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• Most Topular Stories

• Challenger to Chavez showing strength in Venezuela

  CNN.com - World

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:15 pm

  When an opposition candidate challenged Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to a debate last month, his reply was "aguila no caza mosca" -- "the eagle doesn't hunt the fly."

• Making Valentines plans? Would YOU consider Waffle House?

  Ribbit Blogs

  Amy Wood

  9 Feb 2012 | 12:55 pm

  It may sound crazy? Or maybe it sounds just right! How about a romantic Valentines dinner at Waffle House?

• Persons of Interest

  stories

  Eleanor Clift

  5 Feb 2012 | 9:00 pm

  The deficit continues to climb. Obama ignored the two men who tried to stop it.

• Pentagon to Loosen Restrictions on Women in Combat

  NYT > Home Page

  By ELISABETH BUMILLER

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:00 pm

  Women will be permitted to serve closer to the front lines, but still not in combat — angering some advocates who say the rules do not go far enough.

• Warrant issued for former Maldives president

  USATODAY.com Feed

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:26 pm

  A court in the Maldives issued an arrest warrant for former President Mohamed Nasheed, one day after his supporters rampaged in the capital.

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  CNN.com - World

• Challenger to Chavez showing strength in Venezuela

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:15 pm

  When an opposition candidate challenged Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to a debate last month, his reply was "aguila no caza mosca" -- "the eagle doesn't hunt the fly."

• Video of Chinese toddler sobbing in snow sparks outrage

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:09 pm

  A video of a toddler crying while running in the snow nearly naked has sparked a firestorm in China, but the boy's father says the exercise was meant to strengthen his son.

• Freeze strains Ukrainian EMS

  9 Feb 2012 | 9:19 am

  As Ukraine suffers in the grip of a brutal winter, the country's ambulance service is inundated with calls for help.

• Court suspends Spain's most famous judge

  9 Feb 2012 | 8:56 am

  Spain's best-known judge will be suspended for 11 years from the bench after his conviction Thursday for improperly ordering wiretaps while investigating a financial corruption case, the nation's Supreme Court ruled.

• Spy agency called before Pakistani high court

  9 Feb 2012 | 7:49 am

  Long thought to be untouchable, Pakistan's secretive and powerful spy agency found itself in the nation's Supreme Court Thursday, charged with producing eight men it's accused of holding since 2010 and explaining the deaths of four other detainees.

• 

  Ribbit Blogs

• Making Valentines plans? Would YOU consider Waffle House?

  Amy Wood

  9 Feb 2012 | 12:55 pm

  It may sound crazy? Or maybe it sounds just right! How about a romantic Valentines dinner at Waffle House?

• What’s Up Y’all - Community Film Fest, Mardi Gras fun, LOTS coming up - Make Plans!

  Amy Wood

  3 Feb 2012 | 8:37 am

  Lots of great community events. Make some plans!

• YOUR QUESTIONS: What’s an IPO?

  Amy Wood

  1 Feb 2012 | 2:34 pm

  Some of you asked me, “What’s an IPO?” in light of Facebook’s 5 billion initial public offering - SEE the answer.

• Of Pinterest - favorite organization tricks!

  Amy Wood

  31 Jan 2012 | 10:09 pm

  Organization is a challenge for so many of us.  One of the sections I love on the new social site Pinterest, is the organization boards. Check out this week’s favorites!

• Live chat and behind scenes stream gets MOBILE FRIENDLY Wednesday night at 10!

  Amy Wood

  31 Jan 2012 | 8:59 pm

  Are you ready for a live chat during news at 10 and behind scenes stream that is MOBILE FRIENDLY?

• 

  stories

• Persons of Interest

  Eleanor Clift

  5 Feb 2012 | 9:00 pm

  The deficit continues to climb. Obama ignored the two men who tried to stop it.

• Slippery-Fingered Septuagenarians

  Michael Daly

  5 Feb 2012 | 9:00 pm

  A spectacular heist. A foiled burglary. Two thieves in their 70s. Where’s the diamond?

• Fortune Cookies Invade China

  Isaac Stone Fish

  5 Feb 2012 | 9:00 pm

  Straight from a suburban shopping mall, American ‘Chinese’ food is coming to the mainland.

• Save the Journalists! (or Not)

  Howard Kurtz

  5 Feb 2012 | 9:00 pm

  A new model for doing good

• The Master of His Domain

  Ari Karpel

  5 Feb 2012 | 9:00 pm

  Reality shows, comedy films, self-help books—is there anything Kevin Smith can’t do?

• 

  NYT > Home Page

• Pentagon to Loosen Restrictions on Women in Combat

  By ELISABETH BUMILLER

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:00 pm

  Women will be permitted to serve closer to the front lines, but still not in combat — angering some advocates who say the rules do not go far enough.

• Art Review: Renoir’s Full-Length Paintings at the Frick Collection

  By KAREN ROSENBERG

  9 Feb 2012 | 12:58 pm

  The emphasis in this fashion-conscious show is less on the clothes than on the traditional portrait format and the imposing scale that displays them to best advantage.

• Greeks Reach Deal on Austerity to Meet Condition of Bailout

  By RACHEL DONADIO and NIKI KITSANTONIS

  9 Feb 2012 | 12:53 pm

  After days of talks, Greek political leaders reached a deal Thursday to support a package of harsh austerity measures demanded by Greece’s financial backers in return for a bailout.

• Olympic Hopeful Missy Franklin Loves Her High School Team

  By KAREN CROUSE

  9 Feb 2012 | 12:40 pm

  Missy Franklin, who holds the world record in the 200-meter backstroke, has passed up about $150,000 in prize money and more in endorsements to swim for her Colorado high school.

• Libya’s New Government Unable to Control Militias

  By ANTHONY SHADID

  9 Feb 2012 | 12:33 pm

  The Arab world’s most sweeping revolution is foundering as the interim Libyan government seems to be paralyzed by its lack of power to control competing militias.

• 

  USATODAY.com Feed

• Warrant issued for former Maldives president

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:26 pm

  A court in the Maldives issued an arrest warrant for former President Mohamed Nasheed, one day after his supporters rampaged in the capital.

• Report: Iran adds 2 submarines to naval fleet

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:09 pm

  Iran's official news agency reported that the navy has added two more domestically built light submarines to its fleet.

• Santorum surges, Gingrich fades

  9 Feb 2012 | 12:55 pm

  Mitt Romney still leads in Gallup's daily tracking poll, but Rick Santorum has moved into a tie for second with Newt Gingrich.

• Mexican army finds 15 tons of pure methamphetamine

  9 Feb 2012 | 12:54 pm

  The haul could have supplied 13 million doses worth over $4 billion on U.S. streets.

• After sweep Tuesday, can Santorum compete in Arizona?

  9 Feb 2012 | 12:50 pm

  If Rick Santorum hopes to translate his trifecta Tuesday into momentum in Arizona, he'll have to make up for lost time.

• 

  TIME.com: Top Stories

• Tiger, Elephant Parts Found in Thai Slaughterhouse Bust

  9 Feb 2012 | 11:35 am

  *

• Why Syrians Fight: Hope for a Peaceful Solution Dims as Civil War Looms

  9 Feb 2012 | 11:35 am

  Why Syrians Fight: Hope for a Peaceful Solution Dims as Civil War Looms

• Jamal Joseph: From Gun-Toting Black Panther to Ivy League Professor

  9 Feb 2012 | 11:35 am

  *

• What Goes into a Great Performance? The Year's Greatest Stars Talk to TIME

  9 Feb 2012 | 11:35 am

  What Goes into a Great Performance? The Year's Greatest Stars Talk to TIME

• College Endowments: Why Even Harvard Isn't as Rich as You Think

  9 Feb 2012 | 11:35 am

  We all assume schools are sitting on a big pile of cash they could use to lower tuition. Here's why that's not true

• 

  WSJ.com: What's News US

• Euro-Zone Ministers Review Greek Deal

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:37 pm

  Greek political leaders agreed to more austerity measures that could pave the way for a new bailout and debt-restructuring deal, but euro-zone finance ministers hadn't signed off on the deal as talks continued late Thursday evening.

• Stocks Close Higher Again

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:31 pm

  Shares drifted up as investors took stock of a Greek refinancing deal and continued improvement in the U.S. labor market.

• NRC Clears New Reactor for Southern Co.

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:15 pm

  Southern Co.'s application for the first new U.S. nuclear reactor in three decades received the blessing of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday. The agency's chairman was the lone dissenter.

• Scripps Profit Rises

  9 Feb 2012 | 12:29 pm

  Scripps Networks Interactive said fourth-quarter profit edged up 3.4%. The operator of cable channels including HGTV and Food Network reported double-digit growth in advertising revenue and stronger affiliate-fee revenue.

• Credit Suisse Swings to Surprise Loss

  9 Feb 2012 | 12:18 pm

  Credit Suisse reported an unexpected loss for the fourth quarter, slashed bonuses and accelerated efforts to sell risky assets.

• 

  Breaking News: CBS News

• Former Giffords aide to run for her House seat

  9 Feb 2012 | 10:58 am

  Ron Barber, former Giffords aide, will run for her seat in special election; says he has Giffords' "full support"

• U.S. obesity epidemic includes pets

  9 Feb 2012 | 10:48 am

  Survey by Association for Pet Obesity Prevention found 53 percent of dogs and 55 percent of cats are overweight or obese: Why?

• Marines posed with flag resembling Nazi SS logo

  9 Feb 2012 | 10:25 am

  Official says scout snipers' photo in front of notorious Nazi logo not acceptable; Unspecified action taken

• Nuclear regulators OK 1st new plant since '78

  9 Feb 2012 | 10:21 am

  New reactors for Atlanta-based company could begin operating in Ga. as soon as 2016

• $25B foreclosure abuse deal reached

  9 Feb 2012 | 9:45 am

  Banks' pact with government lifts a cloud over lenders, but it leaves open questions about how much it will help homeowners

• 

  SmartBrief on Leadership

• Myanmar rebels dodge bullets, then shoot birdies

  9 Feb 2012 | 5:43 am

  After a hard day battling government troops, Myanmar's rebel fighters like to decompress by playing a round or two of golf.  -More- Medical Auditor TUV Rheinland

• Do your workers know when it's OK to unplug?

  9 Feb 2012 | 5:43 am

  If you e-mail your workers at 4 a.m.  -More- 

• It's morning in Africa

  9 Feb 2012 | 5:43 am

  Africa's economy is looking up, writes Ndubuisi Ekekwe.  -More- 

• 3 lessons from the Komen crisis

  9 Feb 2012 | 5:43 am

  The reaction to the Komen Foundation's decision to defund Planned Parenthood, later reversed, shows the need for leaders to p -More- 

• Why leaders should be philosophers

  9 Feb 2012 | 5:43 am

  Business leaders should be philosophers, says John Petrucci.  -More- 

• 

  Financial Planning Digest

• Taxability of frequent-flier miles called into question

  7 Feb 2012 | 9:18 am

  Unclear guidance from the Internal Revenue Service on the taxability of frequent-flier miles caused Citibank to send out 1099 -More- 

• 9 regulatory issues that affect advisers

  7 Feb 2012 | 9:18 am

  Check out this list of nine regulatory developments that could affect the financial-advising industry.  -More- 

• Advisers could learn valuable lesson from CPAs about professionalism

  7 Feb 2012 | 9:18 am

  Blaine F.  -More- 

• Reid: Senate will work on backup plan to extend payroll-tax cut

  7 Feb 2012 | 9:18 am

  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Senate Democrats are working on a backup plan to extend the payroll-tax cut f -More- 

• Celebrating 25 years of the PFS credential

  7 Feb 2012 | 9:18 am

  2012 marks the 25th anniversary of the Personal Financial Specialist credential.  -More- 

• 

  Holy Kaw!

• Can dessert for breakfast help you lose weight?

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:39 pm

  New research suggests that, in the early morning, you can have your cake and shed pounds too A new study from Tel Aviv University finds that eating a small dessert as part of a balanced breakfast can actually help you shed unwanted pounds. Staying skinny and eating chocolate? Here, a brief guide to what sounds, frankly, impossible: Full story at The Week. Photo: CC by ::paqman:: All the top stories from The Week. Permalink | Leave a comment  »

• Romance survey [infographic]

  9 Feb 2012 | 12:02 pm

  Via Hotels.com. Infographics to put you in the mood. Permalink | Leave a comment  »

• Do aliens go invisible by 'going green'?

  9 Feb 2012 | 11:24 am

  As we discover more and more planets around other stars, the Fermi Paradox is becoming, well, more paradoxical. The Fermi Paradox simply asks the question "where are they?" Our Milky Way galaxy is so big and so old -- and we are estimated to be accompanied by at least 100 billion planets -- that aliens should have visited us by now. Instead, when we peruse the heavens, we are faced with the Great Silence, which is one of the biggest challenges to modern astronomy. Full story at Discovery News. More news from Discovery Communications. Photo credit: Fotolia Permalink | Leave a…

• Mysterious sounds reported around the world

  9 Feb 2012 | 11:23 am

  People around the world have reported hearing strange sounds from the skies over the past month. Sometimes they describe it as a hum or low rumble; other times it’s a whine, thump, or even a melody. Often the sounds have been recorded and posted online, fueling rumors and conspiracy theories. One blogger wrote, "either the world is ending, aliens are landing or everyone is getting hoaxed. Or, possibly, there’s an actual scientific explanation for the mass amount of YouTube videos capturing bizarre sounds that are being heard around the globe. Are we witnessing the beginning of a…

• Costa Concordia: an ecological time bomb

  9 Feb 2012 | 11:21 am

  As workers begin to extract the half-million gallons of fuel in the shipwrecked cruise liner, locals are worried that their pristine waters are in danger. Reporting by Rossella Lorenzi. Written and produced by Rossella Lorenzi and Martin Berman. Full story at Discovery News. More news from Discovery Communications. Permalink | Leave a comment  »

• 

  SmartBrief on Entrepreneurs

• 3 lessons from the Komen kerfuffle

  9 Feb 2012 | 6:24 am

  The reaction to the Komen Foundation's decision to defund Planned Parenthood, later reversed, shows the need for leaders to p -More- 

• 7 behaviors displayed by the best leaders

  9 Feb 2012 | 6:24 am

  What leadership skills separate the leaders from the rest?  -More- 

• Finding funding for a product that at first glance seems ridiculous

  9 Feb 2012 | 6:24 am

  Sean Miller went onto a reality TV program to find funding for his company, YumaLite, which sells light-up visors that provid -More- 

• How women are hurting their fellow female entrepreneurs

  9 Feb 2012 | 6:24 am

  Women are often to blame for demeaning other women about the kinds of startups they found, Meghan Casserly writes.  -More- 

• Who do you think is more critical of women as entrepreneurs?

  9 Feb 2012 | 6:24 am

   -More- 

• 

  CEC SmartBrief

• Ky. delays ban on reading-test accommodations for students

  9 Feb 2012 | 11:43 am

  Kentucky will postpone a change to its state testing program that would have, among other things, banned the use of some read -More- 

• Research shows children with depression are more likely to be bullied

  9 Feb 2012 | 11:43 am

  Children who showed depressive symptoms in fourth grade experienced bullying in fifth grade and had problems with peer accept -More- 

• Pa. high school sees early success with autism program

  9 Feb 2012 | 11:43 am

  Educators are reporting positive results from a new autistic support classroom at Wissahickon High School in Pennsylvania.  -More- 

• 10 states will receive NCLB waivers, White House says

  9 Feb 2012 | 11:43 am

  President Barack Obama will grant 10 states waivers today from No Child Left Behind, according to the White House.  -More- 

• Advocate: Why Md. should direct districts on gifted education

  9 Feb 2012 | 11:43 am

   -More- 

• 

  CTIA SmartBrief

• Sign up for CTIA's monthly "Wonder of Wireless" webcasts

  9 Feb 2012 | 7:27 am

  Sign up to receive CTIA's monthly "Wonder of Wireless" webcast, which highlights innovative products, services and initiative -More- Director, State Legislative Affairs CTIA - The Wireless Association

• Google's purchase of Motorola Mobility expected to get a thumbs-up

  9 Feb 2012 | 7:27 am

  The U.S.  -More- 

• Analysis: Carriers will raising capex by 13% this year

  9 Feb 2012 | 7:27 am

  Wireless operators will increase their capital spending by 13% in 2012, according to investment firm Morgan Keegan, which iss -More- 

• Sprint, T-Mobile and others seek to preserve FCC spectrum power

  9 Feb 2012 | 7:27 am

  Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile USA, five smaller carriers and a competitive carrier trade group have pressed Congress to reverse a c -More- 

• IEEE, Wi-Fi Alliance develop specs to simplify Wi-Fi capture

  9 Feb 2012 | 7:27 am

  Work from the IEEE technical standards body and the Wi-Fi Alliance is designed to make capturing a wireless device's Wi-Fi si -More- 

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  SmartBrief on Social Media

• Understanding the role of micro-copy in a brand's content strategy

  9 Feb 2012 | 9:28 am

  When it comes to planning your brand's content strategy, pay special attention to the micro-copy -- wording on a website's in -More- 

• Pinterest is found to be secretly cashing in on user links

  9 Feb 2012 | 9:28 am

  Pinterest is quietly adding affiliate tracking codes to the links shared by its users, allowing the social network to generat -More- 

• Foursquare is getting more rewarding, CEO says

  9 Feb 2012 | 9:28 am

  Foursquare is more than just a check-in service, says co-founder and CEO Dennis Crowley.  -More- 

• Facebook's IPO? There goes the neighborhood

  9 Feb 2012 | 9:28 am

  Facebook's planned public offering is good news for Silicon Valley Realtors, who say they're expecting a surge in house sales -More- Social Media Content Manager LM&O Advertising

• Facebook seeks to attract investors from social media startups

  9 Feb 2012 | 9:28 am

  Facebook is cozying up to social media startup investors with a program called fbStart.  -More- 

• 

  CTAM SmartBrief

• Time Warner's cable TV, movie units deliver in Q4

  9 Feb 2012 | 8:25 am

  Time Warner's cable TV and movie units drove a 5% increase in sales to $8.2 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with $7.8 -More- 

• FCC mulls whether to allow encryption of basic cable

  9 Feb 2012 | 8:25 am

  The National Cable & Telecommunications Association is disputing claims by Internet video company Boxee that a Federal Commun -More- 

• News Corp. sees strong results from cable TV

  9 Feb 2012 | 8:25 am

  News Corp.'s profits for the final three months of 2011 rose 65% to $1.06 billion on the strength of its cable networks and b -More- 

• Small cabler jumps on TV Everywhere bandwagon

  9 Feb 2012 | 8:25 am

  Oregon-based BendBroadband has become one of the first small cable providers to offer TV Everywhere connections to its custom -More- 

• Tennis Channel order should not be stayed, FCC's enforcement arm says

  9 Feb 2012 | 8:25 am

   -More- 

• 

  CompTIA SmartBrief

• Quick Start Guide to Healthcare IT

  9 Feb 2012 | 7:11 am

  The health care IT market offers one of the greatest growth opportunities in the channel, but only for providers with the abi -More- 

• Business PC demand helps drive Lenovo's fiscal-Q3 profits up

  9 Feb 2012 | 7:11 am

  Demand for business computers in the U.S.  -More- 

• ADARA Networks aligns its channel hopes with Tech Data

  9 Feb 2012 | 7:11 am

   -More- 

• Report: Google readies a cloud-storage service

  9 Feb 2012 | 7:11 am

  Google reportedly is aiming to move into the cloud-storage space with a free service called Drive that would compete with off -More- 

• Index indicates Silicon Valley is rebounding nicely

  9 Feb 2012 | 7:11 am

  Silicon Valley seems to be recovering at a quicker pace than the rest of the U.S., adding 42,000 jobs last year, a 3.8% incre -More- 

• 

  Mashable!

• LinkedIn Hits 150 Million Members

  Todd Wasserman

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:26 pm

  LinkedIn on Thursday announced it has 150 million members in its network, a 20 million increase over November. The figure was disclosed in a press release the company issued Thursday announcing its fourth quarter and full-year 2011 results. The company posted revenues of $167.7 million, beating the analysts’ consensus of $160 million for Q4. Earnings were $0.06 cents per share, which was on target. LinkedIn’s stock was up more than 5% in after-hours trading. The Q4 revenue figure was a 105% jump over the same period in 2010. Revenues for full-year 2011 was $522.2 million, a 115%…

• FarmVille Toys Are Coming: Zynga and Hasbro Sign Licensing Deal

  Christina Warren

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:14 pm

  If Angry Birds and Cut the Rope can have toys, why can’t FarmVille? Social gaming juggernaut Zynga is teaming up with toy maker Hasbro to create a “wide range of toys and gaming experiences” based on Zynga properties and brands, a release read. The first products are expected to hit the market in Fall 2012. The agreement gives Hasbro license to develop and distribute an array of products in various toy and game categories for Zynga’s various properties. The companies will also be able to co-brand merchandise, which could potentially lead to digital product tie-ins. The…

• Hipstamatic Releases Lens for New York Fashion Week

  Lauren Indvik

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:02 pm

  In conjunction with New York Fashion Week, iPhone photography app Hipstamatic has released a cool-toned lens (i.e., filter) designed to capture the aesthetic of classic American beauty. The lens was developed in partnership with fashion photographer Chiun-Kai Shih, whose work has appeared in GQ, Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, among other well-recognized publications. This is the second lens Hipstamatic has developed with Shih to commemorate NYFW. Last year, the pair released a lens called “Chunky,” which gives images a highly saturated, hazy glow. A spokesperson for Hipstamatic…

• Apple Hit With 250,000 Signatures Protesting Labor Conditions in China

  Kate Freeman

  9 Feb 2012 | 12:46 pm

  Fair-labor organizers delivered 250,000 signatures to Apple stores in six cities around the world on Thursday in protest of the company’s working conditions in China. Apple’s main factory, Foxconn, has faced numerous accusations of providing an inhumane work environment to Chinese workers. “It’s hard to hear tales of people jumping off buildings and using their hands until they can’t anymore,” said senior organizer of Change.org William Winters, who delivered a stack of petitions to the San Francisco Apple store on Stockton Street. The rest of the 250,000…

• Live LOLz: Cheezburger Plans Grammy Awards Memes in Real Time

  Brian Anthony Hernandez

  9 Feb 2012 | 12:35 pm

  I Can Has Cheezburger plans to turn the 54th Grammy Awards into a laughing matter by giving viewers an outlet to write funny captions for red carpet and ceremony photos. The “Live LOLing” event starts Sunday at 4 p.m. PT when Cheezburger’s ROFLrazzi site, Twitter profile and Facebook page will begin publishing Grammy images with humorous captions — in lolcat meme format. People can click “Recaption This” to plop their own witty text on the photos. Participants can then share their creations on their social networks. Cheezburger editor in chief Emily Huh…

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  AP Video

• BCBG kicks off NY Fashion Week

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:37 pm

• Pentagon rules shift on women in combat

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:32 pm

• The Band Perry already feels like a winner

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:21 pm

• Raw Video: Syrian city battered by rockets

  9 Feb 2012 | 12:26 pm

• Obama gives education waivers to 10 states

  9 Feb 2012 | 12:03 pm

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  Reuters Video

• Gorbachev: Putin is not capable of change

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:20 pm

• Watts to play Diana, Heather Mills trashes ...

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:08 pm

• Watts to play Diana, Heather Mills trashes ...

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:08 pm

• Hope for the orphans of Myanmar

  9 Feb 2012 | 12:06 pm

• Hope for the orphans of Myanmar

  9 Feb 2012 | 12:06 pm

• 

  @ProBlogger

• Is Perfectionism Stalling Your Productivity?

  Darren Rowse

  9 Feb 2012 | 12:04 pm

  We’ve all been there … You sit down to write a post. You get the opening line down, but half-way through the second sentence, you go back to tweak the first. A bit further on, you decide to chop up the paragraphs you’ve done so far and rearrange them … but on second thought, is that really the better option? In two minds, you “finish” the post, then spend a half-hour writing and rewriting the “ideal” headline. Finally, happy(ish!) your cursor hovers over the Publish button … but you just can’t press it. You decide to give it some…

• 6 Powerful Guest Post Tactics that No One’s Talking About

  Guest Blogger

  9 Feb 2012 | 6:05 am

  This guest post is by Tom Ewer of Leaving Work Behind. Guest posting is a hot topic amongst startup bloggers. It is one of the most widely-adopted blog promotion strategies in existence, and has been made perhaps even more popular by the success of “serial” guest posters such as Danny Iny of Firepole Marketing. His “blitzkrieg” strategy may come across to some as a triumph of quantity over strategy, but nothing could be further from the truth. He understands the key concepts that we will be exploring in this post, and executes them in a highly effective manner. Whilst…

• How to Succinctly Report a Blog Issue to Tech Support

  Guest Blogger

  8 Feb 2012 | 6:07 am

  This guest post is by Matthew Setter of Malt Blue. How often do you find it happening to you? You discover an issue with your site, or one of your community members emails you to tell you about it, and soon you start to see tweets about it too. Maybe it’s as simple as an error message that detracts from the professional appearance of your site. Perhaps the contact form doesn’t send messages to your contact email address. Or is it that the whole site just displays as a blank page, otherwise known as the white page of death? You’re not a programmer, a software engineer or a seasoned…

• Make Your Blog Load Faster than ProBlogger: Part 2

  Guest Blogger

  7 Feb 2012 | 12:05 pm

  This guest post is by Devesh of WP Kube. A few months ago, I wrote a guest post here called How to Make Your Blog Load Faster than ProBlogger. Today, I’ll go into some more detailed advice to help you speed up your site even more. If you’re a blogger, you already know about the importance of blog loading speed, and the role it plays in search engine rank and marketing your blog. But if this is new territory for you, here are three quick reasons why you need to speed up your blog: Google includes website loading speed as an important metric in their ranking algorithm. If you want…

• How I Beat my Best Month Ever by Doing Something Good, Better [Case Study]

  Darren Rowse

  7 Feb 2012 | 6:04 am

  Mid-December 2010: on my photography site, we launched a new campaign—our first ever 12 Days of Christmas promotion. The result was my biggest month of earnings ever up to that point. The idea was simple: offer discounts on 12 products over the 12 days leading up to Christmas. I used a mix of my own ebooks and products from other photography sites with affiliate commissions. The result was massive. Not only did we see some great revenue generated, it created some lovely buzz on the site. Due to the success of the 2010 campaign, in mid-December 2011 we launched our second 12 Days of…

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  Liz Strauss at Successful Blog

• 5 Social Media Marketing Lessons Learned from People’s Chatting Nicknames

  ME Liz Strauss

  9 Feb 2012 | 11:07 am

  A Guest Post by Rahil Muzafar Social Media Marketing is easy for those who understand the nitty-gritty of sociology and human’s need to share anything substantial, with their loved ones. Everybody likes to share, even the people who appear to be a little unsociable have this underlying desire to let somebody in on what’s going around in their lives. Any social media marketing campaign that manages to trigger this desire is sure to make it big. Sharing is made extremely easy by all those social networks out there, all you need to know is exactly why, when, and what people want to share…

• Be a Good Newbie!

  ME Liz Strauss

  9 Feb 2012 | 5:40 am

  A Guest Post by Rosemary O’Neill Last week, I wrote about how to be an upstanding citizen of the Twitter and LinkedIn worlds. But what if you’re venturing farther into untested waters? What if you’re pointing your canoe toward some of the newer and less-traveled areas of the web? When a new social tool arrives on your map, it is even more important to mind your manners, especially if there are natives who have been there for a while already. Pinterest, Google+, Quora, Tumblr, EmpireAvenue and others were populated with early adopters and beta testers long before the rest of the…

• Can You Find Success Following a Firing?

  matt

  8 Feb 2012 | 10:00 am

  One of the most challenging situations a person can find themselves in is trying to secure a new job after they’ve been terminated from a previous position. While there is hope of locating employment following a termination, the odds are definitely lessened for such individuals, who must fight through the stigma of being removed from a company. The bottom line is resiliency and the ability to best explain away why you were let go. For those individuals who have to deal with such a situation, keep several things in mind: Deal with reality – It is never easy when the pink slip arrives and…

• Five Delegation Thinking Traps that Trip Almost Everyone Who Wants to Scale Up

  ME Liz Strauss

  7 Feb 2012 | 5:39 am

  Scaling Up Requires Pushing Down Lower-Level Tasks In the companies I worked with and for, product development schedules were cyclical, with seriously tight deadlines at certain times of the year and a more relaxing pace when those deadline had been achieved. To even out this ebb and flow of deliverables, we would hire freelancers, off-sire staff, and development groups. Even the most entry-level full-time people were managing and influencing the performance of someone else. The ability to influence another person’s performance in positive ways affected how quickly employees could grow…

• Does Your Business Style Connect or Make People Cringe?

  ME Liz Strauss

  6 Feb 2012 | 5:43 am

  Get Serious Attention In Amanda Valenti’s recent guest post here about Common Writing Mistakes, she made many important points that I encourage small businesses to take to heart. If spelling, grammar, and homophones are not your strong suites, find someone who can edit what you write. It IS worth it because Amanda is absolutely correct – these types of errors will cost you visitors and business. There is something more serious you must be aware of as well and that is what kind of image you are presenting to the world. Specifically, what you consider acceptable regarding profanity,…

• 

  Christopher S. Penn : Awaken Your Superhero

• Get the first cup on the table as fast as possible

  Christopher S Penn

  9 Feb 2012 | 5:41 am

  This morning, John Wall and I were discussing the merits and drawbacks of the diner in which we do Marketing Over Coffee each week. One of the hallmarks of good service at a restaurant is that things initially happen at a rapid pace. You get seated quickly and your first order of drinks or appetizers is taken quickly. If you run a tight shop with great service, you get that first cup of coffee/drink/appetizer on the table as soon as possible. Why? Because up until the point that goods and services are actually delivered, it’s really easy for the customer to walk out. There’s no…

• Twitter favorites power tips

  Christopher S Penn

  8 Feb 2012 | 3:07 am

  When I first started working with Blue Sky Factory, I noticed something peculiar about the company’s Twitter favorites. It wasn’t actual favorite tweets at all – it was instead a collection of praise the company had received online. This was the brainchild of DJ Waldow, the community manager, and what started effectively as a content management system (because Twitter doesn’t provide search outside of a 2 week window) has become one of my favorite sales and marketing tools. Here’s why this is powerful. In many ways, it’s just like recommendations on…

• Performance Based Social Media at Social Fresh East

  Christopher S Penn

  7 Feb 2012 | 9:12 am

  I have the pleasure of speaking to the Social Fresh East crowd today. For those interested, here’s the slides that I’m speaking about. If you enjoyed this, please click here and share it with your network! Want to read more like this from Christopher Penn? If so, please subscribe right now! Click here to read my blog on Google Currents on your mobile! Marketing White Belt Basics for Digital Marketers is now on Amazon & B&N Watch me speak: Attend virtually! I recommend: for Twitter audience building. Related posts: Social+Email Integration from Social Fresh Charlotte Social Media…

• Build your base to build your momentum

  Christopher S Penn

  7 Feb 2012 | 5:29 am

  One of the most important lessons I teach to my students in the social media course I teach is that it’s vitally important to build your social base. We have so many platforms on which to market that if we try to be everywhere all the time, we’ll effectively not be anywhere. This is especially true if you are budget or resource constrained and trying to make social media work for you. How do you choose a social base? Look around at all of the social networks and figure out which one you are most comfortable working in. For some people, the way Facebook works is ideal for them.

• When was the last time you were your customer?

  Christopher S Penn

  6 Feb 2012 | 3:52 am

  When was the last time you were your customer? You say you’ve got social media strategy. You say you’ve got great service. You say you’re customer-focused, customer-centric, and the customer is always right. When was the last time you tested it out? If you manage business for more than a sole proprietorship, then give your business a service test. Set up a list of a few tasks and go test out your sales and service teams. Call them up anonymously or set up a fake email account and try your internal processes out. If you work at a small business where you’d be recognized…

• 

  ReadWriteWeb

• New Chrome Beta Improves 2D & 3D Graphics for Older Systems

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:40 pm

  The next version of Chrome will help older computers catch up with rapidly accelerating Web-based graphics.. The upcoming Chrome release will improve the performance of hardware-accelerated 2D animations using Canvas, which include many Web-based games and other graphically-intensive sites. It will also let systems with older GPUs use SwiftShader for 3D graphics instead of WebGL, which older GPUs can't handle. It won't look quite as good, but users with older systems will still get more 3D content than they currently can. These new Chrome beta with these features is available today. Sponsor…

• GitHub Wants to Teach Kids to Code with the First US CoderDojo

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:30 pm

  If you have kids (or you are one) and you're in or near the San Francisco area, you might want to sign up for the GitHub-sponsored CoderDojo coming on February 25th. CoderDojo is a free, not-for-profit movement with a strong open source emphasis on open source that seeks to teach young people how to code and make learning "a fun, sociable, kick ass experience." The organization was founded by James Whelton and Bill Liao, and has focused mostly on Ireland until now. (There's also a CoderDojo in London.) The program is for kids between seven and 18, and according to GitHub's Cameron McEfee has…

• Hangout With the Scientists Looking for the God Particle

  9 Feb 2012 | 11:57 am

  Want to hang out with the people who run the CMS? No, not the content management system. The Compact Muon Solenoid. It's one of the two big detectors at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the largest and highest-energy particle accelerator in the world. CERN physicist Dr. Albert De Roeck is hosting a Google+ Hangout tomorrow from inside the cavern where the experiment takes place, about 100 meters underneath Cessy, France. He'll explain the CMS experiment and take questions about the crazy frontiers of particle physics. Sponsor The CMS is one of the two general-purpose LHC experiments searching…

• Fabled Google Drive Won't Be Another Dropbox

  9 Feb 2012 | 11:00 am

  The Wall Street Journal has revived rumors about Google launching a cloud storage service called Drive. The comparison everybody wants to make is to Dropbox. The thinking is that Google will challenge everyone's favorite start-up by releasing a native desktop and mobile Drive app with the same syncing features Dropbox users know and love. Google Drive rumors have been around for many years, and they've always conformed to the understanding of "The Cloud" that has prevailed at the time. If it's not like Apple's iCloud, which is integrated into Apple's devices, then it must be like Dropbox,…

• [STUDY] 61% of Social Media Users Feel So Close To You

  9 Feb 2012 | 10:30 am

  Sometimes little things like a sweet comment on Facebook or a Twitter friend calling your tweet a "favorite" can really make a social networker bee's day. A new study from Pew finds that for the most part, adults are kind to each other on social media sites. In fact, 85% of adults say that most of the people they come across on social media are rather kind; only 5% say that people are "mostly unkind," which would imply rude or mean. An additional 5% say that it's all situational. On the whole, adults have positive experiences on social networking sites. A total 68% of SNS users had an…

• 

  chrisbrogan.com

• Throw Away the Maps

  ceb

  6 Feb 2012 | 1:30 am

  People judge us by the path they’ve seen us walk before. They can’t anticipate our future steps. We, ourselves, look to how things have been, what seems to be the lay of the land, without realizing that the maps are not the territory. Want to succeed at work? Then don’t try to do your job. Instead, work towards something larger, more meaningful, and something that blends your convictions internally with your best ability to help others externally. Want to create something new? Then throw away the old, or maybe join two disparate old things together into something new. The…

• The Next Social Networks

  ceb

  5 Feb 2012 | 1:30 am

  The rage in social networks right now is Pinterest, partly because it’s probably the first social network that has a much higher adoption rate by females than males, and partly because it’s an interesting concept: somewhere between visual social bookmarking and scrapbooking. What also might not be immediately obvious is that it’s just “easier” to interact there. In that way, Pinterest has something in common with Instagram, which is community around photos. What I’m interested in, though, is Gentlemint, which I keep calling “Pinterest for…

• Learn From Adele – Build Your Platform

  ceb

  3 Feb 2012 | 1:30 am

  Jacq and I just watched Adele Live At The Royal Albert Hall (amazon affiliate link), and though every song was just wonderfully done, I found myself fascinated by what Adele was doing in between each song. Because even though most people would be interested in hearing her belt out her amazing repertoire of hits, what I took away from the performance was Adele’s real magical ability: the ability to resonate with her audience. What Adele Could Teach You About Impact I’m writing something about this right now for my upcoming book with Julien Smith, but I had to share some of the…

• Rob Gokee is a Musical Wizard

  ceb

  2 Feb 2012 | 8:05 am

  I had such a great experience working with award winning musical composer Rob Gokee. We did some musical work together, and the process was so amazing. Rob helped me create my theme song for Shhh! The Secret Show. So anyhow, he and I sat down to do an interview, and it’s a bit long, but it’s totally worth it. We talk about what collaboration feels like at a distance, what it takes to get music like this made for your own show, and a lot more. Rob’s a hero to me, and has been part of the community for a while. I was so fortunate to have worked with him. Can’t see the…

• Build Your Platform – Start

  ceb

  30 Jan 2012 | 1:30 am

  The following is part ONE of a series called Build Your Platform. If you find it interesting, please consider subscribing for free to get the rest of the series. This post is long. You might want to bookmark it for later. The age of social media oversaturation is upon us. People are declaring Twitter bankruptcy to go along with their email bankruptcy. They cite not wanting to start on yet another social network as their reason for not getting more involved with Google+. And just as soon as you start getting into Pinterest, you hear about Path, but wait: there’s Gentlemint, which is…

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  Brains On Fire Blog

• I Watched, I Purchased, My Problem was Solved

  Eric Dodds

  9 Feb 2012 | 6:42 am

  I recently remembered a story about advertising that worked wonders in introducing me to a product that I purchased and loved. Being somewhat of a music and technology nerd, I follow several blogs that keep pace with what’s happening in the industry. I can’t remember exactly where, but in browsing one of those sites a few years ago I ran across this marketing video from a company called Tune Up Media (1): They happened to be running a discount promotion at the time, so in an extremely rare instance for me, I acted on their message, went to the website, and purchased their product.

• Get Your WOM Notebook Ready… Chapter One: Believe

  Geno

  8 Feb 2012 | 6:30 am

  So, here you are… a friend of WOM or maybe you are just starting to explore. Word of Mouth Marketing is a passion for me, and I’m lucky enough to have a career in it. But this didn’t happen by accident. My career took root organically, as a result of my belief in the power of WOM, not because I set out to do it. Back in 2001, Brains on Fire partnered with the Department of Health and Environmental Control of South Carolina. We were tasked with the challenge of tackling teen smoking in our state. If you are at all familiar with South Carolina, you probably know tobacco plays a…

• Airport Conversations and The Secret Sauce of Success

  amy

  7 Feb 2012 | 6:59 am

  Every once in awhile someone will ask me what I do for a living. These conversations usually occur in the kinds of places where strangers feel compelled to carry on polite chitchat. In line at the grocery store. Doctor’s office waiting rooms. Airplanes waiting to be cleared for take-off. When I tell people I am a writer, they often respond in the same way I imagine I would respond if someone told me they traveled with the circus or roadied for Def Leppard in the 80s. An incredulous mix of shock and awe, with undertones of questioning my sanity. “That’s…brave,” they…

• Inspiration.

  Robbin

  6 Feb 2012 | 7:28 am

  The Erics, looking for inspiration. Hello! Hope you’re excited about the week ahead of you. I am. About a year or so ago, I posted a blog asking YOU a simple question. And since I LOVED the answers and they all inspired me, I am asking again… I really need you guys today. I love writing. Think I have shared this before, but I believe writing inspires thinking and exploring and sharing. And thinking and exploring and sharing are good things. If you are reading this and hanging out with us, I have to believe you think we add value in your life. So, I have a question for you: If you…

• The Power of Kindness.

  Robbin

  2 Feb 2012 | 8:30 am

  Fresh flowers from Libby William’s Photoblog. The other day I got a note in the mail. The old fashion “ink on paper” kind. It started like this: Dearest Darling Robbin, Hmmmm. I have to tell you in the middle of my crazy, busy, over stimulated workday, those words stopped me dead in my tracks. I took a deep breath and smiled at the “over the top-ness” of this salutation. What came after that was nothing short of the kindest words anyone’s written to me in a long time. Just a couple of heartfelt observations mixed in with some wit and honesty. It was a nice gentle break from…

• 

  Social Media Mom

• The History and Evolution of the Businessman

  socialmediamom

  30 Jan 2012 | 2:15 pm

  Reading time: < 1 minute Sometimes it is hard to imagine a time before the internet and social networks - even as new as they are. These avenues of communication have completely changed the course of business, and thus, the businessman. Business MBA recently launched an infographic that takes us back to a time when prehistoric man made survival his business, we meet the poets of the renaissance, the discoverers of new worlds, and eventually a generation with the world at their fingertips who has proven to be unlike any other. From: Business MBA

• Win Free Tickets To ABC’s, The Revolution

  Kristina Carpenter

  25 Jan 2012 | 6:39 am

  Reading time: 1 – 2 minutes If you are a fan of Ty Pennington, or of daytime talk shows, or of living a better life – this is your chance to be front and center. ABC is offering free tickets to be a part of their new show’s live studio audience. This is a wonderful opportunity. I am very impressed with the entire premise of the show. Here on Social Media Mom, we often talk about living a better and more balanced life, which is the idea behind The Revolution. When it comes to style, adventure, health, and fitness – The Revolution is doing its part to make people happy…

• A Guide To Travel Therapy Jobs

  socialmediamom

  18 Jan 2012 | 10:15 am

  Reading time: < 1 minute Many of us spend our lives looking for that dream job, and in this economy, we are forced to take what we can get. This is part of the reason Onward Healthcare's new infographic resonated with me. It is always reassuring to see industries that help job creation. This particular career track is interesting because: you can live comfortably off of it, you have the resources to help others, and you get to travel the country. Check out the following infographic for more information on this career, and let us know if you know anyone in this field or are interested in…

• Faces iMake App. Stimulates Creativity

  socialmediamom

  16 Jan 2012 | 7:36 am

  Reading time: 2 – 2 minutes The new app. for your iPhone and iPad, is an award winning activity for  your kids. Your child will take everyday objects and make faces out of them.  It helps your child to be more creative and stimulates right brain activity. The application was created by children’s book author, Hanoch Piven, and  is loved by parents just as much as kids. Many parents have called it  addicting, and say it even makes them feel they are being more creative. The game is easy and intuitive for your children, and has been said to be very helpful to children with…

• Apple To Apples: Tech vs. Fruit

  Kristina Carpenter

  11 Jan 2012 | 8:41 am

  Reading time: < 1 minute I came across a great infographic, by MBA Online, that I thought was so clever. This was a very interesting way of getting cool stats on America's favorite technology, and Russia's favorite fruit. It should also be no surprise that most of our apples, and all of our Apples come from China. I hope this brings some joy to your wednesday! Created by: MBA Online

• 

  Chris Pirillo

• What’s Your Price for Privacy?

  Chris Pirillo

  8 Feb 2012 | 4:28 pm

  Everyone’s got a price! Admit it. If Google offered you a certain dollar (or pound or euro or peso or whatever) amount to install a program that would track your Web surfing habits and other personal Internet traffic data to make it available to various advertisers, you’d do it. Some of... Read the full article on http://chris.pirillo.com/

• Google Me All Night Long or Bing Me (But Don’t You Dare iTouch Me)!

  Chris Pirillo

  7 Feb 2012 | 4:35 pm

  There’s no such thing as an iTouch (at least not as a device that’s made by Apple or for family friendly purposes, I’m guessing)! For that matter, there’s no such thing as an iPod Touch. iPod touch (note the lowercase “t”) is the official Apple designation for... Read the full article on http://chris.pirillo.com/

• LEGO Bells, Batman Smells, Catwoman Laid An Egg

  Chris Pirillo

  6 Feb 2012 | 4:42 pm

  Hey, look here! I’ve got LEGO superheroes. I’ve got LEGO supervillains. When the lights go out, all bets are off as to what I’m going to find when I return to the home office the next day after a full night of rest. Or, in my case, a few hours of rest. Insomnia is a [...] Read the full article on http://chris.pirillo.com/

• A Locker Full of Gnomies

  Chris Pirillo

  3 Feb 2012 | 4:29 pm

  Fridays are always fun around LockerGnome World Headquarters. It closes off a week of steady TLDRs (and gives me a chance to recharge my batteries so we can do it all again next week), and Diana and I usually have our date night. This week, my parents are still in town, and my Dad was [...] Read the full article on http://chris.pirillo.com/

• Would You Vote Through Social Media?

  Chris Pirillo

  2 Feb 2012 | 4:13 pm

  So it’s an election year, and it’s always fun to imagine ways we could use technology to move the democratic process along — at least beyond how we used it last time around. By the next one (provided the end-of-the-world nuts aren’t correct about this year’s dire... Read the full article on http://chris.pirillo.com/

• 

  SheGeeksSheGeeks | SheGeeks

• Brisk and Stars Wars Join Forces For BriskSaber Gaming App

  Corvida Raven

  13 Jan 2012 | 10:36 am

  You can now find Brisk Iced Tea in a galaxy both far far away and as close as your iPhone or Android device. I’m talking about the BriskSaber game that is making a splash in the App Store and Android Market. In preparation for Stars Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace in 3-D, Brisk joins forces with LucasFilms to put a modern and techie spin on classic Star Wars action and fun that’s hard to resist. Price: FreeDownload: iOS App Store | Android Marketplace Since its January 3rd debut, Brisksaber has amassed 520 reviews in the App Store rating it an incredible 4.5 star out of 5!

• The Next Generation RAZR: Motorola Droid RAZR Review

  Corvida Raven

  13 Jan 2012 | 7:26 am

  The Motorola RAZR was a mobile icon during my early teen years. Just about everyone I knew had one. It was surprisingly thin for a phone! The screen was impressive and it could do one thing very well that all of my friends love: transfer ringtones via bluetooth. Fast forward to today and the Motorola RAZR doesn’t compare to my iPhone 4. So, I was skeptical and intrigued when Motorola announced a successor; the Motorola Droid RAZR. With the help of Verizon’s 4G LTE network, could the Droid RAZR recapture the swagger and appeal of the original RAZR? The Look & Feel Though the…

• How To Get The New Facebook Timeline Look Right Now

  Corvida Raven

  16 Dec 2011 | 7:49 pm

  Facebook Timeline is a drastic departure from the currently tired look of your Facebook profile. Announced at Facebook’s F8 conference in October, don’t be too quick dismiss Facebook Timeline as yet another new redesign from Facebook. It’s a complete departure from Facebook’s past! If you’re not afraid of change, here’s how you can get Facebook Timeline right now. If you don’t want to wait, you can get Facebook Timeline right now by visiting: Facebook.com/Timeline. In the bottom right corner of the page, you’ll see a green button with the…

• The Life of an Instagrapher: GE, Jet Engines, and Instagram

  Corvida Raven

  9 Dec 2011 | 1:47 pm

  Are you a frequent Instagram user? Would you like a free trip to a world-class GE jet engine facility in the UK to take pictures and send them to Instagram? If you answered yes, then great because you only have 3 days left to enter GE’s Instagrapher contest to make this wish come true! “For our next Instagram photo shoot, we’re going to a world-class GE jet engine facility in the UK to capture some amazing technology. Help us decide who the photographer should be. Because it could be you.” Get your iPhones ready and load up Instagram to begin entering the contest. But…

• Finding Great Content on Twitter Gets Easier With #newnewTwitter Redesign

  Corvida Raven

  8 Dec 2011 | 7:00 pm

  Twitter’s got a brand new look and not just a tweak here and there. Trending as the #newnewTwitter, it’s a fresh with a simplified and streamlined design, most of the changes center around getting the best content as quickly as possible. The redesign doesn’t  stop at your desktop either. Twitter’s iPhone app, Android apps, and mobile website have received the new makeover too. Facebook, take notes! Readers, let’s take a look at what’s new, shall we? The new design may seem very different at first, but honestly it’s not. Mainly, a lot of things have…

• 

  Copyblogger

• How to Recover From a Social Media Hangover

  Cori Padgett

  9 Feb 2012 | 3:00 am

  “Hello. My name is Cori and I’m a social media addict. “Today is day 1 of my commitment to give myself a regular break from technology and the foggy, uncreative haze it can unwittingly lead to.” I was reading a post the other day by blogger Michael Brenner at B2B Marketing Insider, talking about getting your social media game on. Of course, being the skimmer that I am, the first thing that caught my attention and made me go back and read the whole thing was his mention of having a Social Media Hangover. His hangover was induced by sometimes (as we all do) forgetting to…

• The “New” SEO Secret Weapon

  Sonia Simone

  8 Feb 2012 | 3:00 am

  If you have a web site, you may have noticed one of two things about the traffic you get from search engines. Your search traffic may have dried up overnight, with once-healthy streams turning into a sad little trickle. Or you may have noticed a nice, steady improvement as you’ve climbed higher in the SERPs (search engine results pages), while other sites that used to outrank you suddenly evaporated. There’s a super-secret new ingredient in SEO. It was always a factor, but it’s become even more important recently, as the Google team relentlessly declares war on what they see…

• 8 Quick Tips for Writing Bullet Points People Actually Want to Read

  Robert Bruce

  7 Feb 2012 | 3:00 am

  It’s a Twitterized world, we’re just living in it. Blog posts, Tweets, quick videos, Google+, the Facebook Timeline, and tens of thousands of images pinned to digital boards are flying past us faster than we can read them. Faster than we can even scan them, depending on the time of day. What does this mean for writers trying to cut through it all? At least two things that I can think of: You’d better know how to write a compelling headline You’d better know how to write bullet points that grab (and keep) your reader We’re not telling you to keep your copy short.

• 7 Crucial Tactics for Writing a Wildly Successful Guest Post

  The Blog Tyrant

  6 Feb 2012 | 3:00 am

  We all know that guest posts grow blogs. But not many people realize that tactical guest posting grows careers. Most bloggers I see pump out these articles while reciting the mantra “quantity over quality”; there’s no real strategy and there are no real long-term benefits. In this post I am going to show you the seven crucial tactics for writing a radically successful guest post. Done right, these strategies will get you more email subscribers, coveted Google ranking positions, and a big head-start on your content marketing goals. Who am I to teach you about guest blogging?

• 7 Smashing Social Media Marketing Links

  Robert Bruce

  4 Feb 2012 | 3:00 am

  This week on The Lede … What really works on Twitter One thing social media copywriters should never do 9 productive social media hacks A reminder of the power of the original social media If you just can’t wait for The Lede every Saturday, and you want even more practical, useable links than the seven we highlight here every week, follow @copyblogger on Twitter. It’s painless. Really. // 9 Social Media Hacks You Need to Embrace Now Mr. Baer makes a good case that though social media is inexpensive in monetary terms, it can get good and costly when it comes to spending your…

• 

  About.com Web Logs

• Free Valentine's Day Social Media Icons

  9 Feb 2012 | 12:53 am

  Valentine's Day is almost here! If you want to give your blog a bit of Valentine's Day flair without spending a lot of time or money, it's easy with holiday social media icons. Browse through the gallery of free Valentine's Day social media icons to find Twitter, Facebook, RSS, and more social media icons shaped like hearts and chocolate candies. There are even pink heart social media icons in the gallery!

• Pinterest for Bloggers

  8 Feb 2012 | 5:40 am

  Pinterest is all the rage these days! If you haven't heard of Pinterest or used it yet, you can learn all about the new visual social bookmarking tool in my article, "What Is Pinterest?" In simplest terms, Pinterest is a place where you can create, share, and comment on virtual pinboards. Bloggers can use Pinterest in a variety of ways to directly and indirectly drive awareness of and traffic to their blogs. Follow the link to learn how bloggers can use Pinterest. Be warned -- Pinterest can be addictive!

• 49 Writing Jobs for Bloggers for the Week of 1/29/12

  5 Feb 2012 | 1:05 am

  49 writing jobs for bloggers have been listed in the About.com Blogging forum in the Writing Jobs for Bloggers folder. There are writing jobs for fashion bloggers, automotive bloggers, and much more. Make sure you review the list of blogging secrets from top blogs before you apply for a blogging job to give yourself the best chance for success!

• Blogging Secrets from Top Blogs

  4 Feb 2012 | 12:11 pm

  There are many secrets that top blogs and bloggers know which give them an edge over bloggers who are just getting started or struggling to grow their traffic. You can follow the link to learn secrets from the top blogs. I put together this list of secrets top blogs use that you can use, too. These are tricks that top blogs and bloggers have spent years learning. Follow the above link to learn them in just a few minutes.

• Top 10 Blogs of 2011

  31 Jan 2012 | 6:18 am

  Time to take a look back at the top blogs of 2011. Instead of simply focusing on traffic, which would create a fairly boring list filled primarily with tech blogs, I put together a list of popular, interesting, useful, and well-designed blogs in ten different categories: Top Personal Finance Blog Top Tech Blog Top Business Blog Top Entertainment Blog Top News Blog Top Food Blog Top Fashion and Beauty Blog Top Politics Blog Top Art Blog Top Gaming Blog The list is a bit different than my list of the top 10 blogs of 2010 with some new categories and some changes in other categories. Take a look…

• 

  TechCrunch

• New Kickstarter Record Set As Double Fine Game Hits $400K In 8 Hours, $900K In 16

  Devin Coldewey

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:50 pm

  If you played PC games in the 90s, chances are you played some of Tim Schafer’s work. He worked on the Monkey Island Series and Day of the Tentacle, later going on to create such classics as Grim Fandango and Psychonauts. He recently took to Kickstarter to try and score some funding for a new point-and-click adventure game, as most publishers would consider the genre more or less untouchable these days. He figured there were enough people out there who wanted a new adventure game that they could scrape together $400,000. That was last night. They hit their goal in 8 hours, and are…

• Instagram Founder’s Girlfriend Learns How To Code For V-Day, Builds Lovestagram

  Alexia Tsotsis

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:41 pm

  This might just be the sweetest Valentine’s Day story I’ve ever heard. It’s definitely the sweetest Valentine’s Day story I’ve ever written. Kaitlyn Trigger is a marketing director at Rally.org. She also happens to be Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger’s girlfriend of two and a half years (The 26 year old Krieger and 27 year old Trigger met at a friend’s house in October of 2009 and moved in together in October 2010). And my hero. Last December, Trigger decided she wanted to be able to talk to her boyfriend in depth about the stuff he was working on.

• LinkedIn Beats The Street, Q4 Revenue Up 105 Percent To $167.7M

  Leena Rao

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:12 pm

  Professional social network LinkedIn just reported stronger than expected fourth quarter 2011 earnings today. Earnings came in at $0.12 per share. Revenue for the fourth quarter was $167.7 million, an increase of 105% compared to $81.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2010. Net income for the fourth quarter was $6.9 million, compared to net income of $5.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2010. Analysts expected the company to earn $0.07 per share on revenues of $159.72 million. Non-GAAP net income for the fourth quarter was $13.3 million, compared to $5.2 million for the fourth quarter of…

• TCTV: In the Studio, Bain Capital Ventures is California Dreaming

  Semil Shah

  9 Feb 2012 | 12:58 pm

  Editor’s note: TechCrunch contributor Semil Shah currently works at Votizen and lives in Palo Alto; you can follow him on twitter @semil “In the Studio” at TechCrunch TV this week welcomes a former California resident and current investor back to the west coast, where he and his partners have embarked on a new journey to build out a physical presence in Silicon Valley and San Francisco for one of the most dynamic business groups in the world. Ajay Agarwal, a managing director with Bain Capital Ventures (BCV), is leading the charge of building his firm’s west coast offices…

• Click And Mortar: Zynga Signs Deal With Hasbro For Real-World Toys and Games

  Eric Eldon

  9 Feb 2012 | 12:30 pm

  Mobile app developer Rovio has famously turned its Angry Birds game into a popular toy franchise, but most other new-fangled gaming companies haven’t spent much energy going this route. But now social gaming leader Zynga is, per a big licensing deal with Hasbro. The long-time toy and board game maker is paying Zynga to turn games like FarmVille, CityVille, and its other hit titles into real world products. Details on what this will look like are scant in the press release, so I’m left guessing what this is going to mean. Fluffy pink FarmVille tractors? Lego-style CityVille…

• 

  HowStuffWorks Daily Feed

• What’s the future of virtual sex?

  9 Feb 2012 | 6:15 am

  The future is bright for virtual sexuality. After all, we're human beings. Think of any great artistic or technological achievement and chances are it winds up in the bedroom. Will it end up in yours?

• 5 Tips for Getting Organized at Work

  9 Feb 2012 | 6:15 am

  Whether you're fresh off the job hunt or a seasoned employee, a little organization can go a long way. Here are five tips for keeping the piles at bay.

• 5 Tiny Countries With Big Space Dreams

  9 Feb 2012 | 6:15 am

  Do you know what that spacecraft is? It's one of the old Soviet space shuttles, and it never would have gotten built without the help of one the tiny countries on our list. Can you guess which one?

• Costumes 101 Pictures

  9 Feb 2012 | 6:15 am

  They're at every sci-fi convention and Halloween party -- those people who always have the most amazing original costumes. Learn the basics of building a costume and find out what it takes to do well in costume competitions.

• How Airplanes Work

  9 Feb 2012 | 6:15 am

  Today in 1969, the Boeing 747 made its first commercial flight. But it was more than 100 years ago that the Wright brothers made their historic first flight in Kitty Hawk, N.C. Even after all these years, their creation still boggles the mind: How can something so heavy take to the air?

• 

  Wired: Wired Science

• Origami Robots Run Only on Air

  Dave Mosher

  9 Feb 2012 | 11:38 am

  Powered by nothing more than puffs of air, robots molded from paper and silicone rubber can bend, twist, grip and even lift more than 100 times their weight. The pneumatic prototypes aren’t as advanced as their metallic brothers, and the “soft” robots contain no electronics yet. But their creators, funded by Darpa, imagine applications where a soft-bot might be the best tool. “If you want to go through a winding tube or rubble or some other tough environment that’s difficult to reach, you need to be flexible,” said chemist Xin Chen of Boston University,…

• Black Hole Eats Asteroids, Burps Out X-Rays

  Adam Mann

  8 Feb 2012 | 2:31 pm

  The supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy may be constantly snacking on asteroids. A new study finds that asteroids at least 12 miles wide falling into the black hole would account for the regular bright x-ray flares seen through telescopes. Though nothing, including light, can escape a black hole, most are ringed by a disk of gas and dust. As it falls in, this material heats up to incredible temperatures, generating energy. For several years, NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory has spotted daily fluctuations in the emissions coming from the Milky Way’s central black…

• European Cave Spiders Produce Super-Stretchy Silk

  Adam Mann

  8 Feb 2012 | 2:00 pm

  Scientists have discovered some of the most stretchable spider silk ever, which can elongate up to 7.5 times its initial length. European cave spiders produce the silk to build egg sacs that protect their developing young. Spider silk is a remarkable material known for its strength and toughness. Most species secrete seven or eight types of silk for different purposes. Dragline silk, for instance, anchors spiders to a surface and is used as the backbone of most webs while other silks are used for web scaffolding or to wrap captured prey. Female European cave spiders (Meta menardi), which live…

• Asia and Americas on Course for Arctic Collision

  Brandon Keim

  8 Feb 2012 | 1:06 pm

  It’ll be a geological showdown for the ages, with North America, South America, Europe and Asia colliding head-on over the North Pole to create a supercontinent called Amasia. Unfortunately, nobody we know will be around to watch the collision, which won’t happen for another 50 million years or more. But it’s still fun to imagine. “The snapshot that is the present is smack-dab in the middle of what we call the supercontinent cycles,” said geologist Ross Mitchell of Yale University, lead author of a Feb. 8 Nature prediction of supercontinental trajectories.

• The Unusual Physics of Floating Pyramids

  ScienceNow

  8 Feb 2012 | 11:00 am

  By Kate McAlpine, ScienceNOW Think floating pyramids are more metaphysics than physics? Think again. Results just in from an experiment that levitated open-bottomed paper pyramids on gusts of air reveal a curious phenomenon: When it comes to drifting through the air, top-heavy designs are more stable than bottom-heavy ones. The finding may lead to robots that fly not like insects or birds but like jellyfish. Physicist Jun Zhang and his colleagues at New York University wanted to better understand how flying bugs control the orientations of their bodies. Do they have to work at it, or are they…

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  MarketingProfs Daily Fix Blog

• Has Pinterest Broken a Golden Rule?

  Paul Fabretti

  9 Feb 2012 | 11:26 am

  Why are we so concerned about a report by LL Social that popular online pinboard Pinterest is making money off our interactions when Facebook has been doing it for years—but with our much more personal information? Is it because more people understand affiliate marketing—and have experienced the spammy nature of its content? Or is it that most people just don’t understand how Facebook makes money from them? The interesting or perhaps biggest risk I see Pinterest facing is in the relationships it will now have (or perhaps, not have) with brands. The launch of Google + brand…

• The Biggest Challenge for Marketers: Engagement

  Steve Olenski

  9 Feb 2012 | 11:17 am

  A recent McKinsey Quarterly study revealed that having the ability to engage their customers and leverage those relationships is the No. 1 digitally related challenge facing marketers today. The survey, which was conducted over a two-week period, queried nearly 800 marketing executives representing a wide range of industries from business-to-business marketing and business-to-consumer marketing. The results of the survey were quite fascinating insomuch as over 50% of the respondents indicated that engaging their customers and gleaning deep insights from those engagements is their most…

• How to Find ROI in the Multichannel Marketing Haystack

  Guest Blogger

  9 Feb 2012 | 6:51 am

  A guest post by Irv Shapiro of Ifbyphone. Admit it: Sometimes, you get knots in your stomach when you think about trying to attach measurable outcomes to all of your company’s multichannel marketing campaigns. The (sort of) good news is that you’re not alone. Even veteran marketers are having a tough time finding ROI in the ever-expanding haystack that is today’s multichannel marketing environment. But the unsettling news is that easy, online tracking tools and a shaky economy have created a C-suite expectation that every dollar spent must be connected to a quantifiable and measurable…

• How Social Media Is Changing the Agency/Client Relationship

  Matthew Grant

  8 Feb 2012 | 10:03 am

  This week on the Marketing Smarts Podcast, we discuss the evolving relationship between agencies and clients in the era of social media. Our guest is Glenn Engler, CEO of Digital Influence Group, a full-service digital agency with “social media at the core” of everything they do. The jumping-off point for our interview was that “social at the core” position. I wanted to know what that meant, and Glenn explained that, in a nutshell, it doesn’t make sense for an agency to offer “social” as a capability to its clients (as in, “We can also do…

• 5 Super Bowl XVLI Ads That Could Have Been Improved with a Mobile Call-to-Action

  Jeff Hasen

  8 Feb 2012 | 6:49 am

  Marketers buy into the Super Bowl telecast because it is the one time of the year when consumers are actually tuning in to commercials instead of muting the volume or fast-forwarding on their DVR. Here’s an old school recipe for success: One part new product or service offering upgrade A tear-inducing script (Tears can be a result of hilarity or a message that pulls at the heartstrings.) One teaspoon of a timely message (Think Valentine’s Day and/or tax season.) A cute animal or hot celebrity A tease in the media What’s missing in this day of 24/7 social, mobile consumers? Mobile calls…

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  Seth's Blog

• The Weird interview

  Seth Godin

  9 Feb 2012 | 12:06 pm

  To celebrate the launch of Squidoo's new UpMarket magazine, we got permission to post an audio interview I recently did with Darren Hardy of Success. You can find it here. Thanks for listening.

• Inaccurate labels and why we need them (and need to improve them)

  Seth Godin

  9 Feb 2012 | 2:46 am

  If I tell you, "I'm going to the baseball game," it seems as though you're likely to understand what I mean. Of course, you won't. When George Will goes to a baseball game, it's a religious experience. Me, I don't even like baseball. Or maybe it's my nephew's ball game (the playoffs), or maybe going to the game causes me to miss an important event, and on and on. We label the experience with just two words, and two words can't possibly capture the emotions and circumstance surrounding an event. The same thing is true with brands. If I tell you that a new business was funded by USV, that might…

• How do they know you're not a flake?

  Seth Godin

  8 Feb 2012 | 2:43 am

  Before your link gets clicked or your proposal gets read, a busy person is going to triage it to find out if it's even worth glancing at. Since everyone is now connected, the new permeability has created a deluge of noise, and just about everyone worth contacting is taking defensive measures. Do I know this person? Did someone I trust send them over? Where does she work? (Ideo? the FDA? The New York Times?) Has she won an award? Is she famous? Are there typos and is the design sloppy? Are they pestering me? Do I already follow this person online? Does music play when I visit the website? Will…

• Horizontal marketing isn't a new idea

  Seth Godin

  7 Feb 2012 | 2:09 am

  But it is the new reality for just about every organization. Vertical marketing means the marketer (the one with money) is in charge. Vertical marketing starts at the top and involves running ads, sending out direct mail and pushing hype through the media. Your money, your plans, your control. It might not work, but generally the worst outcome is that you will be ignored and need to spend more money. Horizonal marketing, on the other hand, means creating a remarkable product and story and setting it up to spread from person to person. It's out of your control, because all the interactions are…

• Who is your customer?

  Seth Godin

  6 Feb 2012 | 2:26 am

  Rule one: You can build a business on the foundation of great customer service. Rule two: The only way to do great customer service is to treat different customers differently. The question: Who is your customer? It's not obvious. Zappos is a classic customer service company, and their customer is the person who buys the shoes. Nike, on the other hand, doesn't care very much at all about the people who buy the shoes, or even the retailers. They care about the athletes (often famous) that wear the shoes, sometimes for money. They name buildings after these athletes, court them, erect…

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  The Tom Peters Weblog

• Off the Cuff #2

  Shelley Dolley

  7 Feb 2012 | 8:17 am

  Our Off the Cuff video series is a direct response from Tom to your questions. This is the second video in the series, which poses the question, "What is the greatest piece of advice you ever received that has made you a better writer or communicator?" It's a terrific question for Tom, and he discusses not only writing influences, but touches on public speaking as well. Don't miss the Dan Pink technique at the end; it may feel excruciating in practice, but there's no denying the improvement gained.

• TLBT Video #73Strategy: Measure Innovation

  Cathy Mosca

  3 Feb 2012 | 8:46 am

  We've posted the latest video in The Little BIG Things series on YouTube. Do you think it's impossible to measure innovation? In this video, Tom offers a brilliantly simple, easy-to-implement method for ensuring that a good portion of your work meets the mark on innovation. You can find the video in the right-hand column of this page or watch it at YouTube (time: 2 minutes 3 seconds). Or, get a PDF transcript of the video's content: Strategy: Measure Innovation.

• MOAP #4

  Cathy Mosca

  30 Jan 2012 | 7:53 am

  The latest installment of Tom's "Mother of All Presentations," or MOAP, is now available at ExcellenceNow.com. You can download the PowerPoint version or a PDF. We'll be releasing a section every other week throughout 2012. Part 4 introduces Tom's conviction that encouraging your people to make friends in other functions of the organization should be a top priority. Tom says you should reward such behavior, make it an agenda item. Download Part 4 of Tom's Mother of All Presentations, and learn how and why cross-functional socialization (read, idea-sharing) is essential to business excellence.

• Race to Nowhere

  Shelley Dolley

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:51 am

  Tom has said, "We tell our kids to 'be still,' then tell them to 'read history books'—which are replete (100%!) with tales of people ... who never sat still." This is obviously not the ideal way to cultivate a talented workforce. The education system in the United States still seems to be attempting to churn out well-behaved factory workers. With the enormous pressure placed on teachers to produce sufficient test results, the classroom becomes more about test preparation than exploration and discovery. Albert Einstein, long since deceased, had this to say: "It is nothing short of a…

• Advice, For What It's Worth ...

  Tom Peters

  25 Jan 2012 | 7:20 am

  I was asked to contribute (a very few words) to a family page offering words of wisdom to a graduating high school senior. That's a serious challenge—and I literally spent days on the task. Here, for better or for worse, is the result: Rules For Living Life to the Hilt Nothing will turn out the way you thought it would. There is no bigger waste of time than making plans. Any success you have will be the byproduct of having thrown yourself headlong and without reserve into what you were most passionate about—and then ridden the wave you created wherever and at whatever speed it…

• 

  WSJ.com: Economy

• Banks, States Seal Pact on Foreclosures

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:38 pm

  Government officials sealed a $25 billion agreement with five major banks, capping a yearlong push to settle probes of alleged foreclosure abuses.

• Euro-Zone Ministers Review Greek Deal

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:37 pm

  Greek political leaders agreed to more austerity measures that could pave the way for a new bailout and debt-restructuring deal, but euro-zone finance ministers hadn't signed off on the deal as talks continued late Thursday evening.

• ECB's Draghi Urges Banks To Take Cheap Loans

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:36 pm

  The ECB president signaled he is willing to relinquish some of the profits from the European Central Bank's holdings of Greek bonds if needed to help Athens reduce its debt burden, as the bank left rates flat for a second month.

• BOE Ramps Up Stimulus Effort

  9 Feb 2012 | 8:33 am

  The Bank of England said it will buy another $79.1 billion of U.K. government bonds in an effort to shore up the fragile economy. The central bank's key interest rate remains unchanged at a record low of 0.5%.

• Jobless Claims Fall Again

  9 Feb 2012 | 7:38 am

  Idled U.S. workers filed a smaller number of new jobless benefit claims last week, an unexpected decrease that gave further indication the jobs market is improving.

• 

  WSJ.com: US Business

• Kodak to Shutter Camera Operation

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:41 pm

  Eastman Kodak, which began making cameras more than a century ago, said it plans to stop supplying digital cameras and pocket video cameras as it focuses its consumer business on photo printing.

• FDA Sets Shortcut Path for Biosimilar Drugs

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:17 pm

  The FDA created the first shortcut to the U.S. market for "biosimilar" drugs—cheaper versions of expensive and complex medicines made from biological matter.

• NRC Clears New Reactor for Southern Co.

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:15 pm

  Southern Co.'s application for the first new U.S. nuclear reactor in three decades received the blessing of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday. The agency's chairman was the lone dissenter.

• Diageo Sales Indicate Stronger U.S. Market

  9 Feb 2012 | 12:41 pm

  Higher sales at Diageo in the second half of 2011 indicate that the U.S. market for spirits is healing from the hit taken during the economic downturn. Prices are higher and drinkers are trading up to more expensive labels and increasingly opting for cocktails over beer.

• Scripps Profit Rises

  9 Feb 2012 | 12:29 pm

  Scripps Networks Interactive said fourth-quarter profit edged up 3.4%. The operator of cable channels including HGTV and Food Network reported double-digit growth in advertising revenue and stronger affiliate-fee revenue.

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  WSJ.com: Today's Most Popular

• A 'Port' out of the Norm

  9 Feb 2012 | 11:40 am

  Walt Mossberg reviews a special flash drive that can transfer and stream files to popular mobile devices without standard USB ports.

• In Small California Hospitals, the Marketing of Back Surgery

  9 Feb 2012 | 10:10 am

  The volume of spine surgery, which is an increasing cost in the U.S. health system, rose sharply at two small California hospitals that focused on workers' compensation patients and used a marketing consultant who helped bring doctors to the hospitals.

• Memory Gets Jolt in Brain Research

  9 Feb 2012 | 8:59 am

  An electrical brain-stimulation technique appears to enhance human memory, according to a tiny but intriguing new study that bolsters hope for one day developing a nondrug treatment for memory problems, including ailments like Alzheimer's.

• Henninger: Transformers

  9 Feb 2012 | 6:51 am

  The Catholic church learns the true meaning of Obama's 'transformative' presidency.

• UnitedHealth Revamps Payments

  8 Feb 2012 | 10:20 pm

  UnitedHealth, the largest health insurer in the nation, is the latest carrier to say that it is overhauling its fees for medical provide.

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  Michelle Malkin

• CPAC vs. the Occupiers: Keep calm and carry silly string

  Michelle Malkin

  9 Feb 2012 | 7:15 am

  Photoshop credit: VVM The Right twittersphere has been buzzing for the past week about planned ambushes of CPAC 2012, the annual gathering of conservatives in D.C., by the Occupier mob. The conference kicks off today and every major Republican speaker has a giant target on his/her back — because every fame-seeker, troll, Michael Moore wannabe, and glitter-bomber will be looking to claim their 15 minutes of infamy. Lachlan Markay at Heritage reported on the saboteurs’ schemes earlier this week: During a Thursday meeting at McPherson Square, until Saturday the epicenter of the…

• Report: Solyndra Sold Assets Cheap to Entity with Close Ties to Investors

  Doug Powers

  9 Feb 2012 | 7:08 am

  **Written by Doug Powers What’s a week without more suspicious Solyndra news? This should be enough to get us by until the inevitable almost weekly document dump that could come tomorrow. From the Washington Times: Fast running out of money, solar-panel maker Solyndra LLC last summer sold off nearly $60 million worth of inventory for less than $20 million in cash to a newly formed corporate entity closely tied to the company’s biggest investors, records show. Backed by $535 million in federal loan guarantees but burning through the little cash it had left, Solyndra made its first sale…

• PETA Heartache: Judge Tosses Out Lawsuit Seeking Slavery Protection for SeaWorld Whales

  Doug Powers

  8 Feb 2012 | 6:36 pm

  **Written by Doug Powers I’m reserving any sense of closure on this craziness until convinced the 9th Circuit isn’t going to jump in at some point and not only reverse this decision, but make SeaWorld pay the orcas reparations. From Fox News: An effort to free whales from SeaWorld by claiming they were enslaved made a splash in the news but flopped in court Wednesday. A federal judge in San Diego dismissed an unprecedented lawsuit seeking to grant constitutional protection against slavery to a group of orcas that perform at SeaWorld parks, saying the 13th amendment applies only to…

• Steny Hoyer: The Fact is You Don’t Need a Budget

  Doug Powers

  8 Feb 2012 | 12:27 pm

  **Written by Doug Powers I’ll give him this much: with or without a budget, they manage to find ways to spend almost equally irresponsibly, so maybe he’s onto something: At a briefing with journalists on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Hoyer was asked, “Mr. Hoyer, around the same time of the State of the Union [on Jan. 24], I think it was the same day, Republicans were trying to hit Senate Democrats for 1,000 days without passing a budget, and then you talk about this milestone today, 400 days without a jobs bill in the Republican House. But then on Friday [Democratic Senator Harry]…

• Super PAC-men: Obama’s bundlers gone wild!

  Michelle Malkin

  8 Feb 2012 | 9:12 am

  Super PAC-men: Obama’s bundlers gone wild! by Michelle Malkin Creators Syndicate Copyright 2012 The White House didn’t blow a dog whistle for deep-pocketed liberal donors on Monday. No, the administration whipped out a supersized vuvuzela. Blaring message: Let loose the campaign finance-bundling hounds of super PAC war! President Obama’s campaign manager, Jim Messina, who served as White House deputy chief of staff for operations before assuming 2012 re-election duties, announced the super PAC super-flip-flop in a mass e-mail to supporters and a blog post published on the…

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  Politics on HuffingtonPost.com

• Renee Parsons: George Washington and the 2012 Presidential Campaign

  Renee Parsons

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:41 pm

  As the 2012 presidential election campaign kicks into high gear with a slate of mediocre candidates, it is ironic that 200 years after a population of 3 million produced a collection of Founding Fathers (including at least two polymaths; Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson) with natural leadership abilities to create a new nation has yet to produce a comparable set of politicians from 300 million citizens. After serving as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army, president of the 1787 Constitutional Convention and the fledgling country's first president (1789 - 1797), George…

• Adam Bink: The Top 10 Questions On The Next Steps In The Prop 8 Trial

  Adam Bink

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:41 pm

  After major rulings like Tuesday's Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision to strike down Prop 8 as unconstitutional, there are always many questions that surface in the comments here at Prop8TrialTracker.com and elsewhere on what this means and what comes next. The Prop8TrialTracker.com staff took a look at many of those questions, consulted with our friends in the legal community, and put together a list for your perusal. (If we've missed any, feel free to add them in the comments, and we'll do our best to answer them.) 1. Everyone says the losing side (Prop 8's proponents) can now appeal…

• Dave Johnson: Producers Vs. Moochers, Freeloaders And Losers -- The Cruel Pro-Rich Propaganda Of The Right

  Dave Johnson

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:37 pm

  "Producers" and "parasites." Cruel language justifying extreme greed seems to be mainstream now. Even Presidential candidates feel free to disparage 99% of us! In today's right-wing folklore government by We, the People is an evil thing that takes from "producers" and gives to "moochers," "freeloaders," and "losers." Government and taxes "take money out of the economy." Decision-making by We, the People is "collectivism" and "mob rule." And those of us who think the insanely wealthy should pay fair taxes suffer from "envy." In today's discourse wealthy elites receiving $20 million a year in…

• How About We All Agree To Stop Glitter-Bombing People?

  Jason Linkins

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:35 pm

  From time to time during the campaign season, the candidates vying for the GOP nomination have been set upon by marriage equality activists at public appearances and subjected to "glitter-bombing." This tactic has been highly effective, as each of these candidates have, post-glittering, completely reversed their opposition to same-sex marriage. Ha! Just kidding! It's actually just sort of been a mild annoyance. But after Mitt Romney's post-primary speech in Colorado Tuesday night, stuff finally got real for a glitter-bomber, as Romney's newly-assigned Secret Service detail immediately…

• Jonathan Weiler: On North Carolina's Especially Disturbing "Defense of Marriage" Amendment

  Jonathan Weiler

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:33 pm

  On May 8, 2012, North Carolina voters will consider Amendment 1, a ballot proposition that would inscribe a ban on same-sex marriage in the North Carolina Constitution. The key clause of the amendment asserts that marriage "between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this State." North Carolina law already bans marriage equality but, absent a constitutional amendment, existing law would be subject to state court challenge. In addition to precluding such a challenge, opponents of the North Carolina measure note that the broad language of…

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  Top news for Digg Politics Newsroom

• Fox News host: Contraception rule a ‘conspiracy’ to ‘derail’ Romney

  Digg

  9 Feb 2012 | 9:47 am

  One Fox News host believes that the Obama administration’s decision to require private health insurance plans to cover contraception for women may actually be a conspiracy to “derail” Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

• Free cellphones cost taxpayers $1.6 billion

  Digg

  9 Feb 2012 | 10:12 am

  Last year, a federal program paid out $1.6 billion to cover free cell phones and the monthly bills of 12.5 million wireless accounts. The program, overseen by the FCC and intended to help low-income Americans, is popular for obvious reasons. But observers complain that the program suffers from poor oversight.

• Oh SNAP! Congressman Calls Newt Gingrich Out, Proves Who The Real Food Stamp President Is

  Digg

  9 Feb 2012 | 6:53 am

  Armed with facts, the Congressman has a little fun setting the record straight and despite the name calling, be concludes that "hunger knows no race or religion or age or political party. Hunger is colorblind."

• Legally resell used MP3s? Yes. Judge hands round 1 to ReDigi, not Capitol Records

  Digg

  9 Feb 2012 | 10:13 am

  When you buy a MP3 from iTunes, do you own it? What if you could resell some of the ton of digital music you don't listen to, but that is taking up hard drive space? You can buy and legally resell "used" MP3s on eMarketplace ReDigi, the brainchild of former MIT programmers. Like the RIAA which refuses to change a broken business model, Capitol Records had a copyright infringement.....

• Caution, Loaded (PIC)

  Digg

  9 Feb 2012 | 12:37 pm

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  The Economist: The world this week

• Politics this week

  9 Feb 2012 | 8:02 am

• Business this week

  9 Feb 2012 | 8:02 am

• KAL's cartoon

  9 Feb 2012 | 8:02 am

• 

  Democrats & Liberals

• Possible Flat Labor Force Participation Rate Growth For 2012

  8 Feb 2012 | 4:14 am

  Yesterday one of my favorite sites, Calculated Risk, linked to the opinion of Goldman Goldman Sachs economist Sven Jari who believes the labor force participation rate could remain broadly flat at 63.7% this year. That would change the unemployment picture a lot going into the election. It would also make the Republicans squeal like a dog with his tail accidentally shut in a car door.Today Calculated Risk gave us a better glimpse of what that would mean for unemployment: If the January pace of payroll employment growth continues (around 250 thousand jobs per month), and the participation rate…

• Santorum Makes Bigger Splash Than Romney Wanted

  8 Feb 2012 | 12:46 am

  Mitt Romney low balled expectations going into the three states yesterday. That being said, I don't think that he expected to lose all three contests and finish third place in Minnesota. Romney's camp put out a statement early yesterday about the inevitability of Romney. This was preparing the way for potential losses in the three states but shrugging off the chance for Gingrich or Santorum to make a difference going forward. To the surprise of many Santorum won all three contests. Polls were not very prevalent in those states so it's hard to see many last minute shifts. The data showed…

• The Measure of Right and Wrong By Rivalry

  7 Feb 2012 | 2:14 am

  While it's true that the Clint Eastwood Chrysler commercial debuted during the Superbowl casts a positive light on Obama's decision, the criticism of prominent Republicans reflects a pathological unwillingness to acknowledge the rightness of any decision that Obama makes, a pathological unwillingness that puts them at odds with themselves and people who simply believe, for one reason or another, that the decision to rescue Detroit was the right idea.Clint Eastwood, who has declared himself as a Republican and a Libertarian, who supported McCain in the previous election, has somehow been added…

• The Decline into Irrelevance of the Evangelical Right

  5 Feb 2012 | 4:21 pm

  The rise of Ronald Reagan and conservatism in the 1980's owed a great deal to the Evangelical right, personified by Jerry Falwell and the Moral Majority movement. It proved strong enough to drive a partisan impeachment of a successful president, Bill Clinton. In 2001, the most conservative president of the modern era, George Bush, assumed office, thanks in part to those same evangelicals. The beginning of the Bush presidency's decline in popularity coincided with the Terry Schiavo fiasco, and the same decline seems to have destroyed the viability of the Evangelical right. When it came to the…

• January Jobs Report Decent, December and November Also Revised Upward

  3 Feb 2012 | 12:41 am

  Employment rose by 243,000 in January, and the unemployment rate decreased to 8.3 percent. There were 257,000 jobs added in the private sector. This is the fifth straight month of decent growth in the private sector for an average of 202,000 per month. The workforce grew by 500,000 and the number of unemployed persons decreased by 339,000. The unemployment rate declined to 8.3% after being 9.1% in August of 2011. That's not too bad. I still expect the rate to increase slightly over time but not by much. There is a new sense of optimism for 2012 that wasn't here this time last year. That has…

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  RealClearPolitics - Homepage

• Perry to CPAC: "You Don't Have to Settle"

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:15 pm

  Bryan Preston, PJ MediaTexas Gov. Rick Perry offered a bold vision for America with oratorical fireworks and a crowd of conservatives that grew more excited with his every sentence.You&#8217;d never know he wasn&#8217;t running for president anymore.Perry was something of a rock star at CPAC this afternoon, praising the &#8220;foot soldiers in the revolution&#8221; and reaping hearty ovations from the same. He quipped that he had been running for the White House, but &#8220;the people of New Hampshire had a different idea.&#8221;Texas A&amp;M Aggies, he said,…

• WH Creates Even More Problems for ObamaCare

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:04 pm

  Cathy Young, RCPThe firestorm over the Obama Administration requiring religiously affiliated institutions to provide employees with health benefits that cover birth control rages on, as Catholic leaders mobilize the faithful and pundits warn that this may cost Obama the Catholic vote. The battle has been framed as one of religious freedom versus reproductive rights. But it also illustrates two troubling phenomena unrelated to religion: intrusive micromanagement of insurance options under the new federal health care law, and the redefinition of contraception as a public good rather than a…

• It's Time to Arm the Syrian Opposition

  9 Feb 2012 | 12:40 pm

  Daniel Drezner, The New RepublicSign up for our daily newsletter and receive the latest news, analysis and videos in your inbox!Countries and Regions in the News

• How Romney Can Energize Conservatives

  9 Feb 2012 | 12:33 pm

  James Pethokoukis, American

• Obama's Losing Battle vs. Religious Freedom

  9 Feb 2012 | 12:25 pm

  Roger Pilon, Cato @ LibertyToday POLITICO Arena asks:Will the GOP win the birth-control fight?My response:The GOP will win the current contraceptive-abortifacient battle going away, because the average American understands the essence of religious freedom: government cannot force people to do things that violate their religious beliefs. The administration may try to frame this as a defense of women's rights, but that's pure sophistry. As I wrote yesterday, if the administration's decision is reversed, women will still be perfectly free…

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  Regular Geek

• The Benefits and Challenges of Internal Social Networking

  Rob Diana

  30 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am

  This is a guest post from Samantha Peters. When we talk about social networking, even from a corporate and business angle, we are almost always talking about public social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. These networks allow people and businesses to join freely and interact freely. For a company, the public nature of social networking exposure is a highly desirable one, as a business’ Facebook profile can act as a brochure, marketing source, communications outlet, and white pages guide all rolled into one. But, increasingly, companies are turning to a different kind of social…

• Will Anyone Notice The New Windows Phone?

  Rob Diana

  23 Jan 2012 | 5:39 am

  This is a guest post from Jane Smith. One of the biggest questions for the tech industry in 2012 is the fate of the Windows-powered smartphones produced by Nokia, one of the latest entries into the ever-diversifying smartphone field. I say the fate of the Nokia Windows Phones is uncertain because most American consumers have given their phones a big “meh” thus far. To put things in perspective, let me give you an idea of how little pull the Nokia Windows Phone currently has in the U.S. smartphone market. Right now you can get a Nokia Lumia 710 Windows Phone at a Wal-Mart for free.

• Is The Web Really Just Links Or Is It Evolving?

  Rob Diana

  8 Jan 2012 | 6:02 am

  Lately, Dave Winer has been doing a lot of thinking. Dave has been around for a while, so when he starts thinking about interesting questions, we should all be listening. However, I am not saying that we should be agreeing with him, just reading and forming opinions. First, Dave complains about mobile apps and how they are not what the web is about: And all this business about apps is a real spoiler for suspension of disbelief. I’m clicking a link, expecting to learn more about what I was reading (that was certainly the author’s intent) but instead I get an ad for an app. If I…

• Why Should You Become A Software Engineer

  Rob Diana

  1 Jan 2012 | 5:25 am

  Like any normal blogger, I obsess about my blog. How much traffic am I getting? Where is the traffic coming from? What search terms are leading people here? The search terms are most interesting when it comes to thinking about new content to write. Today, I am writing about a question I saw in the search terms, why should you become a software engineer? First, some background about my own journey into software development. When I went to college, my plan was to become a civil engineer. I took two semesters of physics and realized that the plan was not going to work. I found out that I really…

• A Look Back And A Look Ahead At 2012

  Rob Diana

  24 Dec 2011 | 4:52 am

  As the year comes to a close, everyone is posting predictions about the new year as well as reviewing their predictions from the prior year. Here at Regular Geek, I would like to look at the trends to determine what changed things and what trends we should watch in the coming year, not as predictions but more as an idea of things to look for. Last year, I wrote about the following trends, with some new comments in italics. Mobile Computing: People thought mobile computing was big with the advent of smartphones. With the addition of tablets like the iPad, mobile computing got a big screen to…

• 

   louisgray.com

• Dice.com: Louis Gray on Google and Job Hunting

  7 Feb 2012 | 10:53 am

  Last fall, shortly after I joined Google, Michelle Greenlee contacted me for a quick interview about the Google hiring experience, and what tech-savvy job seekers can do to leverage the influence of social media to influence hiring managers. The story was finally posted this morning.The biggest take-away is probably my last note in an answer to her final question: "The world is becoming social and the new world of business and hiring can find great candidates through how you present yourself online."See: Dice.com: Louis Gray on Google and Job Hunting/via My Google+ Profile.More:…

• 50 Things a +1 Can Mean

  7 Feb 2012 | 12:15 am

  A +1 is simple. It’s one of the easiest ways on the web to take an action that endorses the content and says you saw something. But it can mean many different things. That’s the beauty of +1. You can +1 things you like. You can +1 bad news. You can +1 things you love. You can +1 casual status updates or items that change the world.Often, we get asked what it means to +1. Here are some ideas. We’d love to see yours./via The Google+ Page (Which I maintain)1. A +1 can say you agree with the post.2. A +1 can say your photo is beautiful.3. A +1 can say your joke was funny.4. A +1 can mean…

• Two Numbers: 1 and 90 Million

  7 Feb 2012 | 12:10 am

  By now, you all have seen the dual bits of news today - first that Google+ has achieved 90 million users with at least one new feature every single day, over 1 million businesses and brand pages, and sign in of 60% daily, 80% weekly.Also, earlier today, Google was (for the 3rd time) named the best place to work by Fortune Magazine (see http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/best-companies/2012/snapshots/1.html). We're working on making Google+ the best place to be for you so you can be just as proud about these numbers and this news. To stay on top of all this great stuff,…

• Daria Musk Visits Google+ for Live Performance

  7 Feb 2012 | 12:08 am

  Last Monday, I had the great pleasure of meeting Daria Musk and interviewing her on stage, to learn more about her story and rise from relative obscurity to becoming a Google+ sensation. As I told the Google+ team, assembled in the private concert, in my introduction, Daria epitomizes the community here as well as anyone I know.She is fully invested in this platform, is tireless, upbeat, and to boot, is incredibly talented. I'd heard her sing in many a hangout, but to hear her sing live at Google was transformative. Nothing beats a live performance by an artist with passion, energy…

• 10 Great Ways to Get Discovered on Google+

  7 Feb 2012 | 12:04 am

  As social networks evolve, so to do your circles. Even in the few months since our launch, you’ve probably added a lot of people to your circles who you didn’t know before - people who share common interests, or came by recommendation of a trusted friend or expert. Some people have rocketed their way to high visibility, added to hundreds of thousands of circles, by virtue of their actions on Google+. So while I can’t promise you the big numbers, here are ten ways you can get found on Google+, and examples to boot.1. Embrace the Community While Doing Something Unique and Creative.Daria…

• 

  GROWMAP.COM

• Effect of Hashtag Usage in Super Bowl Advertising: Social Media Monitoring Future Of Engagement: #SoLongVampires Audi Super Bowl Ad

  growmap

  8 Feb 2012 | 2:08 pm

  This is a guest post from Murray’s new video project The Future of Engagement showing the impact of Audi including a hashtag for their new commercial about LED headlights being as “close to daylight” as you can get. In the video, Murray says he chose Audi because they were very creative last year and they were the first advertiser to include a hashtag in their ads. This past weekend was the Super Bowl, which can be as much an advertising event as a football game. Audi’s commercial shows an Audi pulling up to a vampire party at a bonfire and accidentally vaporizing the…

• Guest Posting: Guest Blogging Tips ~ My Guest Posts

  growmap

  7 Feb 2012 | 2:51 pm

  Guest Blogging eBook Guest Blogging has many benefits including guest posting for networking and exposure to guest blogging for greater reach to  geo-targeted blog outreach. When you want to guest post, it is critical to include a few simple things in your guest posting requests. Guest Blogging Requests What to Include: Two or three examples of posts you’re written – ideally on topics related to the one you’re pitching – any writing if you don’t have some specific to that niche. A few title or suggested topics for your guest post. Any sites you wish to link to…

• How YOUR Small Business Can Get Totally Free Advertising on Google Places, Yahoo! Local, Bing and Hundreds of Local Directories and Niche Sites

  growmap

  5 Feb 2012 | 8:45 pm

  Click image to see 168 Business Directories Even if your small business could afford a Super Bowl ad – at $3.5 million – there is another form of advertising that would benefit you more and consistently bring you far more business. And the good news is you only have to pay to have it submitted ONCE to get free advertising on Google Places, Yahoo! Local, Bing, Superpages and hundreds of other local directories indefinitely*. Completely Free Advertising You can do it yourself manually, or create your own listings through Universal Business Listings (UBL – what I use), but…

• Future of Engagement: Monitoring Social Media: Facebook IPO Launch Delayed

  growmap

  1 Feb 2012 | 2:36 pm

  Click image to read Facebook IPO to Create Jobs Future of Engagement – Monitoring Social Media on the Eve of the Facebook IPO Launch Last Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Facebook could be going public within seven days. Murray Newlands’ series The Future of Engagement analyzes how this story spread across social media: TRACKING TRENDS Highlights: The term “Facebook IPO” was a trend on Twitter less than a day after the WSJ Facebook IPO story went live Over half of “Facebook IPO” social media mentions were on Twitter, showing how important the microblogging site is…

• Engagement From Scratch Compiled by Danny Iny: Free eBook Download ~ Win a Printed Copy

  growmap

  29 Jan 2012 | 11:30 pm

  Click Image for Free Download or to Buy in Paperback Danny Iny (@DannyIny on Twitter) from Marketing Training Company FirePole Marketing did what all wise people do when confronted with a challenge: find out first what everyone else who has tackled the same situation learned and then build on that. How to Win Your FREE Paperback Copy of Engagement from Scratch: So here’s the deal. You tell me why you want a copy of Danny’s book and I’ll send my extra copy to the person who writes the most compelling reason. Here are some tips for you: You can see by the excerpts in this…

• 

  Scobleizer

• Hacker News vs. Google+

  Robert Scoble

  5 Feb 2012 | 10:20 am

  I might as well have titled this “Hacker News vs Marketers.” Or “Hacker News vs Bloggers.” Or “jerks vs nice people.” But I never participate in Hacker News for a few reasons and I just was faced with these reasons again when I read the responses there to my blog post yesterday. 1. Programmers often have an attitude of “I can code, you can’t, so I am defacto better than you.” This often comes out in Hacker News comments. 2. Programmers love to bash people anonymously and then, in real life, they will come begging for PR for their companies…

• It’s too late for Dave Winer and John Battelle to save the common web

  Robert Scoble

  4 Feb 2012 | 5:02 pm

  The date was January 3, 2008. Facebook had kicked me off for running a script to try to save the common web. See, I worked with Plaxo to run a simple script. One that would have taken my contacts out of Facebook and put them back into the common web. The script did some very simple things: 1. It grabbed all my friends names. 2. It grabbed all their phone numbers. 3. It grabbed all their email addresses. 4. It gave me a simple CSV file with all that data so I could bring them back to Google, or Microsoft, or anywhere else I wanted to put them. Facebook’s answer was predictable. They shut…

• HTML 5 pushback in San Francisco? Best mobile app designers say yes

  Robert Scoble

  1 Feb 2012 | 3:39 pm

  The new Path? The one that won a Crunchie last night for great design? It’s not done in HTML 5. This morning I saw something new coming soon from Storify. Not done in HTML 5. This morning I visited Foodspotting, which just shipped hot new apps on iOS, Android, and Blackberry. Not done in HTML 5. More and more I’m hearing that designers and developers are ignoring HTML 5, especially for the high end of apps. Why? Well, Path’s founders told me it just isn’t possible to build a great user interface, the way they did it in HTML 5. Storify’s founder told me it…

• Why Facebook will be worth a half trillion by 2015: the mobile and open graph revenue it’s leaving on the table

  Robert Scoble

  1 Feb 2012 | 2:48 pm

  Lots of people think Facebook is overvalued, at about $100 billion (it just released their S1, announcing its IPO). But in talking with developers, like I did with Foodspotting’s founder, Alexa Andrzejewski, and in reading the S1 I see that Facebook has left most of the potential revenue on the table. That makes me think that the folks crying “overvalued” are nuts. Check that interview out, Foodspotting is one of the hottest San Francisco startups, aimed at people who are looking for better places to eat. Here it is from just this morning: See, Mark Zuckerberg is sandbagging…

• 2012 brings a pause in the disruption

  Robert Scoble

  31 Jan 2012 | 4:58 pm

  OK, I’ve been talking with hundreds of geeks from around the world this year at three conferences, CES, DLD, and World Economic Forum. I’m seeing a trend that is worth talking about. What is it? We’re seeing the end of one of the most disruptive ages in human history. I believe that we’re seeing a pause in the disruption. More on that a little later. Just think about all the changes humans have been asked to adopt in the past eight years. Most of us, back then, didn’t carry mobile computers in our pockets. If we did use tablets, like I did, they were expensive,…

• 

  How to Change the World

• Raising Money: What Not to Say and What Not to Believe #OfficeandGuyK

  GuyKawasaki

  20 Jan 2012 | 10:46 am

  Over the past two weeks via my partnership with Microsoft and Office Web Apps, I’ve provided templates of models for you to create enchanting PowerPoint pitches, Word business plans, and Excel financial models. They are all available for you to download from my SkyDrive account. I hope these documents and blog posts help you save a boatload of time and increase the quality of your efforts.I leave you with two sets of top ten lies: one of entrepreneurs and one of investors so that you know what not to say and what not to believe. Top Ten Lies of Entrepreneurs “Our projections are…

• Design a Sam Adams beer

  GuyKawasaki

  20 Jan 2012 | 8:24 am

  Now this is a fun project. I’m helping Sam Adams “tap” the knowledge of beer drinkers and crowd source its next brew. Join the party by getting the app and designing your beer: The final brew will be released in Austin in the first week of March. #sponsored

• How to Create an Enchanting Financial Forecast #OfficeandGuyK

  GuyKawasaki

  17 Jan 2012 | 1:52 pm

  This is the third post in my Microsoft partnership, and it’s all about numbers. The topic is crafting your financial forecast to include in your pitch. Bill Reichert, my partner at Garage Technology Ventures, created an Excel model and wrote this blog post. There’s a lesson in this too: Get the best person for the job. His grasp of financial models and how to present them exceeds mine by two orders of magnitude. The Purpose of Financial Projections When it comes to financial projections, there are two types of entrepreneurs: first, the “visionary entrepreneur” who…

• How to Create an Enchanting Business Plan #OfficeandGuyK

  GuyKawasaki

  12 Jan 2012 | 8:16 am

  Here is the second post in my series about planning, pitching, and launching a new business venture. In partnership with Microsoft and Office Web Apps, I’ve created a Word document that outlines a good business plan. It’s saved to my SkyDrive folder here. Feel free to download it and use it as inspiration. And if you’re working with a partner, you can use the free Word Web App to stay in sync. I provided the PowerPoint document before the Word document because a good business plan is an elaboration of a good pitch as opposed to a good pitch being a distillation of good business plan.

• How to Create an Enchanting Pitch #OfficeandGuyK

  GuyKawasaki

  9 Jan 2012 | 8:01 am

  Welcome to the first in a series of blog posts I’ll be doing as part of a partnership with Microsoft and Office Web Apps. Over the next two weeks, I’ll cover everything a budding entrepreneur needs to turn an idea into an enchanting investment opportunity—from the perfect pitch to a killer business plan to financial forecasts. I’m going to start with a little dissertation on creating effective PowerPoint pitches for your company. I embedded the sample deck for you to click through by using the PowerPoint Web App. When you’re ready to get started, you can download the…

• 

  Scobleizer

• Hacker News vs. Google+

  Robert Scoble

  5 Feb 2012 | 10:20 am

  I might as well have titled this “Hacker News vs Marketers.” Or “Hacker News vs Bloggers.” Or “jerks vs nice people.” But I never participate in Hacker News for a few reasons and I just was faced with these reasons again when I read the responses there to my blog post yesterday. 1. Programmers often have an attitude of “I can code, you can’t, so I am defacto better than you.” This often comes out in Hacker News comments. 2. Programmers love to bash people anonymously and then, in real life, they will come begging for PR for their companies…

• It’s too late for Dave Winer and John Battelle to save the common web

  Robert Scoble

  4 Feb 2012 | 5:02 pm

  The date was January 3, 2008. Facebook had kicked me off for running a script to try to save the common web. See, I worked with Plaxo to run a simple script. One that would have taken my contacts out of Facebook and put them back into the common web. The script did some very simple things: 1. It grabbed all my friends names. 2. It grabbed all their phone numbers. 3. It grabbed all their email addresses. 4. It gave me a simple CSV file with all that data so I could bring them back to Google, or Microsoft, or anywhere else I wanted to put them. Facebook’s answer was predictable. They shut…

• HTML 5 pushback in San Francisco? Best mobile app designers say yes

  Robert Scoble

  1 Feb 2012 | 3:39 pm

  The new Path? The one that won a Crunchie last night for great design? It’s not done in HTML 5. This morning I saw something new coming soon from Storify. Not done in HTML 5. This morning I visited Foodspotting, which just shipped hot new apps on iOS, Android, and Blackberry. Not done in HTML 5. More and more I’m hearing that designers and developers are ignoring HTML 5, especially for the high end of apps. Why? Well, Path’s founders told me it just isn’t possible to build a great user interface, the way they did it in HTML 5. Storify’s founder told me it…

• Why Facebook will be worth a half trillion by 2015: the mobile and open graph revenue it’s leaving on the table

  Robert Scoble

  1 Feb 2012 | 2:48 pm

  Lots of people think Facebook is overvalued, at about $100 billion (it just released their S1, announcing its IPO). But in talking with developers, like I did with Foodspotting’s founder, Alexa Andrzejewski, and in reading the S1 I see that Facebook has left most of the potential revenue on the table. That makes me think that the folks crying “overvalued” are nuts. Check that interview out, Foodspotting is one of the hottest San Francisco startups, aimed at people who are looking for better places to eat. Here it is from just this morning: See, Mark Zuckerberg is sandbagging…

• 2012 brings a pause in the disruption

  Robert Scoble

  31 Jan 2012 | 4:58 pm

  OK, I’ve been talking with hundreds of geeks from around the world this year at three conferences, CES, DLD, and World Economic Forum. I’m seeing a trend that is worth talking about. What is it? We’re seeing the end of one of the most disruptive ages in human history. I believe that we’re seeing a pause in the disruption. More on that a little later. Just think about all the changes humans have been asked to adopt in the past eight years. Most of us, back then, didn’t carry mobile computers in our pockets. If we did use tablets, like I did, they were expensive,…

• 

  AgencySpy

• Thursday Odds and Ends

  Kiran Aditham

  9 Feb 2012 | 8:20 am

  -GSD&M offers us a SXSW survival guide. Could be useful, attendees. link -Perfect Fools and Hasan & Partners offer us “Kauko,” which is purported to be the world’s first internet-controlled cafe (above). link -For those not feeling Valentine’s Day (and we’re sure there’s more than a few), here’s a site for you. link - New York/San Francisco-based prodco Bodega signed director and one-time JWT and DDB creative Dave Merhar for commercial representation. -Zeno Group helped Seattle’s Best Coffee launch a “yearlong marketing…

• The Planner, The Brief, The Creative, The Thief

  The Advert

  9 Feb 2012 | 7:49 am

  Oh well that’s a curious headline, isn’t it. Who’s the thief? Not important, because it rhymes and you’re reading this so now onto the point. We want to know what you think about planners. Their weeks-long brief writing process has been proven enough that the practice is now an industry standard. And from a business perspective, there’s a lot that can be billed against with planning — research, time, bodies, and of course the decks, which can go a long way to selling through campaigns. So you might not like it, but those planners are probably helping pay…

• And Now, for You Romantics, a Quick Agency V-Day Rundown

  Kiran Aditham

  9 Feb 2012 | 6:42 am

  The fabricated holiday that is Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and, of course, the agency world is cashing in. Since we’ve already seen the W+K contribution, why not showcase other agencies who want to reach consumers who are stuck in Cupid’s crosshairs. Durham, NC’s own McKinney has launched a web app called “Meet Me in the Photo Booth” that lets users invite a partner into a virtual photo booth (webcam necessary), take a few pics and share them on Facebook and Twitter or even print. The agency is also running a little contest where those who tweet…

• Cubes: VIP Office Tour of Seamless

  Andrew Gauthier

  9 Feb 2012 | 6:31 am

  In this episode of “Cubes,” we tour the Manhattan offices of Seamless, the popular online food delivery service. The Seamless headquarters boasts an interactive Google Earth “weather wall,” blood pressure-lowering chairs, a game room with foosball and ping-pong, and a bunch of other cool features. For more mediabistroTV videos, check out our YouTube channel, and be sure to follow us on Twitter: @mediabistroTV New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

• Bonin’s Move to Ogilvy is Now Official

  Kiran Aditham

  9 Feb 2012 | 6:19 am

  Just a week after we reported about some buzz that Matt Bonin was leaving the West Coast and TBWA\Chiat\Day LA for a job on the East with Ogilvy, the latter agency has confirmed his move. O&M has officially announced that Bonin is joining the New York office in the newly created role of chief production officer. In a statement, Ogilvy North America CCO Steve Simpson says, “Matt has done in practice—and to wonderful effect—what many agencies are still attempting notionally. He knows how to pull all the levers of production, at all the right times, in the service of the idea.

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  TVNewser

• ‘Dateline’ and ’20/20′ End Week with the Same Grisly Tale

  Merrill Knox

  9 Feb 2012 | 8:41 am

  ABC’s “20/20″ and NBC’s “Dateline” will go head-to-head Friday night with reports on the same topic: the story of Josh Powell, the Utah man who killed himself and his two young sons in an explosion on Sunday. On “Dateline,” Keith Morrison talks with Powell’s in-laws, Charles and Judy Cox, as well as his sister, Jennifer Powell. The “20/20″ report, anchored by Chris Cuomo, will focus on the event’s leading up to the tragedy. Jennifer Powell did an interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America” earlier this…

• The Scoreboard: Wednesday, February 8

  Chris Ariens

  9 Feb 2012 | 8:30 am

  25-54 demographic (Live +SD) Total day: FNC: 338 | MSNBC: 154 | CNN: 118 | HLN: 87 Primetime: FNC: 536 | MSNBC: 278 | CNN: 178 | HLN: 121 5p: 6p: 7p: 8p: 9p: 10p: 11p: 12a: FNC TheFive: Baier: Shep: O’Reilly: Hannity: Greta: O’Reilly: Hannity: 481 486 442 641 523 439 313 248 MSNBC Matthews: Sharpton: Matthews: EdShow: Maddow: O’Donnell: EdShow: Maddow: 113 164 203 271 329 233 162 175 CNN Blitzer: KingUSA: Burnett: Cooper: Morgan: Cooper: Burnett: Morgan: 99 118 116 145 192 196 165 137 HLN Special: Prime: Issues: Grace: DrDrew: Grace: Showbiz: DrDrew: 45 50 93 136 113 119 73…

• Megyn Kelly Interviews a ‘Very Special Expert’ on Spanking: Her Mother

  Merrill Knox

  9 Feb 2012 | 8:11 am

  Megyn Kelly took on a controversial issue on today’s “America Live,” reporting on a new study that finds spanking children leads to “emotional problems and aggression.” After admitting that she was spanked as a child — and playing a string of some of her most heated on-air incidents — Kelly turned to “a very special expert” on the subject: her mother. Watch (at the 2:45 mark): Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

• The Common Thread of ‘Person to Person’ and ‘Rock Center’

  Chris Ariens

  9 Feb 2012 | 7:26 am

  The NBC and CBS news divisions each programmed an hour of primetime Wednesday night to mixed viewer results. On CBS, it was the return of “Person to Person,” the iconic interview program hosted first by Edward R. Murrow and later by Charles Collingwood. The new iteration pairs Charlie Rose and Lara Logan (shouldn’t it be ‘People to Person’?) and last night featured interviews with George Clooney, Warren Buffet and Jon Bon Jovi. On NBC at 9pm, the new day and time for “Rock Center,” a blockbuster interview with one-time White House intern Mimi Aflord…

• CNBC Getting into Reality Programming, Hires Jim Ackerman as SVP

  Chris Ariens

  9 Feb 2012 | 7:24 am

  Jim Ackerman, a one-time “Dateline NBC” and “Today” show producer who’s been developing series at VH1 for the past several years, is returning to NBC as Senior Vice President of primetime alternative programming at CNBC. This is a new role at CNBC, which appears to want to break out of the traditional long-form business programming which makes up primetime — corporate portraits, fraud and stories of business tycoons — and add what has become a staple of cable and broadcast TV: reality shows. Ackerman will report directly to CNBC president Mark…

• 

  NYT > Television

• Media Decoder Blog: A Super Bowl Text-Message Ad Reaps Big Returns

  By BRIAN STELTER

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:13 pm

  The N.F.L. received 1.7 million texts asking about a contest that doesn't start until next season.

• Media Decoder Blog: The Obama Spotify Playlist: A Little Bit Country, a Little Bit Indie, and REO Speedwagon

  By BEN SISARIO

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:07 pm

  The president's campaign released a 28-song playlist that has some clear themes, like "Keep on Pushing." It also displays a diversity in styles and regions.

• Fashion Week : Christian Siriano Seeks Fashion Industry’s Approval

  By ERIC WILSON

  9 Feb 2012 | 12:57 pm

  Thanks to “Project Runway,” Christian Siriano is a star in the eyes of the broader public, but now he’s trying to appeal to the fashion crowd.

• Media Decoder Blog: Average Cost of a Movie Ticket Edges Up to $7.93

  By MICHAEL CIEPLY

  9 Feb 2012 | 12:53 pm

  There have been 17 years in a row of increases, but last year's was 4 cents, or 0.5 percent.

• ArtsBeat: Man Pleads Guilty to Making Online Threats Against 'South Park' Creators

  By DAVE ITZKOFF

  9 Feb 2012 | 11:45 am

  Jesse Curtis Morton went by the name Younus Abdullah Mohammad when he and another man, Zachary A. Chesser, wrote on a radical Muslim Web site that an episode of "South Park" had insulted the Prophet Muhammad.

• 

  BuzzMachine

• Economist debate on sharing

  Jeff Jarvis

  8 Feb 2012 | 1:28 pm

  The Economist has just launched a debate between me and Andrew Keen — and you — on the proposition that society benefits when we share information online.” Here is my opening statement; follow the link for Andrew’s and the discussion: We are sharing for good reason—not because we are insane, exhibitionistic, or drunk. We are sharing because, at last, we can, and we find benefit in it. Sharing is a social and generous act: it connects us, it establishes and improves relationships, it builds trust, it disarms strangers and stigmas, it fosters the wisdom of the crowd,…

• Sin or sense?

  Jeff Jarvis

  8 Feb 2012 | 7:04 am

  Oh, no, the “original sin” meme of newspapers not charging for content is rising again. Sigh. Dick Tofel, general manager of Pro Publica and former assistant publisher and assistant managing editor of The Wall Street Journal, is a very smart and reasonable man and he has written a smart and reasonable Kindle Single (enabling him to charge as a matter of metaphor) about “why newspapers gave away the future.” But his case is not exactly what it appears, for this is more of a history than a reverse-Reagan (that is, “Mr. Gorbachev, build this wall!”). Tofel…

• Facebook goes public: Zuckerberg in Public Parts & WWGD?

  Jeff Jarvis

  1 Feb 2012 | 12:12 pm

  Relevant to the expected Facebook IPO announcement, here are excerpts from my interview with Mark Zuckerberg for Public Parts. “I’m in the first generation of people who really grew up with the internet,” Zuckerberg tells me. “Google came out when I was in middle school. Then there was Amazon and Wikipedia and iTunes and Napster. Each year, there were new ways to access information. Now you can look up anything you want. Now you can get cool reference material. Now you can download any song you want. Now you can get directions to anything. The world kept on getting better and…

• Efficiency over growth (and jobs)

  Jeff Jarvis

  26 Jan 2012 | 12:29 am

  The hook to every song sung at Davos is “jobs, jobs, jobs.” The chorus of machers on stages here operate under an article of faith that growth can come back, that they can stimulate it, that that will create jobs, and then that all will be eventually well. What if that’s not the case? I am coming to believe, more and more, that technology is leading to efficiency over growth. I’ve written about that here.This notion is obviously true in some sectors of society: see news and media, retail, travel sales, and other arenas. But how many more sectors will this rule strike:…

• Davos, disrupted

  Jeff Jarvis

  24 Jan 2012 | 11:53 pm

  I’m among the disrupted of Davos. Outside, there’s an #OccupyDavos encampment in igloos (really). Down the road, someone will be giving out an award to the worst company of the world. But the disruption is no longer outside. That’s what I sensed in past years; that’s what they wanted to believe here. Now the disruption is inside. Every institution is challenged. Every. The World Economic Forum issued a list of global risks (though Google’s Eric Schmidt countered on his Google+ page that he’s optimistic; that’s because he’s a disruptor).

• 

  Lost Remote

• TV ‘cord cutters’ and ‘cord nevers’ increase, finds Nielsen study

  Cory Bergman

  9 Feb 2012 | 8:36 am

  A new report by Nielsen reveals a rise in homes with over-the-air TV and a broadband connection, but no cable, satellite or IPTV service. It’s still a small segment of the overall U.S. population (5% of households), it’s grown 22.8% over the last year. While this group still watches much more traditional TV than broadband-delivered video, it watches half as much TV and streams twice as much video as the general population. Does this mean “cord cutting” is on the rise? Nielsen avoids such a declaration in its report, but I think the best explanation comes from Credit…

• How should TV newsrooms break stories on Twitter?

  Cory Bergman

  8 Feb 2012 | 6:31 pm

  Sky News and BBC are both in industry headlines this week for changes to their social media policies that ensure reporters and editors alert the newsroom before breaking news on Twitter. The BBC explains: “When they have some breaking news, an exclusive or any kind of urgent update on a story, they must get written copy into our newsroom system as quickly as possible, so that it can be seen and shared by everyone – both the news desks which deploy our staff and resources (like TV trucks) as well as television, radio and online production teams.” The BBC says it will still…

• WSB-TV showcases anchor retirement on social media

  Cory Bergman

  8 Feb 2012 | 12:12 pm

  When WSB-TV’s Monica Pearson announced her retirement on Monday after 37 years on the air, it was big news for Atlanta. After all, she worked through seven presidencies and six Georgia governors, and the state’s population doubled during her tenure. WSB not only splashed the news on air, but on social media — “Monica” even became the #2 trending topic on Twitter nationwide. Instead of just announcing it on air, @wsbtv built anticipation with a tweet promising big news that will “change Atlanta TV.” Soon thereafter, they sent a personal video message…

• Social TV startup Flingo receives $7 million in funding

  Natan Edelsburg

  7 Feb 2012 | 2:20 pm

  We wrote about Flingo in November and learned that BitTorrent cofounder Ashwin Navin had built a company that develops smart TV apps across multiple platforms. Navin hinted at some big social TV announcements that his company would make, and they launched with A+E Networks to make your remote more social. Now the San Francisco-based company is the latest social TV startup to raise a large chunk of cash. August Capital is placing their bets on this company’s success, and we think it’s a good one. Major social TV innovations aren’t always in the form of a brand new app with…

• Connected TV company says second-screen apps are distracting

  Cory Bergman

  7 Feb 2012 | 8:23 am

  For the Super Bowl, the connected TV marketing company CTV Advertising conducted a survey. It worked with ten heavy-consuming TV viewers (“couch consultants”) around the country, and asked them to fill out questionnaires before and after the game about “companion applications,” with an emphasis on synchronized advertising. And the results are in: 6 of the 10 said they experienced “social disruption” in engaging with a second-screen app during the game, including negative reception from others in the room. 4 of the 10 said the second-screen ad experience…