The Social Network.”
In a short video interview (see it after the post break) with Natalie Portman’s film-focused social network MakingOf, Sorkin talks a little bit about how he got involved with the project. He also says he’s close to completing a first draft of the script for the film, slated to go into production later this year.
Sorkin says of the film, “it’s the fastest I’ve ever said yes to anything,” signing on after getting to page 3 of the 14-page book proposal from Ben Mezrich that producer Scott Rudin had optioned for the film even before “The Accidental Billionaires” was completely written.
What’s your prediction for the Facebook film: fabulous, or flop?
Last night, we reported that Twitter CEO Evan Williams' (@ev) wife Sara (@sara) was in labor, a story we've naturally been tracking via Twitter. Now, we have some happy news to report: the couple have given birth to a healthy baby boy.
Apparently, it wasn't the world's quickest delivery, as @ev posted an update around noon ET indicating things were moving a bit slowly ("That’s usually the case with big launches though" he tweeted). In any event, all is now well, as @ev delivered the good news moments ago:
Congrats @ev and @sara! Now, we await the first tweet from the baby … or at least a TwitPic.
Tr.im refused. Perhaps this is why: Tr.im is back and fully operational. Nambu, less than an hour ago, flipped the switch and restored its URL shortening service to the masses. Was it due to “popular response,” as the company claims, or was it a PR stunt?
“We have restored tr.im, and re-opened its website. We have been absolutely overwhelmed by the popular response, and the countless public and private appeals I have received to keep tr.im alive.
We have answered those pleas. Nambu will keep tr.im operating going forward, indefinitely, while we continue to consider our options in regards to tr.im's future.”
The company then goes into detail about how it still believes Twitter has created a short URL monopoly by anointing Bit.ly the default URL shortener of the microblogging service and that they still would like to “transition it to another party.” Translation: they want to sell. Oh, and they end with this:
“4. This was not a public-relations stunt. At all.”
They knew that this criticism would be brought up, but it doesn’t make it any less valid. They suddenly shut down the service, make a ruckus in the social media sphere, and suddenly reopen. Wouldn’t that make anyone suspicious?
In any case, we’re hoping that Tr.im eventually ends up in more reliable hands. Who’s to say this whole saga won’t happen again soon?
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.
Update: Twitter’s downtime was due to an attack, according to the company. The nature of the attack is not yet known.
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Twitter.com loading slowly for you? Can’t upload that awesome new background? Did Tweetdeck screech to a halt for you? Yeah, you’re not alone: Yes, Twitter is down. Here’s what Twitter is saying:
“We're working to recover from a site outage and will update as we learn more.”
Not exciting, but it confirms that Twitter is out of commission for the moment. So what could be causing this? Another DDoS attack? Or maybe all of Twitter is being taken down in anticipation of the Twitter messiah (or, if you want to be less dramatic, the soon-to-happen birth of the first child of Twitter CEO Evan Williams).
Anyway, while you keep clicking on refresh, be sure to leave your speculation about what took Twitter down in the comments.
Part illuminating, part entertaining and part terrifying, Suggest is a window into the collective search psyche of our fellow humans. And based on the contents of this list — be afraid. Be very afraid.
1. When will…
Esoteric meets practical where concerns over death and the apocalypse meet the need to procure Twilight on DVD and Windows 7.
2. Why is my g…
Attention must be paid, to one’s girlfriend and one’s goldfish. [Via questionsuggestions.com]
Obviously revealing a secret society of would-be elbow lickers. [Via gdumb]
5. Why do…
Seriously though, why do men have nipples?
6. Can you…
We get the concerns about pregnancy. But freezing cheese? Is that a thing now? [Thanks to commenter davidmbigler for this suggestion]
7. Where do…
People are apparently very concerned about the locations of Joe Biden, polar bears, penguins, Robert Pattinson, Miley Cyrus, and Jon and Kate. And of course, where babies come from.
8. How does…
Birth control, David Blaine levitating and Google making money are near equivalent sources of mystery to the human population.
9. Can Jes…
Clearly the top question on everyone’s mind: Can Jesus microwave a burrito?
10. Can go…
Populated perhaps by the same folks wondering if Jesus can microwave a burrito. And a sizeable contingent of people with gonorrhea who want to know if gorillas can swim.
Can’t get enough Google Suggest funnies? Check out these sites for more: questionsuggestions.com and gdumb.com. Know of other amusing question suggestions? Let us know in the comments!
Next month, Michael Jordan goes into the Pro Basketball Hall of Fame. As perhaps not only the greatest basketball player of all-time, but also the greatest pitchman, it's not too surprising then that one of the brands Jordan is most associated with – Gatorade – is using the opportunity to stir up some Jordan nostalgia.
The company has launched a Facebook app that brings together the biggest highlights from Jordan's career, letting users vote for their favorite, which is then shared to their Wall. Each highlight includes commentary from a well-known sports journalist, and at the end of the competition, the highlight receiving the most votes will become a Gatorade label (the sports drink maker has already produced 6 commemorative MJ labels – this will be the 7th).
The app is part of Gatorade's Facebook page, where the company has around a quarter million fans and shares lots of behind-the-scenes clips from its iconic commercials. Here, Gatorade shares the making of the commemorative bottles, shown in this 30-second spot:
Also worth checking out – the "Play" button on the main page for the Jordan app loads a spectacular visual display of Jordan's career highlights. In all, a very cool promotion to celebrate the career of Number 23.
Want to stop Google from tracking your web searches, emails, and health records? Then move to the Google Opt-Out Village, a 22-acre, barricaded town void of banks, hospitals, computers, and … Google.
This, according to satire site The Onion, who has done a marvelous job poking fun at the tech world in recent months, breaking news of the iPhone 3GI (the "I" is for "Invisible") and Twitter co-founder Biz Stone's "mind numbingly useless new site."
To learn about the Google Opt-Out village – which you can only leave by opting back into Google – check out the video below:
Life moves pretty fast. Sometimes it moves so fast we just don’t have time to stop and maintain all of our social networks individually. But that’s no reason to leave your Facebook profile barren, because you don’t even have to make it all the way to Facebook to update your status.
Here are some methods of updating your Facebook profile when on the go or while using some of the other networks and services you already use.
Update Facebook from Firefox
An easy to use Firefox extension called FireStatus can enable you to update your Facebook status right from a collapsible tray at the bottom of your browser. It also includes a URL shortening function as well, and you can set whether you’d like tinyURL or urlBorg as your short URL service in the preferences.
FireStatus can also handle updates to Twitter, FriendFeed, Delicious and Identi.ca as well, making it a handy method for updating any of those services if you’re already in your browser.
Update Facebook from Twitter
There are a few ways to pipe your Twitter status updates right into Facebook, avoiding the need to double post items or spend a ton of time maintaining a dual-life on both networks.
Twitter to Facebook – This Facebook app simply sends all your Twitter updates right into Facebook as status updates with one important exception: @reply tweets will not appear.
Selective Twitter – If you’re looking for more manual control over exactly which Twitter updates make it over to Facebook, you might want to try this app instead. It only sends tweets at Facebook status updates if you include the hashtag #fb at the end of your message.
Twitter clients – Once you’ve set up either of the above Facebook apps to pipe Twitter into Facebook, you can of course use any desktop or mobile Twitter client to continue updating your Facebook status as well.
Update Facebook from Text Messages (SMS or MMS)
Facebook has mobile services built right in, making it easy to both send status updates in and get information back out to your phone. To enable posting from your phone, go to the Mobile tab under your Account Settings. You’ll have to Add a Phone number to associate it with your account and begin sending status updates, so click on the Add phone number link.
You’ll be prompted to choose your carrier, then send a text message to Facebook from your phone. The Facebook mobile number is 32665 (FBOOK), which you’ll probably want to add to your contacts list for easy retrieval. Facebook will send back a confirmation code when it receives your SMS, which you then enter into the next step.
After successfully linking your mobile phone to your account, you can begin sending status updates to 32665. You can also modify the type and frequency of text alerts sent back to your phone when friends interact with your profile or send you messages, and set whether or not you want to receive confirmation messages when updating from your phone. You can even turn off all the incoming text alerts and still continue to send your own status updates to Facebook.
Update Facebook by Email
Facebook added a way for you to send photos or videos to your profile page via email. You can find your unique personal upload email on the Facebook mobile page. Simply attach the photos or videos you’d like to send in your email, and use the subject line as the caption (if you upload more than one piece of media at a time, they will all get the same caption). By default the media you send will be incorporated into your “Mobile Upload” photo album, subject to its privacy settings.
Update Facebook from Status Update Services
Status update services are emerging out of the swelling sea of social sites and the growing need to manage them all. These sites typically store your login credentials for all the networks you participate in, and allow you to update any or all of them in one fell swoop. They can save you the time updating lots of individual sites when what you really want is the same message broadcast multiple places.
Two very full-featured offerings in this category are ping.fm and hellotxt. Of the two, hellotxt has been around longer (since 2007), although ping.fm has grown fairly popular in its own right. Both services offer posting to dozens of social networks from a number of different sources, so you may simply want to try both and decide which one you like best.
Update Facebook from Instant Messenger
This is a simple solution, because it’s the same as the previous section. You can use either ping.fm or hellotxt to send updates to Facebook from your instant messenger client. Typically you’ll add a special chat bot that you need to send messages to in order to update your Facebook status. Services supported include AOL Instant Messenger, Gtalk / Jabber, Yahoo Instant Messenger, and MSN.
Update Facebook from Third-Party Sites
The number of sites that support sending updates to Facebook either through the API or as an application continue to grow every day. If it’s a service you use frequently and want to pipe into Facebook, it’s worth investigating whether the site supports it, provides an app, or whether a third-party has developed a connector app to link the two services.
Additionally, almost anything that outputs an RSS feed can be imported to your Facebook profile via the Notes application. Any time you update that site, service or feed, it will also then be displayed on your Facebook profile.
Just take care about which sites you route into each other, in case you inadvertently end up double posting (or worse!) items to your feed. Take a few moments and plan out which services you think your Facebook friends would even care about as well — it’s not necessarily the best idea to dump absolutely everything you do everywhere into your profile. But used thoughtfully and in moderation, you can keep an active Facebook profile going without exhausting yourself trying to keep all your networks updated on your every thought and breakfast selection.
Have any other useful tips for posting to Facebook without going to Facebook? Are there other Facebook tips you’d like to see here? Let us know in the comments!
When you start typing a search on Google, if you have auto-complete enabled, it will start to recommend different queries based on what you're typing. So, for example, if you write "George," it will suggest George Washington, George Bush, and George Clooney, among others well-known George’s.
However, if you're using Google to try and figure out what exactly Twitter is, the results are a bit suspect. Type "Twitter is" into the iconic search box and Google will suggest words like retarded, useless, lame, and pointless. Take a look:
A bit of resentment towards the microblogging startup being played out on Google? While that would make quite a story, that's almost definitely not the case. How do we know? If you type in "Google is," you'll get suggestions like "making us stupid" and "watching you." Nonetheless, it's an amusing little intricacy of the search engine we previously weren't aware of.
So far, from our NYC, Chicago, Denver and Los Angeles events we’ve raised $4,000 bringing our current total raised for the Summer of Social Good to: $18,800+
Mashable’s Summer of Social Good will conclude in NYC on August 28th with our Social Good Conference, a one-day educational event celebrating the finale of the Summer of Social Good, featuring presentations from well known and respected organizations and professionals.
Sponsor opportunity: we are looking for one local sponsor per city. Please contact hyatt4good at Mashable dot com for more information.
“Visible Measures is the independent third-party measurement firm for Internet video publishers, advertisers, and viral marketers. The company provides its customers and partners with unprecedented visibility into their online video audiences and how they engage with both content assets and advertising placements.”
A Special Thanks to Hyatt
Hyatt Hotels Corporation, headquartered in Chicago, is a leading global hospitality company with a proud heritage of making guests feel more than welcome. Thousands of members of the Hyatt family in 45 countries strive to make a difference in the lives of the guests they encounter every day by providing authentic hospitality. The company's subsidiaries own, manage or franchise more than 380 hotels and resorts under the Hyatt®, Park Hyatt®, Andaz™, Grand Hyatt®, Hyatt Regency®, Hyatt Place® and Hyatt Summerfield Suites™ brand names and have additional locations under development on five continents. For more information, please visit www.hyatt.com.
A Special Thanks to the Ford Fiesta Movement
Each location will have local Fiesta Movement Agents at the event and will offer rides/transportation. First come, first served.
“The Ford Fiesta Movement is driven by 100 digital storytellers from across the web. During the month of August, all 100 drivers are donating their time and some money to non-profits and charities in their area. In addition, The Fiesta Movement has partnered with Mashable to support their Summer of Social Good – our drivers will even be in attendance at local events to offer transportation. Follow the Fiesta Movement at FiestaMovement.com.”
Thanks to Skype for the Giveaways
“Skype is software that enables the world's conversations. Millions of individuals and businesses use Skype to make free video and voice calls, send instant messages and share files with other Skype users. Everyday, people everywhere also use Skype to make low-cost calls to landlines and mobiles. Skype will be raffling off a FREETALK wireless stereo headset and a 3 month Unlimited World subscription at each event.” Reviews: Mashable, Skype
Want to rest your head on Reddit? Take time out with Twitter? Kick back with Flickr? Then “Social Pillows”, a series of pillows hand decorated to represent your favorite social networking sites, might be what you need.
Created by Chicago-based Twitter user @craftsquatch, the pillows produced include Flickr, Reddit, Digg, the Twitter “t”, the Fail Whale, the Twitter bird, FriendFeed, Tumblr, Facebook, MySpace and more.
If you visit Orkut using IE6 today, you’ll see a warning message that says Orkut is ending support for the browser, while recommending other browsers to try: Internet Explorer 8, Chrome, and Firefox:
Given that Chrome is Google’s IE challenger, it could be seen as generous that Google would push IE8 ahead of its own product. Nonetheless, the greater effect is to push many Brazilian web users away from the outdated IE6 and consider the benefits of a modern web browser: a move that’s good for Google and great for the web design community.
“IE6 No More” Campaign
Google’s move comes immediately after the formation of IE6 No More, a group of websites united to accelerate the switch away from the outdated IE6 browser. Last week we reported that more than 75 sites had joined the effort, including Disqus, Justin.tv and Posterous. All the sites in the group display a message to IE6 users asking them to switch to a more modern browser.
What happens when your parents are more l33t than your boyfriend? A total mismatch, according the most recent parody video from humor site College Humor.
With numerous World of Warcraft references and more l33t speak than most of us can handle, you’ll need to be a level 80 rogue to get the full effect.
Back in 2005 (a long time in the social media world), Yahoo acquired Delicious, the popular social bookmarking website. Both Yahoo and Delicious founder Joshua Schachter had big plans to change the way we share, remember, and discover information on the Internet. Yahoo even promised “to give Delicious the resources, support, and room it needs to continue growing the service and community.”
So where is it now? Unfortunately, in the case of Delicious, nowhere. It’s been stagnant in terms of development and growth for years (at least until recently, when it started launching new features). Delicious has hit a perpetual ceiling, and understandably its founder is not happy about it. So he spoke out.
He made his comments during a conversation on Hacker News. Joshua responded to a comment claiming Yahoo was cool with “Since when is Yahoo cool?” Then he described Yahoo as a “sausage factory” before making the following statement:
I guess. I think the folks that pay Linus or whatever have done more for OS. Sun’s opensolaris, too. MySQL, etc too. Just by sheer weight of code.
The problem is that the number of cool projects is pretty minimal. They’re in duck and cover mode. They’ll get pushed to trim employees further and further to stretch the revenues out.
I wish I had not sold it to them. The cash and freedom do not even come close; I would rather work on a big, popular product.
We cannot blame Joshua for his frustration. Delicious’s growth has stagnated for at least a year and has completely dropped in terms of relevance. Even a few years ago, it had huge prospects and strong potential. Joshua (who is now at Google) put his heart and his soul into the popular bookmarking service. What he got in return wasn’t the same commitment.
Does Yahoo have a chance to turn Delicious around? Yes. But Delicious could have been a lot more relevant and useful right now, and Joshua knows it. Knowing that has to be heartbreaking.
We’ve seen couples tweet out updates while giving birth to a newborn – even all the way back in 2007. However, when the couple having a child are Twitter Co-Founder Evan Williams (@Ev) and his wife Sara (@Sara), then it concerns the entire Twitterverse.
A few hours ago, Sara’s water broke. How do we know? Well, in proper Twitter fashion, she texted an update about the event:
She’s been texting updates ever since. Apparently that iPhone app of hers is only useful for so long, for example. While covering births is not in our usual scope of coverage, we’re going to keep you updated on this one.
The revolution may not be televised, but the Perseid meteor shower will be Twittered. A group of intrepid stargazers in the UK, the Newbury Astronomical Society, will be 
Wait a minute, this can’t be true. In a 
On Twitter, your status update is yours for the selling (for now). In fact, services like 
Recently, MySpace launched a new feature for its millions of users: 
Former West Wing writer Aaron Sorkin has taken on the task of writing the screenplay for the upcoming 
Last night, we reported that Twitter CEO Evan Williams' (@ev) wife Sara (@sara) 
Last Sunday, Nambu made headlines in the social media world when it 
Over the weekend, an intriguing report caught our attention: the possibility that 
Update: Twitter’s downtime was due to an attack, according to the company. The nature of the attack is not yet known.
After we discovered 
Next month, Michael Jordan goes into the Pro Basketball Hall of Fame. As perhaps not only the greatest basketball player of all-time, but also the greatest pitchman, it's not too surprising then that one of the brands Jordan is most associated with – Gatorade – is using the opportunity to stir up some Jordan nostalgia.
Want to stop Google from tracking your web searches, emails, and health records? Then move to the Google Opt-Out Village, a 22-acre, barricaded town void of banks, hospitals, computers, and … Google. 
When you start typing a search on Google, if you have auto-complete enabled, it will start to recommend different queries based on what you're typing. So, for example, if you write "George," it will suggest George Washington, George Bush, and George Clooney, among others well-known George’s. 
This Thursday we continue our 
Local Sponsor: A big thanks to 
Each location will have local Fiesta Movement Agents at the event and will offer rides/transportation. First come, first served. 
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Want to rest your head on Reddit? Take time out with Twitter? Kick back with Flickr? Then “Social Pillows”, a series of pillows hand decorated to represent your favorite social networking sites, might be what you need.
Google’s move comes immediately after the formation of 
What happens when your parents are more l33t than your boyfriend? A total mismatch, according the most recent parody video from humor site College Humor. 
Back in 2005 (a long time in the social media world), 
We cannot blame Joshua for his frustration. Delicious’s growth has stagnated for at least a year and has completely dropped in terms of relevance. Even a few years ago, it had huge prospects and strong potential. Joshua (who is now at Google) put his heart and his soul into the popular bookmarking service. What he got in return wasn’t the same commitment.
We’ve seen couples tweet out updates while giving birth to a newborn – 
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