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MAKE Flickr Pool Weekly Roundup
Posted: 24 Dec 2012 01:15 PM PST
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Keep your holidays festive and safe
Posted: 24 Dec 2012 01:13 PM PST
| Keep your holidays festive and safe Posted: 24 Dec 2012 08:05 AM PST Over the last few weeks, we’ve shared holiday gift ideas (even last-minute ones) and now that there is just one more day until Christmas, today’s tips are geared toward safety. Whether you’re uncluttering or planning a holiday event, it’s important to unclutter potential hazards. Unclutter decorations that are harmful to pets Your pets will probably get included in the holiday fun, but there are some things that can be dangerous for them. In a recent interview, local D.C. veterinarian Dr. Katy Nelson mentioned that decorations like tinsel and curling ribbon (both are very attractive to cats), can be very problematic to a cat’s digestive tract. She also mentioned that the water your live Christmas tree sits in, though not toxic, can be upsetting to your pets, so make sure that they aren’t drinking it. For more information on ways you can keep your pet safe, check out the ASPCA’s holiday pet care tips and visit WTOP.com to hear the rest of Dr. Nelson’s safety suggestions. Keep specific plants out of reach There are several plants that can be harmful when consumed by pets and humans and one popular holiday plant, the Poinsettia, is on the list. Though you’ll probably only feel ill if you eat it, other plants like Mistletoe, Amaryllis, and Holly are seriously poisonous. If you have them in your home, keep them out of reach of children and your four-legged friends. And, since the needles from Christmas trees can also be choking hazards, try to keep little hands interested in other things. To see the full list of plants that can be harmful, read Poisonous Holiday Plants on About.com Chemistry. Keep entryways clear Just as you wouldn’t put your tree in front of a fireplace or near a portable heater (this is a fire risk), you’ll also want to keep your entryways accessible. Keep your decorations from blocking doors and hallways so that you can easily exit in the event of an emergency. This is a good, uncluttered idea for all times of the year, not just the holidays. Attend to fireplaces, candles, and cooking If you have a fireplace and intend to use it during your celebrations, remove any decor (like stockings) from around it before you light a fire. If you use candles, do not put lit candles on your tree and be sure to blow them out after using them. You’ll also want to keep them away from gifts and place them in an area where they cannot be easily knocked over. At the height of the festivities, you may forget that you have food simmering on the stove or in the oven. Consider designating someone to periodically check in on the kitchen if you can’t do it yourself. For other safety tips, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has a guide that you might find helpful. Though your holiday plans are probably well underway, take a look around and and use today’s uncluttering tips to ensure that you will have fun and be safe this holiday season. Like this site? Buy Erin Rooney Doland's Unclutter Your Life in One Week from Amazon.com today. | You are subscribed to email updates from Unclutterer
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How To Stand Out At Work: Top 10 Tasks Not Listed On Your Job Description
Posted: 24 Dec 2012 01:07 PM PST
| How To Stand Out At Work: Top 10 Tasks Not Listed On Your Job Description Posted: 23 Dec 2012 10:30 PM PST  Nowadays, it seems like many employees at work really zone in on the job requirements of their position. Some employees will make sure they stick within their job requirements and do not do much more. Others will work very hard at their job and excel in it.
However, there is a minority group of employees who really step up and contribute in any way they can. So, how can you stand out at work? If you want a chance to advance in your company, you will have to be a part of that latter group. How To Stand Out At Work If you do your job and do it well, you will brand yourself into a person really good in that job. However, when it comes time to promote, the management team is looking for a leader and leaders typically need to be fully engaged in the company. They need to care about their job and role but also need to care about the business in its entirety. What else am I supposed to do besides my job? I think many people do not realize while you were hired to do a job, it’s also your responsibility to be a part of the company and to do whatever it takes for the company to be successful. These are the top 10 things that I think are important for everyone to do. If you follow these guidelines you will stand out at work and will have the best opportunities to advance: 1. Always offer ideas and suggestions. Start with your own job and if you have a way it can be done more efficiently, suggest it. Even if your manager balks at it, keep making suggestions wherever you can. 2. Do not sit quietly in meetings. We have all been in meetings where there are people who talk and people who do not. Contribute any way you can and contribute on a high level. When management is in meetings with you, they take notice of the contributors. Leaders are not silent in meetings. 3. Do MORE than what your job requires. For example, if you work in customer service and someone needs help, go beyond offering "standard help.” Instead of saying to a customer, "Call this number and they can help you," do it for them! Customers like to compliment great service. It is a big deal when upper management or the President hears from customers and they are complimenting YOU. 4. Always offer to help others. Become the "go to" person- the person that can be counted on to help. If you are that person, it will go a long way! 5. Be proactive! Anticipate problems that might arise and come up with suggestions to fix them. Do not wait for things to happen and be a "reactive" employee. We all have had those moments where we know we could do more if we wanted to. When you have that moment, come up with a plan and do it (or share it with a supervisor). 6. Join committees and become a part of the company that goes far outside your role. Join a safety committee or a diversity committee or any other group where you feel you can make a great contribution. 7. Do things without being asked. If you see that something needs to be done and nobody is doing it, DO IT. Even if it is just cleaning up after a potluck lunch or helping with a company party. I am amazed by how few people do this. People who hang back and help out stand out. 8. Volunteer wherever you can. If someone sends an e-mail out asking for volunteers – do it if you can. If someone sends out an e-mail about a new initiative in the company, reply and say, "This sounds great! Let me know if there is anything I can do to help. I would love to be a part of this!" Management loves this. 9. If you are part of a team, working on a project, take the lead if you can. Someone has to be the leader, shouldn't it be you? If it is not you, still contribute at a high level. Throw out ideas and suggestions. Challenge things that do not make sense. If you do this respectfully, you will stand out. Once again, silence does not get you noticed, it gets you overlooked. 10. Never bad mouth the company to anyone you work with – even your friends. Talk it up and do your job as if you ARE a leader there. If you do not agree with something, ask questions. Running around badmouthing the company or complaining about your job is a cancer in the company. It will kill any opportunities to advance and may even kill your job. When you are at work, always seek out ways to improve the company. Become a integral part of taking your company to the next level. If you show your interest lies far beyond yourself, your job, and your income, you’ll stand out and you’ll be setting yourself up to become a future leader in the company. Photo Credit: Shutterstock The post How To Stand Out At Work: Top 10 Tasks Not Listed On Your Job Description appeared first on CAREEREALISM. | | 5 Strategies To Deal With A Horrible Co-Worker Posted: 23 Dec 2012 10:30 PM PST  Warning! Psychotic co-worker ahead!
Every work place has one. That absolutely impossible, difficult, nasty, backbiting individual who makes it his/her personal mission in life to belittle everyone else and make their life a living hell. Usually people like this are also extremely manipulative and good at managing both HR and their own boss. When forced to work with or for one of these human porcupines here are some strategies that will help you escape the worst of the pokes. Understanding The Nature Of Work Bullies To begin, you need to understand how this person got to this place in the first place. It's a little bit nature and a little bit nurture. Every once in awhile this personality type is just plain mean through and through. However, usually nasty behavior stems from a deep personal insecurity about themselves or their ability to perform their job. Maybe they feel they aren't good enough, maybe they never got an "A" in school, maybe their mom beat them as a child (seriously), for whatever reason they feel inferior and by making you miserable they are bringing you down too. They get perverse satisfaction by doing this. It's a vandal's mentality. Smashing nice things that belong to others is fun. If they are truly horrible they also chase much of the competition for their job and vertical promotions away. This only makes them even more horrible because they now see concrete rewards for their bad behavior. Before you know it, all office etiquette is thrown out the window and there is an office monster on the loose. 1. Killing Porcupines With Kindness The number one best strategy for dealing with a nasty co-worker is to kill them with kindness. For every exasperated sigh, provide a smile. For every accusatory rant and rave provide a calm understanding response. Always stand your ground but don't react to their nastiness. After the first or second time you throw kindness in their face the bad behavior should stop. Best of all, you will get a euphoric feeling inside, "AHA, I've controlled the beast." This will make it easier and easier to keep your calm when confronted with accusations, back stabbing campaigns and ghastly behavior. Best yet, if they keep it up you will make them look like an utter fool. 2. Physically Remove Yourself Whenever Possible This doesn't mean transfer departments, it means being aware of a negative environment and removing yourself from it. You wouldn't work outside in a snowstorm unless you had to. Why work next to a human tornado? If you have a flexible working environment it will be easier for you to focus on your job if you aren't constantly upset and trying to manage the work bully. There is a lot to say for out of sight, out of mind. Even noise reduction headphones (turned on or off) can do wonders. Make it clear to your boss that you can be found at all times in your new alternate location. Don't ever give up your territory – just be somewhere else a lot of the time. 3. Don't Get Mad, Get Even Whenever emotions take over the brain it is almost impossible to think logically and make good decisions. Realize you need to manage your own responses as much as managing the work bully. An easy way to do this is to lay future fantasy plans about ways to get even with the work bully. With every snide remark you can add another imagined revenge. In all likelihood you will never actually follow through on any of your plans, but if you bide your time there may come a point when you can inflict massive and substantial damage to the work bully and seriously undermine their career. Revenge like this is unbelievably sweet. This sounds evil but think of all the poor future souls you will be protecting. 4. Manage The Tiger, But Never Trust Him/Her Often the work bully will respond favorably to your kindness and afterwards try to befriend you. No matter how tempting this is (you might actually really come to like them), never trust the Tiger. This is a professional relationship, let it become more and don't be surprised if you get bitten. 5. Avoid Engaging In Teams Of People Against The Bully The camaraderie may be nice and the nasty battle-ax deserves it, but this type of behavior is unprofessional and against all normal office etiquette. In addition, bullies are uncommonly good at staving off attacks. Fighting is what they do best. Don't assume you and your comrades will end up winning the war. Photo Credit: Shutterstock The post 5 Strategies To Deal With A Horrible Co-Worker appeared first on CAREEREALISM. | | Brand Yourself With Social Media Posted: 23 Dec 2012 10:00 PM PST  Dear J.T. & Dale: Let’s say I’m an unemployed older professional who has only basic Internet skills. I’m told I MUST network to find a new job and MUST include social media. But the list goes on and on – Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, blogging, etc. Argh. Are they all essential? Could I, for example, just pick two? - Cynthia
J.T.: That’s a great idea, Cynthia – pick two of the social media and do them well. It’s better to maximize the potential of a couple of resources than spread yourself too thin. DALE: One of the two should be LinkedIn, so let’s call it LinkedIn plus one other. J.T.: Yes, you must include LinkedIn – not only is it relatively easy to set up and use, it’s the most popular among business professionals. You’ll create a profile, and make sure you do all that it takes to reach 100 percent completeness – if you don’t, you won’t show up in recruiters’ searches for candidates with your skill set. Next, start exploring groups on LinkedIn that are related to your field. You’ll find that these are very similar to association and chamber meetings. Your goals should be to establish connections and to try to set up informational interviews with people working at companies you admire. Next, I would suggest that you find one or two industry-related blogs and start reading them, just like you would the daily newspaper. Eventually, you should start to contribute comments. Not just any comments; you should add value to the blogger’s remarks and showcase your professional knowledge and savvy. This will establish your credibility and help get your online brand recognized. DALE: I’m sure, Cynthia, the notion of having an “online brand” boggles your imagination, but that’s the world we live in. Someone interested in hiring you is likely to do a Google search on you, and those blog comments offer an employer a glimpse into your education, professional style and passions. © 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 Brand Yourself With Social Media appeared first on CAREEREALISM. | You are subscribed to email updates from CAREEREALISM
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Where’s Santa Claus? The 2012 Santa Tracker List, From NORAD To Google, From The Web To Apps
Posted: 24 Dec 2012 01:03 PM PST
| Where’s Santa Claus? The 2012 Santa Tracker List, From NORAD To Google, From The Web To Apps Posted: 24 Dec 2012 09:34 AM PST It’s Christmas Eve, and Santa Claus is on his annual trip delivering presents to all the good little boys and girls around the world. This year, not just one but two major organizations are offering ways to track Jolly St. Nick on his flight. Below, our annual review of how to track him by... Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.  | | Mobile Search After The Final Mayan B’ak’tun Posted: 24 Dec 2012 09:13 AM PST If you are reading this Search Engine Land column, then you survived the “final day” of the Mayan Calendar as the 13th B’ak’tun resets to 0 like an odometer after 1,872,000 days, and with it, the start of the 5th world, according to Mayan culture. This 5th world is said to... Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.  | | The Keys To Success In Enterprise SEO Posted: 24 Dec 2012 08:51 AM PST In the world of search engine optimization, Enterprise SEO is an odd bird. Most professional SEOs cut their teeth for years in agencies or independent consulting, doing a jack-of-all-trades level of work. As a result, they are used to digging into source code issues, optimizing individual landing... Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.  | | 7 Secrets For Dealing With Quality Score Posted: 24 Dec 2012 08:44 AM PST I'm back to writing my own controversial thoughts this month; although, if you didn't check out the interview I did last month with Andrew Goodman and Matt van Wagner, you should, those are smart guys. Since I was thinking about PPC and how incredibly mixed up and difficult it has become, it seemed... Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.  | | Google’s Festive Happy Holidays Logo For 2012 Posted: 24 Dec 2012 06:06 AM PST Google is featuring a Google logo, aka Doodle, for the holiday season this morning. The logo is incredibly happy and festive, with lots of colors and Christmas like characters and activities within the logo that makes up the letters in Google’s name. The logo can be found worldwide today,... Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.  |
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Track Santa Online – NORAD Bing & Google Santa Tracker
Posted: 24 Dec 2012 11:47 AM PST
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Firefighters Gunned Down in Western New York
Posted: 24 Dec 2012 11:47 AM PST
| Firefighters Gunned Down in Western New York Posted: 24 Dec 2012 11:26 AM PST Another senseless, horrific crime, as someone apparently laid a trap for firefighters in order to gun them down: 2 Firefighters Killed in Western New York. Four firefighters were shot -- two fatally -- after apparently being lured to an early morning blaze on Monday in Webster, N.Y., a lakefront town about 12 miles northeast of Rochester, officials said. The suspected assailant also died at the scene, the town's police chief, Gerald L. Pickering said, though it was unclear if he was killed by a self-inflicted gunshot or by the authorities. "It does appear that it was a trap that was set," Chief Pickering said of the blaze that drew the firefighters. "Causative reasons, we don't have at this time."
 | | Video: Richard Feynman - Ode to a Flower Posted: 23 Dec 2012 04:50 PM PST | | Amazon Deal of the Day - Last Minute Gift Cards w/ No Expiration Posted: 23 Dec 2012 02:02 PM PST Amazon Gift Card - All Occasions Product Features Amazon.com Gift Cards never expire and carry no fees. Multiple gift card designs and denominations to choose from. Redeemable towards millions of items store-wide at Amazon.com or certain affiliated websites. Print immediately from your home or office.
 | | Facepalm: The Wingnut Word-Counting Brigade Springs Into Action Again Posted: 23 Dec 2012 01:14 PM PST 'Tis the season for wingnuts to recycle their anti-Obama memes, and once again we find them diligently counting words in Obama's speeches, in order to prove -- prove, I say! -- that the President is an uppity malignant narcissist who thinks he's important for some reason: Obama Uses Funeral Service to Talk About Himself | the Weekly Standard. President Barack Obama used the funeral for Hawaii senator Daniel Inouye to talk about himself. In the short 1,600 word speech, Obama used the word "my" 21 times, "me" 12 times, and "I" 30 times.
If you saw the President's speech about Daniel Inouye, you know it was a touching, heartfelt tribute to the Senator from Obama's state of birth. So naturally, the right wing was provoked into paroxysms of rage and personal pronoun-counting. This non-argument is not supposed to convince anyone (how could it?); it's just a numb-skulled tactic the wingnut chattering classes have been using to rile up the knuckle-draggers for years, recycling it at periodic intervals when they can't think of any other way to attack Obama. For example, here's our post on an idiotic word-counting exercise by George Will in 2009: Ready ... Set ... Now Count Those Words! At least we know some of them can actually count.  | | Right Wingers in Gun-Buying Panic: Record Sales of Assault Rifles at Gun Shows Posted: 23 Dec 2012 11:32 AM PST What sort of person reacts to the horrible mass murder in Newtown by rushing out to a gun show and buying the same assault rifle used by Adam Lanza to slaughter 26 people? Answer: a whole lot of right wingers: Gun Enthusiasts Pack Shows to Buy Assault Weapons. Gun enthusiasts thronged to shows around the country on Saturday to buy assault weapons they fear will soon be outlawed after a massacre of school children in Connecticut prompted calls for tighter controls on firearms. Reuters reporters went to gun shows in Pennsylvania, Missouri and Texas, and found long lines to get in the door, crowds around the dealer booths, a rush to buy assault weapons even at higher prices and some dealers selling out. The busiest table at the R.K. Gun & Knife show at an exposition center near the Kansas City, Missouri airport was offering assault weapons near the entrance. West Plains, Missouri dealer Keith's Guns sold out of about 20 AR-15 style assault rifles in a little over an hour, owner Keith Gray said. An AR-15 type assault weapon was among the guns authorities believe suspect Adam Lanza stole from his mother to use in the massacre of 20 school children and six adults at a Newtown, Connecticut elementary school on December 14.
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VX en corto: 'GTA' contra el huracán Sandy, 'Slender: The Arrival' y la portada alternativa de 'Bioshock Infinite'
Posted: 24 Dec 2012 11:38 AM PST
| VX en corto: 'GTA' contra el huracán Sandy, 'Slender: The Arrival' y la portada alternativa de 'Bioshock Infinite' Posted: 24 Dec 2012 10:05 AM PST 
Cerramos el lunes de Nochebuena haciendo un último repaso a las escuetas noticias que nos ha brindado este día con nuestro VX en corto. Disfrutad de la cena y no os atragantéis con los pelos de las gambas, que son muy traicioneros.
- Empezamos por Kotaku, donde nos cuentan que el huracán Sandy estuvo a punto de llevarse por delante las grabaciones de las bandas sonoras de la saga ‘Grand Theft Auto’. Por suerte las canciones de Radio Espantoso y compañía acabaron salvadas.
- De algunas canciones terroríficas pasamos al terror en estado puro con el nuevo tráiler de ‘Slender: The Arrival’, la secuela del popular título de miedo en primera persona para PC. Nos llega desde Destructoid.
- Tras intentar mejorar la experiencia pasando por una beta pública, el MMMO ‘Family Guy Online’ se queda donde está hasta el 18 de enero, y no precisamente para evolucionar más, en realidad desde Polygon nos cuentan que el juego se ha cancelado y devolverán las compras que los usuarios hayan hecho durante los últimos 60 días.
- En Joystiq nos muestran la portada alternativa de ‘Bioshock Infinite’. Ya sabéis, la que se votó por los usuarios después del descalabro realizado con la portada principal del juego.
- Por último una buena noticia para los usuarios de Google Play, y es que en The Verge nos informan que el juego‘Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP’ ya está disponible en dicha plataforma para su descarga por menos de dos euros.
Mañana más.    | | ¡Feliz Navidad de parte del equipo de VidaExtra! Posted: 24 Dec 2012 09:04 AM PST 
Madre mía, otra Navidad que llega casi sin darnos cuenta. Probablemente a estas horas ya estaréis de camino a una cena familiar de proporciones bíblicas para celebrar la noche buena e intentar poner a prueba vuestro estómago a base de gambas, turrón y vete a saber qué más.
Al fin y al cabo estos son tiempos de reunirse en familia y celebrar juntos una de las épocas más bonitas del año. Sabéis además que aquí en VidaExtra también somos una especie de familia formada por vosotros los lectores y nosotros, los que le damos a la tecla para escribir noticias y artículos de opinión. Una familia un tanto especial, que se cabrea a menudo, que quizá no se pone de acuerdo en ocasiones, que tiene algunos miembros díscolos… pero que al fin y al cabo disfruta unida por una misma pasión, los videojuegos, y en un mismo lugar, en este blog. Y eso amigos es mucho decir. Así que celebremos esta Navidad en familia y que el turrón y los brindis sean nuestros power-ups para estos días. ¡Feliz Navidad de parte del equipo de VidaExtra! Más en VidaExtra | Compras de Navidad    | | 'KRUNCH' para PC: análisis Posted: 24 Dec 2012 04:21 AM PST 
‘KRUNCH’ surgió como un prototipo para la competición Ludum Dare. Sus creadores, Lou LeGrudge y Dirk Rugged, lo han pulido tras ese tiempo y nos brindan ahora un juego que requerirá de paciencia y destreza a partes iguales. ¿Pero es un buen indie o se queda a medio camino? Analicémoslo. No hace mucho hablamos por primera vez de ‘KRUNCH’, viendo un adelanto suyo para conocer mejor su mecánica, pero sobre todo degustar su banda sonora, obra de Dirk Rugged y Disasterpeace (‘Fez’). Fue por esto último por lo que me llamó la atención y me animó a realizar su reserva. Su banda sonora la fui degustando hasta que llegó el día en el que el juego se puso a la venta, y ahí llegó la prueba de fuego. Probar en profundidad ‘KRUNCH’ y ver si su complicada mecánica cumplía con lo esperado. KRUNCH: escapando del mal sin posibilidad al fracaso 
La premisa de ‘KRUNCH’ nos queda clara desde que iniciamos la partida tras introducir nuestro nombre. Tenemos que escapar a toda costa del sitio en el que estamos encerrados. Para ello tendremos que sortear un montón de obstáculos, con trampas o mecanismos con muy mala fe que requerirán de nosotros mucha pericia a los mandos para no acabar aplastados, quemados, cortados o desintegrados, por decir tan solo unas pocas maneras de alcanzar la muerte. Cosa que sucederá. Pero tranquilos, que en ‘KRUNCH’ hay vidas infinitas. Estamos ante otra muestra del estilo de “ensayo y error”, poniendo a prueba nuestra paciencia y habilidad, ya vista en clásicos imperecederos como ‘Super Meat Boy’ o ‘VVVVVV’. Salvo que aquí no habrá que saltar plataformas, sino que “volaremos” por circuitos cerrados, yendo del punto A (una tubería) hasta el punto B (otra tubería) con el objetivo de alcanzar la salida final. Algo que no sucederá hasta completar las más de 100 fases a lo largo de cuatro mundos. Dependiendo de la habilidad de cada uno, esto se traducirá en algo más de una hora de juego, hecho a todas luces escaso. A mí, sin ir más lejos, completar ‘KRUNCH’ me llevó 73 minutos tras fallecer 294 veces, consiguiendo por el camino 1.873 krebs, una especie de moneda que logrará que consigamos mayor puntuación, pudiendo compartir resultados por Facebook o Twitter. La pena es que ‘KRUNCH’ no ofrece más que eso. Es muy parco en opciones, de hecho. Iniciar partida, continuar y ver créditos. Tras finalizarlo no habrá nada desbloqueable. Y para más inri, sólo podremos jugarlo con teclado, salvo que utilicemos algún programa especial. En mi caso he usado el Xpadder y genial. De lo contrario me habría costado inmensamente más completarlo. Bastante más. OST de lujo para un indie que no llega a la excelencia 
Está bastante claro que el gran defecto de ‘KRUNCH’ es su escasa vida de juego y su parquedad en opciones. Su mecánica, eso sí, convence, aunque resulta frustrante por momentos. Principalmente por la inercia, ésa que siempre nos llevará ante las bolas desintegradoras para matarnos al instante, o ante las malditas sierras mecánicas (las odio) para rebotar sin descanso y morir al poco rato. ‘KRUNCH’ es muy puñetero en este sentido. En determinadas fases un rebote supondrá una muerte segura, porque el muro que nos persigue nos aplastará irremediablemente al haber perdido unos segundos. En ‘KRUNCH’ hay que tener buenos reflejos y saber sobreponernos ante cualquier adversidad. Saber escoger el mejor camino y actuar en consecuencia, calculando bien los tiempos para que esos muros o ese fuego no haga que repitamos la fase de nuevo. Y nos cabrearemos, vaya que sí. Con los rebotes y las sierras, principalmente. Pero con paciencia y destreza será un camino que podremos salvar. Tan solo hay que fijarse bien, utilizar sabiamente el botón para ir más rápido, e intentar no agotar nuestra vida antes de llegar a la meta. Porque ésa es otra. Nuestro personaje en cada fase se irá moriendo poco a poco, reduciendo su vida al utilizar el turbo o chocar contra las sierras o el fuego. Pero ya decimos, podremos reintentarlo tantas veces deseemos al morir. ¿Queréis un detalle curioso? Cada fase tendrá un nombre, muy al descriptivo estilo ‘VVVVVV’. No en vano Lou LeGrudge y Dirk Rugged no ocultan su influencia, aparte del ‘Mega Man’. Influencia esta última no tan evidente. Por cierto, que en ‘KRUNCH’ deberemos hacer frente a varios enemigos finales. Pero no podremos acabar con ellos, sino que simplemente tendremos que escapar de ellos. Cada uno regentará el final de su mundo, y como decimos hay cuatro. Aunque el cuarto técnicamente no sea un enemigo final en sí, sino una prueba especial. Y como hemos recalcado, tras completarlo no habrá nada más. Suerte que, donde sí que no defrauda ‘KRUNCH’, pese a no ser mal juego en absoluto (pero es corto y parco en opciones, insistimos), es en su banda sonora, de auténtico lujo. Tanto Dirk Rugged como Disasterpeace han parido once temas de corte chiptune que nada tienen que envidiar a otras producciones. A destacar en especial el tema “The Incrementalists”, uno de los finales. Por lo demás, ya decimos, un juego indie que se ha quedado a las puertas de la excelencia del gran ‘VVVVVV’. KRUNCH | PC  - Plataformas: Linux, Mac y PC (versión analizada)
- Desarrollador: Lou LeGrudge y Dirk Rugged
- Distribuidor: LeGrudge & Rugged Studios
- Lanzamiento: 21 de diciembre de 2012
- Precio: 7,90 euros
‘KRUNCH’ es otra vuelta de tuerca más en los indies que se empeñan en poner a prueba nuestra paciencia y habilidad a los mandos. Destaca sobre todo por su gran banda sonora, ya que por lo demás es muy limitado. Sitio oficial | KRUNCH    | | Los dos 'Trials' de Xbox Live Arcade a mitad de precio. Sólo hoy Posted: 24 Dec 2012 02:39 AM PST 
Las ofertas diarias de Xbox Live Arcade continúan su rumbo, y si ayer vimos varios títulos de la promoción veraniega de dicho servicio, hoy le toca a dos pesos pesados del mundo del trial de motos. Hablamos, cómo no, de ‘Trials HD’ y ‘Trials Evolution’, dos imprescindibles de Xbox Live Arcade con cifras millonarias. Si aún no habéis probado ninguno de ellos, este es vuestro momento. Salvo que prefiráis esperar por el anunciado ‘Trials Evolution: Gold Edition’ para PC, el cuál nos llegará a primeros de 2013. Aunque este último será solamente una versión más completa del ‘Trials Evolution’. Sea como fuere, cualquiera de ellos es una apuesta segura. La serie ‘Trials’ es una muestra de juego eterno: número de circuitos infinitos (gracias a su editor), pique constante por los retos extremos o con nuestros colegas por superar todos los tiempos, y pruebas de habilidad de lo más ingeniosas, por destacar tan solo unas pocas características representativas. Se echa en falta, eso sí, un mayor descuento en ‘Trials Evolution’, pero claro, esto no es Steam. Aún así, por 10 euros sigue siendo un chollo teniendo en cuenta todo lo que ofrece. Más que muchos de los “triple A” que vemos en físico. Nota: 800 MS (10 euros), 600 MS (7,5 euros), 400 MS (5 euros), 200 MS (2,5 euros) Vía | MajorNelson    | | 'DmC: Devil May Cry' nos enseña dos nuevos y escalofriantes enemigos Posted: 24 Dec 2012 01:13 AM PST 
Poco a poco este nuevo Dante nos tiene que ir conquistando. Es un reinicio radical de la franquicia de Capcom y todavía está por ver si nos acaba convenciendo pero ‘DmC: Devil May Cry’ ha ido mejorando su propuesta desde que supimos de él por primera vez. Al principio este Dante rebelde con aspecto de Edward Cullen malote nos dejó un tanto fríos pero tras vídeos y más vídeos viéndole repartir de lo lindo la cosa ha mejorado. De hecho pudimos probarlo hace un tiempo y, con sus fallos, no nos dejó mal sabor de boca. El caso es que hoy Capcom presenta nuevas imágenes y en ellas conocemos a dos nuevos enemigos del protagonista. Ellos son Drakavec y el Buzz Saw Tyrant. El primero parece que lleva una máscara de piel vuelta, algo bastante escalofriante, y el segundo parece el típico berserker pero esta vez mejorado con dos sierras mecánicas circulares en lugar de manos. Claro, si eres una criatura del averno chunguísima, ¿para qué diantres quieres manos? Lo suyo es tener dos sierras. De hecho Alex tiene dos sierras en lugar de manos y ahora empiezo a entender el motivo. Galería de fotos (Haz click en una imagen para ampliarla) El juego verá la luz dentro de unos días, el 15 de enero de 2013 en Xbox 360 y PS3. Tan sólo diez días más tarde, el 25 de enero, hará lo propio en PC. Recordad que Jarkendia ya nos explicó qué requisitos mínimos necesitaría para volar en nuestras máquinas. Vía | Gamingbolt    | | Rockstar libera cinco nuevas imágenes de 'Grand Theft Auto V'. Protagonistas, aviones y submarino incluidos Posted: 23 Dec 2012 10:37 PM PST 
Continuamos con el goteo de imágenes y detalles de Rockstar y ‘Grand Theft Auto V’, esta vez publicadas a través de su página en Facebook para que empecemos a elucubrar sobre ese submarino que aparece en una de ellas. Galería de fotos (Haz click en una imagen para ampliarla) Desde que se anunció hace unas semanas la posibilidad de coger una bombona de oxígeno y explorar las profundidades marinas he tenido claro que probablemente estaríamos ante un espejismo, uno de esos trucos de los programadores con los que podemos ver arrecifes de coral y peces aquí pero no allí, pero un vehículo así me trastoca bastante esa idea. Sea como sea, y como de costumbre, poco más se puede rascar de unas imágenes que están ahí para lo que están, elevar un poco más la expectación del juego hasta que se ofrezca lo que todos estamos esperando realmente, gameplay puro y duro, una demostración de sus posibilidades jugables y, sobre todo, un plano que vaya desde el suelo hasta el cielo mientras se da a conocer la extensión de su mapeado. Gracias a Destiny-Claws por el soplo. En VidaExtra | Los usuarios de PC se unen para pedirle a Rockstar una versión de ‘Grand Theft Auto V’ en PC, Rockstar no descarta que ‘Grand Theft Auto V’ acabe llegando a PC y Wii U    | | ¿Crees que el sector está teniendo en cuenta lo suficiente al mercado infantil?: la pregunta de la semana Posted: 23 Dec 2012 10:21 PM PST 
Lunes, así que toca la pregunta de la semana. Llegan la Navidad, Hanukah, Kwanzaa… (todas las festividades son bienvenidas, faltaría más) y en algún lugar del mundo un niño se dispone a abrir un regalo que resulta ser un videojuego que quería: ¿ha tenido multitud de opciones para escoger? ¿han decidido las empresas apostar por productos para niños en vez de olvidarse de la calificación por edades? Dicho de otro modo: ¿Crees que el sector está teniendo en cuenta lo suficiente al mercado infantil? Si bien es cierto que compañías como Nintendo nunca han abandonado a ese público y que otras como Sony ofrecen algunas alternativas a su catálogo +18 ¿es suficiente para atraer a los que mañana darán de comer a esta industria? ¿poco? ¿demasiado? ¿es comparable a lo que se ofrecía hace 20 años? Ahí tenéis nuestra pregunta de esta semana, no os cortéis y contadnos qué opináis al respecto a través de VidaExtra Respuestas. La pregunta de la semana pasada Pasamos ahora a responder la pregunta de la semana pasada, que versaba sobre la más que probable futura plataforma de juegos de Valve. Ya que a Gabe Newell sólo le falta un traje rojo para dar el pego como Papá Noel y que ultimamente no nos cortamos un pelo a la hora de reclamar cómo debería ser el futuro de la industria: ¿Qué le pides a Valve si decide lanzar su propia consola / ordenador? La respuesta más valorada es la de tsuna, que precisamente se encarga de pedir lo que la gran mayoría tenemos en mente para una máquina de este tipo: Que sea barato y que mantenga todo lo que tiene Steam (ofertas, comunidad, mods, etc). Más claro el agua. Ahora os dejamos para que respondáis a la pregunta de esta semana, volvemos la próxima semana para comprobar qué ha dado de sí el debate en VidaExtra Respuestas. Disfrutad de lo que sea que acabéis sacando de una caja cubierta de papel de regalo.    | | Lo mejor y lo peor de 2012, la historia de Hudson Soft, y los Premios Xataka 2012. Lo mejor de la semana en Vidaextra (XX) Posted: 23 Dec 2012 11:01 AM PST 
Poco queda para que termine el domingo, así que no podemos demorarnos más en nuestro repaso habitual de este día. Llega lo mejor de la semana en Vidaextra. Vayamos al lío, por lo tanto, ¿no? - Empezamos nuestro repaso viendo cómo fueron los Premios Xataka 2012 celebrados a finales de noviembre. También recordamos el debate sobre el futuro de los videojuegos en el cuál estuvo nuestro compañero Alex “Lancer-san” Cánovas. El del centro en la foto superior, a todo esto.
- Para que ‘God of War: Ascension’ llegue a PS3 aún restan unos meses, pero al menos hemos tenido un primer contacto con su beta multijugador a cargo de nuestro compañero Rubén. Por sorprendente que parezca no parece un añadido metido con calzador, sino que funciona bien.
- Regresamos a los premios, aunque en este caso a los de nuestra casa, Vidaextra, y lo hacemos con vuestros resultados. Cuidado que son muchas categorías de golpe: juego descargable (‘The Walking Dead’), plataformas (‘Rayman Origins’), aventura gráfica (‘The Walking Dead’), estrategia (‘XCOM: Enemy Unknown’) y musical (‘Just Dance 4’). Pero hay dos más…
- Sí, las más importantes: mejor juego del 2012 (‘Assassin’s Creed III’) y peor juego de 2012 (‘Dragon Ball Z for Kinect’). ¿Justos ganadores? Como siempre, esto es muy subjetivo.
- Dos títulos gratuitos y de corte retro nos han llegado esta semana, y los dos son recomendables. Por un lado el ‘Street Fighter x Mega Man’, un homenaje por partida doble, y por otro el ‘Maximus Action Carnage’, el cuál no oculta sus inspiraciones de la época de los ochenta.
- La Wii U de Nintendo lleva poco más de tres semanas entre nosotros, y uno de los títulos más interesantes que tiene en su Nintendo eShop es el ‘Nano Assault NEO’. Aún así cuenta con alguna que otra pega, como su escasa duración, tal y como recalcamos en su correspondiente análisis.
- ¿Cuál es uno de los títulos más esperados del 2013? Fácil, el ‘BioShock Infinite’ de Irrational Games. Hace unos días vimos sus primeros cinco minutos y aún seguimos babeando por él…
- Hoy mismo hemos visto el documental sobre ‘Minecraft’ titulado ‘Minecraft: The Story of Mojang’, y nuestro compañero Rubén se ha sorprendido por lo que puede llegar a ser esta industria. ¿Vosotros qué opináis? ¿Os ha gustado más que Indie Game: The Movie?
- Finalizamos nuestro repaso semanal con Hudson Soft, otra compañía nacida antes de los 80. Sexta entrega de nuestro especial, a modo de homenaje a varias de las grandes compañías de videojuegos que nos han acompañado todos estos años. ¿Cuál será la de este miércoles? Ahh…
Eso es todo por hoy. Que tengáis una buena semana rodeados de vuestra familia. ¡Felices fiestas!    | | El Apocalipsis Instagram, el Nokia Lumia 920 y cinco coches en los que pasar el Fin del Mundo. Constelación VX (CXXIV) Posted: 23 Dec 2012 10:01 AM PST 
Un domingo especial por lo que representa la noche de mañana, sobre todo para esos millones de niños y no tan niños que se despertarán de madrugada para ir a recoger sus regalos esperando encontrar algún juego, pero ya llegará el momento de ceñirnos a eso, ahora toca dejar a un lado los juegos para pasearnos por la Constelación VX. - Si aún no tienes tu carta a los Reyes Magos, probablemente te interese este artículo de Xataka en el que nos muestran cinco tablets por menos de 250 euros.
- Pasamos de las tablets a los móviles y lo hacemos de la mano del análisis del Nokia Lumia 920, el smartphone con el que Microsoft pretende plantarle cara a la competencia.
- Llegamos a Applesfera para descubrir otro de sus interesantes tutoriales para los fans de la manzana, en este caso cómo copiar todo el contenido del disco duro principal de tu Mac a uno nuevo.
- También nos hablan de Steelseries Free, un mando para dispositivos iOS que podría solucionar los problemas del control en sus juegos de no ser porque la compatibilidad con los mismos no sigue siendo total.
- Sesión doble de Zuckerberg en Genbeta, primero de forma directa gracias a la nueva aplicación Poke de Facebook, que permite enviar mensajes con fecha de caducidad.
- También toca hablar de una de las últimas adquisiciones de la red social, y es que el Apocalipsis Instagram y la posterior rectificación ha sido lo más comentado de los últimos días.
- En Xataka Móvil nos presentan Blackberry 10 y su navegación web comparada con otros sistemas y terminales, una marca que parece estaba en decadencia y empieza a levantar cabeza.
- Momento para una noticia buena o mala dependiendo desde la silla en la que estéis sentados, y es que Movistar, Vodafone y Orange tendrán que pagar 120 millones de euros de multa por los precios abusivos que tuvimos que sufrir en la época de los SMS.
- Nuestro último paso en el camino es para Motorpasión y su lista con los cinco coches en los que pasar el Fin del Mundo. Desconozco qué vehículo habrían escogido los mayas, pero yo me quedo con el Ferrari 250 GTO sin dudarlo un momento.
- Y puestos a hacer selecciones de coches, qué mejor que hacerlo con conocimiento de causa tras pasar por los enlaces con lo mejor de 2012 en Motorpasión. Coches, pruebas, dolorpasión… ahí tenéis todo recopilado.
Y hasta aquí llegamos por hoy. Disfrutad de lo que queda de domingo, sobre todo aquellos que no tengáis vacaciones mañana.    | You are subscribed to email updates from Vidaextra
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How To Write a Thank You Card That Actually Says Thanks
Posted: 24 Dec 2012 11:35 AM PST
| How To Write a Thank You Card That Actually Says Thanks Posted: 23 Dec 2012 11:30 PM PST
“Silent gratitude isn’t much use to anyone.”
– G.B. Stern Did you know that half of American’s don’t always say thanks (Source)? Regardless if you’re the type to always say thanks or not, you’re likely going to need to write a thank you card at some point. Especially around the holidays, when you’ll be receiving gifts – and will want to ensure you show your appreciation. Like any other task, I like to complete thank you cards both effectively and efficiently. To do that, I’ll first discuss how to make sure my card is effective: thinking through the purpose of thank you cards and how to word your thank you note. I’ll then put it together in one easy template for your thank you card – so you can ensure your thank you cards can be written efficiently, but still hit all the right notes. Don’t rush through thank you cards – they matter. I just like to make sure I have a plan. The Purpose Of Thank You Cards A thank you card has a single purpose: to convey your appreciation to the person who gave you a gift, or did you a favor. This is important, because before you send a thank you card you need to ask yourself – have I conveyed my appreciation? Here are some questions to keep in mind as you think about what you want to say in the card: - Is my appreciation sincere?
- Am I holding anything back?
- Is there something I appreciate about this gift that I haven’t mentioned?
How To Word Your Thank You Card In a previous article, I discussed how to say no with the empathy sandwich. Briefly, one of the points I note is that fact driven notes (in particular with email) can come across as very blunt and cold. If you’re saying thank you in person, this isn’t a problem – we tend to show our emotions through body language and tonality. In writing, we need to use our words to get these same emotions across. Here are some strategies for writing, and how to word your thank you card. I break my thank you cards into three parts. 1: The Greeting A lot of people rush to scribble “Dear Jane,” and decide they’re finished with the greeting – on to the card! However, the greeting is extremely important and deserves to be crafted. Consider the different words you could use: - “Dear Jane,” – This is formal, and I rarely use this unless addressing family or very close friends. In that instance, the use of the term Dear actually comes across as what it means – rather than giving the impression of a thank you card written at arm’s length.
- “My Dear Jane,” or “My Dearest Jane,” – This I typically see used in addressing significant others, or people addressing their family such as children, grand-children and and nieces/nephews.
- “Hi Jane,” or “Hey Jane,” conveys a more casual letter and is useful for acquaintances turning into closer friends. Depending on your relationship with the person, this informality can help deepen your relationship instead of using Dear – particularly if the gift or favor they did for you helped bring you closer together.
- “Hi Jane!” or “Hey Jane!” – Still casual, but now – with excitement!
- “Aloha Jane!” – Useful for me since I am in Hawaii. Use at your own risk outside Hawaii. It’s a greeting that can be loosely translated as anything from “hello” to “with love”
- “Jane,” – I strongly recommend against doing this. With nothing preceding a name, it can come across as blunt, cold – and rushed. You don’t want to give the impression that your letter was dashed off as an afterthought. An exception to this is if you are writing a thank you card for a work colleague, and want to ensure the card does not come across as overly friendly.
- “Hi,” – Even worse than just their name is leaving off their name. In How To Win Friends And Influence People, one of my favorite personal development books, Dale Carnegie writes “a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” Want to know the most sour sound? Perhaps the absence of their name where it should be.
- So which do I recommend? “Hey Jane!” I like my thank you cards to immediately pop with the excitement and emotion I have from the gift or the favor. Especially if it’s around Christmas time, and people are receiving lots of Thank You cards – I want to make sure that my genuine thanks comes across and doesn’t sound generic.
2: The Body The meat of your thank you card. Lets talk about the words, phrasing and content you want to use here: - Express Emotion. In most of my writing I stick to facts and get straight to the point. In thank you cards, this is the time to express gratitude and emotion. Unlike my usual writing, I will expand and take my time to ensure emotion and gratitude fills the card.
- Be Specific. While you don’t want to stick to just the facts, it’s good to point out specifics.
- Remember The Past and Paint The Future. While you don’t always have to do this, I like to discuss how the person’s gift and actions have improved my life – and how it is going to help me in the future. People like to know that what they have done has made a difference – so if it has, tell them! As I have pointed out previously, altruism is one of the keys to happiness – and the reason for this is, we feel good when we’ve made a difference in someone’s life or the world. So make sure your friends and family know they’ve made a difference in your life =)
3: The Closing The closing is the last thing people read, so you should word it in a way that is consistent with the purpose of the card, and with the wording of the body preceding it. Common closings include: - “Sincerely, Sid” – I don’t particularly like using this unless I want to keep my thank you card very formal and at arm’s length. Remember, we are trying to convey appreciation and deepen our relationship – this closing accomplishes neither.
- “Love, Sid” – I typically use this for family only. Some people may use it for family and close friends.
- “Thank You, Sid” – All these are appropriate and some variation of “Thank You” is my most common closing. Varitions include: “Many thanks, Sid” , “Thank You So Much, Sid”, “Thanks, Sid“
- “Take Care, Sid” – I will sometimes use this if I know that the favor, present or perhaps just the person’s life a the time is genuinely difficult and I want to close with empathy. If so, my last line in my body will lead into this.
- When in doubt, I recommend keeping it simple – you can’t go wrong with “Thank You, Sid”
Keeping these considerations in mind, lets review my thank you card template. Thank You Card Template Just like any other correspondence, I like my thank you cards, emails or even conversation (for verbal thank yous) to have a thesis statement. Excuse me? Yes, a thesis statement – a simple, condensed summary of what is in the rest of the thank you note. My thesis statement is usually very straightforward: I wanted to drop you a quick note to thank you for ___. I then follow that up with my emotions and gratitude. Note in particular that I express gratitude for their actions and effort and not for the final result. I was really touched that you took the time to pick out a gift that you knew I would like. Using these two sentences to open my thank you card, and then bringing in the wording I discussed previously, here’s the full template. Note that items in [brackets] are optional and to be used when appropriate. The benefit of using this template is you know that every word and phrase has been carefully chosen to ensure a personalized, gratitude filled card which will convey your appreciation, and deepen your relationship. Sid’s Thank You Card Template Hey _____ ! I wanted to drop you a quick note to thank you for ____. I was really touched that you _____. [Remember The Past: When you _____, it really helped me _____. I really appreciate what you gave me/did for me.] [Paint The Future: With your gift/help, I can now _____. It truly has made a difference in my life.] Thank you so much, Sid Handwritten, Typed, Or Email? Finally, how should the card be written and delivered? Physical vs. Email: I personally don’t like receiving physical mail- but other people don’t feel the same way: especially with thank you cards. Most people still prefer actual thank you notes. Because of this, if someone has done something exceptional for me or given me an exceptionally large gift I will send a physical card via snail mail. Typed or Handwritten? I think (mistakenly or not), email can give the impression that I’m rushing to say thanks, and can come across as insincere. So for that reason, when in doubt I recommend handwritten. Nonetheless, for close friends and family who know me well, I typically send mine via email. So, get out there, enjoy the presents you receive from friends and family – and make sure to take a few moments to tell them thank you! Enjoy this article? You should Tweet This and share it with your friends, or feel free to share it however you like using this shortened link: http://j.mp/saythankyou Further Reading:  | You are subscribed to email updates from Personal Development
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A picture is worth 100 pages of legalese
Posted: 24 Dec 2012 11:30 AM PST
| A picture is worth 100 pages of legalese Posted: 24 Dec 2012 07:00 AM PST 
Here's a classic: In the legal battles over eBook price fixing, Bob Kohn got frustrated that no one was clear on the issues. And a judge ruled that his 100-page filing was excessive. So he created a 5-page comic and submitted it as a legal filing. Lesson: Failure to get a point across is always the fault of the communicator, not the listener. Try again — there's always a creative way to be understood. More: 1 2 3
P.S. If you're not following this issue, you're probably not aware of how the average author and reader is getting screwed. |
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Is Santa a Good B2B Seller? – Sales eXchange 180
Posted: 24 Dec 2012 11:29 AM PST
| Is Santa a Good B2B Seller? – Sales eXchange 180 Posted: 24 Dec 2012 12:33 AM PST 
Many organizations are in the midst of meeting with their sales teams to deliver their performance reviews and development plans for 2013. Needless to say, it is also the day (and night), Santa Clause sets out to deliver a merry Christmas. Being December 24th, seemed like a good time to examine how Santa would rank as a sales rep. Pros: - Santa is focused on the needs, and when possible, the wants of his clients
- Santa is good at leading his team
- Equal Opportunity Employer
- Santa is very thorough, attention to detail, always checking things twice
- Adopts and leverages new technologies and resources to successfully complete his tasks
- Strong work ethic
- Able to work to deadlines
- Willing to go the extra mile to complete his task
- Thinking out of the box and willing to squeeze into tight spaces to get the job done
Cons: - Santa consistently sets high, at times unrealistic expectations, only to under deliver, leaving some prospects disappointed, wanting, and having to wait 12 months for another shot at satisfaction
- At times rests on his laurels, allowing opportunities to slip by
- Relies too much on his base, and fails to proactively prospect for new clients
- Allows too many third parties to misuse and abuse the brand
- Santa is prone to prejudging prospects, always going on about who is naughty who is nice
On the face of it, Santa is not suited for sales, unless you sell Coca Cola; he is much more suited to being a customer service rep, or in community outreach. But there is one thing that Santa does well, better than most, and a key attribute for the most successful sales professionals, he is a great giver, and he loves giving. And in the end, we all know that good selling is more about giving than getting! Merry Christmas What's in Your Pipeline?
Tibor Shanto       
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If You Go for the Inspiring Message on Social Media, You have to Go All Out
Posted: 24 Dec 2012 11:13 AM PST
| If You Go for the Inspiring Message on Social Media, You have to Go All Out Posted: 24 Dec 2012 09:53 AM PST 
I start to sound like a broken record whenever I recommend to businesses that they need to be as human as possible on social media, that the venue is one dominated by people, and that brands are most successful when they stay professional but avoid being robotic. I’ll continue to say it as long as it stays true, something that is currently slated to be relevant indefinitely. One of the hardest but most effective ways to humanize a business on social media is to inspire, to post ideas, actions, and images that are not business related but that compel the human factor into the mix. It’s risky, but when done right it can be a beautiful thing. One thing that should be understood is that “inspiring” does not necessarily mean posting Winston Churchill quotes or fighting climate change with likes and shares. On social media, an inspiring message can be one that expresses an idea that fits with current circumstances. Reaching out during tragedies like the Sandy Hook shootings, for example, is an inspiring message. It’s one that is extremely risky even for local businesses and should be avoided by those who do not have a connection. The exceptions, rare though they are, happen when contributions and solutions are offered. For example, Jet Blue was able to fly family members and letters to CT quickly and without charge. Their gesture rang sincere; they didn’t make a big deal out of it. They didn’t have to. People on social media took care of the “promotion” of the action for them. 
The other opportunity that is available to every business is the seasonal inspirational post. We have the opportunity as businesses to participate in a human way during holidays and other events by expressing the personality of our companies. That is not the same as running a Memorial Day Special or Christmas Savings Extravaganza. It’s about inspiring through humanity. This is where most businesses fall short. All too often we get generic. This is worse than saying nothing at all. On one hand, you have the standard, “Wishing all of our fans Happy Holidays from your friends at ABC Motors!” Meh. On the other hand, you have what Driving Sales did. They did something fun and turned it into an image that is both noticeable and memorable. They conveyed a couple of messages that helped with branding – they’re fun, they like where they work, they have a “hip” atmosphere (notice the beanbags), and they put effort into their message. It’s the last part that makes the difference. People enjoy effort. They like to know that a post was more than an afterthought or a business requirement recommended by the internal social guru. They like creativity. They reward those who can make themselves stand out from the crowd. It’s definitely not required to use this type of technique. Some businesses prefer to keep it professional at all times and there’s nothing wrong with this. If you choose to post the occasional inspiring post, be sure to make it work. Don’t go half way. If you want to make an impact, take it well beyond what your competitors are doing. If you’re going to be boring and generic, you’re better off keeping that in the professional realm and avoid the inspirational posts altogether. Related articles | | Use Images to Gain More Readers on Your Blog Posted: 24 Dec 2012 07:05 AM PST 
If you're wondering if there is a secret sauce to gaining more readers to your blog, there is. It is called Pinterest. This social image sharing site that many use as a website where you express your interests through pins into boards that store various images of the same topic and repin images of shared interest of others, to bloggers, Pinterest is the goddess of bringing more views to your blog, hence more readers.
This does not mean that you should eliminate words from your blog, or lesson the amount of wording; this simply means you should pay more attention to the images you add to your blog that associates itself to the article and be sure to use more than one. This may come easy to those who write their articles around images they find, but for the rest of us, who write and then find images to go with our articles this can sometimes prove difficult. As a blogger you want to try and start thinking how you can begin writing about an image or images that can appeal to the masses, here is another way Pinterest can play yet another role within the life of a blogger. This is a one-stop-spot where you can see how popular images are and properly give credit too; you can then use those statistics to find a creative way to write about a topic that surrounds that image. Images are popular on social networks, you have seen that increase with your very own eyes and you do not need to be a writer to know that photos have become a universal way to communicate, whether it is of places we wish to travel, animals we find so cute, infographics to internet memes. The list is long and that means there is a ton of inspiring articles waiting for your words to turn an image into a story. It really is true, a picture is worth a thousand words, so begin writing and pinning and watch as the views come in and the relationship with new readers begin. [blogging meme image via undergrad] | | As Facebook vs Google Heats Up, Here are the Starting Lineups Posted: 24 Dec 2012 01:18 AM PST 
Perhaps it’s the sports fan in me that simply won’t go away that made me look at this infographic and compare it to a starting lineup in baseball. I no longer watch baseball, but as an avid former fan (I lost interest after the strike in 1994, if you would like to to put a date to it), I can appreciate the importance of having the right players in the right position and coming to bat in the proper order. Facebook and Google have been on a collision course ever since the social network started muscling on the search giant’s eyeball turf, followed by Google pushing forward into social networking. The clash is of titanic proportions. There will likely be some blood shed before the end of the day. This infographic takes a look at the key players at each position within their companies. Who is better positioned from an executive position to win the game? 
Hierarchy
| | Think of Sponsored Posts Like Advertising on a Race Driver: Be Selective Posted: 23 Dec 2012 08:03 PM PST 
As more businesses start to embrace the cost-effective method of social media promotions that Facebook Sponsored Stories offers, I’m seeing some mistakes pop up. As Louie Baur posted last week, you have to be careful what you advertise, as pushing the wrong content can do more harm than good. I want to take that concept a step deeper using this analogy. It can be confusing to some who wonder why so much money is paid to sponsor racing teams. After all, their logo is placed on something that is attempting to travel so fast that the logos themselves cannot be read properly. What’s the benefit? The reality is that everyone wants to be associated with a winner. They want to be associated with the sport itself and their hope is that their logo will appear on a winning vehicle and/or piece of racing apparel. The same holds true with Facebook Sponsored Stories. You can throw money at anything and get it more views than it otherwise would have gotten, but I see too often that businesses are advertising the content that they think needs more help. The spammier it is, the more likely they are to sponsor it. This is the exact opposite of what businesses should be doing with Facebook advertising. If something is a winner – that’s the story you want to be pushing. You want to pick out content that would probably get likes, shares, and comments even if you didn’t sponsor it in the first place. This has an affect on the rest of the “spammy” content that you might be posting more than if you sponsored the spammy content itself. * * * Racefotos2008 / Shutterstock.com Related articles |
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Christmas Storm and Tornado Outbreak Forecast
Posted: 24 Dec 2012 11:09 AM PST
| Christmas Storm and Tornado Outbreak Forecast Posted: 24 Dec 2012 07:00 AM PST A huge Christmas storm is threatening travelers this holiday. A Christmas tornado outbreak is also in the forecast. The Storm Prediction Center is forecasting a tornado outbreak. The most at risk areas are in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The Weather Channel has named the storm Euclid, after the famous Greek mathematician. The Weather Channel is also warning about the possibilities of rare Christmas tornadoes. Take a look: Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest  | | Man Legally Changes Name to Santa Claus Posted: 24 Dec 2012 06:00 AM PST Frank Pascuzzi, a New York resident, has legally changed his name to Santa Claus. The New York Post says there are at least 15 people in the U.S. with the name. Pascuzzi made the name change earlier this year and it has made him very popular now that Christmas is nearly here. His wife still calls him Frank. Take a look: Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest  | | President Obama Caught in Spider-Man's Web Posted: 24 Dec 2012 05:00 AM PST  The White House recently shared this photograph of President Obama caught in Spider-Man's web. Spider-Man is reportedly the child of a White House staffer. The photograph is believed to have been taken around Halloween. President Obama is a big Spider-Man fan and even appeared in a Marvel comic in 2009. Photo: Pete Souza/White House Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest  | | The Hobbit Wins Box Office for Second Straight Weekend Posted: 23 Dec 2012 06:44 PM PST  The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey won the box office for the second straight weekend over the Christmas holiday. The Hobbit added over $36 million to its growing box office total during its second weekend in theaters. It has now made nearly $150 million in the U.S., plus another $284 million overseas. The Hobbit was followed by Jack Reacher and This is 40, which had decent openings. Jack Reacher made $16 million and This is 40 made $12 million. The Guilt Trip and Monsters Inc. 3D did not perform well - each film made about $5 million. You can see the complete box office report here. Photo: Warner Bros.
Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest
 | | Cast of Django Unchained Answers Fans' Questions Posted: 23 Dec 2012 03:55 PM PST The cast and director of Django Unchained answers fans' questions for CNN in this video clip. Quentin Tarantino talks about using the format of a Western to tell the story. He says he wanted to make it interesting for the viewers. Jamie Foxx says the love between Django and his wife is the spine of the movie. Kerry Washington says Django is inspired by the goal of finding his missing wife. Samuel L. Jackson says he read a lot of time reading about slavery over the years, and that he grew up in the South. So he didn't need to do much research historically. His challenges were character based. Take a look: Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest  | | Trailer for Tyler Perry's Temptation Starring Jurnee Smollett, Robbie Jones and Kim Kardashian Posted: 23 Dec 2012 01:00 PM PST  Here is the trailer for Tyler Perry's Temptation new film, which stars Jurnee Smollett ( Friday Night Lights), Lance Gross, Vanessa Williams, Robbie Jones and Kim Kardashian. Jurnee plays a marriage counselor who falls for a rich client played by Jones. The only problem is that she is already married. Complications ensue. Kim has a small role in the trailer, her character works in the same office as Jurnee's character. The film hits theaters March 29, 2013. Take a look: Photo: Lionsgate Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest  | | Santa Goes Scuba Diving Posted: 23 Dec 2012 12:00 PM PST Visitors to the aquarium at Guadalajara Zoo in Mexico got a fun Christmas surprise: Santa Claus was scuba diving with the fish. The diver, wearing a full Santa outfit, floated in the water and waved to the delighted children. They seemed to accept readily that Santa had decided to go for a swim. Take a look: Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest  | | International Cat Pageant Held in Israel Posted: 23 Dec 2012 11:00 AM PST An international cat pageant was held in Isreal. The annual pageant is put on by the New Israeli Cat Alliance. ITN reports that there were 100 different types of cat breeds at the show. There was also a cat-a-like contest, where owners are judged by how much they resemble their pets. Take a look: Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest  | | NORAD Partners With Cesium and Bing to Track Santa's 2012 Christmas Journey Posted: 23 Dec 2012 09:40 AM PST  NORAD has partnered with Cesium and Microsoft's Bing maps to track Santa's journey around the world this Christmas. Google offers a separate Santa tracker it created for Google Maps this year. You can find the NORAD tracker at noradsanta.org. NORAD's Santa tracking will begin on December 24th. Here is a teaser for NORAD's Santa tracker. Take a look: Photo: NORAD Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest  | You are subscribed to email updates from ShoppingBlog.com
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Holiday iPad magic to start your week
Posted: 24 Dec 2012 11:05 AM PST
| Holiday iPad magic to start your week Posted: 24 Dec 2012 10:00 AM PST | | Will Ferrell Apple Switch ads are a holiday-themed blast from the past Posted: 24 Dec 2012 09:00 AM PST | | Daily Deals for December 24, 2012 Posted: 24 Dec 2012 08:30 AM PST It's time to save some of that hard-earned cash with our Daily Deals, featuring a handy list from Dealnews and our own hand-picked selections that include some sweet deals on iOS and OS X software (all prices are USD). You can also check out our holiday deals list from last week for even more software sales. Deals from Dealnews - Kensington.com: [iPad] Kensington: 50% off sitewide, no minimum
- MacUpdate Promo: [Mac Software] MacUpdate December 2012 Bundle: 12 Mac apps for $50
- NetZero: [Computer Services] 4G Devices at NetZero: 50% off + first month for free
- Nordstrom: [iPhone Accessories] Areaware Alarm Dock for iPhone / iPod touch for $30 + free shipping
- Steam: [PC Games] Steam Holiday Sale: Up to 75% off PC and Mac games, Borderlands 2 for $30
- HandHeldItems: [iPad Accessories] Aluminum Bluetooth Keyboard Case w/ iOS Keys for iPad mini for $24 + $3 s&h
- GameStop: [Apple iPhones] Used devices at GameStop: Buy 1, get 50% off 2nd, iPods, iPads, iPhones, more
- Skullcandy: [Headphones] Skullcandy: 50% off sitewide + free shipping
- StackSocial: [Mac Software] The Mega Design Bundle w/ holiday images for PC and Mac downloads for $49
- eBay: [Input Devices] Celluon Magic Cube Laser Virtual Keyboard for $110 + free shipping
- Verizon Broadband: [Computer Services] Verizon FiOS Triple Play w/ free $300 Visa Card, router, more for $75/month
iOS Software - ProCam [iPhone, Category: Photography & Video, Now free, down from $0.99] Photo-taking app with advanced features like Focus, exposure & white balance (WB) lock and more.
- Sakura Quick Math [iOS Universal, Category: Education, On sale for $0.99, down from $1.99] Practice your mathematics while racing the clock in this innovative iPad app.
- Jungle Picnic [iPad, Category: Education, On sale for $0.99, down from $1.99] Jungle Picnic is a fun and colorful learning app for children aged 2 - 4 years.
- Match Blitz [iPad, Category: Games, Now free, down from $0.99] Battle with up to four players as you try to spot the matching symbols.
- Grocery List - Buy me a Pie! [iOS Universal, Category: Productivity, On sale for $0.99, down from $2.99] Beautifully designed app allows you to make lists and sync it with your family's iOS devices so they can add items on the go.
- Tango Remote [iOS Universal, Category: Music, On sale for $1.99, down from $4.99] Tango Remote lets you remotely control another iOS device's music.
- RDM+ Remote Desktop for iPhone [iPhone, Category: Productivity, On sale for $0.99, down from $7.99] Easy-to-setup and reliable application providing fast and secure remote access to your Mac or Windows computers
- RDM+ HD for iPad [iPhone, Category: Productivity, On sale for $1.99, down from $9.99] Easy-to-setup and reliable application providing fast and secure remote access to your Mac or Windows computers.
- Business Card Reader [iPhone, Category: Business, On sale for $0.99, down from $4.99] Instant business card recognition right on the iPhone.
- Business Card Reader HD [iPad, Category: Business, On sale for $0.99, down from $6.99] Instant business card recognition right on the iPad.
- Business Card Reader with CJK (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) [iPhone, Category: Business, On sale for $0.99, down from $3.99] Special edition of Business Card Reader with Chinese, Japanese, Korean and English business cards recognition. Instant business card recognition right on the iPhone.
- WebCamera [iOS Universal, Category: Productivity, On sale for $0.99, down from $3.99] Turn your iPhone into a high quality wireless webcam with microphone.
- Mobiscope [iOS Universal, Category: Utilities, On sale for $1.99, down from $9.99] From the developer of IM+. An affordable video surveillance app that lets you monitor your IP cameras, and view and control public webcams.
- iSay [iPhone, Category: Games, Now free, down from $9.99] An addictive card game of storytelling, bluffing, strategy and guesswork.
- Avengers Initiative: [iOS Universal, Category: Games] Now free, down from $6.99. Help The Avengers pull the world back from the brink of catastrophe.
OS X Software - AppyFridays [OS X, Category: Misc, $0.99] AppyFridays offers four OS X apps for 99 cents each including Startrail, Marked, Music Recorder and Cooke Cutter.
- Rocking Dollar Promotion [OS X, Category: Misc, $0.99] Grab 15 popular apps for 99 cents each. The apps on sale includes PhotoBulk, Canyons & Arches Desktops, Timing, Mushroom Age, Christmasville, ColorStrokes, MenuMate, Get Plain Text, Markdown Pro, Pinball, MahJong, The Tiny Bang Story, Elsewhere, SMARTreporter and KaraokeTube.
- Tagalicious [OS X, Category: Music, On sale for $7.99, down from $9.99] Easily organize and metatize your entire music library.
- MacFonts Holiday Fonts [OS X, Category: Graphics & Design, Now free, down from $4.99] Pack of holiday-themed fonts.
- Lost Photos [OS X, Category: Photography, On sale for $0.99, down from $2.99] Lost Photos discovers all the photos you've ever sent or received stored in your email account.
- All OS X software from Realmac [OS X, Category: Various, Now 65% off] All Realmac's OS X software titles are on sale for 65% off until January 6th. Apps include Clear for Mac, Analog, Courier, LittleSnapper and RapidWeaver.
- FX Photo Studio [OS X, Category: Photography] On sale for $7.99, down from $9.99] FX Photo Studio is a photo app with over 170 photo effects & filters and stylish frames.
- Ultimate Mac Music Bundle [OS X, Category: Misc] On sale for $39 Stacksocial is offering the Ultimate Mac Music Bundle, a group of eight apps with a retail value of $355. The apps include: MegaSeg DJ, The T-Pain Engine, Tracks, Flip4Mac Studio, Boom for Mac, Ondesoft Audio Recorder, SOS Online Backup and TuneUp. Deal is available now until December 29.
- Mac Productivity Bundle 3.0 [OS X, Category: Misc] On sale for $50 Stacksocial is offering the Mac Productivity Bundle 3.0, a group of nine apps with a retail value of $1150. The apps include: Billings, ARTTEXT, Disk Tools Pro, Stuffit Deluxe, Pandora UI for iOS, Hydra Pro and more. Deal is available now until December 25.
Daily Deals for December 24, 2012 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 24 Dec 2012 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments | | Daily iPad App: TurnPlay lets you play with vinyl records on your iPad Posted: 24 Dec 2012 08:00 AM PST  If you love vinyl and can't get your hands on a working turntable, then the next best thing is the TurnPlay app from Ramotion. The iPad app has rich graphics that simulate the look and feel of a vintage record player. TurnPlay brings me back to my childhood when I used to sneak into my older sister's room and listen to her Earth, Wind and Fire 45s. The premise behind TurnPlay is simple -- the app allows you to select a song from your music library and play it on a virtual record player. There's a tone arm with a virtual needle that you can drop anywhere within the track and a knob that turns the player on and off. There's even a speed adjustment that lets you slow down or speed up the track and a scratch feature for you hip hop DJs. When you load a track from your music library, TurnPlay also imports the album art, which was a big part of the vinyl record experience. You can import one track at a time and the track must be stored locally on your device. Like most third-party music apps, TurnPlay doesn't work with iTunes Match or any other third-party cloud music services. You can download TurnPlay from the iOS App Store for US$1.99. Daily iPad App: TurnPlay lets you play with vinyl records on your iPad originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 24 Dec 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments | | Daily iPhone App: Bezel Photo adds some shapely fun to your photos Posted: 24 Dec 2012 07:00 AM PST  Bezel Photo lets you snazzy up your pictures with shaped frames and photo filters. The app allows you to take a photo with your camera or pull one in from your photo library. Once you've got the perfect shot, you can highlight a section of the image by adding a circle, square, triangle, diamond or heart-shaped frame to your composition. Filters, contrast/brightness sliders and optional color borders (99-cent in-app purchase) let you add some flair to your framed photos. When you are done tweaking your shot, you can export the photo to your camera roll or share it on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Bezel Photo is lightweight and easy to use once you get used to the icon-driven, gesture-based UI. The first time through you'll have to take a few minutes to tap on all the icons and figure out what they do. The second time you fire up Bezel Photo you will be able to breeze through the app like a champ. The only drawback I found while using Bezel Photo was the filters. Once I applied a filter, I could change it, but I could not figure out how to remove it. I could step back to the beginning to remove the filter, but then I lost my photo and had to start over again. Besides this small hiccup, Bezel Photo worked exceptionally well at adding a shaped frame to your pics, and I will keep it in my arsenal of photo apps for this purpose. You can download Bezel Photo for free from the iOS App Store. Daily iPhone App: Bezel Photo adds some shapely fun to your photos originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 24 Dec 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments | | AppleScript Desktop Icon Race Posted: 24 Dec 2012 06:00 AM PST Scripty Claus' gift to you this Holiday Season is a fun little AppleScript that lines up your Desktop icons and races them across the screen until one of them reaches the finish line. Here's how to set it up... Note: You can download the complete script here. 1. Launch AppleScript Editor in /Applications/Utilities. 2. Enter the following code: 3. Run the script to start the fun. When the script runs, it calculates how many icons are allowed in the race and lines the lucky contestants up along the left side of your screen. Any remaining icons are deemed spectators, and are lined up along the right side of your screen. The race begins, and the contestants randomly race to the virtual finish line on the right side of the screen. The first one to reach the finish line is the winner. At the end of the race, your icons are moved back to their original locations. Pre-race Desktop Starting the race A winner is announced! Happy Holidays and Happy Scripting! AppleScript Desktop Icon Race originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 24 Dec 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments | | Five apps that put the Merry in Merry Christmas Posted: 24 Dec 2012 05:10 AM PST  It's Christmas Eve, which means that it is time to stop shopping and start enjoying the Christmas holiday. Here are five fun apps to help you get your cheer on. The Impossible Test is a brain teaser app that asks you questions which are seemingly impossible to answer. Of course, each one has an answer -- you just have to use your brain power to figure it out. This holiday version features four game modes and 30 Christmas questions. Zen of Snow HD is a snow globe for your iPad and iPhone. The relaxing app includes four peaceful scenes and background Christmas music. It's a perfect companion while you wrap your gifts or stuff your Christmas turkey. Snappet (iOS Universal, US$0.99) If you love taking photos of your pet and sharing them with friends and family, then you need to download Snappet. The photo-taking app lets you add outfits to your pet without having to squeeze that poor tabby into a tutu. A holiday themed version lets you add reindeer hats, snowman costumes, and more to your furry friends. ReindeerCam (iOS Universal, $1.99) Get a glimpse of Santa's reindeer in this app that provides a live video feed from the North Pole. Watch Santa feed the reindeer each day at 11 am, 6 pm & 9 pm EST. Great for kids and parents alike. Wonder if you will get a stocking full of coal this Christmas? Find out if you've been naughty or nice this year using the full body or fingerprint scanner in the Naughty or Nice scan app. Share your results on Twitter and Facebook with this entertaining holiday app. Five apps that put the Merry in Merry Christmas originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 24 Dec 2012 08:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments | | TUAW's Best of 2012 Personal Picks: Steve Sande Posted: 23 Dec 2012 04:30 PM PST  While I'm busy running the TUAW Best of 2012 nominations and voting process (voting starts soon!), I have a few favorites that I wanted to pass along as my personal Best of 2012. These picks don't follow any particular order and they're definitely not following the categories that we've set up for the TUAW Best of 2012. Best Desktop Mac: The new 27" iMac. With a 1 TB Fusion Drive, 16 GB of RAM (so far) and a blazing 3.4 GHz Intel Core i7 CPU plus a less reflective display, this was my favorite purchase of the year. Best iPhone: The iPhone 5. Sure, I really didn't need one this year, and I probably should have saved the money. But what an amazing phone! It's light, amazingly thin, fast, and the 4" screen is outstanding. On top of that, Siri seems to work quite a bit faster. Best iPhone and iPad Game: Without a doubt, it's Letterpress. Don't laugh, but while I'm writing this I'm also playing a game against "Harumph" of TUAW TV Live. Best iPhone, iPad and Mac Writing App: Day One. I love this app, since it lets me keep a daily journal wherever I happen to be. I've used all three versions to enter my "Dear Diary" entries, and they're always in sync. Universal iOS app is here, Mac app is here. One of the first things I plan to do in 2013 is to sit down and read my entries for the past year. Best iPhone Navigation App: Sorry, Google Maps, but I find Apple's much-maligned iOS 6 Maps app to be perfectly fine. I like the Siri integration, being able to say things like "Take me home" to get directions back to my house from somewhere else, or "When will I arrive at home?" to get an estimated time of arrival. Best iOS 6 Surprise: Hands-down, it's Passbook. I use it for airline boarding passes, Starbucks purchases, and movie tickets. I can't wait to see where Apple and third parties take Passbook in 2013. Best iPhone, iPad and Mac Browser: Google Chrome. It's fast, it syncs settings between platforms, and it just seems to work on everything for me. iPhone version's here, iPad is here, and Mac can be downloaded here. Best iPad stylus: It's a tie! I don't usually use a stylus unless I am attempting art, but when I do, I love both the Pogo Connect and the Sensu Brush. Best iPad Accessory: Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover. Best Apple-related Books: Hey, I'd be remiss if I didn't put in a personal plug for two books written by me and my buddy Erica Sadun. Talking To Siri will soon be out in a second edition and enhanced edition, while Pitch Perfect is about to come out in an expanded version. Best Mac Utility: Reflector. I use this app to broadcast iPhone and iPad screens on TUAW TV Live, and it's also useful for capturing video for training purposes. It was excellent when it first came out and has been getting steadily better with each new release. That's just a random sampling of some of my favorite things from 2012. It was really a great year for both applications and accessories, with some real maturity coming to the iOS market. I can't wait to see what's in store for 2013. We'll start voting on the TUAW Best of 2012 soon, so keep your eyes open. TUAW's Best of 2012 Personal Picks: Steve Sande originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 23 Dec 2012 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments | | Talkcast tonight, 10pm ET: Holiday cheer, Apple-style Posted: 23 Dec 2012 03:30 PM PST  If Apple fans were shopping for a CEO-worthy Christmas gift (really, what do you get for the man who can buy everything?), they can stand down now. He may not have taken the front cover, but Tim Cook's selection as a runner-up for Time Magazine's Person of the Year certainly will warm hearts and stockings over Cupertino way. In some ways it's best he wasn't selected over President Barack Obama; it would have made for a particularly awkward iPad mini ad. We've only got two days left before Christmas, and if you're still looking for gift ideas (sorry, iPad mini stock is all booked up) or just need an hour's break from kith and kin, we're here for you. We'll talk Tim Cook, holiday plans, and generally kick back and relax. It'll be fun. As mentioned on the show last week, we'll also be accepting entries into our Sci-Fi Holiday Carol contest; prizes will be awarded for both lyrical composition and performance. The best "Cylon Night, Holy Night" will get a snazzy iPhone 5 case from Speck, so warm up those vocal cords! To participate live during the show, you can use the browser-only Talkshoe client, the embedded Facebook app, or download the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, the best way to have your voice heard is to call in. For the web UI, just click the Talkshoe Web button on our profile page at 4 HI/7 PDT/10 pm EDT Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VoIP lines (viva free weekend minutes!): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 -- during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *8. If you've got a headset or microphone handy on your Mac, you can connect via the free X-Lite or other SIP clients (aside from Skype or Google Voice), basic instructions are here. Talk to you tonight! Talkcast tonight, 10pm ET: Holiday cheer, Apple-style originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 23 Dec 2012 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments | | Ditching the iPhone? Planning for 2013 Posted: 23 Dec 2012 02:30 PM PST  Ever since the iPad mini debuted, I've had a plan brewing at the back of my mind. Sometime in 2013, I'm considering ditching my iPhone, picking up a refurb 1st gen iPad mini 3G (I assume I won't be putting this plan into action until the spring at the earliest), and buying a cheap Tracfone with triple minutes for life. I figure it would save my family a bunch of cash. I'd be dropping my unlimited iPhone data plan, but since I'd also be dropping my voice plan -- a service I barely use, with expensive wasted minutes -- I could basically buy 3 GB/month for less than I'm paying for my voice/data plan combined. Instead of paying $70/month, I could cover my voice needs for $100/year and drop my data to maybe $30/month. Basically, my costs would go from $840-ish per year down to $480-ish per year. What's more, I'd address one of my biggest complaints about the iPhone -- the screen size. The iPad mini's larger screen would work far better for reading on the go. And yet, I hesitate. The honest truth is that I love my iPhone. I love its small portable form factor. I love how I can just put it in a pocket and I'm ready to go. Although I do most things in life with a small backpack, I really really really like how easily the iPhone allows me to grab it and go. I can use Siri when stopped at a light to message, to find directions, to make a note, to add a reminder, and so forth. I love how the iPhone is a single thing, not a pair, and how well it does all the jobs I give it to do. Moving from iPhone to mini means sacrificing that grab and use functionality. But is that functionality worth nearly $400 a year to me and my family? It's not as if I can't do all these things (excluding placing calls and SMS texts) on a mini. It offers all the iOS found on Apple's other devices, including Siri support, a camera system, and so forth. If I'd have to put a price tag on love, my iPhone love would cost about, well, $400. I've omitted the capital costs here since for my job I'd probably be picking up the hardware anyway at some point -- this only assumes that I'd buy a 3G instead of the WiFi that I'd normally purchase. So what do you think? Is this the biggest heresy since Grothaus suggested going Samsung? Or is this a reasonable and sensible direction during tough economic conditions? You tell me. Drop a note into the comments and share your opinion. Ditching the iPhone? Planning for 2013 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 23 Dec 2012 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Best Blogs For Small Business
Posted: 24 Dec 2012 11:03 AM PST
| Best Blogs For Small Business Posted: 24 Dec 2012 07:40 AM PST by Michael Bowers 
The cool thing about the internet is that high quality business content from really smart people is only a click away. The trick is finding the good stuff. Over the past year I have read more business blogs and posts than I could count. So in the spirit of sharing I have compiled a list of some of my favorites. I know can help you get your business running on all cylinders. Spin Sucks ~ This is a great blog lead by my friend Gini Dietrich. It covers a lot of ground in the PR and communications space. It speaks to the small business owner as well as the PR professional. Gini and a number of guest authors help you understand how to attract customers using traditional as well as digital methods. Savvy Sexy Social ~ Amy Schmittauer brings clarity to building a successful business using on-line media tools to reach your audience. Amy uses written content as well as podcasting and video to help you employ new tools that you might not have used because you didn't understood their value. or simply how to use them. Entrepreneur ~ This seems obvious but with so many choices it is easy to miss this source. Entrepreneur brings news and "how-to" content focused on the strategy of building and growing a small business. The Sales Blog ~ If you are looking for content to help jump start your sales The Sale Blog is the place to look. Anthony Iannarino helps you build sales and stay motivated motivated to reach your goals. Copyblogger ~ Content is key to attracting quality leads. Let me rephrase that, well written content is key to attracting quality leads. That's where Copyblogger comes in. They help you understand how to write content that fits to your audience needs and wants and attracts leads. American Express Open Forum ~ The American Express Open Forum brings together a number of small business owners/writers/bloggers to create content in all aspects of small business. Mashable ~ Technology, social, business ,etc. Mashable allows you to step out of your cocoon and see what is happening in the bigger picture. Time Management Ninja ~ Like many of you I struggle daily with balancing work and personal and trying to get it ALL done. The Time Mangagment Ninja provides very work able advice to help you gain some sense of control. Tweak Your Business ~ A great resource for small business owners, Tweak Your Business provides content in many different areas of business. The content, written by a business owners, brings "been there, done that" experience to help your avoid mistakes and take advantage of opportunities to grow your business. ChrisBrogan.com ~ I first met Chris Brogan when he did a keynote presentation for me at the Ohio Growth Summit in 2009. He has stood the test of time for me. He brings great content about on-line business acquisition and about how you can be brave enough step out on the limb and reach new levels of success. Remember that growing a business is a marathon not a sprint. There are times when you will feel great and times when you feel that you can't go on. The key is to prepare properly and trust in yourself so you will reach the finish line know as success. | You are subscribed to email updates from Ideas To Deals
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VOTD: Olly Moss Talks About His Career As An Artist At Offset 2012
Posted: 24 Dec 2012 11:03 AM PST
| VOTD: Olly Moss Talks About His Career As An Artist At Offset 2012 Posted: 24 Dec 2012 10:00 AM PST 
Here at /Film, we’re big fans of pop culture artist Olly Moss. Peter has been writing about his Threadless t-shirts from the earliest days, I was quoted on his first book and the guy continues to amaze with his work both for Mondo and other clients as well. Earlier this year, he gave a talk at Offset 2012, a UK based conference, and took the audience through a tour of his career. From his earliest drawings as a 15 year old boy, through full concepts for some of his most famous work at Mondo (The Evil Dead, Star Wars), video game covers, his first art show (above) and much more. Did you know he designed the opening credits for The Losers? What was his first screen print? If you’re a fan of Moss’s, or movie posters and art in general, it’s a fascinating watch. Check it out below. Thanks to @ollymoss for the heads up on this video. Olly Moss – OFFSET2012 from OFFSET on Vimeo. The biggest take from this video is just how humble Moss is. Almost every single thing he’s done, he has a criticism for as he’s grown as an artist. It’s never good enough, even when a set of his Star Wars prints – prints he think are too big – now sell for $4,000 dollars or so. But also just how he conceptualizes his work. Some of the interactions with the clients. The way his Evil Dead piece is really just an homage to the original poster. The way Captain America is kind of a joke because he walks around with a target. These are all just ideas a pop culture fan would have, and Moss turns them into beautiful art. No wonder we’re fans, right? P.S. – I cameo at 34:07. Too cool.  | | Damon Lindelof Offers Update on ’1952:’ Brad Bird Co-Writing, Hoping To Shoot In 2013 Posted: 24 Dec 2012 09:49 AM PST 
Brad Bird‘s next film 1952, also known as not Star Wars Episode VII despite early rumors to the contrary, has yet to be greenlit. Screenwriter Damon Lindelof is confident, however, that it will get made. In a new interview, the man who co-created Lost and co-wrote Prometheus, Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness, explains how he got Bird on board the project. Lindelof explains that he and the director have been co-writing the latest draft for the past few months and that they hope production can start mid-2013. No plot details yet, but it seems like the writer is dying to tell us all what this film, which is likely to star George Clooney and has sci-fi DNA, is about. Read more below. Lindelof’s quotes came from an interview with Collider. Here’s how Bird came onto the project, which Lindelof co-created with Entertainment Weekly writer Jeff Jensen: The writing of Trek was happening around the same time as the post production on Ghost Protocol so we were both in that a Bad Robot space at lot at that time and kind of became buds. I told him about this thing that I was working on over here at Disney. We were eating sushi, just one of those like, "So, what are you working on?" "Brad what are you doing after you wrap up on Ghost Protocol?" "Damon what are you doing after Trek?" And so I started talking about this thing and I could just see his eyes light up a little bit and I'm now totally willing to blow up this budding friendship because if I don't my take a shot at him not I'll be kicking myself forever. Which is to say, "Hey, if you would ever want to be involved in this thing in any way, shape or form, just call yourself an executive producer and I'll give you a parking spot and you don't even need to do anything on it. That would be a dream come true. Then we just started exchanging emails and talking about it and then this guy Jeff Jensen, who's a friend of mine, he and I really worked on the – when you finally hear about what this thing is I'll be able to be much more explicit about what it is. Anytime something interesting happened in the development process I would just let Bird know, "Hey we had this cool idea today." In the spirit of letting him know that I wasn't letting him off the hook. And then the next thing I knew I was asking him if he would direct it and he said yes. He and have now been co-writing the movie for the last four months and that's been an incredible experience because anytime you write with a partner that you haven't written with before they call bullshit on all your tricks that you have come to rely on and feel comfortable with, and then you learn from them in terms of how to think and how to evolve.
The film has yet to be greenlit because several normal movie issues have to be ironed out, mainly cast and budget. But Lindelof is confident that’ll all fall into place in the coming months with production hopefully starting in mid-2013. Then we’ll get an idea what this mysterious project really is: We have to lock down some key casting elements and we have to make sure that the movie isn't going to cost them (Disney) an arm and a leg. I have confidence that we'll be able to accomplish both those things and hopefully when we do we'll be able to announce what this movie is.
You can read more of Lindelof’s thoughts in his Collider interview.  | | New Image From ‘Elysium’ Highlights Sharlto Copley as a Grimy Assassin Posted: 24 Dec 2012 09:19 AM PST 
Today we’ve had new images from Star Trek Into Darkness, and now we’ve got a new look at another one of 2013′s other big sci-fi adventures: Elysium, from District 9 director Neill Blomkamp. We still haven’t seen a trailer, and only a couple official photos have surfaced from the film before this. The other pics show Matt Damon, who plays a guy trying to get to the rich society of Elysium, which hovers above Earth and holds the key to his survival. This is District 9 star Sharlto Copley as Kruger, a dirty, dangerous mercenary/bounty hunter on the trail of Damon’s desperate character. Elysium also stars Jodie Foster, Wagner Moura, Alice Braga and Diego Luna. Hit the jump for the full pic.
Thanks to Empire for the image. The film is set for release on August 9, 2013. 
In the year 2159 two classes of people exist: the very wealthy who live on a pristine man-made space station called Elysium, and the rest, who live on an overpopulated, ruined Earth. Secretary Rhodes (Jodie Foster), a hard line government official will stop at nothing to enforce anti-immigration laws and preserve the luxurious lifestyle of the citizens of Elysium. That doesn’t stop the people of Earth from trying to get in, by any means they can. When unlucky Max (Matt Damon) is backed into a corner, he agrees to take on a daunting mission that if successful will not only save his life, but could bring equality to these polarized worlds.
 | | ‘Scary Movie 5′ Trailer: ‘Black Swan’ Plus ‘Paranormal Activity’ Equals More Of The Same Posted: 24 Dec 2012 09:10 AM PST 
The first trailer for Scary Movie 5 is out, and watching it might be like experiencing deja vu. Much like another upcoming horror spoof, A Haunted House, the main drive of the film is based on the Paranormal Activity series, and features a young couple (here played by Ashley Tisdale and Simon Rex) trying to figure out what evil, possibly influenced by Black Swan, is haunting their house. Marlon Wayans stars in the competing film, which is confusing because it was he and his brothers who started the Scary Movie franchise in the first place. It’s all very fluid and weird and, based on this trailer, not particularly funny. Check it out below. Thanks to MTV for the trailer. Did you laugh once during that trailer? I didn’t. I came closest, though, when Lindsay Lohan is screaming and then continues screaming when she sees herself on screen. That’s kind of clever. But the fact that this movie and A Haunted House look so similar just feels lazy. Maybe one will be better and funnier than the other. Which do you have your money on? Here’s the description of the film, which also stars Erica Ash, Charlie Sheen, Molly Shannon, Terry Crews, Marisa Saks, Heather Locklear, Jasmine Guy, Angie Stone, Kate Walsh, Angela “Big Ang” Raiola, Sherée Whitfield, Mike Tyson, Audrina Patridge, Kendra Wilkinson and Katt Williams: In the film, snooty, aloof, imperious, and oversexed French dance company director Pierre is putting on a new production. Jody (Tisdale), a Caucasian late-20s mother of two and her late-20s African American friend Kendra (Ash) are both vying for the lead in the production. Jody's extremely controlling former dancer mother is determined that Jody will have the brilliant career that eluded her. The highly skilled mid-30s Diva veteran dancer with the company, Heather Daltry (Shannon), gets cut from the production and goes berserk.
- Sequel Bits: ‘Iron Man 3′ Set Photos Offer Still More Plot Hints, Plus: ‘Prometheus’, ‘Scary Movie 5′, ‘Star Trek 2′
- ‘High School Musical’ Star Ashley Tisdale To Star In ‘Scary Movie 5′
- Sequel Bits: ‘Jack Ryan’, ‘Scary Movie 5′, ‘Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning’, James Bond
- Sequel Bits: ‘Terminator 5,’ ‘Scary Movie 5,’ ‘The Signal 2,’ ‘Catching Fire,’ ‘The Hobbit,’ ‘Sinister,’ ‘Transformers 4′
- Sequel Bits: ’300: Rise of an Empire’, ‘Fast and the Furious 6′, ‘Taken 3′, ‘Scary Movie 5′, ‘The Hobbit’, ‘Before Midnight’
- Sequel Bits: ‘Pirates of the Caribbean 5′, ‘Jurassic Park 4′, ‘The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’, ‘Scary Movie 5′, ‘Prometheus’, ‘The Godfather’
 | | Over A Dozen New ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ Images Surface Posted: 24 Dec 2012 08:30 AM PST 
If all you want for Christmas is more images from Star Trek Into Darkness, Santa just arrived early. The latest issue of Empire Magazine has the upcoming J.J. Abrams sequel on its cover and, inside, has brand new looks at Kirk, Spock, Scotty, Uhura and even John Harrison, the mysterious villain played by Benedict Cumberbatch. Check them out below and read a new, revealing, plot description too. Thanks to Empire (via Coming Soon) for the images.                And, here’s the new plot description from the text of the article (hat tip to Bleeding Cool). with Earth under terrorist attack from Benedict Cumberbatch's ex-Starfleet employee John Harrison, Kirk is this time forced into a rash decision that breaks a critical Starfleet command, puts his crew in danger & costs him his captain's chair. Now out of uniform and dressed down in space civvies of black leather jackets and boots, our three heroes have separated from the Enterprise and headed off on a mission to try and rectify his mistake…
Star Trek Into Darkness opens May 17. - Sequel Bits: ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ Title Dispute and Synopsis Revision, Plus ‘Riddick,’ ‘Taken 2′
- /Filmcast Ep. 211 – The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (GUEST: Joanna Robinson from Pajiba)
- Sequel Bits: ‘Expendables 3′, ‘Sin City 2′, ‘Transformers 4′ , ‘Wet Hot American Summer 2′, ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’, ‘Hangover 3′, ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’, and More
- ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ Teaser Kicks Off Viral Campaign: ‘Are You the 1701?’
- ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ Teaser Trailer: More Action, More Intrigue, More Problems For Captain Kirk
- ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ Bits: More Khan Talk, IMAX Footage, ‘Star Trek 4′
 | | /Filmcast Ep. 212 – Jack Reacher Posted: 23 Dec 2012 02:19 PM PST 
Dave, Devindra, and Adam discuss the politics of Zero Dark Thirty, praise the ingenuity of Girl Walk / All Day, ponder what’s wrong at AMC, and take a look at Tom Cruise’s latest. You can always e-mail us at slashfilmcast(AT)gmail(DOT)com, or call and leave a voicemail at 781-583-1993.
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SiliconBeat
Posted: 24 Dec 2012 09:52 AM PST
| McAfee headed to England if U.S. won’t grant visas for his two girlfriends Posted: 24 Dec 2012 09:14 AM PST Silicon Valley software guru-turned-fugitive John McAfee may have left Miami for England, where he was born.
McAfee, 67, who has acknowledged lying to the media and frequently playing hoaxes for kicks, told Britain’s The Sun newspaper that he wants to start his life over in England with his Belizean girlfriends, Sam Vanegas, 20 and a 17 year old that The Sun identified as Amy Emshwiller.
On his blog, www.whoismcafee.com, McAfee posted a cryptic Christmas Eve message on Monday in which he wrote, “I am safe now, in the country in which I grew up, went to school, got married and had children. It is a country of laws and due process.”
McAfee has dual citizenship with the United States and England. He founded the anti-piracy software company that bears his name in Santa Clara.
He ended up in Belize, where police identified him as a “person of interest” in the death of his neighbor, Gregory Viant Faull, which led McAfee to flee to neighboring Guatemala with Vanegas in tow.
But McAfee was then sent to Miami without his two girlfriends.
The Sun said that it had a “bizarre interview” with McAfee in which he said he wants to start a new life with both women in Southampton.
“McAfee, who was born in Sling, Gloucestershire, hatched the plan after becoming frustrated with the US authorities, who are refusing to give the women visas so they can join him in the States,” The Sun reported.
The Sun quoted McAfee as saying, “I feel just as much British as I do American. My mother, Joan Williams, was British and met my father Donald McAfee while he was stationed in England during the Second World War.
“We lived in Sling until I was two then moved to Norton, Virginia. I am a dual citizen, both British and American, and that is a big part of my identity.
“I was raised British. I eat Marmite every day and love Tetley tea and treacle with custard.
“If I can’t get Samantha and Amy into the US, my plan is to move to Southampton and start a new life there.
“The weather’s obviously drearier but at least we will be by the sea. My number one priority is getting back together with my girls.”
McAfee called both women “very special” and said Vanegas “stuck with me the whole time I was on the run and protected me from getting caught.”
He referred to Emshwiller as “one of the smartest women I’ve ever met and one of the most dangerous. She tried to kill me when we first met, although we got over that.
“I think I’m going to marry Sam because it might be fun. I can’t marry both because no country will allow me to do that.
“America used to be the Land Of The Free,” McAfee told The Sun. “But it’s not like that any more.
“Trying to get my girls visas is proving to be the most difficult thing – but I am determined to be with them by Christmas.” |
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Top 20 Social Media Marketing Articles From 2012
Posted: 24 Dec 2012 09:50 AM PST
| Top 20 Social Media Marketing Articles From 2012 Posted: 24 Dec 2012 03:00 AM PST  Have you kept up to date with the best social media marketing practices?
Are you looking for actionable tips you can apply to your business? Here are our most popular articles from 2012. 7 New Facebook Changes Impacting BusinessesDid you follow all of the changes on Facebook in 2012? Facebook made many changes that impact anyone with a Facebook Page.  The new timeline cover photo for Macy's. Several of these changes emerged from Facebook's fMC 2012 Conference. The overall message was that Facebook is looking at Pages as a "mission control" point (which is where the MC comes from in the conference title). Read more for an overview of the changes and how brands can take advantage of some of the new features. 26 Tips for Using Pinterest for BusinessTo say there's been a lot of buzz about Pinterest in 2012 would be putting it mildly! Pinterest's ease of use for visually bookmarking, organizing and sharing things you love made it a hit among individuals and businesses alike. Whether you have a Pinterest business account or not, follow these tips to get more exposure for your business on Pinterest.  Check out what's already been shared from your business. Read more for an overview of how your business could use Pinterest. 30 Social Media Predictions for 2012 From the ProsDid you follow the evolution in social media practices this year? Here's a look at what marketers were talking about at the beginning of 2012.  The convergence of social and mobile. Image source: iStockphoto Read more to find out what social media experts predicted. 22 Top Blogging Tools Loved by the ProsIs blogging an essential component of your content marketing? Here are the blogging tools you need for successful business blogging.  The WordPress app for iPad allows you to use your time on the go. Read more to discover the new tools the pros love. 24 Must-Have Social Media Marketing ToolsDo you keep track of all of the new social media tools coming out? Do you follow the useful updates of existing tools? Social media pros shared their favorites to help you choose the best tools to use to improve your social media marketing.  You can use SocialToaster to amplify your message. Read more to discover the 24 must-have tools. 3 Steps to an Effective Social Media StrategyAccording to the 2011 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, 78% of marketers saw increased traffic with just 6 hours a week invested in social media. Keep your social media strategy simple and give it a chance to be more effective.  How will you measure your strategy's success? Read more to discover a three-step plan designed to help you develop an effective, streamlined roadmap for social media success. 13 Tools to Simplify Your Social Media MarketingAre you a small business marketer struggling to keep up? Here are the tools you need to simplify your social media marketing.  Use Disqus to expand your blog community. Read more to discover 13 tools to help you execute your social media strategy effectively. 9 Tips for Running Successful Facebook ContestsAre you like the increasing number of business owners who recognize the value of Facebook contests for their business? Here's what you need to know to make your Facebook contests successful.  Fans can enter GoPro's contest once a day, every day, for a chance to win a GoPro accessory. Read more to learn 9 tips for making Facebook contests more successful. 26 Tips for Writing Great Blog PostsBloggers are always looking for ideas to simplify their content creation process. They sometimes feel like they're trying to reinvent the wheel time and again. You'll discover everything from being Anatomically Correct to being in the Zone for Writing.  Parts of the blog anatomy. Read more to find out the 26 tips, from A-Z, to help you create optimal blog posts every time you sit down to write. 5 Twitter Tools to Enhance Your MarketingHere are 5 lesser-known tools that your business should be using. Each of these tools has unique capabilities to help your business get an edge over your competitors.  Tweriod analysis shows you the best time to tweet. Read more to discover these 5 free tools. How to Track Social Media Traffic With Google AnalyticsWould you like to discover where visitors to your site come from, how engaged they are with your website or if they have converted as a reader, subscriber or customer? Google Analytics is an awesome free tool. It can give you the information you need to use social media more effectively.  Use Google Analytics to identify the main 3 social media sites that send you traffic. Read more to know how to track social media traffic. 5 Ways to Enhance Your Facebook Timeline Page With ImagesWith each new overhaul of Facebook Pages, there have been increased opportunities for brands to use imagery to better promote their offerings and create visual interest, and timeline for Pages is no different.  Timeline Page masthead: The cover photo, profile picture and custom tab images. Timeline for Pages provides significantly more opportunities to create a visually compelling Page, starting with the masthead. Read more to explore 5 ways to enhance your timeline Page with images. 10 Creative Ways to Use Instagram for BusinessInstagram was acquired by Facebook in April 2012. Clearly, Instagram is a photo-focused social platform not to be ignored.  Zappos shares a glimpse of its colorful workspace. Here's how to give your business extra visibility and better engage with the Instagram community. Read more to discover 10 creative ways to use Instagram for your business. 6 Tips for Using LinkedIn's New EndorsementsLinkedIn recently made the endorsement process super-easy with just a simple click. In addition to providing some credibility, this new Endorsement feature can also be considered a networking tool for savvy online marketers, because a LinkedIn endorsement is an easy way to get on someone's radar.  Endorse others easily by clicking the Endorse button. Read more to find out how LinkedIn Endorsements can help you. 3 Successful Google+ Pages and Why They WorkHow are brands finding the most success with Google+ business pages? Here's a close look at the strategies employed by the top brands on Google+. Use these insights to help you mount your own Google+ campaigns.  NASA's Google+ page engages followers with almost 15 posts daily. Read more to discover examples of great Google+ pages. 9 Businesses Using Pinterest Contests to Drive Traffic and ExposureRunning contests on Pinterest is a great way to expose your brand to a large audience, attract new followers and engage with your existing follower base.  Well-designed teaser for the HuHot Grill Meal contest. It gives your brand the opportunity to engage with customers in a personal and cost-effective way. Read more about why you should consider Pinterest contests for your business. 5 Ways to Increase Your Facebook Fan EngagementA great way to increase your Facebook fan engagement is to have a call to action on your Facebook Page's wall. This encourages or even incentivizes fans' responses to your content, and it can be as simple as a status update.  Neutrogena's Welcome tab is perfect: it's fan-gated, incentivizes liking the Page and includes lots of information for non-fans who may not want to click Like. Fans enjoy interacting with your Facebook Page and your Page will benefit the most with increased visibility, traffic and marketing opportunities. Read more to discover 5 effective ways to call your fans to action. 5 Ways to Grow Your Exposure With InstagramIn the last year, photo sharing has become an increasingly popular method of social interaction. Instagram is a free application for iPhone or Android that lets people take photos, apply filters to change the look of the photos and then share them on Instagram or Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Foursquare.  Instagram photos (from left to right) on Twitter, Tumblr, Foursquare and Facebook. This represents a great opportunity for businesses to participate in this thriving community. Read more to find out how to successfully use Instagram. 10 Ways to Grow Your Facebook FollowingAre you are looking to grow your Facebook community? Now is a great time to examine your Facebook activities, cut out what isn't working and expand what works.  Your Facebook Page name and original comments will travel with shared photos. Read more to learn 10 tips to help grow your community. 5 Ways to Use Google+ to Improve Your Search Engine OptimizationDo you want to improve your search engine optimization? Google+ should be on your short list of activities. Google+ is making its presence known in Google search results now.  Toyota's Google+ page activity dominates the top spot. Read more to learn some ways you can ensure that your Google+ usage will help with your search rankings. What do you think? Which article did you most enjoy on Social Media Examiner? Please share it in the comment section below. | You are subscribed to email updates from Social Media Examiner
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The Mine Kafon: A Low-Cost, Wind-Powered Minefield Clearing Device Hits Kickstarter
Posted: 24 Dec 2012 09:47 AM PST
| The Mine Kafon: A Low-Cost, Wind-Powered Minefield Clearing Device Hits Kickstarter Posted: 24 Dec 2012 08:25 AM PST  We brought you a video back at the end of November that showed off Massoud Hassani’s mine-clearing device, the Mine Kafon, based on a wind-powered child’s toy. Now, the Afghan industrial designer has taken the suggestions of a number of our commenters and put the project on Kickstarter. Hassani is looking for £100,000 to make the Kafons and document the process. While the Mine Kafon is cheaper to produce than more traditional methods of clearing minefields, owing to rather simplified construction using bamboo that harnesses wind motor for locomotion, Hassani still needs startup funds to get the project going at a scale where it will be useful to residents of his home country of Afghanistan, and other war-torn locations where there are still hundreds of buried mines left to be cleared. The Kickstarter project is designed to take Hassani’s concept and make it a practically deployable device. The funding will go to bettering the engineering of the basic prototype, including improvements to GPS accuracy and improvement of overall durability (the Kafon is intended to survive multiple mine detonations, not just one), as well as mold-making and fabrication costs. It also accounts for money set aside for providing backer rewards, which include lamps designed by Hassani which use the same mold that creates the Mine Kafon’s feet. Finally, some of the budget will go towards a film documenting the construction and deployment process. This is one of those rare hardware Kickstarter projects where backers won’t walk away with the shipping device (though you do get a 1/4th scale model at the £5,000 pledge level). But the point is that for most who back this, you won’t likely be in a position to actually need the Mine Kafon’s services. Usually there’s a degree of risk with backing Kickstarter projects, but in this case, even if it helps put only one Mine Kafon on the ground, the risk is more than justified. | | PSA: Update The Wii U (And Other Electronics) Before Christmas Morning Posted: 24 Dec 2012 05:25 AM PST  Dear Santa, I was a good boy this year. I ate all my vegetables, cleaned my room, and didn’t freak out over Instagram’s new TOS. My Christmas list is short this year. I want a lathe turning chuck, a new mother-in-law and for the purpose of this post, a Nintendo Wii U. Easy. I am trusting in you. Don’t let me down. None of those items should be hard for you to find. The Wii U is popular but not that popular. But I swear, Santa, I better not have to sit through a Wii U update tomorrow morning. I want to wake up, run out to the living room and instantly start playing with my new Wii U. Giving #WiiU as a gift? Pro-tip: Perform system updates before wrapping so it’s good to go as soon as it’s opened! —
Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) December 21, 2012
Nintendo even took to Twitter last week to advise updating before wrapping. It’s good advice, Santa, and applies to other items, too. Christmas morning should be a time of excitement, not configuration. The Wii U’s system update is required – there is no way to skip it and update later. Other items, like an iPad bought several months ago or a Microsoft Surface, will have less critical, but still important updates waiting. Can you do them for me? Just don’t take off the OEM screen protector, Santa. That’s for the new owner to take off. I love peeling back the plastic on a new gadget. Best feeling ever. Yours truly, Matthew Burns P.S. — I could really use some new socks, too. White ones are fine. I’m not fancy. | | This DIY Mini-Tardis Is Bigger On The Inside Posted: 23 Dec 2012 06:00 PM PST If you’ve watched and enjoyed the program known as “The Good Doctor Who” in which an alien of some sort who flies around with his little, knobby robotic buddy (I’m not entirely clear on the details), you’ll be pleased to note that one fan, our own former employee Greg Kumparak, has built a real Tardis police box which, using some digital trickery, is really bigger on the inside. Greg built his little Tardis around Thanksgiving and added a little light on top. Because he’s a Dr. Who fan, he found his device to be lacking in realism. He then programmed a 3D model of the inside of the Tardis – it looks like the inside of the Teletubby house – and added an augmented-reality element to make the room inside appear when you held up your smartphone. Bang: instant Tardis. Greg quit working with us so he could start building things and this is one of his coolest little creations. I’m not a huge Dr. Who fan, but anyone who has enough love and intensity to build a cute little model and make it all the cooler is a good guy in my book. Now he just needs to make the Millennium Falcon from Star Trek. | You are subscribed to email updates from TechCrunch » Gadgets
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The Top 10 IT Service Management Challenges For 2013 - But What Did You Achieve In 2012?
Posted: 24 Dec 2012 09:46 AM PST
| The Top 10 IT Service Management Challenges For 2013 - But What Did You Achieve In 2012? Posted: 24 Dec 2012 06:51 AM PST This time last year I wrote a blog entitled Top 10 IT Service Management Challenges For 2012: More Emphasis On The "Service" And The "Management" which has racked up a healthy 10,000+ reads since. It spoke of three high-level challenges: - Increased business scrutiny: the need for IT cost transparency and business-value demonstration.
- Increased business (and customer) expectations: around IT agility, availability, "personal hardware," and support and customer service.
- Increased business and IT complexity: particularly cloud, mobility, and compliance.
We are another year older but are we another year wiser? What have you done to improve your IT service delivery and better meet business needs? I deliberately chose to use the phrase "IT service delivery" over "IT service management" (or "ITSM") as one of my many epiphanies of 2012 is that ITSM seems to make many of us focus on the wrong things. A good example being that ITIL, the ITSM best practice framework, adoption continues to be overly focused on the mechanics of "best practice" processes such as incident and change management. Or when we talk of ITSM maturity it's about the number of ITIL-espoused processes that an organization operates. So an organization that is doing four processes really well is not as mature as one that is doing ten poorly. And stepping back further, does this ITSM-process-based view of maturity really help the parent business? I'm not so convinced. Surely looking at how we are able to support and adapt to changing business needs must be a better measure? The analyst's view of 2012 Read more | You are subscribed to email updates from Forrester Blogs
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Maxims To Chew On From My Interview With 33voices
Posted: 24 Dec 2012 09:43 AM PST
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China plans to crack down on 'malicious' trademarks after Apple's iPad name dispute (Sam Oliver/AppleInsider)
Posted: 24 Dec 2012 09:33 AM PST
- China plans to crack down on 'malicious' trademarks after Apple's iPad name dispute (Sam Oliver/AppleInsider)
- Longtime Microsoft Executive Craig Mundie Cedes Strategy Post, to Retire in 2014 (Ina Fried/AllThingsD)
- Nokia's Windows tablet to take on Surface with battery-equipped keyboard cover (Tom Warren/The Verge)
- Online Holiday Spending Up 16 Percent, According to ComScore (Beth Callaghan/AllThingsD)
- Analysis: Amazon, Google on collision course in 2013 (Reuters)
- Acer Plans to Launch $99 Tablet (Eva Dou/Digits)
- iPad is left behind as rival tablets get multiuser support (Danny Sullivan/CNET)
- Windows 8 Sales Disappoint in Shaky PC Market (Nick Wingfield/New York Times)
- The Fifth-Biggest Site in the World Operated on a Budget of $27M Last Year (Liz Gannes/AllThingsD)
- VLC for Windows 8 reaches $65,000 funding goal on Kickstarter with five days to spare (Emil Protalinski/The Next Web)
- Cherry Is Shutting Down Its On-Demand Car Wash Service, Will Refund Pre-Paid Customers (Anthony Ha/TechCrunch)
- Websites Vary Prices, Deals Based on Users' Information (Wall Street Journal)
- Techmeme's top 20 headline terms of 2012, and what they signify (Gabe Rivera/Techmeme News)
- SITE NEWS: Techmeme's top 20 headline terms of 2012, and what they signify
- Report claims next-gen, thinner, lighter full-sized iPad due in March with iPad mini design elements (Mark Gurman/9to5Mac)
- The Best Way to Regulate Urban-Living Apps (Tim Wu/New York Times)
| China plans to crack down on 'malicious' trademarks after Apple's iPad name dispute (Sam Oliver/AppleInsider) Posted: 24 Dec 2012 09:25 AM PST | | Longtime Microsoft Executive Craig Mundie Cedes Strategy Post, to Retire in 2014 (Ina Fried/AllThingsD) Posted: 24 Dec 2012 08:55 AM PST | | Nokia's Windows tablet to take on Surface with battery-equipped keyboard cover (Tom Warren/The Verge) Posted: 24 Dec 2012 08:20 AM PST | | Online Holiday Spending Up 16 Percent, According to ComScore (Beth Callaghan/AllThingsD) Posted: 24 Dec 2012 07:50 AM PST | | Analysis: Amazon, Google on collision course in 2013 (Reuters) Posted: 24 Dec 2012 07:05 AM PST   Reuters:
Analysis: Amazon, Google on collision course in 2013 — (Reuters) - When Amazon.com Inc CEO Jeff Bezos got word of a project at Google Inc to scan and digitize product catalogs a decade ago, the seeds of a burgeoning rivalry were planted. — The news was a “wake-up” call to Bezos, an early investor in Google.
| | Acer Plans to Launch $99 Tablet (Eva Dou/Digits) Posted: 24 Dec 2012 06:20 AM PST  Eva Dou / Digits:
Acer Plans to Launch $99 Tablet — Acer Inc. is planning to launch an Android tablet priced around US$99 early next year, a person with direct knowledge of the project, said. — The world's fourth-largest PC maker by shipments hopes to be the first big-brand company to launch a tablet priced … | | iPad is left behind as rival tablets get multiuser support (Danny Sullivan/CNET) Posted: 24 Dec 2012 05:35 AM PST | | Windows 8 Sales Disappoint in Shaky PC Market (Nick Wingfield/New York Times) Posted: 24 Dec 2012 03:40 AM PST  Nick Wingfield / New York Times:
Windows 8 Sales Disappoint in Shaky PC Market — BELLEVUE, Wash. — It used to be that a new version of the Windows operating system was enough to get people excited about buying a new computer, giving sales a nice pop. — Not this time. Windows 8, the latest edition of Microsoft's software … | | The Fifth-Biggest Site in the World Operated on a Budget of $27M Last Year (Liz Gannes/AllThingsD) Posted: 24 Dec 2012 01:30 AM PST | | VLC for Windows 8 reaches $65,000 funding goal on Kickstarter with five days to spare (Emil Protalinski/The Next Web) Posted: 23 Dec 2012 10:55 PM PST | | Cherry Is Shutting Down Its On-Demand Car Wash Service, Will Refund Pre-Paid Customers (Anthony Ha/TechCrunch) Posted: 23 Dec 2012 09:20 PM PST | | Websites Vary Prices, Deals Based on Users' Information (Wall Street Journal) Posted: 23 Dec 2012 08:40 PM PST | | Techmeme's top 20 headline terms of 2012, and what they signify (Gabe Rivera/Techmeme News) Posted: 23 Dec 2012 07:55 PM PST | | SITE NEWS: Techmeme's top 20 headline terms of 2012, and what they signify Posted: 23 Dec 2012 07:51 PM PST  We can uncover a variety of patterns analyzing the data Techmeme has accumulated over the years, and given Techmeme's pan-industry focus, these findings can signal large-scale trends developing across the tech industry.
One simple analysis is ranking terms by the percentage of Techmeme headlines in which they appeared. Results for the top 20 words from 2012 headlines appear in the table below. We only count headlines fully featured on Techmeme, which are also those tweeted by @Techmeme, and not those merely appearing beneath headlines in "More". This table also excludes the 164 words most common to writing and general news (like "the" and "to"). | 1. | apple | 11.45% | | | 2. | google | 9.93% | | | 3. | facebook | 7.55% | | | 4. | microsoft | 4.88% | | | 5. | app | 4.34% | | | 6. | windows | 4.14% | | | 7. | mobile | 3.73% | | | 8. | android | 3.67% | | | 9. | iphone | 3.50% | | | 10. | million | 3.41% | | | | 11. | samsung | 3.32% | | | 12. | ipad | 3.21% | | | 13. | us | 3.12% | | | 14. | twitter | 2.81% | | | 15. | video | 2.44% | | | 16. | launches | 2.41% | | | 17. | ios | 2.41% | | | 18. | 8 | 2.41% | | | 19. | phone | 2.35% | | | 20. | amazon | 2.32% | | | | Several things stand out from this list: - Yeah, Apple is #1. It's no surprise that tech's largest company by revenue, market cap, and influence is also the biggest newsmaker, appearing in over 11.45% of Techmeme's headlines. - Google finishes a close second. Its market cap and revenues are less than half of Apple's, but its massive reach, wide array of products, and key role in the mobile platform wars keep it in the news 9.93% of the time, not very far behind Apple. - Facebook and Twitter dominate social wars. The top 20 list has room for just two social networking products. Facebook, the leader in reach and revenue, appears in Techmeme headlines 7.55% of the time while Twitter, its pithier nemesis, racked up mentions in 2.81% of headlines. - Microsoft and Techmeme's G7: Rounding out the list beyond the four aforementioned firms are Samsung plus Washington State's two tech titans: Microsoft and Amazon. Microsoft was notably missing from the list of consumer-focused platform companies Eric Schmidt once dubbed the "Gang of Four" but with its enterprise dominance, enormous revenues, and massive investment in reclaiming market share on the devices of the future, Microsoft remains a Techmeme regular. - The future, and present, is mobile. Techmeme's top 20 is full of terms mainly associated with mobile, like app, mobile, Android, iPhone, iPad, Samsung, iOS, and phone. Other terms like Apple of course have strong mobile associations too. - The number 8: We counted only individual words, not full product names, leading to the preponderance of headlines about Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 pushing the numeral "8" into the 18th place. Wondering about the next 20? Our full list goes well past 20, but we'll save that for another post, in which we'll also identify trending terms, those that have gained or lost the most in frequency since 2011. We're just getting started, so check back after Christmas for much more! |
| Report claims next-gen, thinner, lighter full-sized iPad due in March with iPad mini design elements (Mark Gurman/9to5Mac) Posted: 23 Dec 2012 07:05 PM PST |
| The Best Way to Regulate Urban-Living Apps (Tim Wu/New York Times) Posted: 23 Dec 2012 05:50 PM PST Tim Wu / New York Times:
The Best Way to Regulate Urban-Living Apps — NOBODY ever said that big cities make for easy living. The apps of the moment, Uber and Airbnb, try to mitigate matters by letting you book a car ride or rent someone's apartment using your smartphone or computer. |
