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Waterpebble gets water-wasters out of the shower

Water-saving device uses the length of your first shower as a benchmark, indicating via a series of gently flashing "traffic lights" when you need to get out of the shower already!


1366 Tech leaps from pure silicon to solar wafer

Solar start-up 1366 Technologies is working on a technology that promises to dramatically cut the cost of solar cell manufacturing.


Turning smartphones into air quality monitors

Intel Labs is showing off technology that would allow consumers to collect and analyze environmental data and then share it over the Internet.


Why the explosion of social games excites veteran developers

When simple games like Farmville snag 83 million users, designers who are used to working for years on a project have little choice but to embrace the era of Facebook titles.


GDC 2010: Scaling the summits of game play

roundup This week's Game Developers Conference brings together designers, programmers, publishers, and others for the latest from the world of video play.


Nasdaq 5,000: Ten years after the dot-com peak

Exactly 10 years ago, during the height of the dot-com mania, the Nasdaq reached its all-time high of 5,408.62 on March 10, 2000. It has never recovered.


SXSWi: Let the geolocation games begin

The competition will be particularly fierce at the annual digital-culture bash between Foursquare and Gowalla, rival social-media services that want to own the location-based networking market.


Sun fended off Apple, Microsoft IP lawsuit threats

Steve Jobs personally threatened to sue Sun Microsystems, Jonathan Schwartz says. Sun warded off that and a Microsoft threat with its own patent portfolio.


Google Maps to add bike maps, directions

Cyclists will be able to use Google Maps to plot directions around 150 U.S. cities when bike directions go live on Google later on Tuesday.


Lindsay Lohan sues E-Trade over Super Bowl spot

The troubled actress is suing E-Trade, claiming that it mocked her in one of its cute baby ads. She is asking for $100 million.


How Epic fit the Unreal Engine into the iPhone

The Unreal Engine 3 is on its way to the iPhone, though creators Epic Games have had to make some compromises to get there.


Google announces business app store for Google Apps

Software developers can cater to Google Apps customers through a new application store announced at Google's Campfire One event in Mountain View.


Rock Band 3 confirmed for holidays

Harmonix and MTV Games are getting the band back together, with Electronic Arts handling distribution once more.


Online dating finally recognized by restaurant guide

A new restaurant guide has a section specifically dedicated to the difficult area of online dating. Its author believes only certain very specific places are suitable for an online date.


Pink Floyd sues EMI over iTunes payments

One of the most imposing (and wealthiest) bands of all time sues EMI over online royalties. EMI is reportedly arguing that an album-unbundling ban applies only to physical products.


iPhone 4G: 25 most-wanted features

Apple's fourth-generation iPhone will most likely arrive in June. Here's a look at some of the feature and design upgrades we'd most like to see, including the odds of their implementation.


Cyberbullying hits LGBT youth especially hard

One in two lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender youth report being cyberbullied about their sexual identities, according to a new Iowa State survey of 444 youths.


McAfee: A million 'scareware' victims a day

Security firm McAfee is warning consumers to beware of 'scareware' programs that appear to be antivirus software but are actually scams that can steal data and infect your computer.


Analyst: PlayStation 3 to win console war in the end

Sony's PlayStation 3 has suffered from poor sales over the past few years. But the console is making a resurgence and at least one analyst firm believes it will triumph.


FileMaker 11 delivers charting, 'on-the-fly' reporting

Apple-owned company on Tuesday releases next major version of its database product, FileMaker Pro 11.


 

Samsung to bundle glasses with 3D TVs

Tackles hidden cost of 3D TV viewing

In a bid to become the leading supplier of 3D TVs, Samsung will bundle every one of its 3D tellies and Blu-ray Disc players with two pairs of active-shutter specs and a copy of Monsters vs Aliens, the company announced last night.…

Case Study: WhatsUp keeps Legoland turnstyles ringing


Freesat BBC iPlayer beta gets red button access

Code-only entry ended

Humax and the BBC have extended their iPlayer trial to all of the manufacturers' Freesat set-top boxes, making the catch-up service available through remotes' red buttons.…

Offloading malware protection to the cloud


Saviour likely for titsup training firm

Advent students still waiting for a saviour

Administrators for Advent Computer Training, and its sister school for plumbers, believe they have found buyers for the company.…


Government spends £11k on ID card 'branding'

£1m spent on advertising, no public relations

The government still seems to be shying away from spending too much money advertising its ID card and National ID Register schemes.…

Web threats: Why conventional protection doesn't work


'Phantom Eye' hydrogen strato-spy drone starts building

Cruises 12 miles up on pair of Ford car engines

Global arms'n'aerospace behemoth Boeing says it will now begin work in earnest on its "Phantom Eye" high-altitude hydrogen spy drone, powered by a pair of modified Ford car engines.…

What is your recession sales strategy?


UK plastic fraud losses fall for first time in 3 years

Online banking losses up though

A rise in online banking fraud losses took some of the shine off the overall fall in debit and credit fraud in the UK last year.…

The power of collaboration within unified communications


Mozilla Jetpack flies out of laboratory into loving arms of Firefox

SDK lands with a bump

Mozilla has promoted its web extensions prototype package - Jetpack - by pushing it upstairs and readying it for production with its Firefox browser.…

What is your recession sales strategy?


SpringSource adds springiness to Tomcat server

Free licenses lure cloud army to VMware

Open-source Java framework specialist SpringSource has unveiled a new incarnation of its Apache Tomcat-based tc Server, offering application developers and operators additional tools for building, deploying, and monitoring their software on the lightweight runtime platform.…

What is your recession sales strategy?


Twitter adds filter to cut phishing lines

Every twt.tl bit helps

Twitter has tightened up security procedures in order to curtail phishing attacks against users of the micro-blogging service, which have become rampant over recent weeks.…

Offloading malware protection to the cloud


Microsoft whitewashes MSN in latest Web2.0rhea whimsy

Still not shining Silverlight on UK video player

Microsoft has taken the beta wraps off its MSN homepage, which the company relaunched in the US in November 2009.…

Offloading malware protection to the cloud


Y2.01K hits Garmin sat-nav

Routing like it's 1949

Garmin's Geko 201 GPS kit can't decide what year it is, flipping between decades every time it's switched on, though it's performing better on days of the week.…

Case Study: WhatsUp keeps Legoland turnstyles ringing


UK is safer from al-Qaeda 'bastards', says security minister

Well done chaps, no damage to society at all

The minister responsible for counter-terrorism has said that despite "some very nasty bastards out there who aim to do us harm", government security initiatives have made the UK safer from attacks in recent years.…

What is your recession sales strategy?


Young people are lazy, think world owes them a living - prof

Trick-cyclist blasts Googleplex massage parlour

It's official. Proper actual science* has confirmed that the young Westerners of Generation Y (people now in their 20s) are idle, workshy loafers by comparison to their elders. They are also think that the world owes them a handsome living, having higher expectations of salary and status than their predecessors.…

Web threats: Why conventional protection doesn't work


BT boss urges fines for filesharing customers

Corporate crusaders for free speech unite

Mandybill Ian Livingston, the boss of Britain's biggest ISP BT, is lobbying for the government's proposed technical sanctions against filesharers to be replaced with fines.…

Case Study: WhatsUp keeps Legoland turnstyles ringing


Microsoft boffin scoops Turing Award

Hardware guru wins computing's 'Nobel prize'

A Microsoft researcher has received the Turing Award in recognition for his pioneering work in personal computing hardware and networking technology development.…

The power of collaboration within unified communications


WD targets Win XP users to ease 4KB drive upgrades

Sector inspector

Western Digital is to help Windows XP users more easily make the transition to so-called '4K' hard drive technology, the new standard for basic drive formatting.…

Case Study: WhatsUp keeps Legoland turnstyles ringing


Palm pops out plug-in dev kit

WebOs goes native

Palm has released its Plug-in Development Kit, enabling native development for those who find AJAX just can't cut it.…

What is your recession sales strategy?


Sharp preps Freeview HD set-top kit

Connect-your-own-storage DVR too

Sharp will release the first of two Freeview HD set-top boxes at the end of April. It's also preparing a regular Freeview DVR that uses USB-connected storage to make it a doddle to transfer taped programmes to a PC.…

Case Study: WhatsUp keeps Legoland turnstyles ringing


NY chef offers mam cheese canapes

Wife is 100% free range and foie gras fed

A New York chef is offering samples of cheese made from his wife's breast milk with the promise that it's "100 per cent organic, free range and foie gras fed".…

Offloading malware protection to the cloud


Brown promises Budget in a fortnight

Warns of more bumps ahead

Gordon Brown is set to announce the Budget will happen at the end of the month, increasing the likelihood that the election will be on 6 May.…

Case Study: WhatsUp keeps Legoland turnstyles ringing


Max Clifford takes £1m to drop hack probe

Kiss and don't tell

Celebrity publicist Max Clifford has agreed to accept a £1m plus payoff in exchange for dropping phone hacking allegations against the News of the World.…

Offloading malware protection to the cloud


Google goes cycling

Turn left here and jump that red light

Google is offering a cycling option for users of its map service.…

Offloading malware protection to the cloud


Google Nexus One Android smartphone

Hard to resist

Review The flourishing Android operating system has appeared on phones made by Motorola, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, LG and HTC. Now Google has launched its own handset, though it’s actually made by HTC, which has made the bulk of Android handsets so far.…


Suburban woman accused of using net to recruit terrorists

Feds cuff JihadJane

A suburban Pennsylvania woman who went by the online alias JihadJane used the internet to recruit Islamic terrorists and to plot the assassination of a Swedish cartoonist who depicted the Prophet Mohammed, according to a federal indictment unsealed Tuesday.…

Offloading malware protection to the cloud


Sepaton in anti-Data Domain pitch

Dual-node MS2 cluster

Criticising the pain of single-silo deduplication products, Sepaton has introduced a dual-node clustered product that can be upgraded to its larger ES2 system.…

What is your recession sales strategy?


Tablet maker threatens, then robs Apple

The non-iPad iPad clone

The publicity whores at China's Shenzhen Great Loong Brother tablet-PC maker are at it again.…

What is your recession sales strategy?


UK pol touts canine chip implants

Doggies digitized for your protection

Even if your beloved Westie is spending her declining years curled up by the hearth, Home Secretary Alan Johnson suggests she should be microchipped for the protection of her potential victims, and you should pony up for dog-attack insurance.…

Case Study: WhatsUp keeps Legoland turnstyles ringing


Google opens Google Apps app store

One stop Google bolt-on shop

The Mountain View Chocolate Factory has unveiled an online marketplace for third-party applications that hook into its Google Apps suite of web-based businessware.…

The power of collaboration within unified communications


Floating IT lab mimics multi-tiered networks

Is it real? Or is it Skytap?

Skytap - the Jeff Bezos-backed startup that lets you mimic internal IT infrastructure in the so-called cloud - has introduced a new set of automation tools designed to facilitate the creation of complex network topologies on its floating interwebs service.…

The power of collaboration within unified communications


Fraud-prevention service ponies up $12m for 'false' ads

Agrees to safeguard customer data

An Arizona company that sells services designed to prevent identity theft has agreed to pay $12m to settle charges it oversold their effectiveness and didn't adequately protect sensitive customer data.…

Offloading malware protection to the cloud


Pillar juices flash drive box

Reliability boost roadmap

Pillar Data Axiom storage arrays can go a whole lot faster, use less energy and be more reliable, thanks to a range of new features from flash drive enclosures to pre-emptive copies.…

The power of collaboration within unified communications


Apple's draconian developer docs revealed

The first rule of iPhone Club is...

In the 1999 movie Fight Club, Brad Pitt famously tells a huddle of pugilistic aspirants: "The first rule of Fight Club is: you do not talk about Fight Club."…

Offloading malware protection to the cloud


It's official: Adobe Reader is world's most-exploited app

The new Microsoft

Adobe's ubiquitous Reader application has replaced Microsoft Word as the program that's most often targeted in malware campaigns, according to figures compiled by F-Secure.…

Web threats: Why conventional protection doesn't work


Cisco 'forever changes internet' with... a router

322 Tbps of bandwidth (not quite) here

How will Cisco "forever change the internet"? With a new router.…

Offloading malware protection to the cloud


Google tests TV set-top search, says report

Satellite TV meets YouTube meets online ad machine

Google is privately testing a television set-top box that lets users search satellite TV programming as well as video websites like its very own YouTube, according to a new report.…

Web threats: Why conventional protection doesn't work


New Internet Explorer code-execution attacks go wild

IE 6 and 7 users targeted

Online thugs are exploiting a security bug in earlier versions of Internet Explorer that allows them to remotely execute malicious code, Microsoft warned on Tuesday.…

Offloading malware protection to the cloud


Dell intros restyled biz laptops

Vostro 3000 line debuts

Dell has introduced a set of new Vostro notebooks, pitching the products as "a range of new thin, lightweight and durable laptop computers".…


FA launches security probe after England team bugged

Lancaster Gate-gate

Reported attempts to sell recordings of conversations between England squad players and coaches have sparked a security breach investigation at the FA.…

Offloading malware protection to the cloud


Terracotta's Ehcache back-ends Hibernate

Web Sessions gets some tweaks, too

If you want to make money, and perhaps especially in the open source software racket, you have to keep improving your software to help it get more widely adopted among enterprise customers who get nervous if they don't hand over big wads of cash to someone to babysit the code. That's why Terracotta, a maker of systems programs that help Java applications scale, has made a number of acquisitions and has tweaked two key programs in its portfolio.…

Web threats: Why conventional protection doesn't work


Smartphone app botnet experiment blows up a storm

WeatherFist shows phone vulnerability, devs claim

Security researchers fooled nearly 8,000 iPhone and Android users into joining a mobile smartphone "botnet" under the guise of installing an apparently innocuous weather app.…

Case Study: WhatsUp keeps Legoland turnstyles ringing


Nokia killed free navigation, alleges EU complaint

The fall of Nav4All

A customer of the late Nav4All has filed a complaint with the EU, alleging that Nokia abused its market position to drive the competition out of business.…

Web threats: Why conventional protection doesn't work


Doctors tell government to stop the health records roll-out

SCR ain't ready for primetime

The British Medical Association is calling on the Department of Health to suspend the roll-out of summary care records.…

What is your recession sales strategy?


Open source boss quits Sun Oracle

Simon Phipps rides out of Ellison town

Sun Microsystems' veteran Simon Phipps quit his chief open source officer post at the Oracle-owned company yesterday.…

Offloading malware protection to the cloud


Tories ask: Why BBC3, BBC4?

Is this the wrong question?

Conservative culture front bencher Jeremy Hunt is asking what’s the point of BBC3 and BBC4? It’s a good time to ask the question. In an interview with the Independent, Hunt queried why £100m was being spent, merely to attract "very, very small" audiences.…

Case Study: WhatsUp keeps Legoland turnstyles ringing


Northerners give up ID cards for Lent figures suggest

Has gov gotten cold feet on ID scanning centres?

Comment The initial rush to join the government's ID card scheme appears to have eased, with applications from people in the Northwest running at an average of as little as 14.5 per working day.…

What is your recession sales strategy?


Android - the winning formula for tablets and netbooks?

It's the only game in town, says the maker of the other iPad

What might the iPad have been? Apple announced it as a Magical and Revolutionary Device, defining "an entirely new category". But it actually only addresses a small part of the yawning gap between mobile handsets and notebook computers, where there's still a lot of defining to be done. There's space there for dramatically different reimaginations of the iPhone, for counter-attacks from handset companies, and for diverse devices based on Google's Android.…

The power of collaboration within unified communications


Critical bug does a Custer on Apache for Windows

Old warrior clobbered

Older versions of the Windows flavour of Apache's web server software are vulnerable to a critical code injection flaw as well as a pair of lesser security bugs.…

Offloading malware protection to the cloud


UK still lousy on electronic nosiness

Report shows state of international surveillance heavyweights

A new report highlights a depressingly consistent drift towards ever greater control of the population using new technologies.…

What is your recession sales strategy?


Cisco promises to 'forever change the internet'

Stock jumps as rumors fly

Today will see Cisco making an announcement that it claims will "forever change the internet". The stock market certainly believed it, sending the IP giant's shares to their highest level in more than a year ($26.34) yesterday. Given Cisco's heritage and product strategy it has more likelihood than most of delivering on its claim, but remains tightlipped about the details - sparking rumors from a gigabit wholesale network to an extended wireless core play to a set-top box.…

What is your recession sales strategy?


Kentucky woman breastfeeds sheriff's deputy

Third degree assault rap for 'biohazard' mam squirt

A Kentucky woman cuffed for public intoxication added a third degree assault charge to her rap sheet after allegedly squirting breast milk into a sheriff's deputy's face.…

Offloading malware protection to the cloud


  Empty List  

Google Maps Finally Adds Bike Routes

With a click of a mouse, cyclists can get the quickest, and flattest, route between Point A and Point B.



March 10, 2000: Pop Goes the Nasdaq!

The Nasdaq begins its spectacular collapse, signaling the end of the dot-com boom.



Veil Lifts on Apple's Secret Plan to Control Universe

The recently unveiled secret agreement that Apple makes iPhone developers sign supports what many have suspected all along: Apple is trying to control the universe.



Texters Should Park the Car, Take the Bus

Taking public transit wouldn't just decrease our carbon footprint — it'd also end all that fiddling with the phone while driving, an insanely dangerous problem.



Bottled Wind Could Be as Constant as Coal

Huge projects that would store wind energy by compressing air in abandoned mines and porous sandstone are gaining steam in the Midwest.



10 Years After: A Look Back at the Dot-Com Boom and Bust

The Nasdaq peaked at 5,049 on March 10, 2000, then it promptly nosedived and hasn't come near that level since. Here’s a look at the era that launched — and crushed — a million dreams.



Review: Science Trips Out on Music in 'The Heart Is a Drum Machine'

Through interviews with a brainy crop of musicians and scientists, a new documentary probes the connection between body, mind and music.



Broadcast Video From Your Mobile

You're carrying around a video camera in your pocket (it's that thing attached to your mobile phone) so be prepared and learn how to start streaming video to the web at a moment's notice.



Oldest Known Flying 'Car' Up for Auction

It's from 1934, and it doesn't look like a car, and it doesn't look like it would fly.



Hot Property Sex.com on Auction Block

It’s a sadly familiar story from the high-flying market of the past few years: Speculator thinks values will continue to go up, up, up. Overbids for a hot property. Can’t keep up with the payments. Lender is forced to foreclose. Only this isn’t about real estate — it’s about the most expensive domain name in the history of the internet: sex.com.



Storyboard: Extreme-Test War Stories

From blasting body armor to testing the limits of a satellite tracker, the Wired magazine team talks about putting survival products through the real-world wringer.



Your Computer Really Is a Part of You

Philosopher Martin Heidegger thought that our tools eventually become a part of us cognitively. Now a scientist has found he was right. Your mouse and monitor affect the way you think.



Just How Fast Is Cisco's New Router? Really Freaking Fast

Cisco's new CRS-3 router is capable of 322 terabits per second, the company says. That's fast enough to download the entire Library of Congress in about a second.



Lifelock Dinged $12 Million for Deceptive Business Practices

The Federal Trade Commission is alleging Arizona-based Lifelock engaged in false advertising by promising customers that if they signed up with its service their personal information would become useless to identity thieves. The FTC fined it $12 million as part of a settlement agreement.



Better Than Apollo: The Space Program We Almost Had

A new book lovingly collects and presents the unexpectedly gorgeous advertisements of early, pre-Apollo space companies. The author of "Another Science Fiction" explains this fascinating, forgotten world of unbounded possibility, countercultural space exploration, and what it all means for human spaceflight today in this exclusive interview with Wired.com.



Pink Floyd, EMI Brawl Over iTunes Royalties

Pink Floyd and EMI are locked in a royalty battle -- yet another example of an emerging dispute between rights holders and publishers over payment for intellectual property born before the explosion of online digital sales.



Apple's Secret iPhone Developer Agreement Goes Public

Previously secret, the iPhone Developer Program License Agreement has been acquired and published with the help of the Freedom of Information Act.



Mile-High Mega Kites Could Pull Giant, Floating Power Plants

Korean scientists propose attaching gigantic, 6.5 million-square-foot kites to ships to drag them through the ocean and generate energy.



Safe and Affordable Jetpack: Just $90,000

For years, man has been trying to build a jetpack which would be safe and cheap enough to use by anyone other than Lee Majors on the title sequence of The Fall Guy. It turns out we’ve been doing it wrong. Instead of starting with a pack and adding on the jet, we should have torn the giant engines from a plane and strapped them to some poor schmuck.



Amazon Is Building a Better Browser for Kindle

Browsing the web on one of Amazon’s Kindle e-readers is like taking a step backwards in time. It’s clunky and has only limited support for web standards, and bare-bones JavaScript capabilities. But now Amazon may be looking to add browser engineers to the Kindle team, according to job listings on the company’s website.



Motorola's Backflip Will Make You Come Unhinged

Despite some of forward-thinking hardware, Moto's Backflip is crippled by a horrid Android skin. And there's only so much one can do with 3.1 inches.



Supreme Court Takes 'Informational Privacy' Case

The Supreme Court agrees to decide a case concerning "informational privacy." The Obama administration claims the case could undermine how much background data it may collect on the 14-million-person federal bureaucracy.



March 9, 1454: This Man Is a Continent ... or Two

Amerigo Vespucci is remembered in the names of two continents, not because he was first to visit them, but because he was first to realize that they were something new to Europeans.



Turn an FM Transmitter Into a Micro Pirate Radio

Seize the airwaves to fight corporate radio's preprogrammed junk. It all starts with a soldering iron and a cheapo FM transmitter.



Most Dangerous Object in the Office: Shocknife SK-2

There's no sharp point or edge, but the electrodes in the polycarbonate Shocknife deliver a stabbing 7,500 volts. Ouch. Kilo-ouch.



A Closer Look at Sony's New Skin for Android Phones

Sony's new user interface is designed as a skin that will go on top of the Android operating system and aggregate social networking feeds. Take a closer look at it how it compares to Motorola's MotoBlur and the HTC Sense.



Meet the Winners of Webmonkey's Google I/O Giveaway

We're sending two talented monkeys to the Google I/O developer conference in May. We asked our readers to submit their web creations, and we picked the winners from the best of the submissions.



Digital-Ad Spending May Eclipse Print This Year

Spending on digital advertising is poised to surpass print for the first time in 2010, according to a new study prepared even before the announcement of Apple’s iPad, with all of that hardware's game-changing potential. But another view is: So what? It’s bound to happen soon if not this year.



Get Jazzed for Monster Miles Davis Giveaway

Tell us why the trumpet player and bandleader was one of music's most innovative forces, and you'll be entered to win a copy of the 70-CD box set Miles Davis: The Complete Columbia Album Collection, a Miles-branded iPod and Monster Miles Davis Tribute high-performance headphones.



Feds Move to Break Voting-Machine Monopoly

The Justice Department is moving to break up an alleged electronic voting-machine monopoly. The authorities say Election Systems & Software has a 70 percent market share of voting equipment in the United States.



 

Study Shows TV Makes Kids Fat, Computers Don't

Xemu writes "Computer's don't make children fat, but watching TV for the same length of time does. This is shown by a recent Swedish study of all school children in Lund's county conducted by RN Pernilla Garmy. The results were clear: The child's obesity was directly affected by placing a TV in the child's room, but placing a computer in the room had no effect at all. One theory is that it's common to have a snack in front of the TV, while a computer requires a more active user, for example when chatting or playing games."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.



Ex-Sun Chief Dishes Dirt On Gates, Jobs

alphadogg writes "Forrmer CEO of Sun Microsystems Jonathan Schwartz has taken to his personal blog, provocatively titled "What I couldn't say...," to dish some industry dirt and tell his side of the story about the demise of Sun. He has already hinted at plans to write a book, and a new post suggests a tell-all tome could indeed be in the offing. "I feel for Google — Steve Jobs threatened to sue me, too," Schwartz writes, apparently referring to Apple's patent lawsuit against HTC, which makes Google's Nexus One smartphone. As for Bill Gates, Schwartz says he was threatening regarding Sun's efforts in the office software space."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.



Professors Banning Laptops In the Lecture Hall

Pickens writes "The Washington Post reports that professors have banned laptops from their classrooms at George Washington University, American University, the College of William and Mary, and the University of Virginia, among many others, compelling students to take notes the way their parents did: on paper. A generation ago, academia embraced the laptop as the most welcome classroom innovation since the ballpoint pen, but during the past decade it has evolved into a powerful distraction as wireless Internet connections tempt students away from note-typing to e-mail, blogs, YouTube videos, sports scores, even online gaming. Even when used as glorified typewriters, laptops can turn students into witless stenographers, typing a lecture verbatim without listening or understanding. 'The breaking point for me was when I asked a student to comment on an issue, and he said, "Wait a minute, I want to open my computer,"' says David Goldfrank, a Georgetown history professor. 'And I told him, "I don't want to know what's in your computer. I want to know what's in your head."' Some students don't agree with the ban. A student wrote in the University of Denver's newspaper: 'The fact that some students misuse technology is no reason to ban it. After all, how many professors ban pens and notebooks after noticing students doodling in the margins?'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.



Rock Band 3 Officially Announced For Holiday 2010

An anonymous reader writes "Philippe Dauman, Viacom CEO and President, announced today that Harmonix is currently working on the next Rock Band game, Rock Band 3, due for release Holiday 2010. 'The company is pursuing the game in spite of an industry-weakening decline in the once-booming genre of peripheral-equipped music games. Although the franchise has generated over $1 billion to date, the category in general saw sales contract by as much as half throughout 2009. MTV Games parent Viacom also saw Rock Band declines drag on its balance sheet in its last fiscal quarter, and expressed a need to refocus away from pricey peripherals in favor of software. It also said that due to royalties it would need to be more "selective" about track listings, and that it needs more support from the music industry in that department.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.



Linux Takes Over E-Voting In Australian State

daria42 writes "The Electoral Commission in the Australian state of Victoria has made plans to expand its use of electronic voting kiosks based on Linux in the next state election in November of this year. But it appears to be a little confused: the documentation states it will be using the '2.6 kernel/Gentoo release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux.' Huh?"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.



Puzzle In xkcd Book Finally Cracked

An anonymous reader writes "After a little over five months of pondering, xkcd fans have cracked a puzzle hidden inside Randall Munroe's recent book xkcd: volume 0. Here is the start of the thread on the xkcd forums; and here is the post revealing the final message (a latitude and longitude plus a date and time)."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.



The Value of BASIC As a First Programming Language

Mirk writes "Computer-science legend Edsger W. Dijkstra famously wrote: 'It is practically impossible to teach good programming to students that have had a prior exposure to BASIC: as potential programmers they are mentally mutilated beyond hope of regeneration.' The Reinvigorated Programmer argues that the world is full of excellent programmers who cut their teeth on BASIC, and suggests it could even be because they started out with BASIC."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.



US Considers Some Free Wireless Broadband Service

gollum123 writes "US regulators may dedicate spectrum to free wireless Internet service for some Americans to increase affordable broadband service nationwide, the Federal Communications Commission said on Tuesday. The FCC provided few details about how it would carry out such a plan and who would qualify, but will make a recommendation under the National Broadband Plan set for release next week. The agency will determine details later. One way of making broadband more affordable is to 'consider use of spectrum for a free or a very low-cost wireless broadband service,' the FCC said in a statement." Nobody has more than a couple of paragraphs on this story. None of the press coverage mentions the obvious likelihood that any such free network would be heavily filtered, censored, and monitored.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.



US Gamers Spend $3.8 Billion On MMOs Yearly

eldavojohn writes "A new report from Games Industry indicates that MMO gamers in the United States paid $3.8 billion to play last year, with an analysis of five European countries bringing the total close to $4.5 billion USD. In America, the report estimated that payments for boxed content and client downloads amounted to a measly $400 million, while the subscriptions came to $2.38 billion. Hopefully that will fund some developer budgets for bigger and better MMOs yet to come. The study also found that roughly a quarter of the US population plays some form of MMO. Surely MMOs are shaping up to be a juicy industry, and a market that can satisfy people of all walks of life."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.



The World's First Commercially Available Jetpack

ElectricSteve writes "It's been a long time coming. While Arthur C. Clarke's geosync satellites have taken to space, and James Bond's futuristic mobile technology has become commonplace, still the dream of sustained personal flight has eluded us — until now. At $86,000, the Martin Aircraft jetpack costs about as much as a high-end car, achieves a 30-minute flight time, and is fueled by regular gasoline. A 10% deposit buys you a production slot for 12 months hence." Here's a video of some indoor test flights. This isn't Buck Rogers's jetpack — it's about 5 by 5 feet and weighs more than the average human. You won't be able to commute with it (the FAA has not certified this class of device) so it's recreational only for now.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.



Google's Computing Power Refines Translation

gollum123 sends an excerpt from the NY Times on how Google has taken a lead in language translation, in one of the company's few unqualified successes as it attempts to broaden is offerings beyond search. "...Google's quick rise to the top echelons of the translation business is a reminder of what can happen when Google unleashes its brute-force computing power on complex problems. The network of data centers that it built for Web searches may now be, when lashed together, the world's largest computer. Google is using that machine to push the limits on translation technology. Last month, for example, it said it was working to combine its translation tool with image analysis, allowing a person to, say, take a cellphone photo of a menu in German and get an instant English translation. ...in the mid-1990s, researchers began favoring a so-called statistical approach. They found that if they fed the computer thousands or millions of passages and their human-generated translations, it could learn to make accurate guesses about how to translate new texts. It turns out that this technique, which requires huge amounts of data and lots of computing horsepower, is right up Google's alley. ...Google's service is good enough to convey the essence of a news article, and it has become a quick source for translations for millions of people."

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Jeff Jaffe Named CEO of W3C

blozza2070 notes the news that Jeff Jaffe has been appointed CEO of the World Wide Web Consortium. Until January Jaffe was CTO at Novell and, while his name hasn't come up very often in this community, he is one of the architects of the Novell-Microsoft patent deal. A reading of Jaffe's blog while at Novell tends to paint him as a software patent supporter, Microsoft apologist, and no fan of the FSF. This strongly worded page at Boycott Novell features copious links to support the above characterization.

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NewEgg Confirms Shipping Fake Core i7s

adeelarshad82 writes "After originally rejecting the story, online retailer NewEgg confirmed that a shipment of Core i7s were indeed fake, and apologized for the affair. NewEgg has also broken off its relationship with IPEX, the supplier of the phony lot. The retailer said that it has already contacted affected customers and would continue to reach out and replace the counterfeit parts. We discussed the fake Core i7s over the weekend."

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Dot-Com Craze Peaked 10 Years Ago This Week

netbuzz writes "When the NASDAQ stock index hit its all-time high of 5,133 on March 10, 2000, it had more than doubled in a year and the dot-com bubble was already leaking in a big way. A week later the NASDAQ had fallen 9 percent. A year later it was below 2000. Gone were such poster children of the era as Pets.com, Kozmo, and — who could forget? — Whoopi Goldberg's Flooz. Here's a look back."

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Best Resource For Identifying Legit Applications?

bjb writes "While helping a somewhat computer illiterate person figure out a problem recently, they mentioned that PDF files had recently stopped working. Upon investigation I found something installed called 'PDF Suite.' Never having heard of it, I Googled it with 'malware' and other key words, but nothing turned up, though my suspicion remained (and was somewhat confirmed by WOT.) So my question is, where can you go to find out if something is legitimate? Because the person I'm helping is on a dial-up connection, downloading malware detection applications (and updates) is too heavy consider. And I don't maintain a USB stick with such apps, since I don't do this kind of thing very often. Where can you quickly find information?"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.



 

Valve on Mac prompts interest from other game developers

At least two major game developers are now considering Mac ports in the wake of Valve's move to offer support. Among these is Gas Powered Games, known for titles like Dungeon Siege and most recently Supreme Commander 2. "We, as a developer, will include a Mac platform option in all of our proposals moving forward," says company founder Chris Taylor. "We're in 100 percent support of it, absolutely."...


Dell tablet to get Amazon Kindle, VOD deals

A leak of marketing material for Dell's Mini 5 on Wednesday has revealed a heavy focus on Amazon services. The tablet will have a special content deal and should not only carry Android's existing access to Amazon MP3 but a Kindle e-reader app and a viewer for Amazon's video services. The flyer found by Engadget implies Video On Demand, which so far would be new to Android....


Google adds bike directions to Google Maps

Google this morning added biking directions to Google Maps. The heavily requested feature navigates using not only bike trails but marks and uses roads that are known to be bike-friendly, including both those with bike lanes or those simply recommended for cyclists. Maps goes so far as to factor in hills and to avoid heavy car traffic....


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ARM expects over 50 ARM tablets in 2010 alone

The number of touchscreen tablets running on ARM chips is set to explode even in 2010, the company's global mobile device ODM manager Roy Chen said today. While the iPad is the most conspicuous of these, Chen anticipates over 50 shipping in 2010. The first are due in the spring and will largely be attached to cellular carriers. There will be "a lot more" in the summer, the manager said....


Pentax 645D slated for May with 40 megapixel sensor

Following several teasers, Pentax has finally announced availability information and detailed specs for its upcoming 645D medium-format camera. The DSLR integrates a 40 megapixel sensor manufactured by Kodak, along with a SAFOX IX+ autofocus system providing 11 sensor points. Like many other Pentax cameras, the 645D features a semi-rugged body with 70 seals for resistance to dust, water and low temperatures....


Briefly: Pages Clipart 6 adds images, Badia unveils update

Jumsoft has extended its collection of images for Apple's iWork software, releasing Pages Clipart 6.0. The number of images has doubled from its previous version, from 500 to 1000, and can be used for everything from illustrating presentations and web pages to creating news letters. All images are divided into twelve different categories and are available in PDF and PNG formats. Tools are also included for resizing and rotating each image....


WaterField, Quirky launch new cases for Apple's iPad

The iPad, not due to ship for another three weeks, is getting its fair share of accessory launches, with several new cases from WaterField and Quirky. WaterField has announced the iPad Smart Case, a drop-in case which features multi-layered padding with a rigid insert and ultrasuede lining, along with a water-resistant exterior to help protect against damage. The case arrives with a low-profile pocket for a charger cable and comes in black, silver, red, brown green and blue. It is due to ship for $60 within one to three weeks of the iPad's initial availability....


TeamViewer for iPhone allows iPhone to display Mac screen

TeamViewer GmbH has launched an iPhone app that allows users to remotely access the Finder view on a Mac. The screen-sharing app works in conjunction with the company's desktop software which provides a unique password. Entering the info into the iPhone app allows users to access the desktop interface via any Internet connection such as Wi-Fi, 3G or EDGE....


Macgamestore launches Murder, She Wrote mystery game

Macgamestore.com has launched Murder, She Wrote, a new game based on the classic television show. The hidden-object mystery game allows players to take control of the murder novelist Jessica Fletcher as she attempts to solve a variety of different homicides. The game features over 25 detailed 3D settings for players to travel through, along with familiar TV show characters Seth Hazlitt and Sheriff Mort Metzger....


Zune HD 2 to be more like iPod touch, use WP7?

Microsoft's decision to drop the Zune HD from its XNA development kit may actually be hints at plans for its sequel, leaks indicated on Tuesday. Multiple sources toldZDNet that the follow-up touchscreen player will be "similar to an iPod touch," indicating a more general-purpose role than the media-heavy Zune HD. With Windows Phone 7 as the only known mobile OS supported by XNA 4.0, the shift implies that Microsoft may use a variant of its phone OS to drive the next Zune....


Autodesk Maya 2011 brings new UI, 3D editorial capabilities

Autodesk on Tuesday announced Maya 2011, along with updates to its Mudbox and FDX utilities for Mac OS X. The latest version of Maya features a redesigned user-interface based on Nokia Qt, with simpler customization and dockable elements. The graphics core has been revamped to improve performance with complex scenes, while also enhancing the viewport feedback....


Verizon briefs staff on iPad, stirs anti-AT&T talk

Verizon tonight was caught distributing a memo to retail staff encouraging them to sell to iPad customers. The note obtained by Engadget encourages floor workers to promote the idea of using a Wi-Fi only iPad with a Novatel MiFi router. Mixing the two would not only save the $130 premium on an iPad with built-in 3G but would help users get off of AT&T's "overloaded network with limited coverage," according to the memo....


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OWC launches "first-ever" quad interface, portable 1TB drive

OWC has launched its OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro mini 1TB portable drive, which it claims is the first ever 2.5-inch 1TB drive shipped with a quad interface. The bus-powered drive has eSATA, USB 2.0, and FireWire 800/400 connectivity in a brushed aluminum, fanless enclosure. In addition to the new 1TB capcity, the drives are also available with 7200RPM 500GB drives and solid-state drives up to 200GB....


Former Sun CEO claims Jobs threatened lawsuit in 2003

Former Sun CEO and president Jonathan Schwartz claims to have received a lawsuit threat several years ago from Apple CEO Steve Jobs. After Schwartz unveiled the prototype Linux desktop titled Project Looking Glass in 2003, Jobs allegedly called to personally notify Sun that its graphical effects were "stepping all over Apple's IP," according to Schwartz's personal blog....


PS3 first with HD movies from all major studios

Sony touted an industry first today as its PSN video service became the first service to get HD movies from all six major studios. Besides its own Sony Pictures, the company's deal will allow buying and renting HD on the PlayStation 3 from Disney, Fox, Paramount, Universal and Warner. No price changes were mentioned as part of the additions, but the agreement is non-exclusive....


Pink Floyd objects to EMI "unbundling" of online music

Progressive rock band Pink Floyd on Tuesday sued its label EMI for allegedly breaking the terms of its contract through online sales. The complaint accuses EMI of knowingly "unbundling" the band's songs by letting those at iTunes and other online music stores buy some songs individually, against terms that insist all the content of an album be sold as one item....


UniPrint 7.0 adds new printer driver, central admin console

UniPrint has launched UniPrint 7.0, intended for Mac network printing in server-centric physical or virtual desktop situations. It works in both 64- and 32-bit environments using a PDF-based universal printer driver, which in turn is designed for Citrix, Microsoft Remote Desktop Services, Virtual Desktop Infrastructure and other non-Windows host system servers. It allows administrators to manage a single universal print driver and, through the use of PDF conversion and compression, in theory save up to 90 percent of the network bandwidth consumed by other direct prin...


Samsung adds new sound bars, iPhone dock

Samsung on Tuesday announced it will soon release the HW-C450 sound bar for simple home theater setups. The 2.1-channel system comes in black, while the HW-C451 will be available in silver. Apart from the color, the systems have an identical 280W power rating and sport Samsung's Touch of Color design. Their speakers are grill-less, and the subwoofer is wireless....


5 million iPads to be built in first half of 2010?

Apple should be able to churn out approximately 5 million iPads in the first half of the year, claims FBR Capital analyst Craig Berger. The number is higher than what some analysts have said Apple will sell in all of 2010, and is based on a dismissal of claims that the company is experiencing production setbacks. "We believe various news articles and competitor notes calling for a build delay were just false alarms," says Berger. At least one report has suggested that the delay to April 3rd is based on software issues....


Analyst: iPad to beat Kindle's all-time sales in 3 months

Apple could have the bestselling e-book reader of all time in just three months on the market, according to an estimate from FBR Capital analyst Craig Berger. He believes that talk of hardware-related delays from competing analyst groups were just "false alarms" and that that Apple is purportedly set to ship 5 million iPads just in the first half of 2010. At this rate, the tablet would push past Amazon's unofficial lifetime record of 3 million Kindles in just the three-month span between early April and the end of June....


iPhone 3.2 SDK beta 4 seeds to developers

Apple has released a fourth beta of the iPhone 3.2 SDK, available through the company's developer portal. Little information has yet leaked out due to Apple confidentiality restrictions, but it is known to be build 10M2144, and a 2.5GB download. Mac OS X 10.6.2 is required to run the software....


Warehouse 1.0 offers Unix-based Mac backup, folder sync

Alchemist Guild has launched a new backup application for the Mac, Warehouse 1.0. The tool is built on Unix utilities and relies on a single-window interface for backing up files, whether to external hard drives, USB memory sticks or other Macs on a network. Any number of assigned tasks can be set, with options source folders, destination locations and up to four different backup modes....


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Warpia Easy Dock lets notebooks become desktops

Source R&D has announced the upcoming release of its Warpia Easy Dock, which lets users access the processing power of their notebooks via a desktop interface. The dock relies on Wisair's Wireless USB and includes a dongle that plugs into the notebook as well as a receiver that connects to a display, mouse, keyboard and speakers. The image from the notebook, along with peripheral data automatically transmitted to the desktop setup from up to 30 feet away, with resolutions as high as 1400x1050....


Dell: Adamo XPS really a "limited edition" near its end

Dell today provided an official explanation for the disappearance of the Adamo XPS from most of its online stores. The Texas PC builder in a statement now argues that the ultraportable is actually "similar to a limited edition" and was never designed to be a long-term product. It was an "engineering marvel" meant to show what Dell could do and is simply nearing the end of its run, the company claimed....


Microsoft updates Office and Entourage for Mac

Microsoft has released updates to its Mac software, Entourage and Office 2008. Office v12.2.4 offers several improvements to overall stability and performance. The company has also included a number of fixes that address security vulnerabilities, helping to prevent an attacker from overwriting the computer's memory using malicious code....


DealNN: 1.5TB Samsung Story Station, now $99

Today's deals from DealNN include a variety of items from iPods to portable storage devices. Newegg.com's Shell Shocker deal of the day for today is on the Samsung Story Station 1.5TB USB 2.0 external hard drive, now $99.99 after a $40 price cut. The Samsung Story Station features 1.5TB of storage space with two ways of backup; scheduled or in real-time SecretZone....


Querious 1.0 edits MySQL 5 database code

Araelium has introduced the first version of Querious, a database management tool. The software currently supports MySQL 5, and lets users view and edit data, as well as control users, indexes, queries and table schema. Direct, SSH and SSL connection types are permitted....


EFF exposes iPhone dev agreement, 'feudal' SDK terms

The license agreement for the iPhone Developer Program contains some draconian terms, says the Electonic Frontier Foundation. The group recently used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain a copy of the license from NASA, a government body which like many has its own iPhone app. Although the document is outdated in that it comes from March of last year, the EFF notes that one of the terms of the agreement is that developers are normally banned from talking about it publicly....


Cisco router could give up to 322Tbps to AT&T, others

Cisco as part of a self-proclaimed "revolutionary" event today launched a new router system meant for the very highest levels of Internet and cellular carriers. The CRS-3 is roughly three times faster than the previous Cisco best and theoretically provides as much as 322 terabits per second (Tbps) when it's attached to a suitable network. With that much bandwidth, a carrier could serve 1 billion videos at the same time or serve the entire population of San Francisco with 1Gbps Internet access....


Elgato EyeTV Hybrid gets smaller, adds Win 7 support

Elgato on Tuesday rolled out a redesigned version of the EyeTV Hybrid. The USB tuner is now considerably smaller than the old model and uses an aluminum shell that looks more appropriate plugged into the unibody MacBook Pro. It can still catch over-the-air ATSC broadcasts in HD and can take any unprotected analog or digital cable signals. An RCA input adapter is bundled and accepts input from old analog sources like VCRs....


FileMaker Pro 11 adds charts, reports, QuickFind

Apple's FileMaker division has launched FileMaker Pro 11, a major update of its Mac and Windows database software. The primary addition is that of charts and reports; the former can be based on pie, bar, area or line designs, and inserted into layouts, and/or published to a website. Quick Reports output "spreadsheet-like" data, according to FileMaker, with calculated totals....


Amazon Kindle to get a proper web browser?

Amazon plans a larger role for the web browser on the Kindle, the company has let slip through a job listing for its e-reader division, Lab126. A position for a Software Development Engineer has been specifically tasked with improving on the Kindle's basic, "experimental" browser with new features. While no hints exist of new features, the engineer would be part of a dedicated web browser team, suggesting Amazon is now taking the software more seriously....


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HTC lawsuit caps series of initimidating Apple meetings

Apple's lawsuit against HTC is just the culmination of a series of threats against competitors, says Oppenheimer analyst Yair Reiner. Industry checks are said to reveal that beginning in January of this year, Apple held a series of talks with cellphone makers in which it expressed "growing displeasure" at what it saw as infringement of iPhone concepts. Although held in private, the meetings are said to have been "blunt" in nature....


RIAA labels 'forced' Apple to make iTunes LP: sources

The creation of iTunes LP was largely the result of major label pressure on Apple, a series of telling leaks has revealed. Music industry contacts claim that the 'deluxe' albums were a necessary part of the same deal that also forced variable song pricing in exchange for an all DRM-free catalog. The RIAA member labels, not Apple, wanted to resuscitate album sales and thought the bundle of special features would achieve the goal....


Pad won't have clock, weather, etc. apps on launch

Apple's recent announcement regarding the iPad ship date implies that the device might not ship with the full set of apps that come standard on the iPhone. Daring Fireball blogger John Gruber suggests design considerations drove the company to omit several utilities such as Stocks, Calculator, Clock, Weather, and Voice Memos....


Unity 3.0 adds compatibility for Android and iPad platforms

Unity Technologies has introduced a new version of its 3D creation tool for game developers, Unity 3.0. After announcing support for Xbox 360 last year, the company is continuing its platform expansion by adding compatibility for the iPad, Android, and Playstation 3. Other 3.0 features include improved performance for faster frame rates, enhanced rendering capabilities, additional support for Bluetooth multiplayer functionality, and faster in-game GUIs....


Long Live Books, Philips introduce new iPad accessories

Long Live Books and Philips have already expanded their range of accessories for the iPad. Philips has introduced several new products, ranging from protective cases to audio devices. A soft reversible sleeve protects the device from bumps and scratches, offering either a red or black exterior depending on which side the user chooses. The second iPad guard is a soft neoprene and leatherette case utilizing a fold-over flap to help keep the iPad in place. The leatherette material also provides extra protection for the glass screen....


Goldman slashes Nexus One unit forecast on weak performance

Goldman Sachs has slashed its sales forecast for Google's Nexus One smartphone, following lackluster performance in the first few months of availability. The analysts initially expected sales of approximately 3.5 million units through the end of the year, however the figure has now been reduced to just 1 million handsets in the same time period....


HP slams iPad, shows Flash on slate

HP has put up a new video (seen below) of its Windows 7 slate in a direct jab at the iPad. The clip shows the tablet running Adobe's Flash for sites like Hulu as well as AIR for out-of-browser apps like Pandora radio. The presenters add that Flash on the tablet is boosted by hardware and should support HD video for "hours and hours" on a battery charge....


Caedium fluid dynamics simulator comes to Mac

Symscape on Monday announced that an update to its computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software, Caedium, is now available as a native application for Mac OS X Leopard and Snow Leopard. The commercial analysis tool allows engineers to perform CFD simulations during the design process....


Second leak supports room for camera in iPad frame

A new slip today has reinforced beliefs that the iPad has room for camera hardware. Photos of a new, slightly modified version of the frame seen a month ago still show holes that mimic those seen for webcams on Macs. The only changes appear to be the placement of holes in the bezel and a more obvious space for the home button....


Aiptek unveils hybrid pico-projector, 720p camera

Aiptek's PocketCinema Z20 is a combination pico projector and digital camera. It has 2GB of internal memory and a microSD memory card to store still images or video recordings captured by its 5-megapixel camera. It can capture 720p videos but is unlikely to be able to reproduce them at the same resolution....


Valve: Apple aided in bringing Steam, games to Mac

Apple participated in bringing Valve games and the Steam platform to Macs, says John Cook, Valve's director of Steam development. Cook elaborates that Valve has been "working with them [Apple] a bunch" while growing accustomed to Mac development. "They've been a great partner so far and we look forward to growing our relationship with them over time," he tells AppleInsider....


NI updates Evolve Mutations with new instruments, rhythms

Native Instruments has announced that its Evolve Mutations instrument package has been updated with new content. Version 2 brings over 300 new sounds based on 2GB of samples which include instruments, rhythms, and ambiences. The update also offers a new "Trigger FX" sound processing utility that spreads changes such as saturation, panning and delay effects between different octaves on the keyboard....


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Moto Backflip locked down like iPhone on AT&T?

AT&T's first Android phone, the Motorola Backflip, may have had app supported artificially locked down to a level like the iPhone, early owners have found since the phone shipped Sunday. Where by default Android is supposed to allow installing third-party apps from outside Android Market through a special toggle, the AT&T version of the Backflip omits this feature entirely and limits apps to the store....


 

Actor Corey Haim Reported Dead

Actor Corey Haim, best known for roles in movies like the Lost Boys, License to Drive, and many others (a number of which also featured Corey Feldman), has reportedly been found dead of an apparent drug overdose. The LA Times reports:

The Los Angeles Police Department said Haim, 38, was pronounced dead after 3 a.m. at a Burbank hospital. He had been living in the San Fernando Valley.

Details of his death were not immediately available. The L.A. coroner's office was investigating. A police spokesman said more details would be available later.


Haim connected with his fans through social media, specifically a MySpace page, which currently has 4,253 friends.

Corey Haim Dead from apparent drug overdose

The "about me" section reads:

The real Corey Haimster here! I asked Jenny J to set this up for me, so here it is. I'll be checking in to read all your shout outs & when I get the time, I'll leave a message for you all. Thanks for hitting my MySpace page!
Love & peace out,
Corey


"Actor Corey Haim" and "Lost Boys" are currently both trending topics on Twitter.

Haim's latest movie American Sunset premiered in Las Vegas in January. He had also been seen in the realty TV show The Two Coreys with Feldman. More on Haim here.


Google Apps MarketPlace Greatly Expands Google's Enterprise Offerings

Last night at Campfire One, Google launched the Google Apps Marketplace, where developers can create apps that integrate with Google Apps and sell them to users. According to Google, they can reach over 2 million businesses and 25 million users.

Right off the bat, the Google Apps Marketplace launched with over 50 applications from companies like Intuit and Atlassian, with more coming soon from companies like NetSuite and SuccessFactors, a Google spokesperson tells WebProNews.

"Once installed to a company's domain, these third-party applications work like native Google applications," explains Google Apps Marketplace Product Manager Chris Vander Mey. "With administrator approval, they may interact with calendar, email, document and/or contact data to increase productivity. Administrators can manage the applications from the familiar Google Apps control panel, and employees can open them from within Google Apps. With OpenID integration, Google Apps users can access the other applications without signing in separately to each. The Google Apps Marketplace eliminates the worry about software updates, keeping track of different passwords and manual syncing and sharing of data, thereby increasing business productivity and lessening frustrations for users and IT administrators alike. That's the power of the cloud."

This is the 2nd big move by Google regarding the cloud and Google Apps in less than a week. Late last week, the company acquired DocVerse, which "makes Word, PowerPoint and Excel Work like Google Docs," as the DocVerse title tag explains.

Developers can get more info about the Google Apps Marketplace at Google's Developer Programs site. The company will also be talking about developing apps for the enterprise at Google I/O in May.


Google Suffers Market Share Stumble In The UK

While we normally don't comment on market share fluctuations that occur in places other than America, some recent changes in the UK may bear mentioning.  According to the AT Internet Institute, Google's share of the search market slipped by 1.6 percent between January and February.

That's a significant amount.  Indeed, as the slightly upsized figure below shows (sorry for any blurriness), if Ask and AOL had suffered similar losses, they'd have been wiped out, hitting zero.

Of course, that didn't happen.  Instead, both Yahoo and Bing benefited from Google's dip.  Yahoo gained a not-bad 0.6 percent, and Bing increased its share by an even-better 0.7 percent.

Google's still in an extremely dominant position, but given that Microsoft's about to spend $2 billion on Bing commercials in the UK, these changes are noteworthy.  Microsoft might not be throwing its money away, as some people have speculated; there's now the possibility that it could extend or accelerate this growth trend.

We'll be sure to write again about the UK search market next month if anything out of the ordinary happens.  In the meantime, it should be interesting to see how those Bing commercials are received.



HR Pros See Value In Social Media

Social media plays an important role in problem solving and strategy development in the workplace according to a new survey of 900 human resources executives conducted by Toolbox.com and PJA.

Among HR executives and professionals, social media usage outpaced editorial and vendor content consumption. Respondents used social media at a rate of 3.77 hours per week, compared to 2.77 hours of online editorial content and 2.13 hours of online vendor content.

HR-Social-Media

The survey indicated active participation in social media is an important part of the HR job role and acts as a resource for experience-based knowledge in the workplace. Respondents said staying current (78%) and networking with peers (71%) as the most popular uses of social media.

Additionally, more than half have responded to a question asked by a peer in an online community, while nearly 50 percent have built their personal knowledge network by making connections with peers.

"This survey proves HR professionals have been fast adopters of social media, not just for networking but for improving their value as professionals," said Mike O'Toole, president at PJA  Advertising + Marketing.

"They clearly identify social media channels as a way to increase their expertise and build their professional reputation."

Key highlights from the survey include:

*Social media represents 43% of total media consumption among HR respondents (compared to 32% for editorial and 25% for vendor content).

*Deep experience is seen as the most important attribute in a social media expert, followed by thoughtful and detailed responses.

*Nearly half of respondents say that a social media presence greatly increases or increases their value as a job candidate, while more than 50% claim that social media is important or very important in building their personal brand.
 

 


Google May Offer Services In Cuba, Iran, Sudan

It looks like Google may be ready to wade into another controversial censorship vs. availability of services situation.  A high-ranking corporate representative has welcomed the U.S. Treasury's decision to allow the exportation of online communications tools to Cuba, Iran, and Sudan.

Google LogoAccording to Frank Jordans, Bob Boorstin, Director of Corporate and Policy Communications at Google, said during a human rights meeting in Geneva, "This is a great accomplishment.  We are hopeful this will help people like yourselves in this room and activists all over the world take a small step down what is certainly a long road ahead."

What's more, Boorstin indicated that Google isn't going to just sit on the sidelines, wishing everyone well.  Boorstin reportedly "said the Web search company would now be able to offer some of its other products in those countries," including Google Earth, Google Talk, and Picasa.

This is an interesting turn of events, considering that China recently threatened to leave China over free speech issues.  If Google follows through on Boorstin's remarks, the search giant's sure to face fresh questions over whether it's more interested in profits than human rights.

We'll of course report on any further developments as they occur.


How Important is Your Domain Name to Your Brand?

How important is your domain name to you brand? Most online businesses would probably consider it to be quite important, and with good reason. Sometimes before searching, customers may simply opt to go to the "yourbrandhere.com" URL simply because it makes sense. Now, sometimes that URL is already taken, and for start-ups, that's something to consider in itself.

As Monte Cahn, Founder and President of Moniker mentioned in a recent interview with WebProNews, it's a good idea to make sure the domain name is available when coming up with a name for your brand, or at least make sure that you are able to acquire it. Products have their own brands, and this way of thinking can also be applied to them in many cases. Cahn notes that even the big companies make mistakes in this area. For example, you would expect Apple to own iPad.com, considering the huge announcement about the device the company made this year, but someone else has that domain.

Cahn also stresses the importance of covering your brand in terms of domain names. This means getting all variations possible. Get typos, different extensions and country codes, etc. Use 301 redirects on misspells of key brands (including singular/plural versions). However, when it comes to domain names for different products, he says it's best to build sub-sites around those with their own content, which can help drive link juice, SEO value, and traffic.

Getting the .com that reflects your company name is not always possible, unfortunately. In these cases, it may serve you well to find a different aspect of your brand to center your domain around, but this will require a greater level of promotion of that URL than a simple companyname.com. For example, if there are unique key phrases within your company's slogan, you may find such an opportunity there.

Domains should be easy to remember, not too long, easy to spell, relevant to your brand, and avoid complicating characters such as hyphens. I think one key to a successful domain name is simplicity, although there are always exceptions to the rule.



Report: Facebook Location Feature To Bow At f8

At the first f8 conference, Facebook Platform was launched.  Facebook Connect was announced the second time around.  And now, as f8 2010 draws near, a report's indicated that Facebook will finally unveil a feature having to do with users' physical locations.

Consider the difference someone's location can make.  Here's one basic example: Many people would pass over the status update "Kate is warm," but something like "Kate is warm - Miami, Florida" might attract all sorts of attention from Kate's friends (assuming Kate's not a Miami native).  Plus it could mean a different set of ads would get shown.

It's significant, then, that Nick Bilton reported this afternoon, "Facebook plans to take the wraps off a new location-based feature in late April at f8, the company's yearly developer conference, according to several people briefed on the project."

Bilton also wrote, "The new location feature will have two aspects, according to the people familiar with Facebook's plans.  One will be a service offered directly by Facebook that will allow users to share their location information with friends. . . .  The other will be a set of software tools, known as A.P.I.'s, that outside developers can use to offer their own location-based services to Facebook users."

As for how Facebook intends to deal with privacy issues, this should be an opt-in feature, effectively cutting off the sorts of protests with which some other changes and Google Buzz were greeted.

Now we just have to wait and see if Facebook actually follows through on these rumors.


Social Media Lessons from the Big Brands: Intuit Edition

A recent survey from E-Consultancy, in association with the Online Marketing Summit, found that most businesses are still only experimenting with social media. With this in mind, it seems worth paying attention to how some big and successful brands use social media in their own strategies.

Are you still in the experimentation phase with social media? Tell us about it.

One company that is finding social media incredibly useful is Intuit, makers of popular financial software like TurboTax, QuickBooks, and Quicken. Seth Greenberg, Director of National Media Buying and Digital Marketing for Intuit’s consumer group answered some of our questions about how effective the company's efforts are in social media.

Intuit actively participates on Twitter and Facebook daily, as well as YouTube, and some advertising with MySpace and LinkedIn. When asked if they focus on any network more than others, Greenberg says, "Currently, Twitter and Facebook are the focus because more than 50% of customers use it. Twitter offers a transparent, real-time engagement with customers and prospects on questions, issues or general comments they may have.  Through both networks we are able to provide relevant, timely and valuable information to consumers."

Seth Greenberg of Intuit tweets about having a Facebook strategy

We asked what ways the company participates. Intuit has employees all across the company that have a hand in the social media strategy, as it relates to their own roles. This covers everything from communications to marketing, and product people.

"TurboTax is very involved in social, as are other business units in the company," he says. "We recently launched @TeamTurboTax where taxpayers on Twitter can tweet questions to @TeamTurboTax and get fast, free answers from a team of tax, tech and product experts providing help and advice to make tax time easier. The account is managed by a cross-functional team of employees including those from PR, product management, marketing and support."

"In addition, there is a TurboTax Twitter account to also engage with consumers, but also provide tax tips, information, contests, etc," he adds. "We do have a Facebook page as you know and an interactive TurboTax Tax Break Blog, that includes the latest tax information, surveys and tips. Also, three years ago, TurboTax launched its Live Community, now used by more than 11 million people, to provide free instant answers from TurboTax users and tax experts online."

Intuit has a Turbotax Facebook page as part of its social media marketing strategy

We asked how Intuit is integrating its on-site (proprietary domains and products) and off-site social marketing activities. "The in-product experience with Facebook Share gives customers the option to share to their Facebook news feed, creating a network effect when they share a comment or post a review. We know that fifty percent of TurboTax customers are on Facebook," says Greenberg. "The Friends Like You campaign (which Gigya is a partner with) allows customers not only to post a review, but for anyone looking for 3rd party recommendations about what product to use and their experience, to see and sort through reviews from friends (in their network) or from people like them (based on similar tax situations). Also, our national advertising with NBC highlights the Friends Like You campaign and drives people online for a total integration from offline to online to product."

When asked what technologies the company has implemented to help it maximize word of mouth traffic, he says, "The work we do with Gigya, is an example of applying technology to connect to Facebook and Bazaarvoice with our customer reviews. Live Community is an in-house technology that leverages community, where TurboTax users and experts ask and answer questions.  It is free in all products, but also to anyone that has tax questions through our website.  These are some of the ways that also lead to great SEO results."

Intuit uses metrics like click-throughs, network effect of "pass alongs" (consider that average Facebook user has 150 friends), engagement and conversion (both of new versus existing customers). When asked how Intuit's social media efforts have contributed to the company's sales, brand loyalty, and web traffic, Greenberg says they're learning that social can be a "very potent avenue to driving revenue, and even be more influential than other channels when applied the right way."

"We have very active and passionate customers. We see that with the Live Community, with our Inner Circle (an opt-in community where customers provide feedback, beta testing, etc) and the incredible amount of customer reviews we receive with an average of 4.5star rating," he says. "Social is a tactic to help drive traffic and is built in to many of the initiatives we employ (drive traffic to a specific link, like the blog or to TurboTax.com)."

Of course mobile factors into the strategy, even for a software company like Intuit. "Mobile is a key strategy for Intuit and figuring out where/when it is relevant for consumers.  We do have social tax apps, like TaxCaster (an app to help estimate your tax refund) and SnapTax (an app that allows CA taxpayers with simple returns to file a federal/state tax return from their iPhone)."

"We're fortunate to have the passionate customers that want to express themselves and give us their feedback...Given the right tools/technology, our customers can be our best sales force (help to spread WOM).  Overall, we look at engaging with people in a way that adds value to them, providing them with the information they need to make the right decisions."

What do you think of Intuit's social media strategy based on Greenberg's description? Do you see ways that the company is using  social media that you could apply to your own business? Share your thoughts here.


Yahoo on Microsoft Deal Benefits for Advertisers, Consumers, Publishers

Yahoo's line of thinking with regards to the big Microsoft/Yahoo search and advertising deal is that it will benefit both Microsoft and Yahoo's advertisers, as well as consumers and publishers.

It will benefit advertisers because it will increase search volume, with results from both Bing and Yahoo being taken into consideration. It will benefit consumers because by combining advertisers from both properties, there will be a greater pool to deliver sponsored results from, which Yahoo says will mean increased relevance. It will benefit Yahoo, Bing, and their publisher partners with increased liquidity, participation, and relevance. That is basically the sum of it, according to Yahoo Vice President of Search Advertising David Pann.

WebProNews recently sat down with Pann and discussed these things and how the deal will affect advertisers.

According to Pann, the migration across all international markets will occur over the next 24 months or so, but they will not rush it at the expense of quality, they say. "Our focus is really about developing a plan that is smooth, seamless, and with quality. So we anticipate doing the U.S. migration sometime before the holiday season in 2010," says Pann.

In the above interview, Pann goes on to talk about how things will be split between Yahoo and Microsoft. He also addresses some privacy concerns, related to data sharing between the two companies.

WebProNews also interviewed Yahoo Sr. VP of Search Products Shashi Seth and Director of Search Marketing David Roth, both of whom talked about the deal in more detail. You can catch both of those interviews, as well as a recent keynote from SMX West where the deal was also discussed, here.



Update: Microsoft to Roll Out Big MSN Redesign

Update: After some delay, Microsoft is reportedly now rolling out the new MSN home page design over the next couple weeks.

Original Article: MSN.com gets about 85 million unique monthly visitors in the US alone, according to Compete. That's significantly more than AOL.com. So now that Microsoft has unveiled a redesign to it, it stands to reason that a lot of people are going to be affected by it. Microsoft calls the new design MSN's most significant home page redesign in over a decade.

"Now is the time to clean up the mess on the Web — people need less clutter and less hassle to find what matters most to them," said Erik Jorgensen, corporate vice president, Microsoft. "Microsoft is uniquely invested in search, media experiences and technical innovation. Combining these assets to deliver our new MSN home page is a tremendous win for customers and advertisers."

What do you think of the new design? Share your opinions here.

The new design pays significant focus to local, Bing, social networks, and news. Coinciding with the announcement of the redesign was the unveiling of MSN Local Edition. This is a section of MSN that gives you local news, weather, sports, movies and events, restaurants, gas, traffic, a directory, lottery numbers, etc.

MSN Local Edition

The Bing integration with the new MSN is deeper. It's now used as the core search technology throughout the home page in areas like shopping, travel, and local. It is also used as a way to highlight hot topics, trends, and people.

There is a clean integration of social networks like Facebook and Twitter, as well as Microsoft's own Windows Live "What's New," which aggregates up to 50 web activities from various places like Yelp, Flickr, Pandora, etc.

MSN - Facebook and Twitter Tabs

"Customers told us they want the latest information from their favorite sources, their friends and the breadth of the Web — and the new MSN home page delivers via a fresh new look and new features," Jorgensen said. "Today is an important transformation for MSN, and it’s just the beginning."

There is also an emphasis on de-cluttering the home page. Microsoft says there are 50% fewer links than on the previous version. Here's what the whole thing looks like:

MSN Redesign

The design is not live on a wide scale yet. It will be rolling out gradually over the coming weeks. It is, however available as a preview here.

On a related note, Microsoft is finally launching MSN Music this week. The launch has been postponed since July.

Related Articles:

> MySpace, MSN Now Said To Be In Talks

> Microsoft Partners With Advance Internet On Local Ad Deal

> Bing Gets More Mobile Features in The US


MySpace Has Most Popular Social App for Android

MySpace announced today that it has the most popular social app in the Android Market, and the third most popular app on Android altogether.

"Our deep integration with the Android platform is one of the reasons why we’ve seen a surge in usage," says MySpace's Scott Goldberg. "Unique to this app, we have three home screen widgets. One of them allows voice-enabled status updates. We also allow users to set MySpace photos as background wallpaper on their phone's home screen. Close integration with the native Android camera contributes to the customized experience and makes it easy for MySpace users to take, upload and share pictures of their friends out having fun."

MySpace  Mobile on Android is the most popular app in the Android Market's social category

"Even beyond Android, MySpace Mobile has also proven to be a very engaging experience across all platforms with 70% of MySpace Mobile users checking in three or more times per day," adds Goldberg. "As a nod to our popularity on the mobile web, MySpace was the fourth most popular mobile web destination according to Morgan Stanley’s report on The Mobile Internet in Dec. 2009. We have also found that the average MySpace Mobile user translates into a more engaged online user, dedicating more than an hour of additional time on the site per month."

Currently, looking at the Android Market's social category, MySpace Mobile is followed by Facebook for Android, Tweetcaster, AIM, and Truth or Dare. The top two most popular apps overall are Pandora and the Weather Channel.

One of the best parts about having the most popular slot in any category in the market is the visibility that comes along with that. Any user who gets a new Android device, and goes to look for apps, will see MySpace Mobile right at the top of the list, and that could could drive continued growth.

Mobile should play a key role in the continued success of MySpace. Meanwhile, Facebook and Twitter are seeing big mobile gains themselves.

Are you surprised that MySpace has the most popular social app on Android? Share your thoughts.


WebMD Becomes More Social

WebMD has launched WebMD Health Exchange, a new health social networking platform.

WebMD Health exchange allows people to connect with health experts and other WebMD members to share experiences, discuss personal challenges, and receive answers and support.

"WebMD Health Exchange is a powerful new way to connect our 60 million monthly users to share their own experiences and personal wisdom across any area of health and wellness," said Wayne Gattinella, President and Chief Executive Officer, WebMD.

"We expect Health Exchange will quickly become a trusted source of information for our users and an important new communications platform for our sponsors."

WebMD-Health-Exchange

WebMD Health Exchange is being integrated throughout WebMD.com, giving people the ability to connect with others on relevant topics. Along with expert led communities, members can create their own communities and exchange information with other users. Communities can be created for public access which are searchable on WebMD and online, or members can create their own private communities to share information with others.

Doctors from Duke Medicine will provide expertise for communities ranging from asthma to rheumatoid arthritis. Experts from the National Health Council, National Osteoporosis Foundation, American Gastroenterological Association, North American Menopause Society, and the American Veterinary Medical Association will lead related community discussions.

The WebMD Health Exchange will also allow third party sponsors to create branded exchanges and to host consumer discussions on specific health and wellness topics.
 

 



Google Maps Takes Steps To Improve Marker Accuracy

By and large, Google Maps is great, providing well-plotted directions and up-to-date contact information on demand and free of charge.  But slight inaccuracies persist, and to fix this problem, Google will now allow people to reposition markers using Street View instead of just maps and satellite images.

Perhaps this sounds familiar: you type an address into Google Maps, switch to Street View, and find yourself staring at a Wal-Mart instead of an Italian restaurant.  Then you spend five minutes clicking up and down a street to locate the correct spot.  Frustrating, right?

Now there's an easy fix.  A post on the LatLong Blog suggested, "When you find a place that is in a wrong location, click on the marker and get an infowindow open as what you did before. . . .  Click on the 'edit' link, and then click the 'Move marker' link in the updated infowindow."

After that, "You'll see two jumping markers in the map and the Street View image appear, which means both of them can be dragged.  When you drag the marker on the map to a new position, the marker inside the panorama will be updated correspondingly, and vice versa."

This should greatly increase the accuracy of Street View as people tie markers to establishments' entrances.  And that'll benefit users in addition to any businesses that might otherwise lose potential customers due to poor directions.


Google Webmaster Tools Gets New Labs Features

Google has launched two new experiments in Webmaster Tools Labs. These are "Fetch as Googlebot-Mobile" and "Create your Sidewiki page owner entry."

"After we launched Fetch as Googlebot, many users with mobile-specific sites asked if we could provide the ability to fetch their pages as Googlebot-Mobile. We thought it was a great idea, and added it as an option to our Fetch as Googlebot feature. We have two mobile options: cHTML (primarily used for Japanese sites), and XHTML/WML," says Webmaster Tools Product Manager Sagar Kamdar.

Fetch as Googlebot

"After Sidewiki launched webmasters kept asking, 'How can I put a Sidewiki page owner entry on all pages of my site quickly?' With the feature that we're introducing today, you can now create these page owner entries directly within Webmaster Tools for any site you own," says Kamdar.

Google's Webmaster Tools Labs launched last October. Other tools within it include the original "Fetch as Googlebot" and "Malware details," which provides snippets of code that exist on pages deemed to be malicious by Google.


Goldman Sachs Slashes Nexus One Sales Forecasts

Investment banking and securities firm Goldman Sachs is more or less giving up on Google's Nexus One.  A note Goldman Sachs published this week indicates that it's cut its 2010 sales forecast by a whopping 71.4 percent.

Google Nexus OneAs reported by the Wall Street Journal, the note stated, "We previously estimated that Google might sell 3.5 mn Nexus One units in 2010."  Now, after seeing some data from Flurry, "We forecast that Google sells 1.0 mn Nexus One units in FY2010 . . ."

Goldman Sachs doesn't have much confidence that Google will be more successful in the future, either.  The firm believes Google will sell additional devices as it "rolls out a second Nexus handset, markets it more aggressively, and makes it available offline," but nothing like 3.5 million was mentioned.

Instead, Goldman Sachs predicted "that Google sells 2 mn handsets per year in 2011 and future years."

This is fairly bad news for the search giant, given that the Nexus One was supposed to make so much of a splash.  The online-only sales model and lack of advertising may have been meant to save Google huge amounts of money, too.



Is the Future of TV Advertising Dependent on Search?

The Wall Street Journal has the Blogosphere abuzz with rumors of Google testing a new set-top box with Dish Network, which would allow people to search television and online video content like YouTube. Google has given the usual "we don't comment on rumor or speculation" statement on the subject.

According to the WSJ, only a small number of Google employees and their families are testing the box, which runs on Google software (Android is implied), and lets users create personalized lineups of shows. The testing has reportedly been going on since last year. Aside from these things, the details are sketchy at best, which can only mean one thing: let the wild speculation commence.

Assuming that this service ever comes to fruition, it could open up a lot of new opportunities for Google to dominate or at least heavily compete in areas in which it isn't dominating already. Rather than doing too much speculation myself, allow me to just list some questions and open this up for discussion:

- What if Google gets exclusive deals with Dish Network as well as other major satellite and cable providers? Google TV Ads already has deals in place to provide ads on close to a hundred cable networks.

- What if Google makes more deals to boost its movie rental selection on YouTube? How big of a player would that make YouTube in the movie rental space? This will be something to keep an eye on with or without this box as Internet-ready TVs permeate the mainstream.

- Will Yahoo and Bing be looking at opportunities like the Google/Dish Network box? Are they already?

- What would widespread integration of web search and television mean for TV advertising?

In the not-too-distant future, we may start to really see TV advertising getting more targeted, which has long been the medium's biggest downfall. People often record shows simply so they don't have to watch the commercials. What if the ads were targeted at the individuals watching the TV? What if they were relevant? Search advertising paved the way for this kind of relevancy, and may just be a key to the future of TV advertising in a world where viewers want their programming on demand.

Google TV Ads

There I go off on that speculation. This all sounds good in theory, but a lot of puzzle pieces have to fall in place, and a lot of stars have to align for this to become a reality. Deals must be made, and money must be spent. That's not to say the concept is far-fetched.

Consider that advertisers are finding online to be a better option than even the super bowl in some cases. This past Super Bowl, Pepsi skipped a TV spot for the first time in 23 years. TV is going to have to adapt.

Tell us what you think.


Dailymotion In Music Video Deal With Warner

Warner Music Group has entered into a licensing agreement with online video sharing site Dailymotion.

Warner will offer music videos via Dailymotion's website in the U.S., Europe and North Africa.

Joy-Marcus "We are delighted that our large and growing repertoire of quality music videos includes content from Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group, EMI and leading independent The Orchard," said Joy Marcus, General Manager of Dailymotion U.S.

"This breadth and depth of repertoire is a big win for our users who, quite simply, love music. Advertisers will also be pleased with new opportunities to reach a large audience of highly-engaged music fans."

Visitors to Dailymotion will have ad-supported access to music videos, concerts and interviews from Warner Music's local and international acts. Under the terms of agreement, registered users will be able to create and share video playlists. The first videos are slated to be available within a month.

Outside the U.S., Warner Music and Dailymotion will work together on the sale of targeted advertising and sponsorships embedded in the videos. Warner Music will manage sales inside the U.S.

"Dailymotion understands that offering official artist content is one of the most powerful ways to attract an interested, interactive audience," said Leanne Sharman, Vice President, Commercial Development, Warner Music Europe.

"This partnership further strengthens our premium video strategy, which provides our roster of artists a flexible, wide-reaching distribution footprint through which to monetize and promote their music."
 


How Badly Do People Want Personalized Search?

Let me start off by saying that I have no problem with my search results being personalized, because I understand that search engines want to deliver the best user experience so that users will keep using them. If I get results that are personalized well, that means I don't have to look too far for what I'm trying to find. However, not all users are so thrilled with the evolution of search results pages, particularly with the personalization aspect.

This week, Google announced the launch of a new feature that lets users star their search results for ones they like. This would lead to the starred results appearing at the top of the SERP in future searches, when appropriate. The feature is still rolling out, so if you don't see it yet, you should see it soon.

Google adds starring to search results pages for personalized search

After reporting on this change, we received comments from readers like:

"I really am getting hacked off with this bloody personalised search thing... the serps are full of bloody crap for 50% of searches and ultimately less relevent than before."

"I think that if they take into consideration the stars for serps everything will be a mess..."

"I'm getting tired of Google forcing things on me. Over and over and over after I have said I do not want to be recognized for my geographical locations, it keeps asking me."


I'm guessing comments like these aren't limited to this particular instance. I doubt that they represent the majority of opinions about Google's SERP changes, but it does raise an interesting question: Is Google trying too hard to improve? To answer this with a yes, would indicate that Google's results are already perfect (or were at least), and while Google has had a pretty good reputation for delivering quality results (and the market share to back it up), I don't know if anyone would go so far as to call them perfect, including Google itself.

There is always room for improvement. Things can always get better. Some ideas work, and others don't. Sometimes you don't know until you try, and if certain concepts don't go over well with the majority, sometimes they are scrapped. In fact, the very release of this starring feature also represents the end of a less successful feature in Google's SearchWiki.

As for personalized search itself, I wouldn't count on it going away anytime soon. I wouldn't count on Google (or the other search engines for that matter) spending less time trying to improve in this area. Why would you want them to? If your results are tailored to you specifically, does that not increase their chances of being more relevant to you?

If privacy is a concern, remember, you can always look at the Google Dashboard and look at everything Google has stored about you from each of the company's products that you may use.

Do you like personalized search? Should search engines continue to innovate in this area? Share your thoughts here.



Yahoo Gets Stock Boost From "Outperform" Rating

Although this turned out to be a pretty "meh" day for the stock market as a whole - the Dow and S&P 500 slipped a little bit, while the Nasdaq didn't gain much - Yahoo investors should be feeling pleased.  Yahoo's stock rose by a significant amount as an analyst rated it "market outperform," up from "market perform."

Sameet Sinha of JMP Securities is the man who's responsible for making that change, and he attributed the move to Yahoo's relationship with Microsoft.  Sinha indicated that other experts will come to think better of the company, too, as additional financial models incorporate the deal.

Then here's another, more concrete, detail: Sinha set a price target of $21.  Since Yahoo's stock hasn't been that high since July of 2008, that would be a significant level.

As for the current price of Yahoo's stock, it's been very much on the move.  It rose 2.86 percent during the trading day, taking it from $16.06 to $16.52.

Again, then, this was a good day for Yahoo's shareholders.  Google's shareholders lost a small amount of money, meanwhile (its stock decreased 0.31 percent), and Microsoft's shareholders made an even smaller amount (its stock rose 0.15 percent).


Examine Your Site's Text, Reduce Chances of Search Engine Confusion

Has it ever occurred to you that you may have keywords on your site that are misleading to search engines? Or that you need to take a look at all of the keywords you are trying to rank for, and think about the different meanings and contexts that those could be taken in that are unrelated to your actual product, and then eliminate other seemingly unrelated words that to a search engine could be misconstrued as an indication of one of those other contexts?

At SMX West last week, WebProNews sat down with Bruce Clay of Internet Marketing firm Bruce Clay, Inc. who made some interesting points about understanding searcher behavior, intent-based search, and how that should affect keyword research.

Note: We talked to Bruce about quite a few search-related topics, but this subject is focused on more toward the end of the video (about 20 minutes in).

Clay talks about Google delivering more personalization in search results, taking into consideration things like how prior queries influence future queries. "Ranking is going to be less of a measurement," he says. "We're going to be focused on more the traffic."

"When I decide I'm selling a hammer, I have to actively go out of my way not to have certain things appear in my site, because the search engines could be confused about what I'm talking about....I don't mean the Armand Hammer Art Museum at UCLA. I don't mean a bowling ball...you know, the things that show up for hammer are all over the board," says Clay.

"One of the things that I think is important, and that we've been working on is how do we actually do keyword research without knowing the behavioral aspects our personas that are actually going for our product? You have to understand personas now a little bit better - what kinds of things are they likely to search on, in sequence - before they type in hammer...so if they're on an arts and crafts site, and then they type in hammer, I ought to understand that behavior in sequence, so that I can better do my keyword research and determine how I'm gonna put the words on my page. I don't see a lot of people even thinking that way."

Personalized search is nothing new. Google's been personalizing search results for some time, based on various indicators, and it appears that Google is looking for more ways to deliver users a personalized experience (whether they want that or not).

Between personalized search and other sources of information infiltrating search results pages, traditional SEO is becoming harder to accomplish, and Bruce says, even ineffective. That's why it may become increasingly important to focus on relevant elements of the SERP for queries you hope to be found for.


Online Ad Spending To Outpace Print In 2010

Spending on online advertising and marketing will surpass print in 2010 for the first time, according to a new report from Outsell.

Companies will spend $119.6 billion on online and digital strategies, from search engine keywords to webinars, while committing $111.5 billion to print such as newspapers and magazine ads. Overall, U.S. spending on advertising and marketing will increase in 2010, but only by 1.2 percent to $368 billion.

Outsell forecasts spending, share, and growth for five media categories including online, events, print, TV/radio and PR/other.

Chuck-Richard

"Advertisers are directing dollars toward the channels which generate the most qualified leads and most effective branding," said Chuck Richard, Vice President and Lead Analyst, Outsell.

"As they emerge from the recession, they need more accountability, and they're spreading their spending over a widening set of options."

Print magazine advertising will be up 1.9 percent to $9.4 billion even with the popularity of online channels.

Other key findings include:

*51 percent if B2B marketers rate Facebook as extremely or somewhat effective, followed by LinkedIn (45%), Twitter (35%) and MySpace (25%).

*B2B advertisers see cross-media marketing as most effective; 78% combine three or more major marketing methods.

*Methods creating the highest B2B ROI are topped by advertisers' own websites, followed by conferences, exhibitions and trade shows: direct mail; search engine keywords; and e-marketing/e-newsletters. 
 



Facebook Expands Preferred Developer Program

Four months ago, Facebook launched something called the Preferred Developer Consultant Program in an effort to point companies and celebrities towards the best developers.  Now, the program's taking an important leap forward as Facebook's more than tripled the number of recommended developers.

Facebook started things off with just 14 developers, which seemed like an interesting choice.  Those dozen or so developers couldn't possibly design too many Facebook pages and/or apps, after all, so was demand negligible?  Were great developers extremely rare?  Or did Facebook just feel like causing a crazy bidding war for people's services?

Today, the social network granted 35 additional developers "preferred" status, making the situation look somewhat manageable.

Kristin Thayer, a member of the Facebook Developer Network team, also explained that the global community's needs have been taken into consideration.  She wrote on the Facebook Developer Blog, "Over half of the new Preferred Developer Consultants have international operations and have already built campaigns, community portals, and other social applications in countries like Israel, Lithuania, and Czech Republic."

Thayer added, as well, "If you or your company builds high quality Facebook Connect implementations, Facebook applications, and/or Facebook Pages, and is interested in being included as a developer consultant in this program, please visit the Developer FAQ to learn more about submitting your company for consideration."


As SERPs Get More Complicated, Focus on Relevant Elements

At SES Chicago last year, Yahoo VP of Consumer Products, Larry Cornett suggested that blended search results bring businesses a broader range of SEO opportunities, a chance to take control of their brand, and a potential increase in qualified clicks. While these blended results can tend to divert users away from organic listings, as SEO Dave Naylor pointed out at that same conference, Cornett does have a point.

Blended search results offer ways to get to the front page of search results beyond just the highly more competitive organic rankings. Sites have opportunities to show up for:

- real-time results
- news results
- image results
- video results
- shopping results
- local results (customers don't even need to go to your site in some cases)

At the recent Online Marketing Summit in San Diego, WebProNews spoke with Conductor CEO Seth Besmertnik, who says companies should still build a foundation in organic rankings before trying to conquer other areas:

That said you can break these different elements of blended results down one by one, and look at ways to have your site perform well in each particular one. Here are tips for image search optimization, for example. Here are some for video. Here are some for real-time search. Here are some for news search.

Back to Cornett's point about qualified clicks - focus on what makes the most sense for your site. Is focusing on real-time search worth your time? With Google, at least, even if you show up here, your presence will quickly give way to the next in line, and you will be off the page momentarily (although there still may be times when it makes sense to be seen here).

If you don't have quality video content, video search optimization is not bound to be a very practical use of you time. However, if you do have some good stuff, perhaps you should be heavily focused in this area. I think you get the point.

Of course there are plenty of other factors of today's search results page that drive users away from the "ten blue links" of organic results. It's not just the blended search elements discussed above. You've also got search suggestions, related search links, location, mobile use, paid listings, search options, and various other elements of the user experience that compete for user attention. This is one reason why the lines between search marketing and other types of marketing continue to blur (consider that users of Google or Yahoo can customize their home pages to accomodate many of their favorite sites, making those just a click away).

Still, that foundation in natural search that Besmertnik mentioned is definitely a big part of the overall picture. I suggest taking advantage of your listings here, and maximizing those, regardless of how well you rank. Things like site links and breadcrumbs come to mind.


Google Launches Public Data Explorer Labs Experiment

Google has launched a new Google Labs experiment called Public Data Explorer. The product takes large datasets and gives them a visual  interface with animated charts and maps.

"As the charts and maps animate over time, the changes in the world become easier to understand," Google explains in the description. "You don't have to be a data expert to navigate between different views, make your own comparisons, and share your findings."

"Students, journalists, policy makers and everyone else can play with the tool to create visualizations of public data, link to them, or embed them in their own webpages," says Google. "Embedded charts and links can update automatically so you’re always sharing the latest available data."

The following slideshow walks you through how to use Public Data Explorer:

There are six interesting examples available on the product page for you to mess around with, and get a feel for how the Public Data Explorer works.

Like all other Google Labs experiments, the product is subject to bugs, as well as user feedback. The company says it is making it available now to get in contact with public data providers. As you're probably aware, Google has this thing about organizing the world's information.



eBay Says Buying Used Is Being Green

eBay announced today the launch of the eBay Green Team Challenge, a program aimed at turning green shopping into a tangible environmental impact.

Under the program, the first 250,000 people to pledge to reuse on eBay, the company will protect an acre of rainforest in their name through a new collaboration with Team Earth, a coalition of non-governmental organizations, private sector companies and individuals convened by Conservation International.

Along with the launch of the Green Team Challenge, eBay has introduced a new green shopping site, designed to help people access green products.

eBay-Green

The new shopping hub is a result of the requests of eBay Green Team members, a community of nearly 150,000 individuals committed to making greener lifestyle choices.

To promote the challenge, eBay is teaming up with Hearst Magazines for the second year in a row, for their month long "30 Days of Green" program. The collaboration features a three-page ad insert that will run in the April issues of all 15 Hearst magazines. The ads will feature a variety of eBay items and will aim to educate consumers about being green.

"We at eBay are constantly looking for ways to show our community of 90 million users that their shopping decisions can have real environmental impact," said Amy Skoczlas Cole, Director of the eBay Green Team.

"This year, through our collaborations with Hearst and Team Earth, we have the opportunity to not only educate millions of consumers about the green value of shopping used, but translate that action into tangible environmental impact."
 

 


Yahoo "Infusing Mobile Through The Organization"

Yahoo's approach to the mobile market is about to change in a very noticeable way.  Indeed, Yahoo's mobile division will more or less cease to exist as a separate entity, with mobile becoming something of a company-wide concern.

Yahoo LogoOne important note: no layoffs have been announced.  "We are infusing mobile throughout the organization, rather than having a specific team for mobile," Cory Pforzheimer, Yahoo's senior manager of corporate communications, explained to Tricia Duryee.  "Mobile is top of mind for everyone, and it's part of regional teams, business teams, product teams."

Obviously, this is a significant change, and it's one of several that have occurred in recent weeks.  Yahoo's introduced a dedicated mobile blog, released a new Social Pulse feature, and seen a mobile exec depart all in the last month or so.

It's possible the dissolution of Yahoo's mobile division isn't the last step in this process, either.  Pforzheimer told Duryee, "The importance of mobile in Yahoo has increased and we are re-aligning the organization to do just that."

Meanwhile, a completely unrelated thing that's also gotten the mobile world all excited is the first iPad commercial, which aired during the Oscars.

UPDATE: Pforzheimer provided an extra bit of information in an email to WebPronews, adding, "Yahoo! seeks to be the center of people's online lives. We have more tightly integrated our mobile business into the company's DNA as we create the best possible user experiences for our consumers and partners regardless of device or access point. As the adoption of Yahoo!'s mobile services continues to grow globally, mobile continues to be a key priority for the company."


Citysearch Has New Way for Local Businesses to Advertise

Citysearch recently announced a set of APIs to make all of Citysearch’s local listings content and advertising available to other Websites and mobile apps. It's called CityGrid. Today, the company announced an online advertising solution called CityGrid Complete, as an extension of that.

CitySearch - CityGridCityGrid Complete was built around an investment from Citysearch in OrangeSoda. CitySearch tells WebProNews that with the investment, they will offer local advertisers:

- Access to a pay-for-performance advertising platform and campaign management tools

- Scalable search engine optimization solution on the Web, including targeted keyword optimization, and reporting (ranking, conversation tracking and trending)

- Local listings optimization, including business profile optimization and phone call tracking and reporting

- Wider distribution across CityGrid

"Whether it's driving new customers to our advertisers from major search sites or mobile applications, CityGrid Complete is about delivering local businesses the highest quality leads for the best value," said Citysearch CEO Jay Herratti. "By combining the distribution power of CityGrid with OrangeSoda's platform, every small business in America now has access to a one-stop local advertising solution with SEO strategies and tactics that historically required a large dedicated team of experts."

"Every search engine has introduced local directory listings prominently in their organic search results and this has given small businesses another way to get featured in the search engine results real estate," said Jay Bean, CEO of OrangeSoda. "For over 15 years, Citysearch has helped small businesses gain exposure on other websites, and now they want to help small businesses gain better exposure through organic search results. By bundling our expertise and tool set with CityGrid, we are offering small businesses a revolutionary local online advertising package that no other company offers."

OraneSoda has provided SEO services to brands like International Truck, Remax, and Jiffy Lube.



Free Software Foundation Talks Potential of Google's On2 Deal

Last summer, Google announced that it would be acquiring video compression technology developer On2 Technologies. A couple weeks ago, Google announced that the acquisition had closed. Upon the completion of this acquisition, the nonprofit Free Software Foundation, whose mission is to "promote computer user freedom" and "defend the rights of all free software users," wrote an open letter to Google, telling the company that it now has the opportunity to "make free video formats the standard, freeing the web from both Flash and the proprietary H.264 codec."

WebProNews contacted the foundation to find out if Google had responded to this, and Holmes Wilson, Campaigns Manager for the foundation told us that while he had heard from one Google employee on the matter, he didn't think it was an official response.

"You shouldn't have to mess around with bloated, unstable, proprietary plugins like Flash just to play a video-- video playback should be built into your web browser," Wilson tells WebProNews. "There is a huge movement behind open standards and free formats working to make this a universal reality. If Google freed VP8 and pushed it out to users on YouTube, that would be a big boost to this movement.  And it would accelerate progress towards a web video space where we didn't need proprietary plugins and patented codecs."

On2 Technologies

We asked Wilson how it would make life easier for a business trying to expand its online video marketing strategy. "The free HTML5 'video tag' standard makes posting a video to your site as easy as posting an image, but it's not supported by a critical mass of users yet," says Wilson. "Google freeing VP8 and pushing it on YouTube would give us a critical mass. So it would make life much easier for anyone trying to reach others with video."

Google paid about $124.6 million for On2. The company also recently acquired mobile email app reMail, which it did make open source last week.


The Free Software Foundation's letter can be read here.


U.S. Online Retail Set For Double-Digit Growth

Online retail in both the U.S. and Western Europe is set for a strong period of double-digit growth over the next five years, according to new forecasts by Forrester Research.

U.S. online retail will grow at a 10 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the next five years to reach nearly $249 billion by 2014. Online retail within the largest European Union nations in Western Europe will grow at an 11 percent CAGR over the same period, hitting 114 billion by 2014.

Sucharita Mulpuru
Sucharita Mulpuru


"Much of the overall retail sector's growth in both the US and the EU over the next five years will come from the Internet," said Forrester Research Vice President and Principal Analyst Sucharita Mulpuru.

"To maximize that growth, eBusiness professionals will have to help enable a multichannel strategy that responds to consumers' increased desire to hop between the offline and online worlds and their increasing mobile and social behaviors. The retail innovators over the next five years will demonstrate customer enablement across all touchpoints, not just via a PC-based Web browser."

Despite consumers' increasing use of the Internet to research products before purchasing, most retailers fall short on offering a consistent cross-channel experience. According to Forrester's data, while 82 percent of U.S. online consumers are satisfied with buying experiences that began and ended in a store, satisfaction drops to 61 percent for consumers who began their research online and purchased in a store.

Highlights from the report include:

*In the US, Web shopping will account for 8 percent of total retail sales by 2014.

*Three product categories dominate online retail: apparel, footwear, and accessories; consumer electronics; and consumer hardware, software, and peripherals. Together, those categories represent more than 40 percent of total online retail sales in the US.

*By 2014, 53 percent of total retail sales in the US will be influenced by eCommerce as consumers increasingly use the Internet to research products before purchasing.



 

 


Microsoft To Spend $2 Billion On Bing Ads In The UK

As fans of "The Office" may know, it's fairly common for the entertainment industry to take a successful concept and adapt it for use overseas.  And now, Microsoft's performing a similar conversion, launching a "Bing and decide" advertising campaign in the U.K.

Bing logoIt's a good bet that you've seen a couple of these amusing TV spots by now; they feature one person trying to talk to another, but the second individual, suffering from "search overload," is only able to respond by rattling off absurd details related to certain keywords.

It's commercials in this vein that Microsoft intends to air in the U.K., starting this Wednesday and continuing through the middle of June.  Mark Sweney reported that the campaign will cost the company a significant amount: $2 billion.

Ashley Highfield, who used to work for the BBC and now holds the lengthy title "Managing Director & VP, Consumer & Online UK" at Microsoft, also assured Sweney, "This is a big moment - we are taking out our slingshots and taking on Goliath."

Highfield didn't lay out what sort of market share gains Microsoft hopes to make as a result of this ad campaign.



Marketing Should Be About "And" Rather Than "Or"

You'll often notice than when a new web service or marketing strategy gets starts getting some buzz, it will often be referred to as a "_____ killer", when in most cases this turns out to be greatly exaggerated or just plain wrong. For marketers, it's important not to get too caught up in this kind of mentality, because as long as you have an audience and they can still be reached through some channel, that channel is alive and well.

WebProNews had a conversation with Google's Avinash Kaushik and former Googler Vanessa Fox just after the State of the Search Union keynote at SMX West last week, and talked about this very principle. Kaushik put it well in that marketers who think of their strategies in terms of "and" will win, and those who think in terms of "or" will lose. In other words, your apt to find greater success in combining strategies than focusing too heavily on one.

This seems like a fairly obvious point, but it's easy to get caught up in the hype of the moment, and place too much emphasis on the importance of whatever that hype may be centered around. That's not to say said hype should be ignored, because new strategies can certainly increase brand awareness, conversions, etc, if you can leverage them in a way that makes sense for your business. However, it's important not to shift too much focus always from channels that are already working well for you, or those you are still improving upon that show promise.

As discussed in the clip above, the lines are blurring among types of marketing, and it's becoming more and more about simply "marketing" rather than just "search marketing" or "social media marketing" or fill-in-the-blank marketing.


Google's Matt Cutts Talks Caffeine, PageRank, PuSH, Buzz, and Much More

In case you missed it, WebProNews streamed a live interview with Google's Matt Cutts today from SMX West in Santa Clara. It's hard to narrow down the discussion to a singular topic, but here are some of the things touched upon in the video:

- The status of Google's Caffeine update (nothing's wrong, they're just being careful.)

- Site Speed as a ranking factor - settle down, it's not replacing relevance (and it's independent from Caffeine)

- PageRank - Google's probably not going to rename it, but people do obsess too much over it.

- PuSH - indexing much of the web in real-time

- Coming up with metrics for authority in real-time search

- Google Buzz - Why Matt Cutts likes it, but still uses Twitter as well

- Why does every product that comes out have to be the killer of an existing product?

- SEO vs. social media marketing

- NCAA Basketball and the Kentucky Wildcats

After discussing the above topics, Matt and interviewer Mike McDonald turn to Twitter for audience questions for Matt to answer.

Check out our new live video site at live.webpronews.com for coverage of SMX West, and future events (as well as whatever else we may end up broadcasting). You can also find archived videos there in case you missed any.  


Matt Cutts: Google Probably Won't Call PageRank Something Else

Update: Matt Cutts says they probably won't rename PageRank. However, he agrees with Peter Norvig that people obsess about it too much.

Original article: Last year, Google quietly got rid of PageRank in Webmaster Tools. Google Webmaster Trends Analyst Susan Moskwa had said, "We've been telling people for a long time that they shouldn't focus on PageRank so much; many site owners seem to think it's the most important metric for them to track, which is simply not true. We removed it because we felt it was silly to tell people not to think about it, but then to show them the data, implying that they should look at it."

Note: Watch our exclusive interview with Google's Matt Cutts at 1pm Pacific/4pm Eastern at live.webpronews.com.

A lot of people wondered why Google would keep PageRank in the Google Toolbar, where it still sits to this day. Search enthusiast Barry Schwartz of Rusty Brick speculated that Google would not want to remove it because PageRank is "too much of their branding." After some words from Google's Director of Research, Peter Norvig today, however, I'm not so sure that's the case.

Note: Watch Norvig's keynote address here (or view our liveblog of the event), and our exclusive interviw with him here:

Norvig said at SMX today that PageRank is still one thing that is "overhyped," and that Google never felt that it was such a big factor. They have always looked at all available data, combining every available signal and tiring to figure out the best way to combine them.

Norvig also said that it may be time for some re-branding with regard to PageRank. There may be a different term in the pipeline. "There's a technical formula that's PageRank, which is the way of judging the links between pages, and that's just one component of how we rank the pages and you get your final search results. There's all these other things that come in, but they don't have a catchy name. So some people apply PageRank to mean all the components that give you the final ranking, and that's where we get confused. So probably we need some other term for that...We'll get some marketing guys on it."

I don't know how seriously the company is considering this, as Norvig seems to simply be speaking off the cuff, but given the company's repeated emphasis on a lack of emphasis on PageRank, it would not be surprising to see them change the name. However, the problem with that could be, that these same PR-obsessed webmasters would just become obsessed with the re-branded term.

WebProNews will be doing a live interview with Google's Matt Cutts today at 1pm Pacific/4pm Eastern at live.webpronews.com. Perhaps he will offer his thoughts on the subject.

Do you think PageRank needs a different name? What would you call it? Give your suggestions here.



Online Daters Mostly Truthful

People who lie on online dating services are likely people-pleasers who want to present themselves favorably, just as they would in person, according to new research from the University of Kansas.

Jeffery Hall, assistant professor of communications studies, surveyed more than 5,000 participants who used Internet dating services to find out what kinds of people are most likely to lie.

He asked them how likely they were to lie about topics such as assets, relationship goals, personal interests, personal attributes, past relationships, age and weight.

Jeffery-Hall "What people lie about depends on what kind of people they are," Hall said.

"For example, if you're an extrovert, you might downplay the number of past relationships you've had because chances are you've had more relationships than an introvert."

Those most likely to lie during the online dating process are people who have a strong awareness of what people like and control their behavior to achieve social ends. Their actions are not necessarily manipulative, but instead reflect a desire to be liked and to fit in.

In the study, men admitted to lying more overall, but women were most likely to lie about their weight. Because online daters hope to meet face-to-face eventually, the amount of lying is quite small.

"Online daters shouldn't be concerned that most people are presenting a false impression of themselves," Hall said. "What influences face-to-face dating influences the online world, too."

Hall's research was published in the February issue of the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships.


 


Site Speed Tips for When Google Uses That as a Ranking Factor

Last year, Google's Matt Cutts dropped the bomb (to put it in the exaggerated tone that many took the news in), that Google was considering taking site speed into consideration as one of many potential ranking factors for search results.

Is your site's performance up to snuff? Comment here.

This of course freaked a lot of people out, but as Matt and Google as a whole has maintained, this would not trump relevance. It would be taken more into consideration when there are two sites of relatively equal relevance, but one site loads faster and delivers a better user experience. Matt reiterated this point in an interview we did with him this week at SMX.

WebProNews also chatted with Maile Ohye, Senior Developer Programs Engineer for Google at SMX, about website performance (speed), how that pertains to search rankings and the user experience, and some tips for making sure your site is up to speed, so to speak.

Stream videos at Ustream

As far as site speed as a ranking factor, Ohye pretty much makes the same point as Cutts, and it's probably not going to be something where all of a sudden all of the faster sites are ranking better and the slower ones are doing worse. But it does enhance the user experience, and she refers to a study that found that an optimized site actually increased conversions by 16%. So if you're not optimizing your site's performance for Google, maybe that's a good enough reason on its own.

Watch the video to get some specific advice regarding some simple adjustments you can make to your site that can make a big difference.

If you're one of those freaking out about getting your site performance optimized, you may feel better after hearing what she has to say, and realize that it might not be as big a deal as you thought.

By the way, Cutts also mentioned that the speed thing is completly independent of Caffeine.

Do you think site performance is a manageable attribute of your search engine marketing strategy? Discuss here.


Talking Bing/Yahoo Integration with Yahoo Search

As you know, Microsoft and Yahoo were recently granted regulatory approval on their search and advertising deal, and we've discussed what this might mean for search engine optimization. WebProNews stopped by the Yahoo Headquarters in Sunnyvale before heading to SMX West in Santa Clara this week, and talked with Shashi Seth, Sr. VP of Yahoo Search Products about the deal, how it will be integrated, and timing, among other things.

Seth says that the integration of Bing results into Yahoo Search will take somewhere in the range of 18 to 24 months for it to happen worldwide, and they'll start with the U.S. first. He says the core thing users will find is a compelling set of experiences that go on top of just the algorithmic and paid results that come from Microsoft. In other words, Yahoo users will still find the Yahoo experience.

Shashi says he feels like Yahoo can surface a lot of things better on its own, simply because of the content its properties provides (local, sports, finance, etc.). That stuff won't be going away, and it will be weaved into the experience.

One thing that Shashi stressed was that the integration of Bing frees up a lot of Yahoo's own resources, so they can improve on other aspects of the user experience. Comments from Yahoo's Director of Search Marketing David Roth at the State of the Search Union keynote suggested that some amount of those resources will be moved over to work with Microsoft as well, with others staying at Yahoo:

WebProNews actually spoke with Roth himself after the event as well. He thinks he has something of a unique viewpoint about the integration, as he comes from search marketing himself. He will also likely be one of the first to be able to use the integration, given his position within the company. You can hear more of what he has to say in this interview:

Reactions from marketers are still mixed about how this integration is going to play out. This point was made clear in the keynote. Misty Locke of iProspect said a lot of her clients are excited about it, while former Googler Vanessa Fox is reserving judgment, hoping Yahoo doesn't lose "all the Yahooness." From the way Yahoo has described the coming integration, particularly Shahi Seth, it doesn't sound like it will be losing much Yahooness at all, but the extent of integration of things like Yahoo's BOSS and SearchMonkey features is still largely unknown.



Google Pesonalizes Search Results More with Star Feature

Google today introduced yet another way it is personalizing search results (we talked about social search with the company at SMX). Now Google is letting users "star" search results that they like, just like the star feature in other Google products like Gmail, Reader, and Google News.

This almost seems like an obvious move for SERPs now that it is there, but it has not been present until now. Essentially, when you star results you like, you will get them at the top of your results the next time you search a query relevant to them. 

"With stars, you can simply click the star marker on any search result or map and the next time you perform a search, that item will appear in a special list right at the top of your results when relevant," the company explains. "That means if you star the official websites for your favorite football teams, you might see those results right at the top of your next search for [nfl]."

Google adds starring to search results pages for personalized search

"The great thing about stars is that you don't have to keep track of them," the company continues. "You don't even have to remember whether or not you starred something. Simply perform a search and you'll rediscover your starred items right when you need them. Stars sync with your Google Bookmarks and the Google Toolbar, so you can always see your list of starred items in one place and easily organize them. Even beyond the results page, while browsing the web you can quickly click the star icon in Toolbar to create a bookmark, and those pages will start showing up in the new stars feature."

Interestingly, the feature replaces Google's existing SearchWiki feature, which apparently didn't catch on too much. According to Google, people don't much care for rearranging the order of search results. I can't say I blame them. The annotation feature that came along with that is pretty much what you get from Google's other product - SideWiki, anyway, and Google suggests using that if you want to leave a comment on a particular result.

The new star interface will be rolling out over the next couple days. It will only work if you are signed in of course. Do you like the result starring concept? Share your thoughts.


SEO and Social Media Matter for Press Coverage

When businesses think about search and social media, a great deal of the time, they are thinking about traffic, customer engagement, and brand awareness. While these are all good things to consider, there may be more to that last one that you have spent much time thinking about.

Brand awareness goes beyond just having a random customer find your site in a set of search results or through a link from their Facebook news feed. Have you considered how channels like search and social media are used by media outlets and journalists? The fact of the matter is that journalists and bloggers alike utilize both to a great extent while covering their beats.

Do you take press coverage into consideration? Comment here.

Search and social both play significant roles in PR. This is a topic that WebProNews recently discussed with TopRank Online Marketing CEO Lee Odden. Odden calls journalists customers, and in many ways they should be treated as such when it comes to getting your product or site in front of their eyeballs.

Odden says to look at what it is you can do as a marketer to make it easier for the journalist to do their job. Optimize your content for what a journalist is looking for. This is one way you can potentially increase your media coverage, which can obviously increase brand awareness.

Odden makes a great point online journalists often having tighter deadlines, and turning to blogs and social networks for sources and quotes. For example, the real-time nature of a Twitter search might be just what a journalist or blogger need to find someone who's talking about the subject they're writing about, at nearly the moment they're looking for it.

For that matter, Google's real-time search can help for the same reason, and most journalists and bloggers frequently use Google to search for what they're looking for. If what they're looking for happens to be related to a newsy topic, they just might see Google's real-time results literally before anything else. If that topic happens to be related to something you're talking about, you just might end up in those results too. Google is also indexing updates from Facebook Pages here now, by the way.

The point is, if you are looking for increased media coverage, there are ways to increase your chances of getting in front of the right people, and it is certainly not limited to real-time search. Sometimes journalists/bloggers will simply tap their contacts within their social networks (or email of course) to find sources. This is as good a reason as any to engage in social media on a regular basis and network with lots of relevant people.

If attracting media attention is what you're after, consider these five tips I offered in a SmallBusinessNewz article last year:

1. Do something that's different - Simply do something that makes you stand out: something that gets people talking. If it creates enough buzz, the media coverage will likely follow.

2. Look for niche publications - the more niche the publication, the more likely they probably are to cover you.

3. Personalize your message - When you're writing an email to a publication to talk about your business, for example, personalize the message for the specific person you're contacting, so they know it's not just a manufactured piece that you're sending all over the web. Journalists like exclusivity.

4. Find multiple contacts - If you can find more than one contact for a particular publication, it may be wise to send your story pitch to them. This will increase the potential visibility among the publication's staff.

5. Provide plenty of details - When sending such a pitch, it's a good idea to include as many details about the product/story as possible. The more details available, the less research is required, and time is more valuable than ever, especially for a journalist.

Another piece of advice I would give is to not let your press center hold back your marketing opportunities. I've seen a lot of companies fail to keep their own press centers up to date with the latest news, even as big announcements are made, and even if they have issued press releases. Often times, these releases won't even be available on the site until later. If you want to increase your chances of more media coverage, you should always have your latest news readily available in your press center, or via your blog - wherever you make announcements. And always provide contact info.

Share your tips for increasing press coverage.


Chrome Wins Tom's Hardware Browser Test

Not too many years ago, threads on online forums would often have titles like "New Ferrari Pics (56K users, make coffee)" as a way of warning people with slow connections that they'd be stuck for a while.  Now, Tom's Hardware has established which modern Web browsers will slow folks down - and which won't.

Google ChromeChrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, and Safari were pitted against each other in a test focused purely on speed and performance.  Startup times, memory usage, page load times, JavaScript tests, and a number of other factors were weighed.

Here's the upshot (if you somehow missed this article's title): Chrome won.  It did best in several categories and placed second in a number of others, defeating many of its rivals by a clear margin.

This led Adam Overa to write, "Any way you want to analyze the data, Google's Chrome comes out on top.  That's why we're not only calling Chrome the winner of our Web Browser Grand Prix, but we're also awarding it the Best of Tom's Hardware Award - the first time we've given such an honor to a software product.  If you haven't yet downloaded Google Chrome, you just don't know what you're missing."

Opera, Safari, Firefox, and Internet Explorer ranked second, third, fourth, and fifth, respectively, in the browser speed test.



Google Acquires DocVerse, Takes Aim At MS Office

The acquisitive arm of Google reached out again today, and this time, grabbed DocVerse, a company that specializes in the real-time sharing and editing of documents.  The unusual thing is that DocVerse doesn't deal with just any documents; instead, it focuses on Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and Word documents.

A post on the Official Google Enterprise Blog explained the purchase by stating, "[A]s we continue to improve Google Docs and Google Sites as rich collaboration tools, we're also making it easier for people to transition to the cloud, and interoperate with desktop applications like Microsoft Office."

Then here's another important piece of information, hinting that a significant integration or upgrade already in the works: "Current DocVerse users can keep using the product as usual, though we've suspended new sign-ups until we're ready to share what's next."

Anyway, DocVerse sold for $25 million, according to Jessica E. Vascellaro, which would appear to make it less expensive than Picnik and Aardvark, two other recent Google acquisitions.

It should be interesting to see what happens next, considering this development could correspond to either a small Google Docs upgrade or a major move against Microsoft's software empire.


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