There are hundreds, if not thousands, of URL shorteners available, ranging from Bit.ly to really odd ones such as Bacn.me (we’ve actually highlighted some of the weirdest URL shorteners in the past). However, one sent to us today has a twist of biblical proportions: Ref.ly.
As you might have guessed, Ref.ly isn’t your typical URL service. It isn’t for shortening links – in fact, if you try to shorten any, it will fail. Instead, Ref.ly is for sharing bible verses. If you want to share your favorite psalm or passage, you build a verse. The end result is a permanent Ref.ly link to that part of the Bible, specifically to Bible.Logos.com, which owns Ref.ly.
The service covers the entire Old and New Testaments, from Genesis to Revelation. If you think about it, it really does make sense. A lot of people like to share their favorite verses. If you wanted to send John 3:16 (For God so loved the world…) to friends for example, you just have to email, tweet, or share http://ref.ly/Jn3.16. And because the system’s standardized, it’s easy to figure out the short URL for almost any verse, psalm, or proverb.
One more thing: there’s also a Real-time stream of Ref.ly shares on their website. It will be interesting to see what verses people like to share most.
Ref.ly’s unique, it’s useful, and it helps facilitate the sharing of something important; that’s great in our book. The URL shortener from Above has arrived.
Two weeks ago, Mozilla announced a major milestone for its Firefox web browser: one billion downloads. They even launched OneBillionPlusYou.com to mark the occasion and demonstrate just how large one billion really is.
Not everyone’s in awe of the number, though. A senior executive of Microsoft, the current browser market leader, has made statements today that essentially question the validity of the one billion downloads milestone. Oh, and she talked about how IE6 cannot die as well.
According to The Guardian, Internet Explorer General Manager Amy Barzdukas asked people to be skeptical of “large number claims” and called the Firefox number “interesting math.” Here’s some of what she said:
“As with any marketing statement, I’d encourage people to be somewhat sceptical about large number claims. It’s an interesting number and I have not seen the math [but] how many internet connected users are there? 1.1 billion, 1.5 billion, something in that area.”
Of course, these comments come as Firefox continues to chip away at Microsoft’s browser market share. While Internet Explorer is still the dominant browser, nearly 1/4 of the world’s computers now run the Firefox open-source browser. Perhaps there’s a little browser envy laced into her comments?
Ms. Barzdukas also reiterated a statement from the company earlier this week that it won’t cut off support for IE6 anytime soon, as well as explaining why she thinks IE6 is still used by so many:
“The reason that a consumer would still be on IE6 at this point is a lack of awareness or the ‘good enough’ problem,” she said. “If you’re satisfied with what you’re doing and you’re not particularly curious about new technology and don’t really care, upgrading sounds like a hassle. Part of our communication needs to be making clear that there are significant advantages to upgrading to a modern browser.”
We still want IE6 to die, but her position is understandable and consistent with what we’ve heard from Microsoft. Maybe it’s that they’re scared people will switch from IE6 to Firefox instead of to IE8, or maybe they just don’t want the complaints that would come with cutting off support. Regardless, we’ll leave Mozilla and Microsoft to quarrel over the numbers.
News just broke that Michael Vick, formerly of the Atlanta Falcons until he was found guilty on dogfighting charges in 2007, has just signed with the Philadelphia Eagles. Chris Mortensen of ESPN is reporting that Vick’s agent, Joel Segal, confirmed the two-year deal with the team.
This is incredible news as most of us believed his career to be over for good. What’s really interesting though are the reactions that are flooding in from NFL players by way of Twitter. Never before have we seen such a breaking sports story directly affect newly tweeting football players, and as such, we’re getting instant, unfiltered reactions straight from the players themselves.
It’s interesting note that the players’ tweets are very favorable and could signal an opportunity for Vick’s maligned image to experience a social media makeover. Of course, we see this as a prime opportunity for Michael Vick to take to our Editor-in-Chief’s previous post on how social media can bring him back to his former glory with fans.
Tweets from the NFL
We’ll leave you with some of the key social media reactions coming out via Twitter:
Today’s big news is that Twitter has just announced phase one of Project Retweet, their program to formalize the retweeting movement on Twitter. They’re opening up the flood gates so that developers can tap into the four new APIs and update their applications, or build new ones, in preparation for the official release, which is expected to happen in just a few weeks.
We’re definitely excited to see Twitter embrace the art of retweeting and try to support it. In fact, it reminds us of Twitter’s early days, prior to the official support of mentions. The original version of Twitter did not include a formal way for Twitterers to respond to others’ tweets, so users took it upon themselves to copy a BBS-style reply format and add an @ symbol in front of a username, and replies were born. Twitter eventually caught on to the reply movement, making replies a very real part of the Twitter ecosystem.
But does retweeting, a Twitter trend all its own that’s very much akin to forwarding an email, require the same formal adoption and API support? We’re not so sure, as Project Retweet is going to flip the format we’ve come to expect on its head. Here we’ll dissect some of the implications surrounding Twitter’s plan to formalize retweeting.
The New Look of Retweets
If you’ve read our other coverage surrounding Project Retweet, then you’re probably well aware that the new retweets will look quite different. The retweet has always taken the form of “RT @username: original tweet.” Once Project Retweet comes to fruition, the RT and @ symbol will be stripped from the tweet. What you’ll see instead is the original tweet, from the original author, and a new field below the date/time stamp that reads, “Retweeted by [username].” If there are multiple retweeters, then you’ll see multiple Twitter names.
The new look of retweets has interesting implications, because now your followers will see tweets in their timeline from people you follow that they may not be following. Follow? So let’s say that you follow me but don’t follow Mashable. Now when I retweet Mashable, you’ll see the tweet from Mashable, not from me. This could get a little hairy.
Here’s why. You’ve already become accustomed to seeing tweets from the people you follow, so a retweet from a trusted party actually means something. If Ben Parr, a fellow Mashable editor, retweets something, I immediately sit up and take notice. Now, however, if a tweet shows up in my timeline, without the RT format I’ve come to expect, I may miss it at first and not attribute any value to its contents.
Of course, we hope to see developers build in ways to get notifications for retweets (similar to audio notifications for replies in our favorite desktop apps) from the people we trust, and this could be a potential way to ensure that we don’t overlook valuable retweets as they happen. But, if the sample screenshots are a visual representation of what we can expect from Twitter.com, then retweets do run the risk of being missed.
What Happens to Our Retweet Analysis?
Another retweet conundrum surrounds appended Twitterer analysis. As you’ve no doubt been exposed to, retweets are often accompanied by an introductory statement of analysis by the retweeter. Maybe we think we can add more value to the original tweet, but whatever the reason, many of us have become accustomed to adding our two cents to tweets that we retweet.
The new retweet format, however, doesn’t seem to leave room for our additional commentary. So when we hit the new retweet button on Twitter.com, or in any of the third party apps that support the new APIs, what can we expect? Can we insert our words of wisdom? If so, where do they go? We know we’d be more than a little disappointed if this offshoot of retweeting behavior was taken away from us.
Retweeting Extras
Putting some of our initial questions aside, let’s take a look at some of the benefits we’re likely to get as a result of the four new retweet APIs:
1. Retweets in the new home timeline: We actually really like the idea of seeing all the different Twitterers retweeting a status update within the tweet itself. This approach is a lot less cluttered than the RT @username: RT @username: redundancy we see all the time. In fact, getting a more aggregate view of all retweets related to a single tweet, within our timelines sounds like a beautiful thing.
2. Retweeted by me timeline: Now this is nifty. Twitter and third-party developers will start to create ways for us to get a filtered view of our own retweets — currently set to return the 20 most recent retweets. We can only fantasize about what this could look like, but we love the idea of seeing and analyzing our own retweeting behavior.
3. Retweeted to me timeline: Retweets from the people I follow serve to draw my attention to content I may have missed. So this particular API addresses part of what we talked about above, making sure we don’t miss retweets that were meant for our eyes. In this fashion, we should be able to get a filtered view of just the retweets from our Twitter friends.
4. My tweets, retweeted: This API will return the 20 most recent tweets that are retweets of me. This could also be a very useful way for us to get a filtered view of people retweeting us. Sure we could use searches to probably arrive at similar results, but we’re looking forward to seeing how developers can slice this up and make it pretty and functional.
Were Retweets Broken?
The existence of Project Retweet — ie. formalized retweeting — essentially implies that Twitter felt that current retweeting practices need repairing. But were retweets ever really broken? Granted the four APIs will bring significant additional functionality around retweets, features we’ve never been privy to before, but is it at a cost that takes away some of the intended purpose behind retweets? Eliminating retweet redundancy, adding retweet filters, these are all good, but we’re not entirely convinced we needed a new retweet format.
And this is where you come in. We’d love for you to share your thoughts on the impending nature of retweets. Did retweets need fixing? Are these changes for the better or worse? Are there any implications of the new APIs that we didn’t cover? Use the comments to tell us what you think.
FriendFeed is now the property of Facebook. The team got a nice $47.5 million payday for its troubles. The team is even moving to Facebook headquarters really soon. A lot of people expect the FriendFeed site to disappear in the future, so would you really expect FriendFeed to release new features at this stage?
That’s exactly what they’ve done today. The new addition is custom FriendFeed themes, which gives you the ability to change your background and color scheme – exactly what Twitter has offered for a long time. Still, it’s interesting that FriendFeed is chugging along with new features despite the acquisition.
While this feature was almost certainly in the process of being built before the acquisition, it still highlights the commitment the FriendFeed team made to the product after the announcement. Will these new features keep coming? For how long? And will we see any of these new features come to Facebook (would you really want custom themes on Facebook?). These are all questions that’ll be answered soon.
Qik, the live mobile video service, is available on a wide range of phones: Nokia smartphones, BlackBerries, HTC phones, Samsung, Motorola, Android phones, and more. But that list is missing one: the iPhone. Since the iPhone 3G didn’t support video, Qik could never make an app for Apple’s popular smartphone.
But with the release of the iPhone 3G S, that all changed. Video on the iPhone was possible. And as of today, Qik is available in the iPhone App store [iTunes Link]. While we’re pleased to see Qik finally arrive on the Apple phone, there is one big catch: it can’t stream live video.
The nice thing is that Qik allows you to upload video from your camera roll. Additionally, Qik has auto-uploading: once you stop recording, the app will begin uploading your video immediately. You can also shoot video in portrait and landscape mode. Finally, it supports its location-sharing feature, which allows a streamer to place his or her location so it’s easy for people to find you or at least know where you are.
Still, it isn’t a live video app AND it only works with wi-fi, which really decreases Qik for iPhone’s usefulness, especially when you consider that the Ustream recording app [iTunes Link] can upload videos on 3G connections as well as WiFi. The inability to stream live, prevalent in both apps, is an Apple-imposed limitation. Hopefully they’ll let these apps live stream video very soon – it’s just more useful than record and upload.
Update: Qik made a comment in our post on the feature:
“Thanks for the post, Ben! As noted in our blog post, we’ve submitted an update to the app so that it will work over 3G. Now we just wait for that to go live on the App Store. We have no reason to believe that won’t be very soon.”
Now featuring Twitter, last.fm and Pandora integration, Bandsintown offers a powerful yet easy-to-use suite of tools for discovering local live music you might want to check out.
Beyond a look and feel overhaul, Bandsintown has added a number of features to enhance “social music tracking.” You can track artists to get alerts about upcoming shows of artists you like, as well as recommended similar artists from the Bandsintown concert engine. Track a venue to get updates about upcoming shows as soon as they’re announced. Plus, track friends and other users with musical tastes you admire to see which artists they’re tracking, what concerts they’re attending and what they’ve tweeted about the shows they’ve seen.
Tweet it
That’s where the Twitter integration comes in. First off, you can log into the site with your Twitter account to set up your profile. Then when you’re at a show, simply add the #live hashtag to send your tweets to Bandsintown and have them collected in a personal concert archive. You can also access a real-time Twitter stream that displays tweets from local shows by your favorite artists, so you can still “experience” a bit of the show even if you weren’t able to attend.
Import your favorites
Added integrations with last.fm and Pandora help you import your favorite artist data directly into Bandsintown. This is extremely handy for music lovers who already use one or both of those services and would otherwise have a long list of favorites to manually add.
Find artists in your area
Based on the artists you track and your location data, Bandsintown generates a personal concert cloud based on your musical preferences. You can filter the cloud by date range, distance from your city and ticket price, as well as add new artists to track right from the left-hand sidebar. The concert cloud offers a unique and visually intuitive way to find artists you might like who’ll be playing in your area.
Once you find a show you want to attend, Bandsintown helps you buy tickets right there as well. Aggregating inventory from more than 60 ticketing providers in 140 countries, the upcoming concert database is comprehensive enough to give you access even to small and obscure artists at off the beaten path venues.
The ticket purchasing interface also offers the ability to comparison shop for cheaper tickets or less expensive service fees. If a show is sold out, Bandsintown can help redirect you to other sellers who may still have available seats.
Going mobile
So now you want all of this on your phone too, you say? There’s an app for that. The Bandsintown relaunch follows on the heels of the iPhone application (warning: iTunes link) launch last week. Without even requiring you to sign in, the app scans your iTunes library to import your favorite artist data and uses that as a seed to show you local upcoming concerts you might like (you need to allow the app to use your GPS location to do this).
The iPhone app also has a straight up listing of all local shows in your area by date, which is a killer feature if you’re out and about looking for something to do or on the go trying to arrange plans for later in the week.
Overall the combination of the new site features and the iPhone app is a significant and positive addition to Bandsintown. The site is intuitive and easy to use, and quickly connects you to live shows you might be interested in. For music lovers and frequent concert-goers, we can see this becoming a go-to service for keeping on top of a busy live show schedule. For folks who just want to see the occasional show now and then, Bandsintown offers a very quick and no hassle window into what’s going on near you.
Now if you’ll excuse us, Bandsintown just majorly filled up our dance card.
Moments ago, Twitter announced Project Retweet, a plan to make the retweet a natively-supported feature of the microblogging platform.
Retweeting, for those who are not familiar, is the practice of sharing interesting links and tweets on Twitter by adding “RT” plus the originator’s username at the start of the tweet (i.e. “RT @Mashable” or “RT @BenParr“). We explain retweets in-depth in HOW TO: Retweet on Twitter.
There are a lot of questions that the new project raises. How is Twitter going to integrate retweets? What does it mean for users and developers? And when is it going to happen? We’ve analyzed the details that are currently out about this project. Here’s the breakdown of Twitter’s plan to officially support the retweet:
Project Retweet: The Big Picture
So let’s talk about the overall picture: project retweet will end with the retweet fully integrated with Twitter. No longer will you have to copy, paste, and add “RT @Mashable” to any tweet ever again.
The plan is to implement it for both Twitter.com and for 3rd party apps. Twitter has provided a screenshot of what retweets will look like on Twitter.com. Here’s the entire process:
1. You can see if someone retweets a link with a small line that says “Retweeted by ___” under the tweet and the time when the tweet was sent.
2. Hovering over a tweet will soon make two options appear: Reply and Retweet. Reply is already supported by Twitter – it’s that little arrow that appears on the right when you hover over a tweet.
3. Clicking on the “Retweet” button will confirm if you really want to retweet this tweet to all of your followers
4. The retweet is done. It apparently shows the people that have retweeted it in your timeline. We’re unsure as to how many people can be listed in the “Retweeted by” section of any tweet.
The big difference is how the retweet is displayed. The new system will not have the typical “RT @Mashable” that we have all grown accustomed to, but will instead move it to the bottom of tweets. This will be a shocking change for most Twitter users.
Phase One: Retweet APIs
A sketch of the new feature by Twitter Co-Founder Biz Stone
The retweet feature is not launched yet. Before retweeting becomes standard on Twitter, the Twitter development team want to be sure that 3rd party apps don’t break, so they’ve released API (application programming interface) documentation on the new Retweet API. The Retweet API will allow developers to integrate the retweet function into their apps – i.e. TweetDeck, Seesmic Desktop, and Tweetie.
There will be four new Retweet APIs:
1. Retweets in the new home timeline
2. Retweeted by me timeline
3. Retweeted to me timeline
4. My tweets, retweeted
These four APIs cover the range of retweets and how people receive them. It covers when you are retweeted, when you actually retweet, and when you see retweets in your Twitter feed.
When Does the New Retweeting Feature Launch?
The new retweeting system will launch on Twitter.com in the next few weeks. However, 3rd party apps will lag behind a little in implementation. This is because Twitter doesn’t want to break 3rd party apps that are not ready for the new feature. They’d like to launch at the same time, but the process of testing, usability, and coding on both Twitter’s side and the develop end will take time.
However, you’ll probably start seeing some of the most popular Twitter apps support rewtweeting at launch. Access will be offered to a select group of test apps, which will probably range from big to small and popular to useful. Once those tests are done, then all apps should have access to the new retweet feature.
Here’s what Biz Stone, Co-Founder of Twitter, said about the launch time today:
We are still sketching out exactly how this feature and its API counterpart works. Sharing our thoughts before launching means developers will have the opportunity to prepare their applications. In a few weeks or so we’ll launch the feature on our web site and because app developers had a chance to prepare, it should become available across most of the Twitter ecosystem about the same time. This way, we can all enjoy retweeting—however we choose to access Twitter.
The first launch of this feature will probably be a limited subset of folks for a short period of time so we can get an idea of how it works from a system perspective. After we kick the tires a bit, we’ll do a full launch to everyone. As you can see, there are still some details to be worked out but congrats to @zhanna and her team for the awesome work done so far—it’s looking really good and we can’t wait to start using the feature!
It’s going to be an interesting few weeks. Look for retweets to become native to Twitter very, very soon. Let us know what you think of the plan by adding your thoughts to the comments.
Things just keep getting worse for Microsoft. Yesterday it became public knowledge that the desktop software giant had not only been sued for patent infringement by i4i, but that they were ordered to pay over $290 million, and will have 60 days to comply with a court-ordered injunction against the sale of Word.
Unfortunately, facts of the case are rolling out and an uncovered email from a member of Microsoft’s XML for Word development team proves that they were aware of i4i’s XML technology.
Information Week reports that court records include an email from Martin Sawicki, a Microsoft employee, possibly dated prior to the release Office 2003, that reads, “We saw [i4i's products] some time ago and met its creators. Word 11 will make it obsolete…It looks great for XP though.”
This is pretty damning evidence, and likely one of the primary reasons that the jury voted against Microsoft. Given the nature of the email, it’s hard not to believe that Microsoft will be forced to settle with i4i for a hefty sum, though first things first, an appeal is most certainly pending.
Of course, Microsoft Word is too instrumental to the Office suite of products to go anywhere. Worst case scenario, Microsoft will pay a settlement and update their software on the market with a patch to get around the restrictions of the ban.
As information Week points out, “Davis said any version of Word that opens documents in plain text only, or which strips a document of custom XML through a process known as a transform, would be free from his order. That leaves the door open for Microsoft to issue a patch that alters MS Word’s functionality in such a way as to circumvent the ban.”
Twitter just announced “Project Retweet”, on both its blog and on the developer group API. Specifically, they’re launching phase one of the project.
Wait, what’s Project Retweet, you ask? While the entire plan’s not out yet, it looks like phase one is a Retweet API for developers, which marks the first time that Twitter has made the retweet a supported feature of Twitter. Here’s what Twitter said on the Development Talk page:
“So soon [the retweet's] going to become a natively supported feature on twitter.com. It’s looking like we’re only weeks away from being ready to launch it on our end. We wanted to show the community of platform developers the API we’ve cooked up for retweeting so those who want to support it in their applications would have enough time to have it ready by launch day.”
The retweet will be part of the new home timeline and it will be visually different from regular tweets. And here’s a screenshot:
Here’s what co-founder Biz Stone had to say about Project Retweet:
Retweeting is a great example of Twitter teaching us what it wants to be. The open exchange of information can have a positive global impact and the more efficient dissemination of information across the entire Twitter ecosystem is something we very much want to support. That’s why we’re planning to formalize retweeting by officially adding it to our platform and Twitter.com.
Something interesting was brought to our attention today: a set of cryptic Twitter updates coming from YouTube. A few hours ago, the web video giant tweeted out the following:
“We've got a special film debuting on YouTube tonight at 9pm PT. Follow our tweets for cryptic clues throughout the day.”
And, in semi-cryptic fashion, the company sent out two tweets that provide hints as to what exactly will be premiering.
“The traveler has come.”
“Are you the Keymaster?”
That was too easy, YouTube! Any self-respecting movie buff would know that both are references to Ghostbusters. The keymaster is a quote from the part where Dana’s chatting with Dr. Venkman while possessed by The Gatekeeper. But I digress.
So what do these tweets exactly mean? Well, we have two theories:
1. You will be able to watch the original Ghostbusters movie, in its entirety, on YouTube.
2. The trailer for the new Ghostbusters movie is appearing on YouTube tonight.
**UPDATE: A source tells us it’s NOT the new Ghostbuster trailer.
We’re of the hope that it’s the latter. Reports surfaced in March that the old cast was signed on for the new movie. There hasn’t been much chatter since then, however.
We LOVE our Ghostbusters here at Mashable and will keep you updated if the trailer does indeed surface at 9 PM. Let us know your theories and thoughts in the comments, and be sure to stay tuned for updates!
Oh, and if you have an insatiable need to fulfill your Ghostbusters nostalgia until 9 PM, then this YouTube video will have to suffice:
We thought that online video usage growing by 53 percent was impressive back in May. New numbers released today from Nielsen really put that growth into perspective though.
According to the information and media company, online video usage continued to see strong month-over-month and year-over-year growth. In fact, online video is still ballooning at a current rate of 31% per year in the US. That translates to 11.2 billion total streams in July alone.
That’s nearly double the population of the entire world. Let that sink in for a moment: two videos for every person on the planet, and all of these views were generated just inside the US.
That isn’t the only eye-popping number to come out of Nielsen today, either. There were 135.9 million unique viewers of online video in the last month. If you do the math, that means that the average viewer watched 82.4 streams in July. The numbers also indicate that the average viewer watched online video for 211 minutes during the month. Here’s the data:
When you break down online video by service, there are a few surprises. First, the obvious one: YouTube was #1 with 7 billion total streams and about 104 million unique viewers. Hulu was second with 383.7 streams, but with only 10.3 million viewers. That translates to the average Hulu user watching 37 clips or TV shows in July. Clearly Hulu is able to engage users, but it still doesn’t have the reach of YouTube, or even of Yahoo (265 million streams, 30 million viewers) or MSN/Microsoft (188 million streams, 17.8 unique viewers).
+-------------------------------------------------+-----------+---------+ | Video Brand | Total | Unique | | | Streams | Viewers | | | (000) | (000) | +-------------------------------------------------+-----------+---------+ | YouTube | 7,010,772 | 104,541 | | Hulu | 383,779 | 10,299 | | Yahoo! | 265,570 | 29,948 | | MSN/WindowsLive/Bing | 187,994 | 17,790 | | Nickelodeon Kids and Family Network | 179,666 | 7,251 | | Turner Sports and Entertainment Digital Network | 155,075 | 7,930 | | Fox Interactive Media | 151,622 | 14,692 | | MTV Networks Music | 119,101 | 6,887 | | CNN Digital Network | 109,221 | 11,680 | | Blinkx | 86,398 | 268 | +-------------------------------------------------+-----------+---------+
Online video’s growth is storming ahead. Our eyeballs might as well be glued to our computer screens.
Yesterday, we reported on the firestorm that erupted when popular BlackBerry client UberTwitter added advertisements to its application. The move caught many users off guard (including myself), as it came in conjunction with a new version of the app. In other words, rather than enjoying all of the new features that UberTwitter had added, users focused on the ads and tweeted their wrath.
Some users indicated that they'd even be willing to pay for an ad-free version, and now, it appears UberTwitter has listened. The company has announced that they're pulling the ads until a paid, ad-free version can be introduced as an alternative.
"We have been listening and have heard you loud and clear! We will not turn advertisements on again until we can offer a a paid option with no advertisements. The paid version will be less then $5 and will likely be a year long subscription model, i.e. all upgrades for a year. If you purchase during the beta period, the year won’t start until we release version 1.0. Thank you for your patience and your feedback!"
It's fitting that a company that's business built on Twitter is extremely responsive to the feedback it receives there, so it's not too surprising to see UberTwitter pull a quick 180. That said, UberTwitter also shouldn't be surprised by the reaction they received, as it's far from unprecedented. In any event, it looks like the users have won this battle in the company's road to monetization.
Wolfram Alpha, the “knowledge engine” that helps you find specific factual information in ways that Google can’t, has fallen out of the headlines somewhat after its initial launch.
Now Wolfram Alpha’s surprisingly detailed database of facts has earned it a parody video from comedy site College Humor, in which we’re led to wonder if the computation engine knows a little too much:
Whether you love to cook, or just love to eat, there are plenty of great foodies on Twitter that you can follow. From celebrity foodies you’ll recognize from TV to professional chefs, bloggers, and restaurant critics, many food lovers are tapping into Twitter’s real-time network to offer up recipes, restaurant recommendations (or warnings), and an inside look at life in the kitchen.
This list has over 55 great foodies to follow on Twitter, but please feel free to suggest others in the comments (or if you’re a food tweeter, leave your own Twitter info!). Fair warning, though: before perusing the list, you might want to grab a snack. A lot of the Twitter users included here post mouth-watering images of some great dishes, or even use them as their background images. I think I gained five pounds just writing this post!
Celebrity Chefs and Foodies
Below are the chefs and foodies you’re likely to recognize from TV. They run the gamut from food critics to cooking competition judges to TV show hosts. Some are household names (like, Martha Stewart) while others are a bit less well-known, unless you’re a Food Network junkie.
@AndrewZimmern – Andrew Zimmern is the host of the Travel Channel show, “Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern”, on which he tours the world in search of strange and weird local foods. In addition, he’s a food columnist and dining critic, radio talk show host and chef.
@BFlay – Bobby Flay has hosted seven TV shows on Food Network, including “FoodNation,” “Boy Meets Grill,” “Hot Off the Grill with Bobby Flay,” and “Throwdown.” He’s also an Iron Chef on “Iron Chef America.”
@CatCora – Cat Cora is a professional chef best known for being an “Iron Chef” on the Food Network TV show “Iron Chef America.” She’s also the author of two cookbooks, “Cat Cora’s Kitchen: Favorite Meals for Family and Friends” and “Cooking From the Hip: Fast, Easy, Phenomenal Meals,” and the executive chef at Bon Appetit magazine.
@ChefGuyFieri – Guy Fieri won the second season of Food Network’s “The Next Food Network Star.” He’s hosted a number of shows on Food Network: “Guy’s Big Bite,” “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,” and “Ultimate Recipe Showdown.”
@Emeril – Emeril Lagasse is a chef, restaurateur, cookbook author and TV personality. He’s famous for his catchphrases, most notably “BAM!” and “Kick it up a notch!” He tweets about his restaurant openings, TV appearances and book signings.
@GaelGreene – Gael Greene has been a restaurant critic in New York City for more than forty years. She was the restaurant critic for New York Magazine from 1968 until 2002 and her work has appeared in Food & Wine, Travel + Leisure, and Food Arts, among other publications. She’s the author of seven books, including “Insatiable: Tails from a Life of Delicious Excess.” Most recently, she’s become a regular judge on “Top Chef Masters.”
@GDeLaurentiis – Giada De Laurentiis is the host of several Food Network shows: “Behind the Bash,” “Giada’s Weekend Getaways,” “Everyday Italian,” “Giada in Paradise,” and “Giada at Home.” She’s also a regular on the Today show on NBC.
@Jamie_Oliver – Jamie Oliver, also known as The Naked Chef, is a British chef and TV personality. He was the second British chef to appear on “Iron Chef America” as a challenger.
@MarthaStewart – Domestic goddess Martha Stewart started out in catering and has branched out into virtually every aspect of homemaking. While her tweets aren’t strictly food-related, she does provide recipes (both directly within tweets and via links).
@offalchris – Chris Cosentino is the chef at Incanto, an Italian restaurant in San Francisco. He recently began starring in a new show on the food network, “Chefs vs. City,” and has also made a number of other TV appearances on shows including “The Next Iron Chef,” “Iron Chef America,” “Martha Stewart,” and “The Best Thing I Ever Ate.” He tweets tons of food images and photos from behind the scenes at the restaurant.
@Paula_Deen – Paula Deen is probably best known for her down-home, southern-style cooking. She’s the host of her own show on Food Network, “Paula’s Home Cooking,” which won her two Daytime Emmy Awards.
@roccodispirito – Rocco DiSpirito is a well-known professional chef and the author of five cookbooks. He’s appeared on a number of television shows including A&E’s “Rocco Gets Real”. His tweets cover his books, recipes, and other food-related info.
@The_Neelys – The Neelys are the hosts of the “Down Home with the Neelys” show on Food Network. They’re also the owners of the Neely’s Bar-B-Que chain of restaurants in Tennessee.
@TheDeenBros – Bobby and Jamie Deen are the sons of TV chef Paula Deen. They’re about to release their third cookbook and had their own TV show on the Food Network, Road Tasted. They also regularly appear on their mother’s show.
@TylerFlorence – Tyler Florence is a chef and star of a number of Food Network shows, including “Tyler’s Ultimate” and “Food 911″ among others. He’s also involved in the nonprofit Afterschool Alliance, which promotes and supports after school programs. His tweets offer a real glimpse into his personality and he offers up recipes and converses with his followers.
Food Blogs and Bloggers
The Twitterers listed below run some of the most popular foodie blogs on the web. They’re all great resources for finding new recipes and keeping up with foodie news. Some can point you in the right direction for finding great restaurants in a given town while others can show you how to make great dishes right at home.
@bayareabites – Bay Area Bites is a food blog covering San Francisco Bay-area restaurants and food from KQED Public Media. It’s written by professional chefs, food writers and cookbook editors.
@broylesa – Addie Broyles writes the food blog, “Relish Austin” for Austin360.com. She also writes the “Relish Austin” column for the Austin American-Statesman newspapers a few times each month.
@CandyBlog – Cybele May is the blogger behind CandyBlog, which covers candy from all over the world. Her tweets cover the same, including links to posts on her blog and discussions with other candy enthusiasts.
@CateOMalley – Cate O’Malley blogs at Sweetnicks and is a freelance food writer. She runs The Well Fed Network (a group of sites dedicated to food and wine) and writes for a variety of food sites. Her tweets cover recipes and anything food-related.
@ChewOnThat – Chew On That is a food blog covering recipes, culinary terminology and tips, and information on different ingredients. Their tweets cover similar subject matter.
@edlevine – Ed Levine blogs over at Serious Eats, where he writes about all things food-related. Recipes, restaurant reviews, and food news and commentary are just for starters. His tweets cover similar content, including info about eateries in NYC.
@foodgawker – Foodgawker is a blog that covers the best recipes from a variety of other food blogs. They tweet links to recipes from all over the blogosphere, too.
@homesicktexan – Lisa Fain blogs about Texas-style cooking, including tons of recipes, at the Homesick Texan blog. She tweets about all sorts of Texas foods as well as other recipes.
@Jeters – Jennifer Fisher blogs about cooking and offers up lots of different recipes over at FoodBat. Her tweets cover similar topics, including local/seasonal food and more recipes.
@locavoreblog – La Vida Locavore is a blog devoted to local food. They cover planting, growing, cooking, baking, and more related to local foods. They tweet about all sorts of food-related issues, including food safety regulations, menu labeling, and more.
@mizmaggieb – Maggie Battista blogs at EAT Boutique, posting mostly recipes. Her tweets cover food she’s cooked or eaten out.
@nandita – Alejandra Ramos is the blogger behind Always Order Dessert. Her training came from a professional culinary institute in Florence, Italy and she’s currently working on her first book. Her tweets cover all aspects of food and include recipes and suggestions.
@offbeat_eating – Kristin has been traveling all over the country trying different local foods and then blogging about her experiences at Food Trip USA. She tweets tons of photos of foods from her travels, as well as links to recipes and other cooking-related resources.
@phillygrub – Philly Grub is a blog written by Philadelphia foodies that covers restaurants, cooking tips, food commentary, and recipes. They tweet about the same topics.
@rasamalaysia – Rasa Malaysia is a food blog that covers Asian recipes and cooking techniques. They tweet about Asian food and cooking.
@ShunaFish – Shuna Fish Lydon has been a professional chef and baker for more than 16 years. She tweets about food, recipes, restaurants, and more. She blogs at Eggbeater.
@simplyrecipes – Elise Bauer runs the Simply Recipes blog, which posts constantly-refined recipes from Elise’s family. She tweets about recipes, other food bloggers, and anything else cooking-related.
@Slice – Slice is a blog devoted entirely to pizza. They cover pizza recipes, pizza restaurant reviews, and news related to pizza.
@SpecialDark – Herschell Taghap blogs a variety of recipes at All Things Chill. His tweets cover all aspects of food, including recipes and flavor notes.
@StickyGooeyChef – Susan Filson is an aspiring chef and the blogger behind Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy. She covers a variety of recipes, some of which come from her family and have been passed down by her mother and grandmother.
@sushiday – Allison Day blogs at Fridgg and Sushi Day. She blogs a variety of recipes she cooks, including sushi (on Sushi Day) and everything else (on Fridgg).
@TheDelicious – Sarah J. Gim blogs at The Delicious Life, which covers cooking and restaurants, among other topics (travel, lifestyle and dating). She tweets about a variety of things, food included.
@TOfoodie – Andrea Chiu is a food blogger who often posts restaurant reviews and food commentary on her Twitter feed. Her blog also includes food commentary and recipes.
Food Writers and Editors
The Twitterers here range from editors and writers for some major food magazines (like Gourmet) to freelance food journalists to cookbook writers. Some of them also run food blogs or write for online outlets.
@CarolynJung – Carolyn Jung is an award-winning food writer who blogs at Food Gal. She’s received a number of first-place honors from the Association of Food Journalists and has been a judge in the Pillsbury Bake-Off (among other contests).
@chezpim – Pim Te is a food blogger who tweets about tons of recipes (including a particularly delicious-looking recipe for making brown butter ice cream in a blender). Her food writing, recipes, and photos have also appeared in a variety of print media outlets, including the New York Times and Food & Wine Magazine.
@JulieK – Julie Kalivretenos is a freelance food writer, slow food activist, and raw food enthusiast who blogs at Julie’s Raw Ambition. Her blog covers information about raw and natural foods, including some recipes. Her tweets cover similar topics, including links to articles she’s written.
@KarenAndAndrew – Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg are the authors of numerous books, most recently “The Flavor Bible,” winner of the 2009 James Beard Award. Their tweets talk about their books, food commentary, and interesting links.
@MattArmendariz – Matt Armendariz blogs about food and drink at MattBites, part of the Martha’s Circle group of blogs selected by the editors of Martha Stewart Living. He’s a food photographer, blogger, and writer, as well as a chef. He’s been featured in The New Yorker, Bon Appetit, House Beautiful, and on Martha Stewart’s daytime TV show. His tweets cover food and drink-related topics.
@norecipes – Marc Matsumoto is a freelance food writer who writes at No Recipes, a blog covering food and cooking techniques from around the world. His Tweets cover the same.
@RobbWalsh – Robb Walsh is a food writer and restaurant critic who has worked for Houston Press, Natural History Magazine, NPR, Chile Pepper Magazine, Austin Chronicle, Gourmet, and many more. He’s also the author of a number of books, including “The Tex-Mex Cookbook,” “The Texas Cowboy Cookbook,” and “Are You Really Going to Eat That?” He largely covers barbecue, Tex-Mex, and other foods common in Texas.
@Ruhlman – Michael Ruhlman is the author of five books on food and cooking, as well as four cookbooks. He’s also been on a number of TV shows, including “Iron Chef America” (as a judge), “Next Iron Chef” (also as a judge) and “Cooking Under Fire.” He offers up all sorts of food-related commentary and links on Twitter.
@RuthReichl – Ruth Reichl is the Editor in Chief of Gourmet magazine and a former restaurant critic for The New York Times. She’s been writing about food since 1972 and has written or edited numerous books, including the 10-book “The Modern Library Food” series. Her tweets revolve entirely around food, with tons of info about her personal menu choices.
@steamykitchen – Jaden is a TV chef on Tampa Bay’s CBS affiliate, the food writer for the Tampa Tribune, and a blogger at SteamyKitchen.com. She tweets about food, recipes, her career, and offers blogging tips.
@thefoodgeek – Brian J. Geiger is a freelance food writer who blogs at thefoodgeek.com and writes for Fine Cooking Magazine. His blog covers recipes, kitchen equipment and gadgets, and anything else food-related. His tweets do the same.
Professional Chefs
While some chefs might be too busy in the kitchen to tweet, there are a few really great ones who share a behind-the-scenes look at running a restaurant kitchen or give insight into improving your own cooking. Some of them are listed below.
@ChefMark – Mark Tafoya is a personal chef who creates travel and food videos for Culinary Media Network. He also blogs at ReMARKable Palate. He tweets lots of photos, both of food and other things, and cooking tips, links, and food commentary.
@dcpatterson – Daniel Patterson is the chef at Coi and author of “Aroma”. He offers up some great tweets about food (including article links and images) and a behind the scenes look at life as a professional chef.
@Gachatz – Grant Achatz is the owner of Chicago restaurant Alinea. He tweets about the restaurant and food in general.
Additional Foodies
The foodies listed below didn’t really fit into any of the categories above, but they’re still worth a follow. They include everything from online cooking schools to radio hosts to online cooking shows, but all offer regular updates of interest to foodies.
@bitchinkitchen – Bitchin’ Kitchen is an online comedy cooking show reminiscent of the old “Beakman’s World” TV show. They offer up recipes and information about the show in their tweets and on their website.
@everydayfoodsan – Sandy Gluck is the host of the Everyday Food show on Sirius and XM satellite radio. She tweets about the show and the topics it covers.
@Foodimentary – Foodimentary is a @ShortyAward-winning (in the #food category) Twitterer who tweets food facts and cooking tips every day.
@Foodista – Foodista is a cooking wiki. They offer up information on recipes, food blogs, and food facts.
@nytimesfood – This is the Twitter feed for the New York Times Dining section. Their tweets are usually about articles from the Times focusing on food and drink.
@rouxbe – Rouxbe is an online video cooking school. They offer a free membership with video tutorials, recipes, and more, as well as premium memberships for more advanced features, including personal chef support. They tweet about their daily cooking lessons and blog in addition to answering some questions posed by their followers.
Here's an idea the Associated Press should've had long ago: use the collective link juice of the hundreds of publications to which it syndicates news to give AP owned pages a major boost in search engine rankings.
Apparently, the AP has finally figured out the potential of a system like this. The Nieman Journalism Lab reports that the organization plans "to build 'news guide landing pages' that will aggregate the AP's content around subjects, places, organizations, and people."
Those pages will then be linked to whenever a reference to them comes up on in AP article elsewhere. For example, if hundreds of papers run an AP story about Michael Jackson on their website, and link the keywords "Michael Jackson" to the AP's landing page for the late singer, that landing page then has enormous power in Google and other search engines, likely making it one of the top results when anyone searches for "Michael Jackson."
Nieman calls this a Wikipedia rival, since Wikipedia currently occupies so many of the top spots for topical searches. Mind you, there have been many other attempts to rival Wikipedia with similar concepts – Mahalo, Squidoo, and Google's own Knol product come to mind – but none have had the built-in network of high PageRank sites that can link back to topic pages.
Considering some rather dumbfounding news that has come out of the AP lately, like the already infamous move to charge $2.50 per word to quote stories and a bizarre social media policy for employees, this move actually smells of success if the organization can pull it off. In theory, it could even allow them to open up content to more publishers, in turn boosting search rank for topical AP pages even further. But, one miracle at a time.
According to AllThingsD, Apple is planning a keynote event the week of September 7th, a time the company has traditionally used to unveil new products.
Although it’s still unclear whether that event will include an Apple Tablet announcement, another intriguing rumor surrounding the eagerly anticipated device also caught our eye this morning by way of Gizmodo: that it will come in two editions, one featuring a webcam and one focused on the education market.
The publication's source also says that the Apple tablet "will cost $700 to $900," consistent with earlier reports.
Once again, the actual release date of the product is pegged as "this holiday season," and the screen is listed at 10 inches. But why the two editions, and why does that price point, which is substantially higher than other netbooks, keep coming up? According to Gizmodo's source, Apple sees the product fitting in between iPhone/iPod Touch and MacBook, both in price and functionality.
Such functionality could include "making the device act as a secondary screen/touchpad for iMacs and MacBooks" says the report. Combined with earlier speculation that the device could be a challenger to the Amazon Kindle (education edition = textbooks on iTunes?), you could be looking at something that is part eBook reader, part app store, and part iPhone – right smack in the middle of Apple's high and low end products indeed.
At this point, it's still all speculation, but at least some dots are starting to be connect. Now, the week of September 7th seems to be the time to keep an eye on for something definitive (or highly disappointing). In the meantime, if you can’t wait for something definitive, be sure to check out our Ultimate Gallery of Concept Designs and Prototypes.
For business users of the iPhone, email is crucial. The computer in your pocket is only as good as its ability to help you conduct business on the run.
As such, fast and efficient email search can mean the difference between finding an important yet buried email before heading into a meeting, and going in unprepared, or locating directions to your dinner date when Internet access is unavailable. And yet, the iPhone’s native email search leaves much to be desired.
reMail, a new iPhone app launching today, plans to bring the power back to email search on your phone. The email search app downloads all your email to your iPhone and then lets you search the full text of your emails, whether you’re online or off, at a much speedier rate than the native mail app.
reMail is built with the power email searcher in mind, and works with Gmail and IMAP email accounts. Though the app will set you back $4.99, the investment could save you minutes for each use.
As you type, the app is able to instantly search important email parameters like to-from fields, subject lines, full text in email body. It even auto-completes names, keeps your search history on hand, saves attachments to your phone, supports advanced search operators, and highlights matched text. It really is as impressive as Gmail search on the web, with the best part being that searches are conducted at lightening speeds 5x faster than the typical iPhone mail search.
Also of note is that reMail downloads all your email to your phone. The initial download will take a significant length of time — it’s painfully long — but you can search during the download process, and eventually you’ll have offline access to all of your emails. And according to the app maker, email storage won’t suck up your available space, as 100,000 emails takes up less than 500 MB.
Bottom line, reMail delivers on its promise to bring a better email search experience to your iPhone.
Retweeting, as we’ve highlighted previously (see HOW TO: Retweet on Twitter), has become a handy way to share content on the web. If you find an interesting Tweet, retweeting helps spread that content to your own Twitter network.
But what are the mechanisms that affect retweets? In his Mashable article The Science of ReTweets, social media and viral marketing scientist Dan Zarrella presented in-depth data showing what, how, and why people retweet.
Now Zarrella has put his most recent findings into a updated and expanded version of his original slideshow (embedded below) that takes us from “what is a retweet?” to the common features of retweets. A video interview at the end wraps it up nicely, and we’ve added more retweeting resources at the bottom of this post.
PS. You can click the “full” button at the bottom of the slideshow to make it full screen.
Microsoft is finally releasing Outlook for Mac, announcing today that starting next year, the popular email application will replace Entourage inside the Microsoft Office Suite.
For now though, Entourage lives on, with a new Web Services Edition, “so current Entourage users on Exchange will experience improved e-mail and calendaring support.” The download is available here.
We're more webmail people ourselves, but for those of you working in a more corporate environment (or simply preferential to Outlook), here are a few of the features that Microsoft is touting:
Cocoa: Built from the ground up using Cocoa providing users with improved integration with the Mac OS
New database: A high-speed file-based database with support for backing up files with Time Machine and Spotlight searching
Information Rights Management: Helps prevent sensitive information from being distributed to or read by people who do not have permission to access the content
Microsoft calls the move "more than a name change," but as Business Insider points out, it could also be just another reason to try and keep companies paying for Office. Meanwhile, we're a lot more excited to try out Web version of Office 2010, which will put Word, Excel, and PowerPoint on the Web – for free.
It’s been a while since we looked at ways to download YouTube videos to get local copies of your favorite vids, and we thought it might be time to take a look at which options are still left standing and what new apps are worth checking out.
For those of you new to the concept, you’ll need to know a couple of things. Many of these sites and tools simply grab YouTube videos in their native Flash format (FLV). To watch these files on your desktop, you’ll either need to get yourself an FLV player or convert the files into another format you can watch in your media player of choice (or on your iPod/iPhone, cell phone, or wherever the videos will ultimately end up).
Some of the listed tools include FLV players or file format converters along with the video download functions. Choose your poison according to your needs and patience level — if you do a lot of downloading it might be worth your while to check out the more full-featured apps.
And now, on with the list!
Web-based services
Downloader9 – This plain and simple free site lets you paste in a video URL from YouTube, Metacafe, DailyMotion or Myspace and generates a download link for the FLV file. As with many of these bare bones options, you’ll have to rename the file to something.FLV and have your own FLV player to watch the vids.
KeepVid – KeepVid is a simple and free utility that’s not quite as slathered with ads as some in the free downloader playing field. Just paste the URL of the video (works with YouTube as well as several other video sites) and you’ll get an option to download it in either FLV or MP4 formats — the extra format option is a nice touch here, too.
Vixy – Vixy offers YouTube downloads in the following formats: AVI (DivX + MP3), MOV, MP4, 3GP and MP3. It’s easy to use and not as obnoxiously ad-laden as some of the options further down this list (it’s also survived since our previous feature on the subject).
Easy YouTube Video Downloader – This one’s actually a Firefox extension that adds a download button option to the YouTube interface itself. Conversions are available to MP4 and 3GP, with HD quality options displayed where available.
iDesktop.tv – This freemium service supports YouTube downloads in the following formats: AVI, MP4, MOV, 3PG, 3PG2, WMV, FLV, EXE, ZIP and MP3 (paid plans only for MP3). You have a limited number of daily download credits under the free plan, with unlimited downloads and more file formats available under the $7 a month Downloader plan. They also provide a white label custom player service as well, which we reviewed back in February.
VideoDownloadX – This site made our last list and is still around. The plus side is it’s completely free. The downside is it’s so heavily ad-supported you have to tread carefully to avoid accidentally clicking on an ad, and you have to manually rename the files with a .FLV extension. You’ll also have to provide your own Flash FLV player to watch the downloaded videos.
SaveTube – Another simple paste and download tool in the vein of Downloader9 or KeepVid, SaveTube works fine but, like VideoDownloadX, is a minefield of ads to navigate.
VideoGetting – This one is free and supports conversion into multiple formats (WMV, MP3, MP4, MOV, 3GP, AVI, MPG, MPEG), but you’ll have to tolerate annoying pop-ups and ad traps to use it.
Windows Applications
Orbit Downloader – This desktop app downloads videos from several sites including YouTube, plus offers downloading from streaming music sites like Pandora, imeem, Myspace, etc., giving it a unique edge over some of the rest of the pack.
Moyea YouTube FLV Downloader – The free version of this app simply downloads YouTube vids as FLV files, while the paid app lets you convert them to MP4, 3GP, AVI, MOV, MPG, MKV, FLV, MP3, MKA, WAV, AC3, and M4A.
Vixy – The online tool Vixy we mentioned above in the web section also has a client available for download if you want to go the desktop app route.
VDownloder – Another survivor from our first round look at YouTube downloaders, VDownloder is a free app with support for a number of online video sites including a handful of (ahem) adult sites. It supports video search right from within the app and can save to AVI, MPG, MP$ (iPod/iPhone), PSP, 3GP, Nokia, VCD, SVCD, FLV and MP3.
Videoslurp – This attractively-named free app includes a built-in browser to find the YouTube vids you like and download them in one click. There’s a web-based online downloader version of Videoslurp also, but we couldn’t get it to work (if anyone else has luck with it, let us know in the comments).
Desktop YouTube Downloader – This $10 app has a 15-day free trial and comes with a bunch of features, including a built-in FLV player so you can watch videos without needing a separate Flash player or waiting for a file conversion. If you want the file conversion, this app covers that too, and can save the video to MPEG, WMV, iPod/iPhone or 3GP cell phone-typical file formats. It can also extract the audio track and save it as an MP3 or WAV file.
Mac OS X Applications
TubeSock – This cross-platform app can both play YouTube videos and download them. Conversions are available to MP4, H.264 and MP3 formats, targeting the iPod/iPhone and Sony PlayStation Portable specifically. It also features a bookmarklet script for Safari or Firefox that can automagically queue videos to TubeSock as you browse. The app is $15 and will only convert the first 30 seconds of video in the trial.
Vixy – The online tool Vixy we mentioned above in the web section also has a client available for download if you want to go the desktop app route. This one will work with both Intel and PowerPC Macs.
TubeTV – This freeware app provides search and browse tools as well as downloads and conversions. You’ll need to install the excellent Perian open source component to handle the conversions. If you’re a Mac user and don’t already know about Perian, it’s a great Swiss army knife-like codec utility that can also help solve a lot of compatibility problems trying to play back video files with Quicktime.
This is by no means a comprehensive list — we left out a number of sites and apps with nearly identical features to the items on this list. And though we included a few freemium and paid apps, we avoided some of the more costly tools in favor of the free and cheap in this set.
There’s also sure to be some apps and sites we just don’t know about yet — so if you have a favorite tool for downloading YouTube videos to your desktop, let us know in the comments! If you’re listing a paid app, be sure and tell us why it’s worth paying for.
It's a big weekend for golf fans: the last major of the year, the PGA Championship. For those of us stuck at work today and tomorrow, the PGA has launched a fantastic live video stream, complete with Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace integration.
Similar to the live video streaming + chat offered by UStream, Justin.tv, and TinyChat (which Mashable uses), PGA.com's implementation lets users login with their social network credentials (using Facebook Connect, Sign In With Twitter, or MySpace ID) and then publish their chat. You can toggle to view updates from everyone who's logged into the video player, or just your friends.
In turn, the PGA's player gets a lot more traffic as other golf fans see the link show up in their streams. The chat feature is powered by Gigya.
The video stream itself offers a few different options: a simulcast of TNT's coverage, the "marquee group" (Tiger Woods, Padraig Harrington, and Rich Beem), and a camera that covers only the Par 3s. There's also an iPhone application available [iTunes link] for $1.99 with live video (which will work best with a WiFi connection) and updates.
In all, a great tech effort by the PGA that's sure to keep golf fans productivity around nil for the rest of the week.
If you receive a Facebook mail today with the subject line “CoooL Video”, don’t click the link. We’re getting reports of a Facebook scam which causes infected users to unknowingly send out Facebook mails to their friends containing that subject line.
The links in the mails go to various places, including a blogspot blog (see screenshot below). Of course, clicking the link earns you an unpleasant dose of malware.
Facebook, to give credit where due, is becoming increasingly proficient at stomping out such scams: the last one to cause issues was around two months ago.
What To Do
If you receive one of these Facebook mails, simply delete it – one of your friends is infected but not you. If you find, however, that your account is sending the mails:
1. As a precaution, go to your browser settings and clear your cookies.
2. Change your Facebook password
3. Make sure your antivirus software is up to date and run a full system scan
Can’t wait to get your hands on Microsoft’s upcoming Zune HD, with HD radio, wireless sync, a 16:9 OLED display, multi-touch, 10 hours of HD video storage and HD video-out?
The waiting is almost over.
Microsoft announced today that the device will be available on September 15th, and you can pre-order today at Best Buy, Amazon, Walmart and The Microsoft Store (see the Pre-Order button on the Zune website). Prices are $219.99 for the black 16GB version and $289.99 for the “platinum” 32GB version.
Will you be ordering a Zune HD? Let us know in the comments.
Should sex offenders be allowed to use Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace and other social networking sites? Illinois Governor Pat Quinn (pictured) thinks not, and this week signed into law a bill that bans all registered sex offenders in his state from using social networks.
This sounds satisfying on first listen – after all, why wouldn’t we want to take every possible measure to prevent the horrendous crimes of sex offenders? But many legal blogs are pointing out that the legislation is overzealous and possibly unconstitutional.
Peeing in Public? You Might be a Sex Offender
Salon points out that in 13 states you’ll be added to the sex offenders register for “urinating in public (in two of which, only if a child was present)”, while “29 states required registration for teenagers who had consensual sex with another teenager”. In other words: it’s not just child molesters and rapists who would be banned if such laws became accepted.
Then there’s the problem of implementation: who is going to keep an eye on the thousands of registered sex offenders to see if they’re using Facebook and Twitter? Surely there are better ways to spend police time than tracking the web habits of someone who had sex in high school?
NYTimes.com is Banned, Too
Other blogs, like Technology Liberation and Hacker Journalist, point out that the broad definition of “social networking websites” essentially bans these people from the web as a whole – banned from posting a resume on LinkedIn, banned from reading the New York Times (or any major newspaper) online because it lets you set up a profile. The description reads:
“Social networking website" means an Internet website containing profile web pages of the members of the website that include the names or nicknames of such members, photographs placed on the profile web pages by such members, or any other personal or personally identifying information about such members and links to other profile web pages on social networking websites of friends or associates of such members that can be accessed by other members or visitors to the website. A social networking website provides members of or visitors to such website the ability to leave messages or comments on the profile web page that are visible to all or some visitors to the profile web page and may also include a form of electronic mail for members of the social networking website.
In short, punishing rapists and sex offenders may feel satisfying, but this isn’t what the bill does: it’ll likely affect those who committed far lesser crimes, prove unenforceable, and may even be unconstitutional.
Ordinary soap is for n00bs, people! What you need to prove your geek cred in all matters personal-hygiene is iPhone soap, with its realistic iPhone shape and buttons. What’s more, the hazelnut (or vanilla) scented soap is infused with shea butter for your delicate, sun-deprived skin.
The creator of the unusual product writes:
Do you love the iPhone or know someone who does? This is the perfect gift for iPhone lovers!
This iPhone soap is roughly the same size as the actual iPhone. It has the black button at the bottom and the “screen icons” in its “flat screen”. The top layer of the soap is dark grayish black and the bottom layer is a slightly lighter shade of gray. I must say that this is one of my coolest creations and each feature is meticulously created. I hope you like the result of the many experiments and hours I spent to perfect it!
Not an iPhone fan? No worries: the soap’s maker also produces a Palm Pre soap and a Blackberry soap, among other geeky creations. All are available in the Two Eggplants shop on Etsy.
Do you remember two months ago when Facebook usernames went live? Millions of avid Facebook users waited on a Friday night for the chance to claim their own custom URL. 200,000 were claimed in 3 minutes, 500,000 in 15 minutes, a million within an hour, and 3 million usernames by the next morning.
Still, that’s just a tiny portion of the nearly 300 million users of the world’s larger social network. However, it looks as if adoption of usernames hasn’t stopped. According to a recent note from Facebook engineering, it was revealed that the company has reached over 50 million users. And that milestone was passed several weeks ago – there’s no telling how many people have registered a vanity URL by now
In a post entitled “Designing the Facebook username land rush,” Facebook’s Srinivas Narayanan reveals the number while explaining the difficulties of building a system capable of handling 200,000 signups in 3 minutes and planning for contingencies (aka the so-called “nuclear option”). These are subjects we actually discussed with Facebook’s Jared Morgenstern and Guy Rom at Facebook headquarters the night of the launch.
It’s a testament to the success of the usernames system that 20%+ users have signed up for it within two months. At some point though, there will be a ceiling where the registration of new usernames turns into a trickle. We’re curious how many users will have vanity URLs by then.
This post is part of Mashable's Spark of Genius series, which highlights a unique feature of startups. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here. The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark.
Quick Pitch: PadMapper is an apartment rental search engine that combines Google Maps with slider and keyword filters to help you find what you want quickly.
Genius Idea: Apartment search on the web stinks. Even with the endless variety of tools available to help the process, we’re still left scouring a bunch of different sites and wasting away huge chunks of the day. PadMapper could potentially help remove some of the pain with their Google Maps mashup for a smarter apartment search that includes an array of filtering options.
PadMapper is certainly not the first tool to put the power of Google Maps to use for apartment search, but we quite like their simplistic and straightforward approach. You’ll start off with a standard map view, and you can then use the PadMapper filters to narrow results to an area or address, and use sliders to specify rent price conditions, bed and bath preferences, pet needs, and add in your own keywords.
PadMapper has a few extra goodies worth exploring. New Yorkers can filter listings by commute time on the subway, and anyone can save and share favorites, as well as use the complimentary iPhone app [iTunes link] while on the go. Plus, if you create an account, you can post your own links to listings on the map.
Here’s a quick demo of PadMapper:
Sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark
BizSpark is a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.
At the very beginning of this year, Jason Sadler started a quirky experiment: I Wear Your Shirt, a project where every day, Jason would wear one shirt from one company per day and post his image on YouTube, Twitter, Ustream, and more. He would be a walking, talking billboard.
He also had an intriguing price structure: it only cost $1 for a company to have him wear its schwag on January 1st, $2 on the 2nd, etc. until December 31st, where the price would be $365. While each amount isn’t that big, it added up. So did the attention.
The result: he sold out every day and will make over $70,000 this year alone ($66,795 + other contests and deals). Talk about a social media payday.
Now Jason Sadler, aka @IWearYourShirt, is going to see if he can double everything: the prices, the publicity, and the number of shirts by enlisting his new shirt-wearing partner, Evan White (@YourFriendEvan).
The plan is simple: double the price for double the publicity. Both will be visible on Ustream, YouTube, Twitter, and social networks, covering both coasts. They just launched their 2010 calendar. And in less than 24 hours, they’ve already sold 115+ days. That doesn’t even include the contests and events they intend to hold in 2010.
We think that Jason and Evan’s approach to social marketing is one of the most novel in the realm of social media. We’ve seen Jason’s brand appear over and over again – clearly his grassroots advertising has been well worth the companies who have bought slots. We already wonder how he’ll top himself in 2011
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This post is part of Mashable's Spark of Genius series, which highlights a unique feature of startups. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details 
Name: 
At the very beginning of this year, Jason Sadler started a quirky experiment: 
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