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In Chavez's absence, U.S. works to open communication with Venezuela (Juan Forero/Washington Post)
Posted: 10 Jan 2013 09:14 AM PST
| In Chavez's absence, U.S. works to open communication with Venezuela (Juan Forero/Washington Post) Posted: 10 Jan 2013 09:10 AM PST | | The Debt Ceiling's Escape Hatch (Edward D. Kleinbard/New York Times) Posted: 10 Jan 2013 08:45 AM PST   Edward D. Kleinbard / New York Times:
The Debt Ceiling's Escape Hatch — THE fiscal cliff may have been avoided, but an even higher-stakes political standoff — this time, over the federal debt ceiling — is just around the bend. — Congressional Republicans have said they will demand immense cuts to popular government programs …
| | For Americans Under 50, Stark Findings on Health (Sabrina Tavernise/New York Times) Posted: 10 Jan 2013 08:45 AM PST  Sabrina Tavernise / New York Times:
For Americans Under 50, Stark Findings on Health — Younger Americans die earlier and live in poorer health than their counterparts in other developed countries, with far higher rates of death from guns, car accidents and drug addiction, according to a new analysis of health and longevity in the United States. | | NRA: 100,000 new members after Sandy Hook shooting (Katie Glueck/Politico) Posted: 10 Jan 2013 08:40 AM PST  Katie Glueck / Politico:
NRA: 100,000 new members after Sandy Hook shooting — The National Rifle Association has gained more than 100,000 new members in the last 18 days, the organization told POLITICO's Playbook on Thursday. — The number of paid new members jumped from 4.1 million to 4.2 million in that time frame. | | Republican Party Path Back From 2012 Election Requires Shift In Culture, Not Just Tactics (Jon Ward/The Huffington Post) Posted: 10 Jan 2013 08:40 AM PST Jon Ward / The Huffington Post:
Republican Party Path Back From 2012 Election Requires Shift In Culture, Not Just Tactics … REACT: — FOLLOW: — Elections 2012, Barack Obama , Mitt Romney, Barack Obama , Republican Party, Elections 2012, GOP, Barack Obama 2012 , Video, Heritage Foundation, Teddy Goff, Harper Reed … | | In campaign for tougher gun laws, Obama and allies work to tilt public opinion (Philip Rucker/Washington Post) Posted: 10 Jan 2013 08:30 AM PST | | About That Overpopulation Problem (Jeff Wise/Slate) Posted: 10 Jan 2013 08:30 AM PST  Jeff Wise / Slate:
About That Overpopulation Problem — Research suggests we may actually face a declining world population in the coming years. — The world's seemingly relentless march toward overpopulation achieved a notable milestone in 2012: Somewhere on the planet, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates … | | Anti-Gay Pastor Removed From Inaugural Program (Josh Israel/ThinkProgress) Posted: 10 Jan 2013 08:25 AM PST  Josh Israel / ThinkProgress:
Anti-Gay Pastor Removed From Inaugural Program … Louis Giglio, the anti-LGBT pastor who had been announced to perform the benediction at President Obama's second inauguration, has been removed from the program, ABC News's Jonathan Karl reported Thursday. — The move came after ThinkProgress … | | Cuomo Calls for State to Return to Progressive Ideals (Danny Hakim/New York Times) Posted: 10 Jan 2013 08:25 AM PST | | Joe Scarborough Goes Off On Mika Brzezinski After She Asserts He's 'Being Chauvinistic' (Meenal Vamburkar/Mediaite) Posted: 10 Jan 2013 08:25 AM PST | | Obama Cabinet may not meet his own diversity standards (Los Angeles Times) Posted: 10 Jan 2013 08:25 AM PST | | Biden On Guns: Executive Order Is On The Table (Talking Points Memo) Posted: 10 Jan 2013 08:15 AM PST | | Barney Frank Senate Bid Gets Boost From Progressive Groups (Jason Cherkis/The Huffington Post) Posted: 10 Jan 2013 08:05 AM PST | | Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jay Carney, 1/9/2013 (The White House) Posted: 10 Jan 2013 07:40 AM PST | | 11 days to inaug - NRA MEMBERSHIP SURGES - POTUS names Chief of Staff Jack Lew as Treasury ... (Mike Allen/Politico) Posted: 10 Jan 2013 07:35 AM PST Mike Allen / Politico:
11 days to inaug — NRA MEMBERSHIP SURGES — POTUS names Chief of Staff Jack Lew as Treasury secretary, 1:30 p.m. - Jim Warren to D.C. — Kevin Sheridan joins Dyke-Madden firm — TapprTumblr — THE JUICE: As pushback to N.Y. Times' A1 boys'-club photo, the White House yesterday blast-emailed … | You are subscribed to email updates from memeorandum
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5 Ways to Create Better Content
Posted: 10 Jan 2013 09:10 AM PST
| 5 Ways to Create Better Content Posted: 10 Jan 2013 04:41 AM PST Looking for ways to create better content for the web? Want to write concise and powerful articles that get response? Need to create quality blog posts that don't get ignored? If yes, then go through the following five tips on writing top notch web content: #1: Focus on Relevance Whether you're creating content for your [...] | You are subscribed to email updates from Strategy Stew
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Google's location-aware Field Trip tour guide app now serves up local deals, courtesy of Scoutmob (Paul Sawers/The Next Web)
Posted: 10 Jan 2013 09:08 AM PST
| Google's location-aware Field Trip tour guide app now serves up local deals, courtesy of Scoutmob (Paul Sawers/The Next Web) Posted: 10 Jan 2013 09:00 AM PST | | FireEye not going public yet, gets $50M to prepare instead (Meghan Kelly/VentureBeat) Posted: 10 Jan 2013 08:40 AM PST   Meghan Kelly / VentureBeat:
FireEye not going public yet, gets $50M to prepare instead — Security firm FireEye hasn't filed to go public just yet, despite reports earlier this year to the contrary. Instead, CEO Dave DeWalt told us the company has raised $50 million to bring in some new executive talent and prepare for an IPO later in the year.
| | Telecommunications Data Analytics Company Guavus Raises $30M From IGC, Intel Capital And Others (Leena Rao/TechCrunch) Posted: 10 Jan 2013 08:20 AM PST | | Can Meg Whitman Reverse Hewlett-Packard's Free Fall? (Business Week) Posted: 10 Jan 2013 07:55 AM PST | | Samsung Galaxy S II Plus revealed with dual-core 1.2GHz CPU and Jelly Bean (Zachary Lutz/Engadget) Posted: 10 Jan 2013 07:50 AM PST | | Record Retail Sales on Smartphones, Tablets Take Greater Ecommerce Share (eMarketer) Posted: 10 Jan 2013 07:30 AM PST | | Apple's Tim Cook meets with China Mobile chairman in Beijing (Reuters) Posted: 10 Jan 2013 07:15 AM PST | | Wikipedia's travel site's official launch coming soon; what to expect and not expect (Rafat Ali/Skift) Posted: 10 Jan 2013 07:00 AM PST | | In Ergen's Clearwire Gambit, Spectrum Is the Prize (Wall Street Journal) Posted: 10 Jan 2013 06:50 AM PST | | Nokia's Lumia 920 supply issues: Demand or cautious rollout? (Larry Dignan/ZDNet) Posted: 10 Jan 2013 06:45 AM PST | | Google begins allowing all developers to respond to user comments and reviews on Google Play (Jon Russell/The Next Web) Posted: 10 Jan 2013 06:35 AM PST | | Lenovo confirms Windows Phone 8 handset plans (Kevin Kwang/ZDNet) Posted: 10 Jan 2013 06:20 AM PST  Kevin Kwang / ZDNet:
Lenovo confirms Windows Phone 8 handset plans — Summary: JD Howard, vice president of Lenovo's Mobile Internet and Digital Home unit, confirms it is planning for a Windows Phone 8 device and, if approved, there's a “good chance” of a 2013 release. — Kevin Kwang | | Amazon's "AutoRip" Service Goes Live, Giving Customers Free MP3s For CDs Purchased On Amazon ... (Sarah Perez/TechCrunch) Posted: 10 Jan 2013 06:05 AM PST  Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Amazon's “AutoRip” Service Goes Live, Giving Customers Free MP3s For CDs Purchased On Amazon As Far Back As 1998 (Hands On) — Amazon is today introducing a new service called Amazon AutoRip, which automatically gives customers free MP3 versions of any CDs they've purchased from Amazon since the launch of its Music Store back in 1998. | | Google Earth helps put North Korea gulag system on map (Paul Eckert/Reuters) Posted: 10 Jan 2013 05:45 AM PST  Paul Eckert / Reuters:
Google Earth helps put North Korea gulag system on map — (Reuters) - Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt's visit to North Korea this week has been met with sharp criticism and low expectations, but the global Internet search giant indirectly is helping to make history by revealing … | | Nokia sold 4.4 million Lumia smartphones in 'solid' Q4 2012; results 'exceeded expectations' (Robin Wauters/The Next Web) Posted: 10 Jan 2013 05:20 AM PST | You are subscribed to email updates from Techmeme
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Want to Buy a Boot/Ski Combo Device? Sorry, It’s Actually a Hertz Ad
Posted: 10 Jan 2013 07:54 AM PST
| Want to Buy a Boot/Ski Combo Device? Sorry, It’s Actually a Hertz Ad Posted: 10 Jan 2013 07:22 AM PST  It sounds like a great idea: A boot with retractable skis. It saves a lot of room in the car and takes less time to get on and off the slopes. Too bad the product -- SkiBrogues -- is a fake.
The concept is actually an ad for Hertz. If you click through to SkiBrogues' official-looking site, there's a Hertz banner ad showing weekly rental rates for ski destinations. And if you still want to buy a SkiBrogue? Sorry, they're sold out. Hertz isn't the first advertiser to create a product to generate interest for its primary offering. Applebee's last summer advertised an inflatable doll that was supposed to act as a decoy at work so you can grab lunch at the chain. That, however, was a r…
Continue reading... More About: ads  | | Amazon’s AutoRip Gives You Free MP3s for CDs You’ve Purchased Posted: 10 Jan 2013 07:01 AM PST  Amazon has launched AutoRip, a service that gives customers free MP3 versions of CDs they've purchased anytime since 1998.
Even better, customers who purchase a new CD will receive their digital copy before the actual, physical CD arrives at their doorstep. "What would you say if you bought music CDs from a company 15 years ago, and then 15 years later that company licensed the rights from the record companies to give you the MP3 versions of those CDs ... and then to top it off, did that for you automatically and for free? Well, starting today, it's available to all of our customers – past, present, and future – at no cost," said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com founder and CEO. AutoRi…
Continue reading... More About: amazon, AutoRip  | | ZTE Plans to Launch Firefox OS Smartphone in Europe in 2013 Posted: 10 Jan 2013 06:49 AM PST  China's ZTE has teamed up with an unnamed European carrier to build a smartphone based on Firefox OS, Bloomberg reports. The companies plan to launch the device in Europe this year.
According to CEO of ZTE's U.S. unit Cheng Lixin, the company might also launch a Firefox OS-based device in the U.S. in 2013. "We closely monitor the ecosystem and how it evolves. If that is ready and if consumer studies support that data, then we may launch one in U.S. also this year," Cheng said. He did not disclose any additional details about the device's specifications or pricing. Vice president of products at Mozilla Jay Sullivan confirmed the company is working with ZTE, as well as Qu…
Continue reading... More About: Firefox, Firefox OS, zte  | | Nokia Sold 4.4 Million Lumia Phones in Q4 Posted: 10 Jan 2013 06:44 AM PST  Don't count the Nokia Lumia out just yet.
Nokia announced Thursday that it sold 4.4 million Lumia smartphones in the December quarter, more than it sold in each of the three previous quarters and nearly twice the number sold in the September quarter. A year ago, Nokia revealed that it had sold more than 1 million Lumias since the line of smartphones launched. The announcement came as the company released preliminary earnings results for the quarter, in which it revealed the third consecutive quarter of profitability, thanks to lower operating costs and greater-than-expected device sales. Nokia now expects its Devices & Services segment to have an operating margin of between break even…
Continue reading... More About: Nokia, nokia lumia  | | Feeling Unproductive? Blame Your Lunch Posted: 10 Jan 2013 06:25 AM PST  Companies trying to increase productivity should offer their employees more wellness programs, a new study finds.
Workers who ate healthful meals and exercised on a regular basis had better job performance and lower absenteeism, research from the Health Enhancement Research Organization (HERO), Brigham Young University and the Center for Health Research at Healthways shows. Employees who eat healthy all day long were 25% more likely to have higher job performance, the study found, while those who eat five or more servings of fruit and vegetables at least four times a week were 20% more likely to be more productive. In addition, employees who exercise for at least 30 minutes, three t…
Continue reading... More About: exercise, food, health, productivity  | | Kaley Cuoco Revealed as William Shatner’s Daughter in Priceline Ad Posted: 10 Jan 2013 06:15 AM PST  The daughter of Priceline's Negotiator, a.k.a. William Shatner, is none other than Big Bang Theory's Kaley Cuoco. Who knew?
In the ad above, Cuoco is given over, Kill Bill-style, to a martial artist master to learn the craft of negotiating. But things changed a lot over the 20 years Cuoco spent in the monastery. Now you can use Priceline on your smartphone and "you don't even have to bid." Perhaps the real surprise here is that Shatner, who was supposed to retire from Priceline ads last year and appeared to be killed off in ad, is back. Rather than coming back from the dead, though, this seems to be a flashback of sorts. However, a press release from Priceline makes it clear that S…
Continue reading... More About: Advertising, Kaley Cuoco, Marketing, Priceline, William Shatner  | | Oscars 2013: Here Are the Nominations Posted: 10 Jan 2013 05:53 AM PST | | Star Trek-Inspired ‘CommBadge’ Gives You Handsfree Access to iPhone, Android Posted: 10 Jan 2013 05:43 AM PST  The "combadge," a two-in-one device that's both a communicator and badge worn by Starfleet, has arrived three centuries early.
While it's not an exact replica of Star Trek's iconic gadget, the CommBadge functions in a similar way. The Bluetooth speakerphone, which works with iPhone and Android, helps users access their smartphone hands-free. Measuring 1.5 inches in diameters, the circular speaker can be clipped onto clothing, or left in a bag. Why not just wear a Bluetooth headset? Commbadge's creators say it is designed so that "clean sound waves reach the user, but the sound waves that travel beyond a foot or so from the users ears are scrambled." In other words, it's a way to avoid…
Continue reading...  | | Watch Oscars Nominations 2013 Here Posted: 10 Jan 2013 05:33 AM PST | | Samsung Launches Galaxy S II Plus for the Budget-Minded Posted: 10 Jan 2013 05:14 AM PST  Samsung has launched Galaxy S II Plus, a new smartphone that is essentially an update to the now very dated Samsung Galaxy S II.
The 4.3-inch phone sports a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor, 480 x 800-pixel screen resolution, an 8-megapixel camera on the back and a 2-megapixel one on the front. It also offers 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage memory that can be expanded with microSD cards. The S II Plus runs on Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean), and supports HSPA+, GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and an option for NFC. Exact pricing and availability of Samsung's Galaxy S II Plus have not yet been announced, but given the middling specs, we assume the price will be on the cheap end of the spectrum. What…
Continue reading... More About: android, Galaxy S II Plus, samsung, Samsung Galaxy S II Plus, smartphone  | | Major U.S. Cellphone Carriers to Support BlackBerry 10, Report Says Posted: 10 Jan 2013 03:49 AM PST | | Hands On With the Microsoft Surface Pro Posted: 10 Jan 2013 02:22 AM PST Microsoft Surface Pro  Starting at $899, the Surface Pro is the "prosumer" version of Microsoft's tablet. It runs Windows 8 Pro off an Intel Core i5 ship and is slightly thicker and noticeably heavier than the Surface RT. It will run older Windows apps as well as ones for Windows 8. Click here to view this gallery.  LAS VEGAS -- Looking back, it was a little odd that Microsoft chose the Surface RT tablet as its showcase for Windows 8. After all, the device was created to run a version of Windows that runs on ARM-based processors instead of the usual x86 chips that had powered all Windows machines before it.
That inherently limited the Surface RT by preventing it from running legacy Windows apps. Windows 8 had to stand on its own, without the safety net of the classic desktop environment (it still exists on the device, it just can't run much of anything). That could be why the new operating system has apparently struggled to catch on. That might change with the Surface Pro (starting at $899). This,…
Continue reading... More About: microsoft, Surface Pro, surface tablet, Windows 8  | | Facebook Is Top Social Network in 127 Countries Posted: 10 Jan 2013 01:57 AM PST  Facebook's reach just keeps getting wider.
According to social media analyst Vincenzo Cosenza's biannual World Map of Social Networks, Facebook is the leader in 127 of the 137 countries observed, the Los Angeles Times reports. Armenia, Latvia, Kyrgyzstan and Vietnam are among the 10 countries where Facebook now reigns supreme. SEE ALSO: Facebook World Map Reveals Unexpected Trends Between Friends The biggest recent growth area, according to Cosenza, is Asia, which now has 278 million Facebook users and boasts the social network's largest population. Europe now has fewer users than Asia, netting 251 million users total; North America has 243 million users; South America has 142 mil…
Continue reading... More About: Facebook, Social Media, World  | | Apple Locks in iOS App Screenshots to Prevent Scams Posted: 10 Jan 2013 01:00 AM PST  Apple's recent change to its App Store policy will lock in screenshots of iOS app submissions after they've been approved, preventing scammers from replacing them with ones from more popular apps.
Before the update, app developers were able to change screenshots of their apps after they've been published in the App Store. While updating screenshots may be a legitimate way to reflect new iterations of an app, some developers combined names similar to other titles with screenshots taken directly from other apps to dupe customers into spending money on, essentially, fakes. An example of this tactic is an app called "Mooncraft," which leads customers to believe that they are buying a ver…
Continue reading... More About: apple, iOS apps, screenshots  | | Paragraph Shorts App Reimagines How Readers Discover Short Fiction Posted: 10 Jan 2013 12:00 AM PST  A former novelist hopes to make it easier for readers to discover short fiction with a new iPad magazine app called Paragraph Shorts.
More About: apps, fiction, ipad, Media  | | 10 Videos of People Getting Pwned by Winter Posted: 09 Jan 2013 10:58 PM PST | | iPotty Aims To Entertain Toddlers During Toilet Training Posted: 09 Jan 2013 10:03 PM PST Perhaps a tablet will convince your fidgety tot to sit on the potty for longer. A new product for parents of children being potty trained features a mini toilet and an adjustable iPad docking station: the iPotty. Debuted at the 2013 International CES, the colorful plastic training toilet raised questions about whether or not it would actually assist parents with the task of potty training their little ones. 
At $40, the iPotty doesn't come with any specific apps, but parents can use apps made for toddlers to encourage them to sit on the potty for awhile. SEE ALSO: 10 Terrific iPad Apps for Toddlers The makers of the toilet don't want parents to worry about any damage to t…
Continue reading... More About: CES 2013, Children, parenting, Tablet  | | Cheaper iPhone Would Cost $99 to $149, Report Says Posted: 09 Jan 2013 09:31 PM PST  Apple's rumored cheaper iPhone would cost anywhere from $99 to $149, according to a new report.
The device, which would debut in late 2013 "at the earliest," is part of an effort to attract more customers from developing markets, Bloomberg reported, citing an unnamed source. Among them, Apple is particularly eyeing China. Last December, CEO Tim Cook said the country is "a very important market for us." At the time, Apple had sold more than 2 million units of the iPhone in China, setting a record for best first-weekend sales in the country. SEE ALSO: Apple Unveils iPhone 5, Finally A lower-cost version of the iPhone would also help Apple compete with Google's Android phones, which…
Continue reading... More About: apple, iphone  | | 77% of Parents Blame Video Games For Exposing Kids to Violence Posted: 09 Jan 2013 09:01 PM PST  A new study from Common Sense Media shows the majority of parents (75%) feel that shielding children from violence is difficult. That same percentage of parents blame "media violence, such as content in TV, movies and video games" for adding to "America's culture of violence."
For this survey, conducted by USA Market Research, 1,050 parents with children ages 18 years and younger were randomly selected to share their opinions. Results revealed that 88% of parents said violent ads should be prevented from airing during programs largely watched by children. What's more, 91% want theaters to show previews that only have the same or lower rating than the movie being shown. SEE ALSO:…
Continue reading... More About: Children, Common Sense Media, parenting, parents, video games, Violence  | | Social Sites for Families: More Personal than Facebook Posted: 09 Jan 2013 08:15 PM PST  We've all seen (and some of us have been) that person on Facebook -- the over-sharer. Some of us may be happy to divulge every intimate detail of our personal lives; others are more private.
Social networks for families (FamilyLeaf, MyFamily.com, Rootsy, Origami), neighbors (Nextdoor), and select groups of family and friends (Path), have bloomed in the past few years. A growing number of us, it seems, want a more intimate online sharing experience. On FamilyLeaf, as with other social sites meant for small groups, users can share photos and messages with their connections on a secure network. "Many of our most active users are turned off by Facebook's openness -- and they use Fami…
Continue reading... More About: family, online, Social Media, social networking  | | Even Amid Scandal, People Will Defend Their Favorite Brands Posted: 09 Jan 2013 07:28 PM PST  What happens when your beloved brand runs into public relations trouble? If you're really in love with the brand, you'll stand by it, researchers say.
More About: brand marketing, branding, scandal  | | Could Stuffed Robots Ever Replace Stuffed Animals? Posted: 09 Jan 2013 06:44 PM PST Robots have had the power to replace many things reserved for humans in the past, but could they ever replace stuffed animals? Amanita Design is now taking pre-orders for a $30 plush robot, which you can cuddle up with instead of a teddy bear. The stuffed toy is modeled after Josef, the main character of Machiniarium, the multi-platform adventure game. SEE ALSO: 10 Amazing Robots We Met in 2012 The plush Josef comes with some perks -- you can store your things inside its 25x10 centimeter trunk. Do you think stuffed robots are the next big thing in toys for young kids? Let us know in the comments if you'd prefer youngsters stick to plush animals. 
Image courtesy of Amanit…
Continue reading... More About: robots  | | Dad Hires Hit Men to Kill Son — in Video Games Posted: 09 Jan 2013 05:55 PM PST  A father in China perturbed by the amount of time his adult son spent playing online video games hired other gamers to kill all the young man's characters.
More About: Gaming, parenting  | | Felicia Day Is Geek Icon, Closet Math Genius Posted: 09 Jan 2013 05:45 PM PST  Felicia Day has starred in TV shows and created and stars in the popular online series The Guild. Now the geek icon is talking to us.
More About: CES, CES 2013, felicia day  | | Mark Cuban Fined $50,000 for Tweet Posted: 09 Jan 2013 05:28 PM PST  Mark Cuban's in hot water with the NBA again, this time over some costly comments he made on Twitter.
More About: NBA, Sports  | | Google’s Android Is Coming to a Kitchen Near You Posted: 09 Jan 2013 05:03 PM PST  Android users can vouch for the perks of large screens, custom widgets, and now, optimum rice cooking.
Google is expanding its free operating system to rice cookers, refrigerators and other home appliances. Adding the OS to more devices would be useful in helping Google and other manufacturers collect data, and also allow appliances to exchange information. In the case of rice cookers, the device would be able to determine the type of rice and set cooking instructions. Other intelligent systems could signal an alert from a washing machine to your TV, letting you know when it's done. Check out the video above for more. The International Data Corporation predicts the market for Int…
Continue reading... More About: android, CES, ces2013, Google, home appliances, operating sytems  | | Would You Wear Internet-Connected Clothing? Posted: 09 Jan 2013 05:00 PM PST  It could be so simple -- you just leave your house and your Internet-connected T-shirt will tell your social networks where you are going.
At International CES 2013 on Tuesday, one of the creators of the Internet, Vint Cerf, gave a talk about the future of the connectivity and pondered just how far it would expand. Cerf asked the audience, "What would happen if our clothes were Internet-enabled?" reported CNET. "Can you imagine if you lost a sock? You could send out a search and sock No. 3117 would respond that it's under the couch in the living room," Cerf said to the audience, according to Computerworld. Cerf, Google's chief Internet evangelist, determined this might be a b…
Continue reading... More About: CES 2013, clothing, internet, Vint Cerf  | | People’s Choice Awards Will Air on Xbox 360 Tonight Posted: 09 Jan 2013 04:53 PM PST | | 50 Cent Talks Tech With Mashable at CES Posted: 09 Jan 2013 04:17 PM PST  LAS VEGAS –- You may know that 50 Cent has his own line of headphones. What you may not realize is the rap superstar is also the majority owner and CEO of the company making them.
2013 marks 50's third CES, his second with his company SMS Audio, which manufacturers high-end headphones and earbuds. Unlike other artists who have their own line of audio products, 50 is a key decision maker in the company, and has control over every step of the process -- from the audio quality of the headphones to their design and packaging. One big business decision he's made is to partner with FeedAmerica, a charity that helps feed the underprivileged in the United States. Every set of headphones…
Continue reading... More About: CES, CES 2013  | | The Best Wedding RSVP Cards Ever Posted: 09 Jan 2013 04:04 PM PST 
With wedding season a mere five months away, the invitations will begin pouring in just in time to replace those Christmas cards. And when they do, you'll first want to rip your hair out and then begin the tedious RSVP process. But sometimes you just need to be able to say something a little bit more elegant than "attending" or "not attending." You need to express yourself, and what other better way than through the magic of memes. SEE ALSO: Watch Nearly 4 Minutes Of Wedding Disasters Redditor babywhiz has blessed us all with that opportunity with this compilation of the best RSVPs ever created. So even if your high school BFF4eva sends you an invitation covered with b…
Continue reading... More About: Meme, wedding, wedding invitations  | You are subscribed to email updates from Mashable!
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Google's Internal Linking Penalty?
Posted: 10 Jan 2013 07:51 AM PST
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Things About Ingress
Posted: 10 Jan 2013 07:41 AM PST
| Things About Ingress Posted: 09 Jan 2013 11:37 PM PST I'm not even a serious player, I go out for a couple hours two or three times a week. But there are lots of stories to tell and lessons to learn; here are some of mine. [Warning: This post will be more or less completely incomprehensible to someone who hasn't played quite a bit.] Climate Protection This game is going to be another whole kettle of fish in the Northern hemisphere when it's, you know, not so bloody cold and wet. Having said that: There's a lot to be said for wrapping your device up in a good old-fashioned plastic zip-loc. Glider Gloves are da bomb. Umbrellas are practical and fashionable too! Farm Futures Just before Christmas, the Ingress eras shifted: abundance to scarcity. Multi-hack stopped working, portal keys became scarce, inventories were capped. It's a different game. Well, not actually just yet; because a few of the high-level players are still running on the era-of-abundance leftovers. As a consequence, the new resource economy isn't yet established. But it's pretty clear that it'll be agricultural. Which is to say, in any arena of combat, the side that can establish and maintain farms will be better-armed and thus dominate. I'm a little worried that there might be a positive-feedback loop here; if my side can defend a farm for long enough, can we build up enough inventory both to rebuild as required and quickly nuke opposition farms, keeping the other side impoverished? That would be bad. If my hypothesis is correct, in any reasonably even area of struggle, you can't afford to let the other side hold a good farm for too long. Which also suggests the use of stealth tactics; maybe build your farm in a fairly-distant burb. And never slap an L7 resonator on a naked portal, because that goes on the public record; start with low-level resos then upgrade. Of course, you can discover the real high-level portals on the intel map just by scrolling way back out, then hitting command-+ a few times, but lots of people don't. And the best defense is a good offense; if you're constantly attacking the opposition's core territory, they'll be too busy pushing back to go after your farm. Resource Management When you're conserving ammo (and you will be) you can't just go blasting away without thinking. You have to: Use lower-level bursters whenever you can get away with it. When you know that some portal has a high-level opposition agent living right next to it, don't waste your bursters on it, because it'll be taken right back. When the portal's being defended, give up and go away. Even an outranked and outnumbered defender can replace portals faster than you can take them down. Unless of course there are some fields you want gone, in which case attacking a defended portal will do the job even if you leave it in enemy hands. Leveling Eventually, you'll have a cadre of L7/L8 players, and whether you're winning or losing is probably a direct function of the size of the group. Which is to say that, if you like winning, you need to be leveling your noobs, aggressively and as a matter of policy. Since the days of cheap field-building are over, the state of the art in noob-leveling is not well-established. The most popular technique in my locale is almost-destroying enemy portals, so the juniors can finish them up and do an initial resonator deployment for you to upgrade later. Keys They're scarce; not as scarce as they were for a while there, but scarce. They exist for two reasons: To level up by making fields; and for pure fun, either the joy of elegant triangle arrangements, or in monster fields that blanket large swathes of the enemy in an embarrassing sort of way. This means that the most cost-effective way to level is by whacking enemy fields; not only is the AP pretty good, but you usually pick up a few extra keys. Which is a fact you should bear in mind when you build your own fields: They're leveling opportunities for the enemy. So don't build throwaways, unless the fun value is way up there. Bad People We've got 'em, in two categories, cheaters and spies. There are a few people around who are obviously spoofing their GPS; "pammie", who often plays in Vancouver, is so blatant that he or she gets sneers from both sides upon appearance. Report them (I suppose it'll do some good eventually) but remember, if they're on the other team, that doesn't mean the other team can do anything about them. So accusations of collaboration with the cheater are inappropriate. The other way to be bad is to have a pipeline into the other faction's chat. Which I suspect, in most large cities, is happening already. In my hometown, we have some high-level comm channels that you just can't get into unless you've established your bona fides on the field of battle. I suspect this is essential for any really ambitious operations. Positioning Bad GPS can drive you nuts. Few things are more infuriating than dropping a carefully-considered burster right on a resonator, and then having the firing animation animate leisurely for 30 seconds while the GPS drifts you 30 meters away. Anecdotally, I hear good things about the GPS on the HTC devices. I hear more than anecdotally about wild variation in GPS quality from one device to the next, of the same model. It's fairly obvious that if Ingress and things like it become mainstream, the handset makers are going to have to invest a lot more engineering and money into devices' location subsystems. Lots of people are installing the GPS Test Android app, which gives you detailed readout on how well your GPS is working, and offers clear/reset AGPS functions that people have said can really improve performance. Power Ingress sucks. Electricity, I mean. A serious (even a couple hours) outing will take more than your typical handset battery has. Fortunately, extra batteries and outboard power packs are available cheap for every popular device; check the usual online retailers. Also, tablets, in particular the Nexus 7, will be Ingressing happily long after their handset companions have breathed their last. You can use a WiFi version, with your handset just being a tethering station; this may last longer. On the other hand, while a person wandering around staring at a handset screen is perfectly normal, the handset being a tablet makes its carrier look a complete dork. You gotta pay the price for victory I guess. But plan ahead for power if you're going to invest any time at all in this game. Irritants Things Niantic should fix. Show me which keys I have on the intel web map. It's incredibly tedious to try to keep a mental inventory as you plan your triangles. I actually use a Google doc for this, which feels pretty lame. Failing this, offer some sort of portal-key organizer in the mobile client. I have keys for lots of different cities (Ingress is an excellent travelers' game), and it's a major pain in the ass scrolling back and forth to figure out what I have as I plan an outing. No XMP burster should ever take longer than 15 seconds to fire. Make the client a little more helpful about labeling the resonators on a portal; the color coding is feeble. If there's a defender there you're toast anyhow, so why not make the attacking operation more efficient, by labeling the portals with level and charge? Deploying resonators after capturing a portal is booooooring. You ought to have an optional maximal-deploy recipe that loads up a portal as best you can, one touch and it's done. (Obviously, if two people are collaborating you're going to have to do it by hand.) A little more generosity with portal keys, pretty please. When there's a portal in your neighborhood that you'd really like to work with, it's maddening to fail at getting a key a dozen times in a row. | You are subscribed to email updates from ongoing by Tim Bray
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Cerberus to Buy Albertsons Grocery Chain From Supervalu
Posted: 10 Jan 2013 07:41 AM PST
| Cerberus to Buy Albertsons Grocery Chain From Supervalu Posted: 10 Jan 2013 06:14 AM PST An investor group led by Cerberus Capital Management agreed on Thursday to buy a number of grocery chains from Supervalu, including Albertsons, for about $3.3 billion. The Cerberus-led group will also buy up to 30 percent of Supervalu itself, paying $4 a share in a tender offer. | | Live Blog: Herbalife Responds to Accusations From Hedge Fund Posted: 10 Jan 2013 05:56 AM PST Herbalife executives are making a presentation to its investors to respond to accusations by the investor William A. Ackman that their company operates a pyramid scheme. | | Battle Lines Drawn Over Herbalife Posted: 10 Jan 2013 05:16 AM PST William A. Ackman and Daniel S. Loeb became business rivals on Wednesday, with hundreds of millions of dollars in play over Herbalife. | Diminished profits have forced Morgan Stanley to cut back its trading desk, raising questions about the firm. | Jacob J. Lew, President Obama's chief of staff and former budget director, has been tapped to be the secretary of the Treasury. | Amid criticism, the board of the American International Group decided not to join a lawsuit against the federal government. | | S.E.C. Seeks to Penalize 2 Auditors in Bank Case Posted: 10 Jan 2013 04:58 AM PST In its first case against auditors stemming from the financial crisis, the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday took action against two KPMG employees who had given a clean audit opinion to a Nebraska-based bank holding company that later failed, Floyd Norris reports in The New York Times. | | Returns at Hedge Funds Run by Women Beat the Industry, Report Says Posted: 10 Jan 2013 04:30 AM PST Hedge funds led by female managers produced a return of 8.95 percent through the third quarter of 2012, significantly outperforming the overall universe of hedge funds, a report to be released Thursday by the firm Rothstein Kass shows. | | Private Equity in China: Which Way Out? Posted: 10 Jan 2013 02:32 AM PST Of the 10,000 deals that were done during China's private equity boom of the past decade, about 7,500 are still searching for an exit. | | BlackRock to Buy E.T.F. Unit from Credit Suisse Posted: 10 Jan 2013 01:25 AM PST BlackRock, the giant money management firm, agreed on Thursday to buy the exchange-traded fund business of the Swiss bank Credit Suisse for an undisclosed price. The unit has around $17.3 billion of assets under management, and the deal is expected to close by June. Read more » | | Deep Cuts Raise Questions About Morgan Stanley Posted: 09 Jan 2013 06:00 PM PST Morgan Stanley has been shrinking its business of trading bonds, commodities and other investments, leaving that to be dominated by its Wall Street rivals. | | Probation for Ex-SAC Analyst Who Cooperated in Insider Trading Inquiries Posted: 09 Jan 2013 05:44 PM PST Wesley Wang's information helped convict 10 people, prosecutors said in praising his assistance. | | Dish's Potemkin Offer for Clearwire Posted: 09 Jan 2013 03:01 PM PST Although Charlie Ergen's takeover bid is unlikely to go very far, it could pressure Sprint to pay more -- or strike a deal with Dish. | | S.E.C. Opens Investigation Into Herbalife Posted: 09 Jan 2013 01:33 PM PST The inquiry by the agency's enforcement unit adds to the scrutiny of Herbalife, the nutritional supplements company that has been a favorite target of prominent hedge fund short-sellers. | | A.I.G. Says It Will Not Join Lawsuit Against Government Posted: 09 Jan 2013 12:14 PM PST The board of the American International Group has declined to join a lawsuit against the federal government over its $182 billion taxpayer-financed bailout, the company said on Wednesday. | | Loeb Explains His Herbalife Bet Posted: 09 Jan 2013 11:16 AM PST In a letter to investors, Daniel Loeb, the Third Point chief, explains exactly why he's so upbeat about the prospects of Herbalife, a purveyor of nutritional supplements that William A. Ackman has claimed is an enormous pyramid scheme. | | Boies Defends A.I.G. Shareholder Lawsuit Against U.S. Posted: 09 Jan 2013 10:30 AM PST The American International Group's board is well within its rights to consider joining a lawsuit filed by its former chief executive against the federal government, the lawyer arguing the case wrote in a USA Today op-ed article on Wednesday. | | What A.I.G. Shareholders Should Have Expected After the Rescue Posted: 09 Jan 2013 10:17 AM PST A lawsuit that contends the government violated the American International Group's Fifth Amendment rights by seizing shareholder property is regarded by many as ridiculous because corporate shareholders are always subject to dilution. | You are subscribed to email updates from DealBook
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Disk Jockey: Hear Your Favorite Theme Songs Played by a Floppy-Drive Orchestra
Posted: 10 Jan 2013 07:37 AM PST
| Disk Jockey: Hear Your Favorite Theme Songs Played by a Floppy-Drive Orchestra Posted: 10 Jan 2013 06:30 AM PST While making music with computers is nothing new, it's rarely quite so literal as the melodies of these eight floppy disk drives.  | | Darpa Open Sources Code for Building Your Own Amphibious Tank Posted: 10 Jan 2013 05:52 AM PST Two years ago, Defense Secretary Robert Gates killed off the Marines' Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle -- a $13 billion misfire of an attempt to build an armored boat that could make landfall and still get around on the beach. But on Monday, the Department of Defense will give you the chance to design something better.  | | Stranded Motorist Photos Are Metaphor for Hurricanes, Recession and Loneliness Posted: 10 Jan 2013 03:30 AM PST If you're ever broken down on the side of an American highway and a woman with a light meter around her neck stops her car and approaches you, don't be afraid. She's not there to rob or hurt you. It's just Amy Stein, and all she wants to do is take your picture for her portrait series.  | | Government Unable to Define 'Homeland Security' Posted: 10 Jan 2013 03:30 AM PST What is "homeland security?" The federal bureaucracy doesn't know, and that's problematic for a government that has been fighting the ill-defined "war on terror" following 9/11, according to a Wednesday report from the Congressional Research Service. In short, "homeland security" is whatever the government says it is.  | | Everything Reinvented: Mobile Gaming, Landlines and the Kitchen Stove Posted: 10 Jan 2013 03:30 AM PST Wednesday was the second day CES 2013 was open to the public (the first two days were reserved for press and back-room meetings) but the bustle on the expo floor seemed bigger and louder than Tuesday's kick-off.  | | Meet the Genius Behind the Trillion-Dollar Coin and the Plot to Breach the Debt Ceiling Posted: 10 Jan 2013 03:30 AM PST We interviewed the Georgia lawyer who in 2010 was first to float the now-hot idea of issuing a trillion-dollar-coin to avoid the federal debt ceiling. He says he was just answering a ""silly question" in a "pointless online bull session." Things went from there.  | | App Guide: Air Travel Posted: 10 Jan 2013 03:30 AM PST Plan months in advance or book your flight on the way to the airport. Either way, these apps make the experience faster and cheaper.  | | Why Stealing a $1 Trillion Coin Isn't Worth the Price of a Getaway Van Posted: 10 Jan 2013 03:30 AM PST Set aside the national existential implications of minting a $1 trillion coin to pay America?s obligations because Congress can?t get it together to raise the debt ceiling. What if the world?s most valuable piece of metal gets stolen before we can pay our nation?s bills?  | | Apple Still Casts a Long Shadow Over CES Posted: 10 Jan 2013 03:30 AM PST LAS VEGAS -- For a company that hasn?t attended CES since 1992, Apple dominates the show. You can?t walk more than a dozen feet here at the Las Vegas Convention Center without seeing an iGadget or iAccessory of some kind. Apple?s overwhelming presence by proxy is impressive, and underscores the immense place the company occupies in ...  | | TV's Back, and <cite>The Monitor</cite> Gets Couchlock Posted: 10 Jan 2013 03:30 AM PST You know how everyone freaks out about MRSA? How it?s the silent killer and it puts our public health system at risk and all that? Well, we take issue with such hysteria. Serious issue. Because here at The Monitor, MRSA stands for ?Midseason Replacement Shows Again!??which is maybe the happiest time of the television year.  | | Revive Your Old 8-Bit NES With These Brand-New Games Posted: 10 Jan 2013 03:30 AM PST Battle Kid 2, Nomolos: Storming the Catsle and Assimilate are three new games you can play on your classic NES console.  | | <em>Fringe</em> Art Show Celebrates Finale With Fan Masterpieces Posted: 10 Jan 2013 03:30 AM PST When Fringe fans got the chance to crowd-curate a new art show devoted to Fox's sci-fi series, they had a lot of weirdness to pick from. The show, which begins the three-episode run up to its Jan. 18 series finale on Friday, tackled a bizarre spectrum of paranormal crimes, routinely shredding network drama conventions in ...  | | Live at CES — Day 5 Posted: 10 Jan 2013 12:00 AM PST [HTML1] Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6  | | A Google-a-Day Puzzle for Jan. 10 Posted: 09 Jan 2013 09:01 PM PST Google's daily brainteaser helps hone your search skills.  | | Video: Watch the Entire <em>Dark Knight</em> Movie Trilogy in Three Minutes Posted: 09 Jan 2013 03:36 PM PST Want to experience the triumph and tragedy of Christopher Nolan's Batman movies in just over three minutes? Wish granted.  | | Watch Live: Former Doomsday Asteroid Apophis Flies by Earth Posted: 09 Jan 2013 03:30 PM PST Watch as the asteroid 99942 Apophis, once classified as the most likely asteroid to hit the Earth, zooms past our planet during two live shows today from the Slooh Space Camera collaboration. The first show begins at 4 p.m. PT/7 p.m. ET and the second will start at 6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET.  | | Baby Sharks Can Sense Danger, Even Before They're Born Posted: 09 Jan 2013 02:00 PM PST Before they even leave their eggs, embryonic bamboo sharks freeze in response to perceived danger ? a behavior that may help scientists develop a more effective shark repellent. The still-developing bamboo sharks are responding to electrical fields generated by predators, a study published today in PLoS ONE reports.  | | Glenn Beck Says 3-D Printers Will Make America Great Again Posted: 09 Jan 2013 01:37 PM PST On Tuesday, Glenn Beck featured one of MakerBot's Replicators on his radio show/online broadcast, making it clear that he was impressed by the desktop device.  | | <em>John Dies at the End</em>: The Cult Film of Meat Monsters, Penis Doorknobs and Paul Giamatti Posted: 09 Jan 2013 01:21 PM PST Indie horror-comedy John Dies at the End is a totally bizarre head-trip -- so crazy that Oscar-nominated actor Paul Giamatti knew he had to be involved with it.  | | Pebble Says It's <em>Finally</em> Ready to Ship Posted: 09 Jan 2013 01:15 PM PST LAS VEGAS ? Pebble is finally shipping the first batch of its?much-hyped e-paper watches. No, really. Follow Wired's Live Coverage of CESRead More Features From CES The company announced today at CES that it will send the first batch of 15,000 watches to its faithful customers on Jan. 23. The other 70,000 Kickstarted units will ship "later." ...  | | Motorist Claims Corporation Papers Are Carpool Passengers Posted: 09 Jan 2013 01:03 PM PST We've heard it countless times from losers of courtroom showdowns who claim they're going to take their defeat all the way to the Supreme Court. But over a traffic citation? Jonathan Frieman, a 56-year-old Northern California man, is joining the ranks of pregnant women who have transformed carpool-lane violations into a soapbox of sorts.  | | <em>Footnotes</em>: Unicorns on Noah's Ark and the Mark of the Beast on Cap'n Crunch Posted: 09 Jan 2013 12:23 PM PST This week on Footnotes, I accidentally prove that unicorns hitched a ride on Noah?s ark and demonstrate how the ordinary UPC more than likely isn't the mark of the beast.  | | HealthSpot Wants to Be the Apple App Store of Robo-Medicine Posted: 09 Jan 2013 12:00 PM PST Booking an appointment with a doctor through online services like ZocDoc or Teladoc is a piece of cake, and the idea behind these websites is to make it simple for people to easily access health care in their neighborhoods or through phone or video conferencing. HealthSpot takes this technology to the next level by combining teleconferencing with basic medical equipment like a stethoscope and blood pressure monitor in a kiosk that lets you see a doctor without actually visiting one.  | | We Welcome Our Robotic Valet Overlords Posted: 09 Jan 2013 12:00 PM PST You're late for a meeting. You pull up to the hotel entrance, but don't have time to wind your way through the 14-story garage looking for that lone space to park. No problem.  | | Leaks! Torture! Drones! Obama's CIA Pick Faces Skeptical Senators Posted: 09 Jan 2013 11:48 AM PST John Brennan is probably going to be the next CIA director. Just not before senators have a chance to grill him about national-security leaks, torture and killer drones.  | | Displair Brings You a Gesture-Enabled, Mist-Powered Display Posted: 09 Jan 2013 11:15 AM PST You won't be interacting with boring old glass touchscreens in the future, if Displair has anything to say.  | | Fire, Fuel Leak Add to Dreamliner's Woes Posted: 09 Jan 2013 10:50 AM PST The new year is off to a rough start for Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner, with one plane catching fire and another being sidelined by a fuel leak discovered just after it left the gate. But an analyst says the problems are to be expected whenever a new airlliner enters service.  | | Simplify Responsive Design by Embracing the Flexible Nature of the Web Posted: 09 Jan 2013 10:33 AM PST Still using pixels in your responsive designs? Pixels may work, but using pixels means fighting the inherent flexibility of the web. It also means you're probably doing more work than you need to.  | | A Decade Later, Contractor Pays Out Millions for Iraq Prisoner Abuse Posted: 09 Jan 2013 09:45 AM PST It's been nearly a decade since contractors and U.S. soldiers worked together to torture Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib. Now, for the first time, one of those companies has been forced to pay the victims.  | You are subscribed to email updates from Wired Top Stories
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The Geek Princess T-shirt
Posted: 10 Jan 2013 07:32 AM PST
| The Geek Princess T-shirt Posted: 09 Jan 2013 01:17 PM PST | | Dan Sullivan and Babs Smith Posted: 09 Jan 2013 10:36 AM PST 
Awwww… We were sent this photo, a commission for Dan Sullivan and Babs Smith, the husband & wife strategic coach team, that was done as a Holiday present to them, from our old buddy, Joe Polish. "Entrepreneurship completes us." Exactly. Thanks Dan and Babs for taking the lovely photo, and Thanks to Joe for the great commission. Awesome. [N.B. Sure, we do personal commissions all the time; feel free to email me at hugh AT gapingvoid.com for more info, Thanks!] | You are subscribed to email updates from gapingvoid
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Make Money Online with Adaloo Ad Network
Posted: 10 Jan 2013 07:29 AM PST
| Make Money Online with Adaloo Ad Network Posted: 09 Jan 2013 07:53 AM PST There are many advertising networks on the Internet and one of the newest on the block is Adaloo. Even though the PPC-based ad network only launched on November 20, it already boasts a network of websites that reach 20 million visitors. As we make our way through today’s review, we’ll take a look at what Adaloo has to offer and how it is different from the other ad networks you may encounter on the web. Connecting with the Right Websites Adaloo is an ad network that appears to specialize in display advertising. They support a number of different banner sizes, matching up the appropriate advertisers with the right audiences on the right websites in its network. 
It is somewhat difficult to discern the basic information about Adaloo through its main website. While it says that it offers a “powerful way to advertise products, services and website content,” it doesn’t really say how it does that. From the perspective of publishers, it’s also difficult to see the payment scheme and how the advertising is implemented and deployed. The main website appears to be powered by WordPress, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it’s not being masked in any way. In fact, nearly every page still has the comment form on the bottom, which doesn’t make too much sense. It would help if more information was available through the about page, for example, telling both publishers and advertisers how Adaloo works. It could probably use a FAQ page too. Into the Unified Dashboard Unlike many other ad networks where you need to have a separate account as a publisher and as an advertiser, that’s not the case with Adaloo. You get a single unified account and you get approval immediately after you verify your e-mail address. 
This is the main dashboard, which I personally think looks better than the main Adaloo website. You get access to the main areas via the navigation buttons at the top, letting you manage your ad campaigns, ad space, payments, settings and so on. It is also on this page that we learn more about MaxCPM. Even though the Adaloo Ad Network works with its advertisers on a PPC and CPA basis, the payment to the publisher is optimized for the effective CPM. There is a “sophisticated intelligence algorithm” that “assigns performance scores to every element of each campaign.” Advertisers maximize their returns and publishers maximize their earnings. Setting Up Your Ad Zones From the perspective of the publisher, you need to set up your different “ad zones” the same way you would with a network like Google AdSense, except you have to specify the domain where the ad will appear. 
Adaloo goes further, though, allowing you to target this ad zone based on a few different criteria. First, you can choose the appropriate market vertical, like work-at-home, real estate, music & video, social media, family & parenting, and even marital supplements. From there, you can target gender and age too. You also select the banner size, like a standard 728×90 leaderboard. 
You name each of these ad zones so that you can track them accordingly from the “Publisher Zones” part of the dashboard. This tracks your monthly views, clicks, click-thru rate, estimated PPC, and estimated CPA bonus. Again, while it is technically calculated based on CPC and CPA, the MaxCPM algorithm aims to maximize your earnings as a publisher on an eCPM basis. The payment information isn’t quite as clear, so as mentioned above, an appropriate FAQ page outlining thresholds and payment options would be much appreciated. Working as an Advertiser When establishing an ad campaign as an advertiser, the experience is similar to the publisher, but simply from the other side of the equation. You still target based on vertical, age and gender, but you can also select countries and keywords. Then, you upload the appropriate banner size and define the landing page URL. You also put in your bid for PPC and CPA, as well as your daily budget. The PPC bid must be at least $0.10 with a minimum daily budget of $10. The CPA bid and daily budget are optional, but recommended. A Promising Proposition Considering that Adaloo has only been around for a little over two months, it’s showing a lot of promise as a young ad network. If the MaxCPM algorithm really does what they claim it can do, this will save precious time on the advertiser side in terms of optimizing keywords and the campaign. Similarly, publishers can get generate the most revenue possible based on what is available on the network. What Adaloo needs is a lot more documentation, as many of the important details are still left quite unclear. I’d also consider reworking the main website so that it looks less like a generic WordPress blog and more like a professional ad network. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR ADALOO | You are subscribed to email updates from John Chow dot Com
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None For You, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Affleck And Kathryn Bigelow!
Posted: 10 Jan 2013 07:27 AM PST
| None For You, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Affleck And Kathryn Bigelow! Posted: 10 Jan 2013 06:46 AM PST Leonardo DiCatchAHo must have screwed Oscar's girlfriend (second revelation of the day: I guess Oscar only dates Victoria's Secret Angels too), because it still hates his ass. Emma Stone and Seth McFarlane announced the nominations for the Oscars this morning and there was nothing for Leo, which is why he's probably eating his feelings in a supermodel's crotch right now. And Steven Spielberg must have cherry-scented lube all over his peen, because it was a non-stop handjob party for Lincoln. As expected, Lincoln got all of the nominations (12 to be exact) including Best Director for Steven Spielberg, Best Actor for Daniel Day-Lewis and Best Supporting Actress for Sally Field. (Even if Leonardo DiCatchAHo played a cherry tree in Lincoln, they still wouldn't have given him a nomination.) Oscar showed some love for Argo, but they also ripped off Ben Affleck's man wig, tossed it in the gutter and told him to run after it, because he was left out of the Best Director category. So was Kathryn Bigelow even though Zero Dark Thirty was nominated for Best Picture. And squatting out a Botox-laced stream of piss onto Zac Efron got Nicole Kidman shit. And taking a finger up the ass got Matthew McConaughey shit too (but I'm sure the finger that went up his ass got a little shit on it, sorry). Most of the nominations are after the jump (click here for the full list). A couple of facts, 9-year-old Hush Pussy from Beasts of the Southern Wild is the youngest Best Actress nominee ever and 85-year-old Emmanuelle Riva is the oldest. And another fact, if Anne Hathaway doesn't win, we're all in danger, girl, because she will lose more than her mind. JUMP!
read more | | The CAPTION THIS Contest WINNER For January 9th! Posted: 10 Jan 2013 06:15 AM PST This has been a bad week for the Biebs. First he was caught with a blunt and now pictured in bed with Harry Styles! - daisy100 Runners-up:
None Erection - chinchilla "The Chipmunks take MANflatten" opens in theaters soon. - Vern Look what we found in Taylor's garbage, y'all!! - prommom via @mileycyrus | | Hot Slut Of The Day! Posted: 10 Jan 2013 06:06 AM PST Charles the Monarch, the 3-year-old Labradoodle who caused a mini drama in Norfolk, VA on Tuesday when some people, who obviously need more Planet Earth (or Lion King or something) in their lives, mistook him for an actual lion cub. That side-eye is meant for them. Three people called 911 in a panic on Tuesday morning to report that a baby lion was roaming the streets and possibly looking for food to eat. One caller thought that maybe the baby lion escaped from the local zoo. But it wasn't a ferocious lion looking for babies to eat, it was just local celebridog, Charles the Monarch! Charles' owner Daniel Painter tells The Virginian-Pilot that he grooms his dog to look like the Old Dominion University mascot and yeah, people sometimes mistake Charles for Mufasa. Watch in horror as this labra-lion attacks a human! One of my favorite stories ever is about this dumb ass woman who pet a skunk thinking it was a cat and got sprayed in the face, so this story is everything to me. I've seen hairy taints that look more like a lion cub than Charles the Monarch does. I want to be Charles the Monarch's friend, though. Think of all the perks you'd get from being his friend. If Trader Joe's is really damn crowded and you can't handle it, just send Charles the Monarch in there and then freely skip through the aisles after everyone runs out of the store in terror. Charles the Monarch is the best! | | Birthday Sluts Posted: 10 Jan 2013 05:41 AM PST Pat Benatar (60)
Saleisha Stowers (27)
Abigail Clancy (27)
Alex Meraz (28)
Sarah Shahi (33)
Chris "Daddy Mac" Smith (34)
Cash Warren (34)
Marina Hinds (38)
Jemaine Clement (39)
Lyle Menendez (45)
Trini Alvarado (46)
Julie Moran (51)
Evan Handler (52)
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George Foreman (64)
Rod Stewart (68)
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Frank Sinatra, Jr. (69)
Al Goldstein (77) | | All Hail The Future President Of The United States Posted: 09 Jan 2013 06:15 PM PST The Hollywood Reporter posted another piece from Pulitzer Prize winning author Lawrence Wright's book about Scientology and this one is 7 internet pages long and is all about Tommy Girl's relationship with Scientology's HBIC David Miscavige. What I've learned after reading that shit is that David's head is firmly up Tommy's ass and Tommy's head is firmly up David's ass. (Yes, I know that image is more terrifying than anything scene in The Human Centipede.) David worships Tommy and Tommy thinks David is the second coming. My skin is now covered in a thick layer of barf, because my Thetans are all vomming in unison. Lawrence talked with several high ranking members of Sea Org including Mark Rathbun. Lawrence learned that David Miscavige is an egomaniacal muscle midget who spends up to $20,000 a week on fancy food, makes his staff polish the light bulbs in his mansion once a month, sleeps until noon and once told Tommy that he believes they are two of only a few "big beings" on the planet. Queen David also brags about how Tommy modeled his character in A Few Good Men on him. Lawrence also learned that when Tommy was married to Nicole Kidman he started drifting away from Scientology a bit and Queen David blamed it all on Nicole. He saw Nicole as a gold digger who was faking Scientology and he nearly jizzed creamed Thetans from his butt when Tommy filed for divorce. But before Tommy filed for divorce, David did try to keep Tommy and Nicole together even though he didn't trust her ass. David found out that Tommy and Nicole had always wanted to run through a field of wildflowers (too easy), so he made SeaOrg members plant one at Gold Base, Scientology's desert compound near Hemet, CA. The field of wildflowers wasn't up to David's standards and so he ordered them to plow it and cover it with grass. Picky queen. After Tommy and Nicole's marriage contract expired, he got into Scientology even more and quickly became one of the High Priestesses. Tommy wanted to talk to Prime Minister Tony Blair about declaring Scientology a tax-deductible charity organization in Britain and asked President Clinton to help him do this. Clinton sort of shrugged him off. Then when George W. Bush was President, Tommy tried to convince the Secretary of Education at the time to include Scientology's "study tech" methods into the No Child Left Behind program. That led to Queen David and Tommy Girl having this hilariously delusional conversation while riding from the airport to Gold Base: "Bush may be an idiot," Miscavige observed, "but I wouldn't mind his being our Constantine," referring to the first Roman Emperor to convert to Christianity. Cruise agreed. "If fucking Arnold can be governor, I could be president." Miscavige responded, "Well, absolutely, Tom." (Cruise, through his lawyer, denies this exchange and says he has no political ambition.)
If Tommy Girl was President, there would be no sales tax on man heels, all anti-depressants would be turned into numbing butt lube, claiming a beard on your tax return would get you an extra deduction and Matt Lauer's citizenship would be revoked. Actually, I'd probably vote for Tommy based on that last one alone. Here's America's future President with Rosamund Pike at the Jack Reacharound premiere in Tokyo. | | Someone Is Accusing Lindsay Lohan Of Stealing Elizabeth Taylor's Bracelet Posted: 09 Jan 2013 04:19 PM PST Add "Elizabeth Taylor's bracelet" to the list of ten thousand things that Lindsay Lohan allegedly put her sticky fingers on while filming Liz & Dick. Kleptohan was accused of trashing La Liz's old trailer and stealing a rocking chair, and now La Liz's longtime nurse is claiming that the freckled snatcher took a fancy bracelet from her. Radar says that Liz's nurse got friendly with LiLo (mistake #1) during filming and invited her over (mistake #2) to show her an expensive bracelet from La Liz (mistake #2). Right after LiLo's visit, the nurse realized she got Lohan'd. The nurse's bracelet from Elizabeth Taylor was missing and LiLo kept denying she took it. When the nurse threatened to call the cops, LiLo magically spit up the bracelet and gave it back. I really hope that when LiLo gave it back, she at least dropped it on the table after saying, "This has always brought me good luck." It's what Liz would've wanted. The source had this to say about LiLo's latest act of thievery: "Elizabeth had given the nurse an expensive bracelet that was very meaningful to her and the nurse absolutely cherished it. Lindsay immediately fell in love with the bracelet the minute she saw it and was very vocal about how much she admired it. A short time later, the bracelet disappeared from the nurse's house … on the very same day Lindsay had been to visit. The nurse initially gave Lindsay the benefit of the doubt, thinking that she had just accidentally forgotten to take the bracelet off after trying it on. However, that theory was soon shot down after she called Lindsay and she swore she did not take the bracelet and categorically denied having it in her possession. The nurse knew that was a blatant lie as the bracelet disappeared after Lindsay was at the house and she knew that it had to have been Lindsay who took it. In the end, it took over a week to get the bracelet back from Lindsay and it was only returned after the nurse threatened to call the cops. One of Lindsay's people eventually returned the bracelet to the nurse, who was extremely upset about what had transpired."
Radar also has a story about how Bravo tried to take back the $250,000 worth of furniture that they gave LiLo for the show Million Dollar Decorators after she refused to film the big reveal. Bravo couldn't get any of the furniture back because she moved it all to an unknown storage unit. I saw that episode last night and can't believe that crap was worth $250,000. You can get all that shit at a PB Kids outlet. Anyway, how does everybody not know that Lindsay Lohan takes shit? That nurse should know that LiLo will steal a tampon right out of your twat if she needed one. It's her way and it's the reason why State Farm now offers Lindsay Lohan insurance to homeowners. It's half of that nurse's fault for not slapping LoJack and The Club on that bracelet before letting LiLo even know that it exists. Everybody should do what my abuelita did practically every night: spoon with your pocketbook in bed, because you never know when a Lohan might try to take something from it. | | Afternoon Crumbs Posted: 09 Jan 2013 02:22 PM PST Thanks to Beyonce's under-titty action and body chain, GQ is giving us a double dose of sophistication on their new cover - Just Jared Brad Pitt's billy goat beard is making a comeback - Lainey Gossip Remember when Nicole Trunfio hosted Make Me A Supermodel? Yeah, me neither - Hollywood Tuna The Silver Fox yells at a lady for stuffing a banana peel in a box and yes, that's a euphemism, I'm sure - Towleroad Expect Michael Lohan to "leak" another phone conversation with his daughter, because how else do you think he's going to pay a lawyer to sue White Oprah for telling the truth for once? - The Superficial Why is New You Magazine calling Pete Burns "Courteney Cox"? - Celebitchy Hilary Duff shows us the weirdest way to 69 - Drunken Stepfather .....and yet not one picture of Frank Ocean's nipples - The Berry Mark this day, the paparazzi take a picture of Taylor Swift and she's not holding the hand of some white teenage celebrity boy - Popoholic Just because Jennifer Aniston cuts all of the yarn locks on her Cabbage Patch Kid's head doesn't mean Jimmy Kimmel should let her cut his hair - Popsugar Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber aren't scissoring anymore - IDLYITW Lane Armstrong will open up about being a dopehead to Oprah - ICYDK Mimi and Nicki Minaj keep the shade-a-thon going - Popbytes Space Station Hair IS the look - Videogum Miss USA America 1964 (or whatever her year was) from The Real Housewives of Atlanta is not being Gone with the Wind fabulous by pretending that her fake relationship wasn't just a stunt - Crunk + Disorderly Hilary Banks definitely wore this outfit on season 1 of Fresh Prince and she's not going to be happy that her little sister stole it from her - Moe Jackson Katy Perry goes SANS FARDS in Hawaii - Cityrag Kate Upton is a plushie's wet dream in Elle France - Celebslam The Texas T-Rex is gaining weight, which means that he has finally reunited with his bong - I'm Not Obsessed | | Rosie O'Donnell's Child Army Gets A New Member Posted: 09 Jan 2013 01:13 PM PST Rosie O'Donnell announced on Instagram today that she and her trophy wife Michelle Rounds are moms to their first cutie patootie (never 4get The Rosie O'Donnell Show 1996-2002) together. Rosie posted this picture of their baby friend along with this note written in text talk: "we r thrilled to announce the arrival of r daughter Dakota - #withloveandthanks - AMEN"
Rosie didn't say anything else. Did they used a surrogate? I don't know. Did they adopt Baby Dakota? I don't know. Was Michelle Rounds knocked up with Baby Dakota? I don't know. Was Rosie O knocked up with Baby Dakota (note: I'd be pissed if Rosie O was pregnant and didn't let us know, because that means we missed out on pictures of her knocked up body in CROCs and a wet swimming t-shirt)? Probably not. Did they secretly grow Baby Dakota O'Donnell in the nest on Donald Trump's head without him knowing? Probably so. The only thing we do know is that Rosie is a mother for the fifth time and she and her wife gave their daughter an Irish stripper's name. And did you know Rosie's oldest kid, Parker, is 17? We're all old! Reading that Parker is 17 made a grey hair grow out of my ear. | | Open Post: Hosted By The New Kellan Lutz And His Girlfriend Posted: 09 Jan 2013 12:37 PM PST Alexander Ludwig played Cato in the first Hunger Games movie and since (SPOILER ALERT!) he's not going to be in the second one, he has to keep his face out there somehow and the easiest way to do that is to do the G-rated "hitting it hard from the back" pose with his girlfriend in Hawaii. There were so many pictures of Alexander picking up his girlfriend. He picked her up in the water, picked her up in the sand and picked her up while walking to the beach. Picks stuff up: that's what he does. I guess when you've got that many muscles in you arms, you just pick people and shit up all the time. If Alexander Ludwig never stops picking things up, he'll be Suri Cruise's boyfriend in 12 years. He's Suri Cruise's dream husband, because if she married him she'd never have to walk again! And to answer the question in your head, yes I just spent 10 minutes staring at these pictures and asking myself, "Is that a peen print or an air bubble?" | | John Travolta's Former Scientology Handler Has A Really Hot Name Posted: 09 Jan 2013 11:45 AM PST I see that thick folder with John Travolta's name on it. It probably has more pictures of hard dick than the folder on my desktop labeled, "more pictures of hard dick, part 3." The Hollywood Reporter has been posting excerpts from Lawrence Wright's book about Scientology called Going Clear and yesterday they shared details about John Travolta's fucked up relationship with the Cult of L. Ron Hubbard. John joined Scientology after actress Joan Prather told him about it while on the set of some crap movie called The Devil's Rain in Mexico. John started taking classes at Scientology's Celebrity Centre and was hooked after he believed that they helped him get his breakout role on Welcome Back, Kotter: Travolta began taking the Hubbard Qualified Scientologist Course at the Celebrity Centre with about 150 other students. He confided to the teacher, Sandy Kent, that he was about to audition for a television show, Welcome Back, Kotter. Kent instructed everyone to point in the direction of ABC Studios and telepathically communicate the instruction: "We want John Travolta for the part." At the next meeting, Travolta revealed he had gotten the role of Vinnie Barbarino -- the part that would soon make him famous. "My career immediately took off," Travolta boasted in a Church publication. "Scientology put me in the big time.
Scientology gave John a Sea Org handler and it was the handler's job to keep him in check, manage his relationship with his fans and she even had to get Paramount to buy a large block of Scientology audits for his birthday. John's handler goes on to say that she became very close to him, but Scientology tore them apart and later manipulated her into luring him back to the cult after they felt like he was straying away. She eventually left Scientology and became a "Suppressive Person" after they kept her baby from her and punished her by throwing her in a disciplinary program. The entire excerpt is as long as Chris Brown's pencil dick, but it's a must-read. It reads like a scary novella as written by Stephen King. Anyway, the best part of the excerpt is that the name of John Travola's former Scientology handler is: SPANKY TAYLOR! SPANKY TAYLOR! Her real name is Sylvia Taylor, but everyone calls her Spanky. John Travolta would have a handler named Spanky Taylor. Spanky Taylor sounds like a sex act involving whips and anus clamps. It's just a perfect name. John Travolta's world would totally be a different place if he had stayed friends with Spanky Taylor. SPANKY TAYLOR! | You are subscribed to email updates from Dlisted - Be Very Afraid
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Free Download: Shapes Business Card Template
Posted: 10 Jan 2013 07:26 AM PST
| Free Download: Shapes Business Card Template Posted: 10 Jan 2013 04:23 AM PST Today we have a free business card template that can be used to create your own business card, or for your clients. The template includes both a front and back design and comes in Photoshop format. It is print ready (CMYK, 300 dpi) and comes in standard 3.5 inches by 2 inches. 
This template was designed for our readers by Tomas Laurinavicius. Download the template (1 MB) We recommend using UPrinting to print your business cards, and they have offered a special discount for our readers! Use the coupon code "vandelay10" when ordering to get $10 off your first order (no minimum purchase, eligible on all print products). For more, please see our selection of premium business card templates at Vandelay Premier.  | You are subscribed to email updates from Vandelay Design Blog
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I Fired Myself
Posted: 10 Jan 2013 07:26 AM PST
| I Fired Myself Posted: 09 Jan 2013 07:59 AM PST If we’re friends on Facebook or Twitter, you know about my new job in Baltimore. Technically, it’s not a new job yet, as I don’t start until February 4. However, it’s a new job and a return, for the first time since 2006, to a more corporate (if laid back) working environment. I’ve only worked for one company in that period of time, and I was a founder. That, of course, is the hugely successful WP Engine. However, I left that role in October of 2011. I still didn’t have the motivation to not work for myself. A little about this new role, however, since I brought it up. I feel it’s necessary in proving the point I want to make. Corporate Culture Agora Financial, as a division of Agora, Inc. was named the 2nd best place to work in Baltimore in 2011 by the Baltimore Sun. As an adopted Austinite, that label carries a high standard. In Austin, “business casual” is cutoff jean shorts (“jorts”) and a tech swag tee shirt with sandals. In Austin, the chic commuter rides a scooter or bicycle. Maybe even walks. In Austin, drinking a beer is not something simply saved for off-hours. In fact, many companies keep a refrigerator stocked with beer because, hey, the workforce can be more relaxed, efficient and productive if given certain leeway. Thankfully, none of us are drunks… maybe. At Agora, I found a company that matched this sort of comfort level I’ve come to expect. When I flew up for an interview (and job interviews have been something I’ve not really had to do seriously since 2002), I emailed Mark, the Art Director and my point of contact, and very politely suggested I wouldn’t be arriving at their headquarters in a tie. Manage expectations, and such. Mark’s response was simply, “That’s fine. Business casual works”. Business casual can mean many things. It’s sort of a catch all phrase that means different things to different people based on different companies policy ideas. So I wore some decent dress pants, a button up shirt and a vest with no tie. The team had sandals, jeans with holes, and hoodies and plaid-pattern button up shirts. I felt like I was in Austin! Ideology But company culture was just one aspect. The work they do perfectly fits who I am practically and ideologically. You see, Agora is a publishing company first and foremost. I’m a publisher. I’ve written a book and worked with traditional book publishers. My first startup was a publishing company with, at our peak, 350 blogs. Agora’s model is different than those models, but they’re publishing. They are creating content that, hopefully, long outlives us. They are a policy research publishing company. Those who know me know that I love policy, I hate politics. When I engage in politics, it’s usually from the lens of policy. Agora provides research analysis and white papers based on their policy research in a subscription format. So there’s also a revenue model. And they’ve been highly successful at doing this, historically through newsletters, for years. It’s a proven model, and they are a proven company. In addition, their policy analysis generally comes from a libertarian (small “l”) perspective. As a left-leaning small-l libertarian, I enjoy this aspect of what they do (even though I suspect most of my colleagues and most libertarians as a whole are right-leaning small-l libertarians, I suspect that we all agree on a framework of responsibility and limited government in individuals life, and diverge on other less-important minutiae). I was hungry for this job. It was a dream job for me. Join a company doing things I loved, in areas I loved, with tools (WordPress) I loved, with a style of corporate culture that I loved. When they made me an offer, I didn’t hesitate to accept and fire myself from my own company. I fired myself! Having the Balls to Fire Myself Most people aspire to stop working for the man, and start working for themselves. There are entire classes at universities and colleges about entrepreneurship, and to be sure, entrepreneurship is the mode of decade. The other night, I had the opportunity to guest lecture for an capstone course on digital entrepreneurship for American University. It was online and you can hear my story and lecture here. This course is a culmination of all the classwork done in this program and is largely a practicum of everything learned to that point. The lectures are a series of lectures from guests that give the students inspiration and motivation about their futures while they work on their individual projects. During this talk, I spoke specifically about the time I left corporate America and went out on a limb. It was 2006. I had been working on a side-project basis for over a year building up a WordPress-powered content network and when we finally took funding, I was employee #1 or #2, depending on who you ask. I couldn’t wait to leave my computer-fixing job and go do something I really, really wanted to do instead and get paid for. I’ve heard stories like that from hundreds of entrepreneurs. Most never look back with any regret, despite the struggles and sometime-economic instability. I have a view that whatever I do, I do it because I want to. It’s very easy to look and say that running a startup, building a product, starting a company or, in general, working for yourself is, in fact, the holy grail. From Happiness to Happiness My view is that the holy grail should be happiness and motivation derived from what you do. Sometimes that means taking a more unorthodox step and saying, you know what… being an entrepreneur is awesome, but it’s a vehicle to happiness, not happiness itself. So effective February 4, 2013, Aaron Brazell has been terminated by Aaron Brazell. I don’t know if I would have fired myself to go be a developer in some developer-happy company that segregates the developer from the product line. In other words, a lot of developer-oriented companies have developers as a means to an end. Product managers go talk to customers, develop goals, milestones, wireframes or storyboards, make decisions on initiatives with corporate executives and the developers exist to make that shit happen. Some people like that. Some people don’t want to be a part of the politics and roadmapping. They work better with a framework that defines what their role and deliverables are. For them, that’s happiness. For me, happiness is seeing the vision, talking about what it means – the pros, cons, feedback – iterating, being a part of the process of both scoping and building and then allowing the idea to flourish. It means building something toward an end. In the idea of a startup, it means building a product and moving it toward acquisition, IPO or even failure. As a consultant, there was no viable end. Unless I’m committed to building out a team (I’m not), increasing a production pipeline (without a team, I can’t), or other such motivations, a consultancy looks exactly the way it does in 10 years as it did on day 1 – find clients, build something for them, collect money, wash, rinse, repeat. There’s no glorious ending. To me, that makes for an unhappy Aaron. Agora provides an exciting platform, an an innate sense of entrepreneurship internally, that makes me happy. If I have an idea, I can try it. If I think something could really work well, I’ve got a green light to work on it. All within a good developer situation where I also have deliverables, and things to look at and solve. The combination of such makes Aaron a very happy person. | You are subscribed to email updates from Technosailor.com
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Interview with @mixergy Andrew Warner is up!
Posted: 09 Jan 2013 01:40 PM PST
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Temporary Post Used For Theme Detection (34dae83c-e635-4099-a349-08560f693cda – 3bfe001a-32de-4114-a6b4-4005b770f6d7)
Posted: 09 Jan 2013 01:35 PM PST
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How To Get Better Work Performance From Your Employees
Posted: 09 Jan 2013 01:31 PM PST
| How To Get Better Work Performance From Your Employees Posted: 09 Jan 2013 12:30 AM PST  It’s very important to get the best work performance possible from your employees. But do your employees remember to pack their hearts when they're packing their lunches? Are they merely going through the motions at work? Feigning "connection to the work" while in reality spending more energy avoiding trouble versus willingly contributing their personal-best?
As the leader or manager, how do you create "meaning" at work? Have you heard the story about the custodian in a large federal complex in the suburbs of Houston? He was going about his duties one day when a group of "suits" entered the building where he was working. One of the executives asked the custodian, "So, what do you do here?" The worker smiled and replied genuinely, "I help put a man on the moon." The VIPs were heading into a meeting with NASA officials that day and happened to run into this dedicated gentleman who truly "got it" — he fully understood his role. It wasn't simply about cleaning toilets and mopping the floors. His work had true meaning. Because he was faithfully on the job every day, he helped create a spotless, VIP-visit-worthy space where other employees and visitors could enter and concentrate on their work at hand… putting a man on the moon. This gentleman "got it.” Not only about the organizational impact of his role, but the greater effects on a nation and perhaps the world. Without him, dignitaries and decision-makers would be greeted by unsightly workspaces, leaders and workers alike would be distracted by and frazzled by trashy offices and unsupplied restrooms. Not at all what one would expect from the nation's space agency. Sometimes we get lucky and hire that golden employee who just gets "it" and lives "it" day in and day out. More often than not, however, employees need reinforcing communication around why their job, indeed why they are important to the purpose of the organization. It's not so much that we hire duds but that in the course of staying busy, doing our tasks as managers and employees we lose sight of the bigger "why." It's that old idea of not seeing the forest for the trees. We get stuck in the weeds and forget why we're working so hard to create a path through them. Kousez and Posner's decades-long research into what inspires employees and creates a "personal-best leadership experience" (that is the experience an employee has with her leaders) offers empirical proof of what it takes to inspire meaningful work. From their The Leadership Challenge, 4th Ed., they point out the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership. Of the Five Practices resulting from Kousez and Posner's research, this one — Exemplary Leaders Encourage the Heart — in particular speaks to creating meaningful work. To summarize and add my own editorial comments and personal examples… Genuine acts of caring uplift the spirits and draw people forward. Best leaders want to provide a climate in which people feel cared about and genuinely appreciated by their leaders. One of my "personal-best leadership experiences" was in the job where I stayed for more than eight years despite knowing there was something missing (function/strengths misfit… but that's a topic for another post). It's true people leave or remain because of people more so than the work. One example that will stay with me as long into the future is one of my compassionate Vice President of Marketing who genuinely cared about me and my experience as a new mother seven years ago. It's tough if not seemingly impossible to put one's child in the care of others to return to work but we do it. My VP at the time was already a mother of two and understood the gamut of emotions I was having about returning to work. I couldn't not, from a financial standpoint, but oh boy were those first delicate weeks' commutes filled with tears. The conversation I remember specifically was her telling me to take as much time as I needed and could afford… that time with a first baby in those first precious months needed to be cherished… that the company would survive without me. I think I took an extra couple of weeks off at her urging and some of my most treasured memories of early-morning play time with my now first grader happened during that brief window. That VP showed she cared and cared deeply which drove my enthusiasm for for working for her much more than the work itself. Gimmicky, feel-good events are quickly forgotten, so forget the Hawaiian shirt days and show them you genuinely care. It's part of the leader's job to show appreciation for people's contributions and to create a culture of celebrating values and victories. As a young manager I was guilty of often forgetting to stop, breathe and take a moment to celebrate the small victories that my direct reports and I accomplished. Like getting a 100+ page catalog to print despite major roadblocks… closing out the year with more sales through direct marketing than the previous year… launching a new website that created back-office efficiencies… and probably countless others. With some time and experience managing direct reports — and remembering my own less-than-exemplary leadership moments from the earliest days of my career – I did remember, sometimes, to thank them. Have you had one of those "You know you've nailed it when…" moments as a manager? One of my few such experiences actually came as a shock to me. It was when I made an effort to personalize my gratitude in giving a small "thank you" that I figured this one direct report in particular might like. He commented on the small gift so enthusiastically, reporting just how much it meant to him. Who knew that something as simple as an e-gift certificate for music downloads for the ever-plugged-in production manager would have such an effect. Huh. Leaders also know that celebrations and rituals, when done with authenticity and from the heart, build a strong sense of collective identity and community spirit that can carry a group through extraordinarily tough times. Before during and in the aftermath of 9/11 I worked for an international tour operator. The year that followed was extraordinarily tough for the many not the least of which was the travel industry and anyone remotely connected to it. We had several tours in progress when the planes hit and had staff and passengers stranded in various corner of the world for days before flights resumed and we could get everyone home. When the last tour manager arrived safely at home and the last passenger was met by relieved family members, we celebrated. Not with a big inappropriate party or other raucous event but by rallying behind one another in the face of chaos and terror, sharing our stories and experiences, finding and telling the "good" that came from tragedy. In those moments executive management stepped quietly aside and allowed leadership from among the ranks to stand up, shine and demonstrate community. Lastly, let's get practical with just a few questions to consider as you work toward helping your employees create meaning at work… 1. Connect Individuals To The Bigger "Why" What inspires you? Gives you passion? What would inspire your employees and direct reports? In what ways are you working together to create the bigger "why," the purpose for your organization? 2. Personalize Recognition How are you currently recognizing individual achievement and contributions to your organization's purpose? How do you equip managers to reward, recognize and thank employees for a job well done? 3. Reiterate The Significance Of Each Role How often to you reiterate the organization's larger purpose? Then remind each individual contributor how they in their roles help achieve that purpose? Annually in the all-staff meeting and in the performance review? Quarterly at management reviews? Monthly in the employee online newsletter? Or weekly/daily in informal conversations about the work at hand? 4. Celebrate How do you celebrate team or organizational wins? Annual bonus? Cost of living wage increase? Or something more personalized to each contributor? Photo Credit: Shutterstock The post How To Get Better Work Performance From Your Employees appeared first on CAREEREALISM. | | Poll: Is This A Sign Of Progress Or Discrimination? Posted: 08 Jan 2013 11:30 PM PST  Women are making their mark in the workplace, but it seems that men are still getting the bigger paycheck at the end of the day.
Although women got more raises than men this year, men got more money, according to this infographic by TribeHR. Researchers found that 7.4 percent of women received raises while only 6.2 percent of men got a bump in pay. However, men were three times more likely to get pay raises of 25 percent or more. Why do you think this is? Is this a sign of gender discrimination? Or do you think things just worked out in the men’s favor? What do you think? We want to know! Please take our poll, and tell us what you think in the comment section below! Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll. Photo Credit: Shutterstock The post Poll: Is This A Sign Of Progress Or Discrimination? appeared first on CAREEREALISM. | | Should I Find A New Job? Posted: 08 Jan 2013 10:30 PM PST  Dear J.T. & Dale: The company I work for was purchased by a large corporation. They recently implemented new computer-based documentation. We all received training and were expected to be up and running within a week. Well, I’m not the most computer-savvy person, and I was recently informed that my performance is not up to the new standards. I have to assume I’ll never get proficient. So, before getting fired, I’m thinking of trying to find a new job. However, I fear all jobs like mine are headed the way of the computer. Further, what will they think about my leaving my employer of 15-plus years? - Janet
J.T.: Before you throw away a perfectly good job, I hope you’ll try to salvage the situation. After all, you’re right to worry that new jobs will likewise require computer proficiency. DALE: Janet, Janet, Janet… this is about more than just keeping a job. People who refuse to embrace computers are missing out on an important part of what’s best about modern culture. Even a few years ago, it was common to hear older professionals proclaim anti-technology sentiments with comments like, “I don’t do e-mail.” Many said this dismissively, as if saying, “I don’t do paintballing.” Now it’s just sad, like hearing someone say, “I never learned to drive.” This isn’t something you can dismiss, like refusing an invitation to the circus because you have a fear of clowns. You need to do this. You CAN do this. Whoever led your training class assumed a certain level of knowledge, a level you hadn’t achieved, and so you never caught on or up. J.T.: Given all your company knowledge and experience, it would be a shame if they lost you. So, approach them with the idea that you are going to master the new technology to become an exceptionally valuable employee. Because your company is monitoring your performance level, they might help you identify what is slowing you down. There probably is some online training you could take that would help you get up to speed. Remember, though: If you have it in your head you’ll never get there, it will become your reality. DALE: It’s possible that the acquiring company will prove unwilling to devote much effort to your remedial training. We’ve reached the point where being computer-illiterate is the same as being illiterate-illiterate – some companies may be willing to teach an employee to read, but others aren’t. So, don’t count on the company. Find a friend or neighbor to tutor you, and sign up for a class at your local library. If you don’t want to buy a computer, spend time using the ones at the library. Once you experience the glories of Google, Wikipedia, and YouTube, you’ll find you can learn just about anything online, including how to love the computer, and then there’ll be no stopping you. © 2012 by King Features Syndicate, Inc. Feel free to send questions to J.T. and Dale at adv...@jtanddale.com or write to them in care of King Features Syndicate, 300 W. 57th Street, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10019. Photo Credit: Shutterstock The post Should I Find A New Job? appeared first on CAREEREALISM. | | 4 Types Of Job Attitudes – Which One Are You? Posted: 08 Jan 2013 10:15 PM PST  Did you know there are different types of job attitudes? Find out which one you are!
Attitude | Noun - The way a person thinks and behaves
- A position of the body
- Informal a hostile manner
- The orientation of an aircraft or spacecraft in relation to some plane or direction [Latin aptus apt]
FACT: Attitude = Effectiveness And Success On-The-Job Thinking and behaving (attitude) influence the world around us in ways obvious and not so apparent, but the effect is REAL, nonetheless. There are four basic kinds of people in business today. They can be best characterized by their attitudes: Job Lover A person can LOVE their job and may, read trade journals, spend hours over "working lunches/breaks," have friends that are in the same industry, and also find time to seek out ways to even further improve work or business: By all appearances the MODEL worker – right? WRONG. This employee, business owner, or consultant may miss opportunities by erroneously thinking that all their hard work, without a doubt will benefit them. Throwing oneself into work so fully and energetically can create blinders not only to unexpected pitfalls in the business arena, but may also keep one from fully experiencing personal opportunities. In short, all work and no play makes Jane a dull girl! Job Doer Perhaps this Jack or Jane takes a more pragmatic approach: The job as a means to an end. Working like a dog might mean more enjoyable periods of time off, the ability to pay the bills, travel, take vacations, and/or enjoy hobbies. Sometimes it is just the little things – pride in a job well done, being responsible, just being a contributing member of society in general! Still, there is room for growth and self-examination. A job, business, or current opportunity (while it lasts!) can provide one with the basics, maybe more. Sure life is good, but, in the current climate, one must be prepared for the unexpected. Job Hater Again it does not matter the title – owner, worker, consultant, whatever. Folks in this category may bark out orders whenever possible, complain constantly, frown consistently, and criticize coworkers, boss, company in general. One wonders not how they are able to bring themselves to get out of bed in the morning, but why they are allowed to! Typically, a person with this type of attitude has too much time and energy wrapped up in expressing these negative feelings that seem to build and explode in a never-ending torrent to consider opportunities. Blindfolded, often opportunities and anything else that could be construed as positive are missed. Job What? Most readers will admit to knowing at least one of this type, who can be summed up by their perpetual query, "Why am I here?" They often call in sick whenever possible (especially when not), spend more time on personal business than work, miss meetings, deadlines, and are frequently late/miss work. This guy or gal is seldom a boss, but sometimes people get lucky and own businesses run effectively by the sweat of others! Regardless, one is left to wonder who benefits from this person showing up on the "job." Potential is buried by lack of caring and activity. Talk about hiding one's light under a bushel! Opportunities are not only not recognized by this type, but are literally pushed aside… Think about your attitude about work now. How is it affecting you and your opportunities – are you prepared to make a change if you need to? Who are you as an owner, employee, boss, or consultant? How do you present to others? Creating an up to date curriculum vitae or resume help you develop a clear statement of who you are and what you have to offer to customers, employees, employers or bosses. In short, it can help you develop your own personal brand that can make you stand head and shoulders above others in your field. Photo Credit: Shutterstock The post 4 Types Of Job Attitudes – Which One Are You? appeared first on CAREEREALISM. | | 3 Secrets To Sending A LinkedIn Invitation That Work Every Time Posted: 08 Jan 2013 10:05 PM PST  As so much in social media is trial and error, I was happy to receive some advice from a Career Enlightenment subscriber, Hugh Knight.
We've all experienced the frustration of sending out a LinkedIn invitation and getting ignored. Even though I consider this bad LinkedIn etiquette, people are busy or uninitiated. Hugh has found a great process for getting around this problem. Step 1: Search For Related People No, I don't mean relatives. I mean people related to your field of interest. Use LinkedIn's people search with targeted Keywords. In Hugh's example, he searched for people with the word "Sharepoint" in their profile. Step 2: Be Totally Transparent Too many people simply send off a LinkedIn invitation without personalizing it. I know some folks who categorically refuse to accept un-customized invitations. When you send your invitation, LinkedIn asks you how you know this person. Pick "friend,” even if you don't know them. Hugh highly recommends a 100% transparency policy when reaching out. These new connections have very little knowledge of you except for what you have in your note. So, use the following phrase to make it clear why you want to connect. I am new to the area and am wanting to build my network.
Step 3: Begin On Common Ground If you notice anything in common with this person, be sure to mention it right away. If you have a mutual connection, say "We have a mutual friend in (someone's name)." If you have a school in common, or anything else, mention it. Bonus Tip: Leverage Your New Connection When they accept your invite and it shows in your e-mail. Follow up with this easy text: Thank you so much for accepting my LinkedIn Profile invite. I would be interested in obtaining any suggestions or contacts that you think would be in line with my background and work experience.
Notice these two things with this note: A. Beginning and ending thank you
B. Asking for suggestions or contacts Try this approach the next time you invite someone to your LinkedIn network, and tell me how it works for you! Photo Credit: Shutterstock The post 3 Secrets To Sending A LinkedIn Invitation That Work Every Time appeared first on CAREEREALISM. | | Do You Dread A Phone Interview Or Networking Call? Posted: 08 Jan 2013 10:00 PM PST  Do you dread the miserable networking call or phone interview? Fear not. In a lot of ways, they are actually pretty easy! But, there are some drawbacks:
- It's easy to take it for granted and not prepare or take them as seriously. A BIG mistake!
- It's hard to tell how you're doing because you can't see the other person's facial expressions and body language.
Having said that: Plan The Conversation What you hope to achieve (networking) and/or what you hope to convey (phone interview). Practice if that helps, and write down your main points. This may seem like it will make the conversation sound contrived; it may the first few times, but more often, it will actually help you to be more relaxed and make the conversation flow far more smoothly. When you have a plan and your key points ready, it's far less stressful, and that translates into more comfort, and usually, a far better call. If You're Calling To Network, Be Sure The Time Is Good For The Other Party You may have taken some time to work up the nerve to call; that doesn't mean they are ready or have time for your call when you do. I often suggest scheduling the call (in fact, that goal could be used as the first networking call) so both parties are ready for it. I suggest not taking too much time to work up the nerve to call; it just makes the stress and anxiety about the call that much worse. As a popular shoe brand would say, "just do it." Of course with preparation, but no anticipatory anxiety. You Probably Have An Activity That Gets Your Juices Going Perhaps you jog or workout, listen to music, watch a great movie – whatever it is – do it first so when you make the call, you're already pumped up and confident (but don't be out of breath). Smile When You Talk It will show in your voice. Many people like to stand up when they talk – they speak more from the diaphragm and they come across as very confident. Even if they already are or are not! Incentivize Yourself Tell yourself for every five networking calls you make or for every phone interview you have, no matter how you do, you will reward yourself. Stick to your plan and make the reward worthwhile. It'll make it much easier. Photo Credit: Shutterstock The post Do You Dread A Phone Interview Or Networking Call? appeared first on CAREEREALISM. | | Why The Military Is A Perfect Stepping Stone For Any Career Posted: 08 Jan 2013 10:00 PM PST  Sometimes high school graduates leave their secondary school experience with a lack of focus. They aren't sure if college or a vocational school is right for them, but the appeal of jumping directly into the working world also leaves them wondering. Where will they be in five years after choosing one or the other? Can they combine an education track with military service? Yes!
For many, having the experience of entering the military brings their aptitudes, skills, and preferences into alignment, so that their educational choices are more accurate, productive and fulfilling. Depending on which branch of the service one chooses to enter, the options and possibilities for career and college choices actually expand post-military. Read on for five benefits of starting your career with the military. 1. Education Ever since the enactment of The Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 (known informally as the G.I. Bill), U. S. citizens have been able to use this legislation to help offset the cost of higher education for those who have served in the military. Under this bill, benefits may be used to pursue an undergraduate or graduate degree at a college or university, a cooperative training program or an accredited independent study program leading to a degree. Coursework or programs covered include college, business school, technical or vocational courses, correspondence courses, apprenticeship/job training and flight training. For the most recent information about educational benefits of the G.I. Bill, visit the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' website. 2. Monetary Benefits Besides salary and compensation, there are different ways to benefit financially from a career in the military. There are bonuses and special pay determined by your area of expertise and the branch in which you choose to enlist. What's more, "invisible pay" in the form of health insurance, food, pension and life insurance are costs that you will not pay as a member of the military. 3. Teamwork Mentality Although this may seem like a "soft skill," the simple truth is that more than likely, you'll work with other people in your professional life. Very few jobs or careers allow for complete solitude. Therefore, learning how to achieve common goals, delegate and work as part of a team is very important to your career satisfaction, promotability and, ultimately, your earning capacity. Team players fare better than those who cannot thrive in a group environment. Leadership, decision-making and other intangibles are benefits of having a military background. 4. Travel And Global Perspectives The saying "it's a small world" has never been more true than it is today. We live in an increasingly shrinking world, where things like social media bring us closer together. We see shared experiences on Facebook, YouTube or Twitter. That being said, there is no substitute for travel or living abroad to experience other cultures. While stationed abroad in the military, you'll have access to other languages, cultural observations and landscapes. If you're a kid who grew up in the desert of Arizona, being stationed in Japan will give you an entirely new perspective about the world in which we live. Click here for a complete list of U.S. military bases. 5. Structure, Maturity, And Discipline It's also a simple fact that sometimes, having the experience of an ordered environment brings dormant skills to the fore. Being entrusted with the safety, training and even lives of others engenders a certain amount of maturity and poise where it may not have been previously necessary. These skills are directly applicable when pursuing an education. Knowing how to discipline yourself to apply yourself to a program of study is much easier if you have experienced the hierarchical structure of the military. This article was written by Social Media Outreach Coordinator Joshua John on behalf of CAREEREALISM-Approved Partner, 2tor — an education technology company that partners with institutions of higher education such as the University of Southern California which provides a Masters in Military Social Work degree online. Photo Credit: Shutterstock The post Why The Military Is A Perfect Stepping Stone For Any Career appeared first on CAREEREALISM. | | The Most Important Part Of Your Resume Posted: 08 Jan 2013 09:30 PM PST  What’s the most important part of your resume? I hate to say it, but the attention span of hiring managers seems to be getting shorter. In fact, I was speaking with an executive-level employer the other day (who regularly reviews resumes), and he commented about how quickly he can scan through a stack of resumes and choose the candidates he plans to call.
He admitted that it really is an unfair process—that so many job seekers are judged solely by the quality and presentation of their resumes (documents that too often are afforded a review of only a few seconds). And if it's a poor presentation, or boring to the reader, or just doesn't communicate the right message—they are quickly passed over. It's a given that the average employer will invest only a few seconds—literally—in his or her initial resume scan. So, it's critically important to your candidacy to ensure that the part of your resume in which he or she is willing to invest five seconds of attention grabs—and keeps—their attention. So, where is the employer's attention going first… and how can you make the most of that section of your resume? The First Third Of Your Resume Is The Most Important The top third of your resume is where the employer will direct the bulk of his or her initial resume scan. So what you put here is vitally important. If it's boring, too text-dense, or doesn't speak to the position they're trying to fill, you're sure to be passed over. What Should You Put In This Critical Section? The top third of your resume should contain the most dynamic, persuasive, and noteworthy information about yourself and your career. Top load your resume with accomplishments, successes, and quantifiable results that are the most applicable to the position you're applying for. Here are some critical areas: The contact information – Include links to your LinkedIn profile, career blog, or professional Web site. Direct the hiring manager to places where he or she can find more engaging information about you. The job target title – Use a job target/job title at the top of the resume to make the mental connection between what you do and the position the employer is filling. Include a branding statement – A great one-line branding statement that communicates your relevancy as a candidate for the opening. Remember… the employer has a need they're trying to fill, and if what you are known for meets that need, you've just become very employable. A career summary that isn't all fluff—Don't create a career summary full of generic statements that are vague and speak nothing to who you are or what you can bring to the table as an employee. This is the time to set yourself apart as a candidate. Use specific keywords and quantifiable achievements. Accomplishments and career highlights are a must—Create a section that speaks to your most notable career achievements and that are quantifiable. Employers want to see results, and they want to know what you've accomplished in the past. Having a friend or family member look over your resume and then provide an opinion is nice when it comes to proofreading and pointing out errors within the resume—but someone who knows you and has a vested interest won't be able to really tell you in an unbiased way if your resume is boring. Try to have an unbiased third party give you some feedback on how engaging they consider your resume. Photo Credit: Shutterstock The post The Most Important Part Of Your Resume appeared first on CAREEREALISM. | | Why Preparation Is Key In An Interview Posted: 08 Jan 2013 09:15 PM PST  To quote Shakespeare, "All the world's a stage…" When you go to an interview, you’re networking your way into a company, or are even talking about your job search with acquaintances, you most certainly are on stage.
When interviewing, it behooves the job seeker to be prepared. Most people agree that dressing professionally and looking the part is a good idea. Most people totally understand that knowing where and when to show up is a good idea. However, so many resist the suggestion to rehearse what they are going to say. I can't even tell you the number of times I've heard, "Oh, I interview really well, I don't need to worry about practicing." Oh, really? If you think you do, try answering these questions off the cuff: - Pitch me in 10 seconds what you can do for me. Why should I hire you? Go.
- Describe yourself in seven words.
- What were your three biggest accomplishments at your last position?
- What are the measurable results from these accomplishments?
- Give me your 30 second elevator speech.
Could you answer without hesitation in the required amount of time? Is your answer relevant to the position you are applying for? If not, you need some help with your interviewing skills (ask someone you know, or hire a professional) and developing your personal brand. If you don't know what you're all about and what you have to offer, or if you can't convey it succinctly, why would an employer want to hire you? You need help figuring that out and help rehearsing it until it naturally rolls off your tongue, like an experienced actor recites her lines. In addition, think about when you are interacting with others. Imagine the conversation turns to your career. In casual conversation, do you know your Unique Value Proposition? Can you explain what you do well, the successes you've had and what you're looking for? The people you know may know someone who could get you into your dream job. If you're not confident in who you are and prepared to pitch to anyone, you may risk missing out on an opportunity. It takes a lot of insight to get good answers to these questions. Like the coaching an actor needs to learn how to get into character, you may benefit from working with a good career coach. A specialist in personal branding can help you hone in on what really makes you stellar and how that relates to your audience. They can help you pick the right words for the maximum impact, and be available to help you go over it again and again until you've nailed it. In the end, you'll be able to give the performance of a lifetime! Photo Credit: Shutterstock The post Why Preparation Is Key In An Interview appeared first on CAREEREALISM. | | Annual Career Check-Up: Your New Year In View Posted: 08 Jan 2013 09:10 PM PST  It’s time for your annual career check-up! What changes do you want to make in your work life in 2013? Do you want a new job or a promotion? Do you want to keep doing the same things work-wise but with a new employer? Do you want to change career directions altogether? Are you happy where you are but want to boost your performance?
Regardless of your career situation, the New Year offers you a fresh slate. If you're a goal-driven person, then you probably set performance targets for yourself at work and in your personal life. Now that the New Year is here, it's time to set your career goals for 2013. Remember to keep your goals SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-driven): Relationships Armed with a list of the most critical relationships in your work life, set a goal for each. What’s the one action you can take that will sustain or improve each relationship? Goals Are you carrying forward any 2012 goals into 2013? If so, make a note of them. In addition, jot down the primary goals you would like to achieve in your work life this year. Are you aiming to land a new job or a promotion by a certain date? Or are you planning to clarify your career next steps or explore a new industry? Career Trajectory What title, employer type, and industry would you like to be in by the end of 2013? Aim high and dream big, and then work backward to detail the path you will need to take to achieve this trajectory. Personal Brand Which elements of your career brand would you like to capitalize on more this year? How will you do this? What types of projects, assignments, and roles will enable you to extend your brand at work? Career Values What are the top three career values you would like to honor most throughout this next year? Career Passions What are the top three career passions you would like most to express throughout 2013? Career Gifts What are the top two career gifts you would like to use the most this year? Industry Trends Which industry trends are most likely to impact your career in 2013? What specific actions can you take in the next 12 months to make those impacts as positive as possible? What can you do to mitigate any potential negative impacts? Personal And Professional Development What new personal or work-related skills do you plan to develop this year? What formal or informal training will you complete? Remember that once you officially enroll in a class or program, you can add it to your resume and LinkedIn profile – just make sure you clarify that you are enrolled and have not yet completed it. Once you've completed the class or program, you can note this completion on your resume or LinkedIn profile as well. Achievements What achievement opportunities exist for you in your current role this year? Are there planning projects or initiatives that you think will enable you to solve a problem, improve sales, innovate, or help the company to achieve shared goals? If you find yourself stymied by the process of designing your life, you may need an injection of creativity. If so, try one or more of the 30 creativity-boosting techniques noted in this recent blog post. Once your plan is crafted, put legs under it by tying your goals and plans to specific dates in your planner. Break larger annual goals into small weekly chunks and make sure you access support for each goal you set: - Who can assist you in achieving each goal?
- What information or resources do you need to pursue these goals?
- What new skills or success habits must you put in place to realize these goals?
- What changes or adaptations will you have to make, and how will you go about executing those?
- What barriers to accomplishing these goals are in your way or could arise? How will you overcome these barriers?
Put your career plan in a form that feels right to you, whether that's a collage or a left-brained report. Store it where you will see it often (preferably daily) and schedule monthly reviews of your plan. Each month when you reread it, make a note of your progress, successes, and problems. Get help when you need it – don't wait until the year is nearly over to admit that you need support to achieve a goal. Most of all, though, have fun with your goals. Resolutions are supposed to bring us joy! Photo Credit: Shutterstock The post Annual Career Check-Up: Your New Year In View appeared first on CAREEREALISM. | You are subscribed to email updates from CAREEREALISM
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Servo Control Direct from Ableton Live
Posted: 09 Jan 2013 01:16 PM PST
| Servo Control Direct from Ableton Live Posted: 09 Jan 2013 12:30 PM PST | | Recent News in 3D Printing Posted: 09 Jan 2013 12:04 PM PST  A lot has happened in the world of 3D printing over the last week and the start of CES brought on a wave of new products, as it always does. 3D Systems announced two new printers in their Cubify lineup, and MakerBot made an official announcement regarding the release of their "experimental" dual extrusion printer, the Replicator 2X. Read the full article on MAKE  | | Food Makers Hangout Today: The Underground Food Scene Posted: 09 Jan 2013 11:49 AM PST  For this week's episode of Food Makers, a weekly Google+ hangout on air, I'll be joined by three standouts in America's underground farmers market and food scene. While not exactly secret societies, underground markets and meetups bring together food lovers who like to eat under the radar, trading, purchasing and enjoying food not available in a store near you. Read the full article on MAKE  | | MAKE at CES 2013: Intel Ultrabook Tree Posted: 09 Jan 2013 11:34 AM PST  One of the first things I saw when I entered CES yesterday was the incredible tree that sits at the corner of Intel’s booth in Central Hall in the Las Vegas Convention Center. The leaves of the tree are made out of Ultrabooks which are networked together. At the foot [...] Read the full article on MAKE  | | Radiophonic Workshop on the Web Posted: 09 Jan 2013 08:55 AM PST Bringing their Radiophonic Workshop to the web, the BBC attempt to recreate their classic Wobbulator and Ring Modulator sounds online, using JavaScript and HTML5.  | | Amanda Ghassaei’s Glitchbox Posted: 09 Jan 2013 07:00 AM PST  Amanda Ghassaei built this fun Arduino-powered noisemaker: The glitchbox is a sample-based drum machine used for live audio or MIDI sequencing. The buttons on the front of the instrument play back nine audio samples stored in its memory. A switch on top records and loops sequences of these samples. Once [...] Read the full article on MAKE  | | Tasty Tetris Ice Cubes Posted: 08 Jan 2013 06:24 PM PST  An oldie but goodie, Instructables user Tetranitrate helps you add a little classic video game goodness to your cup with his Tetris Ice Cubes tutorial. In a nutshell, you make little wooden blocks, round out the edges, glue them into signature Tetris shapes, glue them in place in a tray, [...] Read the full article on MAKE  | | Best of 2012: Make: Projects Posted: 08 Jan 2013 03:45 PM PST  2012 was a great year for Make: Projects, our living library of projects. Here are some of our favorites from the past 12 months. Read the full article on MAKE  | | Tool Review: Rio Grande Electroplating Chems Posted: 08 Jan 2013 03:10 PM PST  This weekend, my buddy Jon came over, and we used my garage chem-lab to silver-plate some brass hinge leaves for some fancy jewelry boxes he's making. I had never electroplated anything before, and have been curious about the process since my undergraduate days. My impression, based on my survey courses, was that electroplating is messy and dangerous—one of those jobs it's usually best to contract out to a speciality shop. Jon came prepared with a bucketful of supplies. He had the parts themselves, a benchtop power supply, a strip of stainless steel to serve as an anode, cotton plating pen tips, a strip of 0.999 silver to wrap around the pen tip and connect it to the PSU probe, copper wire to support and ground the parts during the plating operations, and three bottles of MIDAS-brand electroplating chemicals. (MIDAS, for the record, is Rio Grande's house electroplating products brand.) Read the full article on MAKE  | | MAKE at CES 2013: MakerBot Unveils Replicator 2X and Parametric Design Tool Posted: 08 Jan 2013 03:00 PM PST  From a packed booth at CES, MakerBot CEO Bre Pettis pulled the cover off the MakerBot Replicator 2X, an experimental version of the Replicator 2, which was announced last September. The 3D printer is equipped with two extruders and a heated build plate. It’s also fully enclosed and optimized for [...] Read the full article on MAKE  | You are subscribed to email updates from MAKE
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Unitasker Wednesday: Double Dip Bowl
Posted: 09 Jan 2013 01:14 PM PST
| Unitasker Wednesday: Double Dip Bowl Posted: 09 Jan 2013 10:45 AM PST All Unitasker Wednesday posts are jokes — we don't want you to buy these items, we want you to laugh at their ridiculousness. Enjoy! This is one of those items that when you see it your first thought is, “ingenious!” Then, you pause for a moment and remember you don’t own a restaurant that serves guests olives as appetizers. The Double Dip Bowl: 
Let’s all agree that the name is confusing. The nesting bowls are designed so you can hide unsightly pits and shells into the lower, hidden bowl after you eat the yummy part of the nut or cherry or olive. There isn’t really anything dipping or double dipping about this in the least. It really should be called something like a Shell Shrouder Bowl or a Squirrel Away Bowl. The name is broken. Let’s also agree that while it’s a neat idea, you would rarely (maybe never) use it. Instead of a useful bowl, it would be a dust collector. When sitting home alone with a bag of pistachios, you just put the shells in a regular bowl or straight into the trash. You don’t care if you see the remnants of your snack. This is one of those fancy bowls just for parties — and you probably don’t serve things with shells or pits at parties because those things are messy. Also, you know your guests will be shaking hands with each other, and no one wants to shake hands with someone who just had his hands in his mouth retrieving an olive pit. Need help getting organized? Buy the DRM-free audiobook version of Erin Rooney Doland's Unclutter Your Life in One Week today for only $8.99. | | A year ago on Unclutterer Posted: 09 Jan 2013 07:30 AM PST 2011 2010 - James Jamerson’s Uncluttered Bass Rig
I’ve written before about my constant battle with an affliction called Gear Acquisition Syndrome (GAS). It’s an almost compulsive need to purchase new equipment in the firm belief that the new item, be it a guitar, amp, or effect pedal, will be the spark that ignites stale monotony into inspired genius. Sometimes it works, but I find that more often, buying new equipment is just a substitute for doing the hard work required to be creative. - Build your own recyclable furniture with Grid Beam
Grid Beam allows you to use a few standard modular and reusable components to create whatever structure you need at the moment. - Multipurpose games
Avoid board game clutter by purchasing games that serve multiple purposes. 2009 - Book review: The Power of Less
If you are looking for sound advice on how to improve your productivity, The Power of Less may help you to be more efficient in all your dealings. Need help getting organized? Buy the DRM-free audiobook version of Erin Rooney Doland's Unclutter Your Life in One Week today for only $8.99. | You are subscribed to email updates from Unclutterer
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How to Transform Yourself from an Underpaid Copywriter into an Authoritative Content Producer
Posted: 09 Jan 2013 01:13 PM PST
| How to Transform Yourself from an Underpaid Copywriter into an Authoritative Content Producer Posted: 09 Jan 2013 03:00 AM PST  
You probably know that business and marketing are moving in a new direction. You know that it’s based on producing high-quality content that attracts an audience and nurtures prospects. And you might know that, increasingly, the author is going to be at the center of it all. There will always be anonymous copywriters grinding out words for pennies. But now there is a very potent option for decent writers to start re-inventing themselves as content producers. In other words, as highly qualified, valued professionals who are forces to be reckoned with. So as 2013 kicks off, it’s time to make a decision. Will you stick with the old path, grinding out dull copy for dull websites representing dull companies? Or will you venture onto the new path and see where it can take you? It won’t come as much surprise that I would encourage you to do the latter. This is a great moment to reinvent yourself — or, rather, re-package yourself, taking your strengths and wrapping them up in a great new presentation. Why choose the path of a content producer? Well, you might be attracted by factors like more money, more freedom, more prestige. There’s nothing wrong with any of those — they’re all very pleasant. But you may also find that you’re more fulfilled when you play to your own strengths and start doing work that only you can contribute. For me, that’s the deeper pay-off, and the one that remains more satisfying. You might find the same. So how do we get there? Today I’m going to talk about some of the first steps on the road to becoming a content producer in the age of authorship. Column A: Identify your resources The first thing you must do is figure out what you already have going for you. If you can write something another person wants to read, you have a giant head start. Most people can’t. And, I’m sad to say, that includes a lot of people who make a living as copywriters. Authorship of great content isn’t about producing correctly-spelled verbiage for a brochure website. It’s about writing words that attract, entertain, inform, and engage. You may have some resources and assets you haven’t considered. For example, you might: - Know how social media works
- Be able to write high-quality audio scripts
- Have good design skills and a good “eye”
- Have friends with larger audiences
- Have a good sense of humor
- Know how to produce decent-looking video
- Know a lot about a subculture or a niche topic
- Understand copywriting and content strategy
- Be passionate and enthusiastic
The hardest part of this exercise is recognizing strengths and assets that you take for granted. This week, spend some time writing down all of the assets you might be able to bring as a content creator. Include time and money, if you have any. Column B: Identify your constraints Even if you’ve got a lot of brilliant qualities, there are going to be important aspects and elements of content production that you don’t have. You need to be painfully realistic about what those are. For example, you might: - Have no patience for social media and no desire to figure it out
- Feel intimidated about writing for the spoken word
- Have no design skills
- Not yet know anyone who’s built a larger audience
- Be entirely humor-impaired
- Be clueless about video
- Be confused about how to make your writing serve a business purpose
- Not feel you know enough about any given topic to create valuable content
- Be out of time, money, enthusiasm, or another “must-have”
Figure out how to make up for any important Column B deficits Here’s why you’re re-inventing yourself as an authoritative content producer and not just a writer or even a content creator. As gymnast and powerlifter Mark Reifkind once said, “Work on your weaknesses, but compete with your strengths.” First and foremost, market what you’re great at. Put it front and center, and make sure your audience knows exactly what you specialize in. And don’t forget to add in those Column A assets. You may take some of them for granted, but they just might be the deciding factor for your customers. Second, use your creativity and energy to fill in any important gaps from Column B. You don’t have to master everything on the list I gave, but be honest with yourself about any deficiencies that are holding you back. You know what they are. Often, you’ll fill in key gaps by working closely with another person who has complementary strengths. That might mean you hire someone. It might mean you develop a network of freelancers with skills that mesh well with yours. It might mean you simply barter your expertise — your great writing on a white paper or some cornerstone content, in exchange for a good-looking site header and some advice on your site’s look and feel. What if your constraint is that you can’t write? Remember, authorship is at the center. If words aren’t your thing, you must find someone who can use language to get a desired reader response. Oddly enough, many of those people hang around here at Copyblogger. Look around and find bloggers or other online writers who have a voice you enjoy. Expand your network of writers, and discover people you enjoy working with who can help you fill in that deficit. And stay tuned, because we have a few nifty new resources coming for you in 2013 that will help you make those connections. About the Author: Sonia Simone is co-founder and CMO of Copyblogger Media. Get more from Sonia on Twitter and Google+. Tweet
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2012: the hottest year on record in US
Posted: 09 Jan 2013 01:11 PM PST
| 2012: the hottest year on record in US Posted: 09 Jan 2013 10:59 AM PST The NOAA says that 2012 was the hottest year on record. BY AN ENTIRE DEGREE. The average temperature was 55.3 degrees, 1 degree above the previous record and 3.2 degrees more than the 20th-century average. Temperatures were above normal in every month between June 2011 and September 2012, a 16-month stretch that hasn't occurred since the government began keeping such records in 1895.
Weather-wise, 2012 is Usain Bolt crossing the line in the 100-meter final at the Beijing Olympics, already slowing down, arms out, and still so so much faster than everyone else. Tags: global warming science Usain Bolt | | The extraordinary is the new ordinary Posted: 09 Jan 2013 09:48 AM PST Kevin Kelly notes that the internet -- and in particular, YouTube -- is exposing us to massive quantities of things that are impossible and amazing and muses about how that might be affecting our culture. Every minute a new impossible thing is uploaded to the internet and that improbable event becomes just one of hundreds of extraordinary events that we'll see or hear about today. The internet is like a lens which focuses the extraordinary into a beam, and that beam has become our illumination. It compresses the unlikely into a small viewable band of everyday-ness. As long as we are online - which is almost all day many days -- we are illuminated by this compressed extraordinariness. It is the new normal. That light of super-ness changes us. We no longer want mere presentations, we want the best, greatest, the most extraordinary presenters alive, as in TED. We don't want to watch people playing games, we want to watch the highlights of the highlights, the most amazing moves, catches, runs, shots, and kicks, each one more remarkable and improbable than the other. We are also exposed to the greatest range of human experience, the heaviest person, shortest midgets, longest mustache -- the entire universe of superlatives! Superlatives were once rare -- by definition -- but now we see multiple videos of superlatives all day long, and they seem normal. Humans have always treasured drawings and photos of the weird extremes of humanity (early National Geographics), but there is an intimacy about watching these extremities on video on our phones while we wait at the dentist. They are now much realer, and they fill our heads.
(thx, andrew) Tags: Kevin Kelly | | Bad flu season this year Posted: 09 Jan 2013 07:54 AM PST | | A great f*cking tour of a f*cking cruise ship Posted: 09 Jan 2013 07:36 AM PST This f*cking guy shows you the f*cking pool, the f*cking ice cream bar, the f*cking ocean, and every other f*cking thing on the ship. (via @nickkokonas) Tags: video | You are subscribed to email updates from kottke.org
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What We Lack in a Hyperconnected World
Posted: 09 Jan 2013 01:11 PM PST
| What We Lack in a Hyperconnected World Posted: 09 Jan 2013 07:30 AM PST Is it strange that many of us these days feel hyperconnected and yet disconnected? This is what Mark Sisson of Mark’s Daily Apple explores in his new book, The Primal Connection: Follow Your Genetic Blueprint to Health and Happiness. It’s a fascinating look at what we need as humans, what we lack in this age of distractions and speed. Mark published The Primal Blueprint a couple years ago, and this new book looks like it builds on top of that. In this interview, Mark answers some key questions about what we lack in a hyperconnected world. Q: How is The Primal Connection different from The Primal Blueprint? Mark: The Primal Blueprint focused almost entirely on the evolutionary underpinnings of proper human nutrition and exercise. In short, as animals, we function best eating the diet and doing the exercises that humans evolved eating and doing, so an evolutionarily concordant diet and exercise plan is a good place to start a healthy lifestyle. The Primal Connection is about all the other environmental and social factors that shaped who we are today as a species. It's about how sun exposure and proper sleeping patterns are absolutely critical for optimal health. It's about the importance of real social contact with other humans, face to face – not through words on a screen. It's about adopting and adapting all the other behaviors of our ancestors that made them healthy, because it all shaped our evolution – just as the ancestral diet and exercise habits did. In short, if The Primal Blueprint was primarily concerned with the body as a meat vessel requiring certain dietary inputs, The Primal Connection explores the body as a mind and emotion meat vessel requiring certain social, environmental, sensual, and sensory inputs for optimal functioning. Q: What's the most glaring deficit in the modern human psyche? Mark: A lack of mindfulness. It's ironic, because we're inundated with information, data, and knowledge that purports to fill our brains. Everything you could ever want to know about anything is right there at our fingertips. But what's really going on? What are you missing with your face buried in that smartphone? We're so focused on devouring the latest gadget or article or Tweet and moving on to the next one that we're never really "here." We're like the NFL receiver who starts his fake-out move before he catches the ball and ends up dropping it. Before we've even perceived, noted, appreciated, and fully experienced the sensory and emotional input that make up everyday experiences, we're moving on to the next thing. The present is, by definition, extremely fleeting – here in an instant, gone in a second. But it's also all we truly have. The future is "out there" and the past is "back there"; the present is right here. If we want to experience the present in any meaningful way, we have to be mindful of it. We have to consciously and diligently (at least at first, until it becomes second nature) stop, smell the roses, and then ruminate on what we're smelling. Q: What's the most glaring deficit in the modern human body? Mark: A lack of physical touch. Humans are social animals, as people often like to say. social contact between humans should not be sterile and stand-offish. Most social animals spend much of their days touching other members of their group. They sleep together, groom each other, wrestle with each other, and sniff each other. They need constant physical touch, and, because they're not beholden to social norms, they get to satisfy that need. Humans are also social animals who need physical touch, but social contact between humans tends to be sterile and stand-offish. It's too bad, because physical touch has immense physical and mental benefits. Quite literally, the welcome touch of another person – a hug, a kiss, a massage – enacts beneficial changes in gene expression at the molecular level, changes that reduce stress, release oxytocin, and lower inflammation. Babies who experience "touch deficit" have disrupted growth hormone, stress hormone, and bonding hormone secretion. When you see your friends, hug them. Dads, hug your children. Pet owners, pet your dog and scratch your cat behind the ears. After all, you're their family, and they may not have another outlet for touch. Oh, and people: have sex. Often, and with someone you care about. Sex feels good, strengthens bonds, improves our immune system, and may even boost growth in the neurocampus. Q: What is one quick tip that anyone can do to better align the expectations of their genes with the realities of modern life? Mark: Make the effort to really disconnect from electronic stimulation at least twice a day. No phones, no computers, no Facebook, no email, no television. This sounds scary and hard, but there are a few simple ways to go about doing this. Go for a walk on your lunch break and leave the smartphone at the desk. Just walk, preferably through a place with some greenspace. Set a tech cut-off time before bed. Shoot for at least an hour before you go to sleep, but strive to extend that period to two hours. Turn your phone off when you're with people. It used to be that only old couples who'd been together for fifty years would be out to breakfast with their noses buried in their respective newspapers, but now everyone's doing it. The oldsters earned the right, because they've lived life, but the 22 year old out with his buddies? I think it's a shame that he can't find anything more interesting than his phone. Q: What don't we get enough of, and why is it such a problem? Mark: Play. People don't play enough. It's funny, because when I talk to people, I find that playing is the hardest hurdle to overcome. How's that? Play is, by definition, fun. Why wouldn't you love to do more of it? Play isn't fun when you feel guilty or self-conscious about it. It's not play if you're holding back and looking around to see who's pointing and laughing at you. Play must be carefree. For it to really "count," play must be free. You have to commit to it. You can't go out and begrudgingly toss the Frisbee around. Your body knows the difference; it can't be tricked that easily. You have to really play. You have to give yourself over to the moment (remember, be here now). The people you're with also know the difference. If you're outdoors tossing a ball with your kid (or even your dog) and you can't help but gaze into the soulful eyes of your iPhone every minute, whomever you're with will know that you're not really playing with them. That you're not really engaged in the activity. And that's not playing. That's acting. Be a kid again. A kid who pays the bills, takes care of responsibilities and duties, and knows when to buckle down and do the things that matter, but a kid nonetheless. Mark Sisson's new book The Primal Connection was released today. Visit MarksDailyApple.com to see how you can get a bunch of free gifts for ordering a copy today. | You are subscribed to email updates from zenhabits
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Think Like Zuck – 5 Questions with Ekaterina Walter
Posted: 09 Jan 2013 01:08 PM PST
| Think Like Zuck – 5 Questions with Ekaterina Walter Posted: 09 Jan 2013 06:31 AM PST 
 You’ve seen the movies, read the books, and shared the infographics about the rise and success of Facebook. But you may not be applying the business lessons of the Facebook story to your own marketing activities. Now you can with Think Like Zuck: The Five Business Secrets of Facebook’s Improbably Brilliant CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the upcoming book by global marketing strategist Ekaterina Walter. I sat down with Ekaterina for some Q&A in anticipation of our January 10th webinar Engaging Your Customer Base on Facebook.
Who should read Think Like Zuck? What should a reader expect to get from the book? Anyone who has a passion for innovation and disruption. Those who have an entrepreneurial streak, whether they are an intrapreneur (a person who drives change within a large company) or an entrepreneur (someone who owns his/her own business). And just anyone who wants to learn from other successful leaders. Packed with examples of Facebook's success principles in action—as well as those of Zappos, TOMS, Threadless, Dyson, and other companies—Think Like Zuck gives you the inspiration, knowledge, and insight to make your own mark in the world, to build a business that makes a difference, and to lead your organization to long-term profitability and growth. Are the elements that made Facebook successful applicable to all businesses? Absolutely. I talk about 5 Ps, five secrets of success: Passion, Purpose, People, Product, Partnerships. Those can be extended into whatever business/product/project you creating, building or leading. Within each chapter there is a number of lessons to be learned clearly marked and backed by the relevant stories and examples. You talk about both entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs (someone with the entrepreneurial streak who aligns their talent in a large company). Do you think this mindset is critical for every employee to have? It is very important, yes. But it isn’t always present because we don’t do great job aligning peoples’ passions with the jobs we give them or projects we align them with. Those who are passionate about something are the ones who will lead true change (within a company or beyond). I talk about the fact that there are more entrepreneurs out there than we think there are. You might not think about yourself as one unless you encounter something you care about, your true purpose, then watch out – you will become an entrepreneur, you will make your vision happen and you will probably do it creatively and with the limited resources. So yes, I believe that every one of us has a hidden entrepreneur within him/her. And it is our responsibility as organizations, as leaders to create an environment where people’s internal entrepreneur would thrive. In your upcoming webinar Engaging Your Customer Base on Facebook, you specifically cite Intel for their fan engagement. What caused you to single them out? Well, 2 reasons. First, I work there and I led the growth of our global communities of over 23 million people on Facebook. Second, while I do cite examples of other brands and what they did right, I can share internal knowledge and struggles we had at Intel to help others either follow in our footsteps or avoid our mistakes. Facebook has been pushing more options for brands to pay for engagement. Do you think brands will be forced to use these paid options or will they be able to successfully build engaged communities within Facebook without utilizing paid options? There are a lot of ways to increase your community organically and I talk about that in my webinar. But the fact that not all of your fans see your posts (if you are lucky, 5-15% of your fans see your posts organically due to the NewsFeed algorithm) is a reality. As marketers we need to work hard on making sure our content stands out and people engage with it regularly (that’s what will boost our organic exposure), but we also need to consider investing in Sponsored Stories to ensure some of our critical content is seen by more fans and their friends. This isn’t any different than what we had to do in traditional advertising. Bonus question: How can others connect with you? I am always available on Twitter (@Ekaterina) and anyone can reach me on my blog www.ekaterinawalter.com. For more insights from on standing out, be sure to attend the upcoming webinar: Engaging Your Customer Base on Facebook. You can also download a free chapter of Think Like Zuck: The Five Business Secrets of Facebook’s Improbably Brilliant CEO Mark Zuckerberg.  | | Is Your Online Reputation Getting Too Social? Posted: 08 Jan 2013 03:51 PM PST 
 As you cross things off your calendar in 2013 that concern your small business, where does making sure your online reputation is secure rank?
Unfortunately, too many small business heads don't take the time to Google their individual and company names, leaving things to chance as to whether there is negative information floating around on the Internet about them. So, how can you can as a small business owner go about securing your online reputation, or at least cutting the negative data that may be out there? Several of the recommended steps include: 1. Do an online search – Start here by entering your name/company name into a Google search. Look for any disparaging remarks and/or photos that could be directed your way. If you come across such items, see if you can identify the source, making it easier to direct your response. Part of your search should include a review of social media venues such as Facebook, Twitter and Google+. Has one or more individuals taken to such pages to talk poorly about you or your business? If so, are their comments valid in any way? Negative comments on social sites can come from a variety of individuals, including disgruntled employees and customers, not to mention competitors; 2. Identify your next move – Once you have targeted the problem, you need decide if you will handle it in-house or outsource the matter to an online reputation consultant and/or company. If you go outside the business, make sure you do a thorough search of online reputation managers, including their company history, any history of customer complaints, financial stability, and pricing. Should you decide to hire such help, you need to be sure they are not only qualified and experienced, but will tell you in detail everything they will do, along with what it will cost you for such services; 3. Promote the positive and practice safety- One of if not the most important tasks when trying to change your online reputation is promoting the positive features of both you and your small business. In order to do this, make sure you are pumping out plenty of good content in the form of blog postings, customer testimonials, images and videos, press releases and more. The goal is to simply get more of the positive content out there on the Internet, therefore the negative material will drop down lower in the search engine rankings. As an example, if you have a number of customer testimonials touting you, your employees and your business, it only stands to reason that this information will be beneficial to you when potential customers pull up your name in an Internet search. The other important facet here is to be careful as to what personal information you disclose through social media sites, online forums, and other electronic vehicles. In the event you fear having too many details making their way online, you can go to sites such as radaris.com to effectively remove data not taken from government records; 4. Don't be a stranger – Finally, why were you not checking your name and your company's name from time to time online to begin with? If you had, you may have averted the trouble you could find yourself in now. With the New Year here, make it a requirement to Google both names several times during the year, looking to see if any negative information is floating around online. If it is, don't put it to the side and say you will deal with it later. Act now, and get yourself in a more positive online light when it comes to consumers. With all the damage that can potentially arise from a negative online reputation, why would you chance such a thing in the first place? Photo credit: propertymanagementinside.com  | You are subscribed to email updates from Socialnomics
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If Your Landing Page Could Talk, What Would It Say?
Posted: 09 Jan 2013 01:03 PM PST
| If Your Landing Page Could Talk, What Would It Say? Posted: 09 Jan 2013 10:18 AM PST I am a landing page. My job is to greet you when you click on ads, email links and social media posts. You will find me by scanning a QR code. You come to me because you want something. You have requested my presence on your screen by taking a very specific action, and you [...] Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.  | | What Does The Re-emergence Of Display Mean For SEM? Posted: 09 Jan 2013 09:59 AM PST The '90s – the good old days, when the Internet was new, IPOs were easy, and $50 CPMs were normal. Unfortunately, from the height of the '90s we saw display CPMs crater in the post bubble pop that followed. Many predicted the demise of the "banner" ad and consequent death of display, but... Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.  | | Survey Shows Americans Confused By How Google, Facebook Make Money Posted: 09 Jan 2013 07:14 AM PST A new survey from Harris Interactive on behalf of The Search Agency finds, among other things, that large numbers of people in the US don’t really understand how Facebook and Google make money. The online survey was conducted in August 2012 with a sample of just over 2,000 adults. The Search... Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.  | | Bit.ly Releases Search API To Discover Hot Stories & Discussions Posted: 09 Jan 2013 06:21 AM PST Bit.ly announced a new set of APIs named Social Data APIs. The new APIs allow you to search for top stories in real time over the Bit.ly URL network. You can quickly see the top URLs and stories for any specific query right now, in real time. The three types of functions include: (1) True [...] Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.  | | Phone Support For Verification Issues With Google Local For Business Posted: 09 Jan 2013 06:09 AM PST Mike Blumenthal first spotted that Google is now offering phone support for businesses having issues with verifying their Google Maps listing. The way it works is you must go to this form – a troubleshooter for verification issues. Then depending on how you answer the questions and what time... Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.  | | SearchCap: The Day In Search, January 8, 2013 Posted: 08 Jan 2013 02:02 PM PST Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: 3 Areas That Get Overlooked When Building Links In A Bubble One of the most frustrating things about doing a link campaign is that usually, we’re doing it... Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.  |
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Feeling strongly
Posted: 09 Jan 2013 11:57 AM PST
| Feeling strongly Posted: 09 Jan 2013 07:00 AM PST Some of the best times that I’ve had with my kids were building IKEA stuff. Some of the best college times and girlfriend times too. (Some of the worst times were shopping there.) But either way, I have a strong emotional attachment to IKEA. (Couldn’t care less about most other stores.) Are you giving your customers a reason to care? |
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Stall Calls: Mobile Phones in Restrooms
Posted: 09 Jan 2013 11:48 AM PST
| Stall Calls: Mobile Phones in Restrooms Posted: 09 Jan 2013 11:10 AM PST Based on the fact that 75% of people have used a cell phone while in the bathroom, it’s virtually guaranteed that you – reading this article right now – have sat on the throne with your phone. Nearly everyone has, at one time or another, used their phone in the bathroom. Clearly we’re more connected than we have been in history. Privacy has, pardon the pun, gone done the drain. What other factors can we learn about phones and bathroom usage? First off, men are more likely than women to use their phone while sitting on the toilet. It's probably the best time to catch on games or news – similar to the days of reading the paper on the toilet. 30% of men ALWAYS use their phones while indisposed, compared to only 20% of women. Next, of the generations since people have been naming generations, Generation Y leads the phone-on-the-throne charge with a whopping 91% of its members. Gen X trails at 80%. The Baby Boomers fall behind at only 65%, and the aptly named Silent Generation are at less than half, at 47%. To put it more in perspective, 1 in 4 people use their phone on the toilet. Breaking it down by type of phone, Android users are most commonly found occupying themselves in the can, with a whopping 87%. Next, and by a small margin, are iPhone users, coming in at 84%. More reserved are the Blackberry users, with only 77% of users. With that being said, however, of the people making calls from and accepting calls to the toilet, the tables are turned with Blackberry taking the lead. Toilet tweets tend to come from iPhone users foremost, with Droid and Blackberry bringing up the respective lead. These are not necessarily – and hopefully not actually – tweets about the users' toilet experiences. iPhone users also dominate the use of apps being used on the throne. Most people are reading, texting, emailing and facebooking while they have idle time. Finally, the ugly bits about using the phone while using the facilities. One in six phones have traces of fecal matter on them. While 92% of people do wash their hands after using the toilet, only 14% wash their phones. And, 19% of people have at one time or another dropped their phones into the toilet while using them. Be entertained and disturbed when you find out all of this information and more on this amazing and informative infographic.
 | | What does “MT” Mean on Twitter? Posted: 09 Jan 2013 08:51 AM PST 
As more people join social media sites in droves, there will always be a gap in understanding between the “old school” users and newer users. Twitter is one of those networks that is growing tremendously and there are often terms that are unfamiliar to many. I learned this yesterday when someone on my social team asked me what an “MT” was on Twitter. Most people understand that “RT” mean retweet, but they didn’t know about MT. I chuckled and asked someone else on the team if they knew. Then another. Then another. Soon I realized that of the 5 people present at the time, only one knew what it meant. That’s the lead in to explain that on Twitter, an “MT” is a Modified Tweet. When you retweet someone, technically you are stating that the Tweet is exactly as it appeared originally. If you make changes, even if to make it fit into 140-characters, it’s an MT. Here’s an example: You say something?MT @0boy: best business aspect of social media is accountability. Consumers empowered 2 state opinions 2 world. Listen. — Raging Conservative (@RagCon) January 9, 2013
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