About.com Finally Finds a Buyer

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Written by Bill Pojunis on 29 August 2012.

About.com has finally found a buyer in InterActiveCorp. IAC is owned by Barry Diller and a deal has recently been agreed upon between his company and the NY Times, which owned About. The deal will be closed within the next few weeks.
The NY Times is expected to hand over About.com to InterActCorp for a cash amount of $300 million. This is $90 million less than what the Times paid for the website when it acquired it in 2005. 

It is expected that there will be an official announcement made about the acquisition shortly.

Aside from IAC, other companies made bids. Demand Media, which has been struggling in its own right since last year and Answers.com were interested in purchasing About.com. The Diller owned company should find About to be a perfect fit into its fold as the reference content site has approximately 100 million unique visitors per month. IAC already owns content website The Writers Network and subsites related to it.

The About Group is kept going strong as it relies on freelance writers who produce expert knowledge on various topics, from technology gadgets to home improvement to finance and many more. In the last few years, it has had trouble in drawing traffic and relies greatly on advertising. InterActiveCorp has improved other similar websites such as Ask.com that are frequently searched online to up to 46 percent in recent days. About should see no difference as it is believed the acquisition will make it more profitable.

As the About Group has seen a decline in traffic since being purchased by the NY Times, it seems that a partnership with InterActiveCorp can only improve its chances in online searches. It seems to be a good fit with the other properties owned by the Diller company, which may be able to pool its collective resources to reduce certain costs on the website. At the same time, About can prove to be a useful tool for advertising that will nicely fit into the network of sites already owned by InterActiveCorp.

The success of the purchase will be determined over time. The About Group also boasts ConsumerSearch.com and CalorieCount.com.

IBM Makes Another Acquisition in Social Media Management Space

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IBM Makes Another Acquisition in Social Media Management Space

Written by Bill Pojunis 8/30/2012

Technology giant IBM has once again shown its commitment to providing solutions that are in sync with today's business computing environment. The multinational company recently announced from its New York headquarters that it is in the midst of an acquisition deal with Kenexa, a software developer that specializes in cloud computing solutions for recruiting and employee placement.

The acquisition highlights the importance of social media management and analytics in today's business world. Data analysis is the driving force behind many enterprises these days, and this is something that IBM is very serious about fostering and developing. Online social networking and cloud computing are the current aspects of the Web 2.0 evolution, and just about every business industry is currently interested in the social business paradigm.

Kenexa is a public company that trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol KNXA. Since 1987, the company has concentrated on providing solutions to the human resources and employee management industry. Some of the company's software solutions include the analysis of team dynamics and employee behavior.

Managing Social Media at a Business Level

Companies like Salesforce embraced cloud computing from the start by providing solutions like the Software as a Service (SaaS) platform. Other companies like Oracle and SAP followed suit. These companies are now turning their attention to online social networks and their implementation in the workplace.

Both Oracle and Salesforce have shown their desire to combine the power of their cloud-based business solutions with social media. Oracle, for example, acquired a developer of social media publishing applications earlier this year. Salesforce would respond a month later with the $655 million acquisition of Buddy Media, a social enterprise software developer.

Kenexa has been dedicated to providing enterprise social media solutions for a few years, particularly with regard to the recruiting and interview process. Social media management is a burgeoning aspect of modern business, and it is something that even small companies can benefit from. For example, a job interview that takes place in a private business social network via web conference can be shared across social circles for recruiting and evaluation purposes.

 

 

Apple Wins Big in Samsung Suit

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The technology world is currently all abuzz over the recent judgment of the patent trial Apple brought against Samsung. The South Korean manufacturer was found guilty in copyright and trademark infringement of products made by the Cupertino, California tech giant that resulted in a settlement of $1.05 billion. The jury in the trial came to the conclusion that much of the innovative technology created by Apple was stolen by the South Korean company.
 
According to reports, Google, which is the Android partner of Samsung, had warned the company not to copy the American company and use its patents. Although Apple originally sought $2.5 billion, the victory is still quite harmful to the competing company.
 
Part of the lawsuit saw the Cupertino tech manufacturer demanding that the Seoul company remove the majority of its smartphones and tablets from the United States market. Attorney Harold McElhinny claimed that the South Korean manufacturer faced a “crisis of design” after the launch of the original iPhone in June 2007, and that its executives illegally cashed in on the success of the device.
 
The Galaxy line of smartphones made by Samsung have been the biggest rivals of the Cupertino company’s products. The Galaxy S and Galaxy S II in addition to the Galaxy Tab 10 were deemed to be directly modeled after the iPhone and iPad in a very blatant manner. The South Korean manufacturer countered by claiming its competitor didn’t invent the design of a rectangle with rounded edges.

 
The settlement amount in the judgment has forced the Korean company to think fast on its feet. As eight smartphones are slated to be banned across the United States market, a spokesperson has stated to the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, August 28, 2012that the company plans to modify devices so that they can continue to sell them.

 
The Seoul tech giant had also filed a suit against the American manufacturer, but the jury determined that there was no trademark or copyright infringement there. Although the Cupertino, California company did not win every claim it made, it still walked out a big

winner. It remains to be seen how this will affect the tech world and competition in the market.

"Brain Hacking" - Another Unintended Consequence of Technology

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Written by Bill Pojunis on 27 August 2012. Posted in Internet Technologies

Brain Hacking  - Another Unintended Consequence of Technology?

 

Game developers came up with headsets to use with playing video games on computers for "hand-free gaming" - really cool, right? I mean, talk about sci-fi becoming reality! I remember "Firefox" a 1982 movie  with Clint Eastwood, where he played a pilot who stole a super-secret Soviet plane that fired weapons using mind control by the pilot - in other words, all he had to do was to think a command, and the plane responded, firing the aforementioned weapon. Way out there, right? Well not so fast, Bippy - remember the pearl of wisdom from Napoleon Hill - "What the mind of Man can conceive, and believe, it can achieve" (probably not meant in this scenario, but it seems to fit). Leave it up to Video Game developers to come up with something to require even less physical activity, and we have "hands-free gaming" just think your commands using a headset which "reads" your thoughts, and BAM! you're annihilating your competitor with your MIND!

OK on the serious note, researchers from Oxford, Berkeley and Geneva produced "On the Feasibility of Side-Channel Attacks with Brain-Computer Interfaces" - (seriously, that is the title!), which found that subjects could reveal personal information, including PIN numbers, addresses, known people, all through spikes in brain activity when the subject recognized something familiar from a test group of data. Admittedly, this is still kind of sketchy, with about a 40% accuracy rate, but as the devices (headsets) improve their sensitivity and quality, higher results are expected.

According to the researchers, their motivation was to determine whether participants would inadvertently reveal private information while wearing one of these devices for another purpose, say, playing video games. During the testing, participants wore brain-wave reading devices and were shown a list of people, possible PIN numbers, and the likely location fo their home. Spikes in brain activity P300 (which activates  when familiar information was recognized) occurred and the researchers were then able to guess the correct information contained within the lists shown to the participants. Preliminary results showed that the correct first PIN number was identified 20% of the time, their home's regional location 30%, their month of birth 60%, and their bank's ATM branch location 30%.

As the devices (headsets) and technology are improved, this raises the flood of applications and possibilities - consider this one - Law Enforcement Officers can use this technology in interrogation (same with the military) for various reasons, like identifying accomplices, collaborators, etc. as well as potential ambush sites - you get the idea. But, what if Facebook was now able to tell if you REALLY know that person to whom you are sending a "friend request" can you imagine that?

However, let's not forget the 800 pound gorilla in the room - the abject invasion of privacy of our MINDS! Will we inadvertently reveal our innermost secrets and private information, potentially harmful, by wearing one of these devices to play a video game?

And they laughed about the idea of "tin foil hats" - maybe those folks were the ones really onto something way before its time - just sayin'!

Tell Me Again Why Capitalism is So Evil? Just Ask Apple, Why Doncha!

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Tell Me Again Why Capitalism is So Evil? Just Ask Apple, Why Doncha!                                                                                        

As reported today, Apple's Market cap of $623 BILLION makes it the largest US publicly traded corporation, surpassing the previous highest tally - $618.9 Billion, Microsoft, way back in 1999. OK, ok you purists, adjusted for inflation, Microsoft would be $850 - but remember that date I mentioned -1999? You might recall that was at at the height of the tech bubble!

Since 1999, Apple has gone on such a wild ride it would make your head spin! In 1999, Apple's market cap stood at about $9 billion, up from  a paltry $2.3 billion just two years earlier, in 1997. To put Apple's run in perspective, what about some other billion$ companies from 1999 - how have they fared? Let's start with a few fairly well-known companies in that category - Cisco, AOL, Oracle, Sun Microsystems, Dell Computers, Nokia, Yahoo.

The rankings of these companies in 1999:
#1 - Microsoft - $618.9 billion market cap
#2 - Exxon   -  $267.02 billion
#3 - Cisco Systems - $350 billion
#9 - Nokia - approximately $200 billion
#12 - AOL - also around $200 billion

Sun and Oracle were both similar, Oracle around $137 billion, Sun a little less at $116 billion.

Yahoo was high on the totem pole at that point, #39, market cap about $100 billion.

Dell rolled in at # 30, market cap was $122 billion.

So much for thie historical base point - what about today, and why should Apple be the subject of an article like this? Did I mention Apple is now the highest valued publicly traded American corporation today? I thought so. While this is remarkable, whre do those others I mentioned above fall now?

Cisco's market cap is near $100 billion; Nokia's - $8 billion and falling; AOL - today is $3 billion, but in the interim they bought Time Warner for $162 billion, and this acquisition turned around and spun off AOL!

Oracle bought Sun for 7.4 billion; Yahoo today has a market cap of roughly $18 billion; Dell has lost $100 billion, current cap is $22 billion.

What has Apple done in the same time? Only increased their market cap $614 BILLION, that's what!
As I mentioned at the outset, none of these  accomplismments are possible in anything other than a capitalist system. The OWS types can scream all they want about "fairness" and "social justice" and "equality", but excuse me, where would all those employees of these "evil corporations" be without the innovation, the at-risk  initial captial investments, the vision to create an enterprise, and yes, the profits which fueled the expansion and the increases of numbers of employees, the benefits paid, the taxes paid, the infrastructure, the construction workers required to erect the facilities where these companies produced their products, the suppliers who provide the supporting casts of thousands of materials used to manufacture the end products - funny, but I don't see any socialist/communist/statist systems capable of such production - correct me if I'm wrong!

Wake up, America! The Occupy movement is intent upon bringing DOWN our system which has produced results such as these, and offer NOTHING with which to replace it except empty rhetoric and vague generalities couched in unproven and unrealistic pipe dreams created from smoke and mirrors. I'll take the reality scenario anytime! $623 billion worth of reality scenario!

Do Consumers Trust Your Web Site More Than Social Networks?

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Do Consumers Trust Your Web Site More Than Social Networks?
Recently I came across two articles which surprised me, in the fact that  both suggest that consumers trust e-commerce websites more than social networks. Maybe it isn’t such a surprise.

One was reporting  on a new survey which found that 55% are "mostly willing" to provide shopping preferences to trusted retailers in exchange for an enhanced shopping experience, while 52% stated they are "much more concerned" or "somewhat more concerned" about providing the same information on social networks.  (This survey conducted by the consultancy The E-Tailing Group and personalization services vendor MyBuys Inc of 1,000 consumers).

The second article, (big surprise) found that visitors to social networks go there to socialize, not to “interact with brands”, then further stated that if consumers want information about a purchase decision, they were four times more likely to go directly to the company’s website! Credit this to research by social marketing firm Get Satisfaction and analyst Incyte Group. From their survey: "when customers want information to make purchase decisions, they are more than four times as likely to go to the company’s website (89%) as they are to use a social network (21%)."

So, e-commerce merchants – what should you do now? Ignore social media and concentrate solely on your website? Hardly! What you should do is to adopt a policy regarding social media that serves to engage and inform your potential customers, like offering them the opportunity to participate in surveys, offer feedback and comment on your offerings, explain the differentiation between your competitors and your business. But, do these things on your own website, rather than on social networking sites – use them to drive traffic to your website!

 

Your website can be fine-tuned to use social media effectively – create communities, offer ratings and reviews, and encourage your customers to share their experiences through an online forum –all these are great opportunities to enhance the value of your website to your customer base, if done well. Bear in mind that the purchase decision occurs on your website, not on your fan page, and allocate your resources accordingly.

Look at social networks from a personal perspective – what do you like about them yourself, and what annoys you about them? Then structure your efforts according to what you would like to see as a consumer, rather than from the perspective of a provider or seller. Ask yourself, would you become a “fan” of your own page? Why or why not? Then you have some basis to evaluate what you should do.

The bottom line – if you provide social networking “tools” on your own website, which allow customers to share content, it is likely that some of them will do just that!
Social media may not yet have attained the "be-all, end-all" of 21st century marketing,  but you cannot deny its impact and potential to generate additional sales, when properly executed and deployed as part of your overall strategy.

The takeaway for small business is this – remember the priority of your online presence is your web site, but never overlook the potential benefit of social network applications, use both in your planning.

Samsung Announces Galaxy Note 10.1

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Monday Samsung announced the awaited arrival of the Galaxy Note 10.1, stating that the tablet will be available around the world by the end of this month .

Dual cameras, a forward facing 1.9 megapixel and a 5 megapixel rear-facing are features, as well as the the 1.4Ghz quad-core Exynos processor that powers the 10.1-inch Android tablet.

Originally announced at Mobile World Congress in February, the Galaxy Note 10.1 has upgraded to a faster processor as well as other updated specs hoping to make it more competitive with other tablets on the market. It will launch with the Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich" OS.

For those of you in New York City, Samsung is holding an event  on August 15, which will probably introduce the launch of the tablet. 

The tablet  has a multitasking feature, allowing you to run two apps simultaneously on the screen, which could be used to surf the web or take notes during the presentation. Or various other uses creative minds will find useful!

Why Ecommerce Businesses Should be Using Facebook for Market Research

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Why E-commerce Businesses Should be Using Facebook for Market Research

Using Facebook’s marketing data may prove to be essential to e-commerce sites. Any e-commerce site that is currently not using Facebook for market research is potentially missing out on significant information that could be beneficial to their bottom line. Sociable Labs explores how technology can be used in innovative ways and recently conducted a survey of over 12 e-commerce sites in different markets. They discovered half of visitors to e-commerce websites are logged on to Facebook. Businesses need to know more about their customers’ interactions with Facebook because of its significance in the day-to-day lives of current and future customers. 

Facebook allows e-commerce businesses to conduct market research in a way that is highly targeted. Businesses can use the data they collect on Facebook to create more effective ad campaigns. These campaigns can be spread across multiple platforms including social media sites and also help businesses create more effective copy for their websites. If businesses are able to determine exactly what their customers need and want they will be in a better position to increase sells and brand loyalty. The days of untargeted ads are coming to an end. People want products that cater to their specific needs and any e-commerce business that can figure how to do this is bound to have lasting success online.

Using social media in particular to market means being relevant. E-commerce companies need to be able to cut through all the noise that individual consumers are bombarded by during their online experience. The average Facebook user spends an average of 15 minutes on Facebook each day. Highly targeted ads to these customers on Facebook alone could be a very effective and economical way for businesses to spread the word about the brand and products. Sociable Labs creates different services to help businesses better understand the response they are receiving from customers on their social media marketing campaigns.

Having relevant and highly targeted information about target audiences and demographics can help businesses create more effective ads for their general audiences and sub-niches within their core audience. Products that are better positioned to sell can also be created based on market research and information received from Facebook’s platform. Companies should be using the Facebook Business Pages to conduct research. The built-in metrics on Facebook’s platform can help businesses make better decisions for the future and understand want their customers are looking for. Companies can also conduct polls as a way to interact with their fans and gather information as well. Including services that help monitor customer response like the ones developed by Sociable Labs can also be a very important component of an e-commerce businesses marketing plan.

How Can a Company Move "Followers" and "Fans" into Sales Prospects Using Social Media?

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How Can a Company Move "Followers" and "Fans" into Sales Prospects Using Social Media?

Written by Bill Pojunis on 28 July 2012. Posted in Social Media Marketing & Strategy

Social media is a great tool to market various products and services. Companies that utilize a Facebook page or manage a Twitter account have a wide audience for potential customers. However, any business that is using a social media site needs to provide content valuable to their target audience. Once this has been done, an online strategy for the generation of revenue is needed. 

Updating fans of a Facebook page or followers on Twitter allows a business to reach prospects early on in the sales process. Getting a potential customer's attention early is the key to successful conversion to a paying customer. To do this a company will need to post a description with a preview of their product or service being offered. 

Potential customers for your business need an easy way to find your product. To do this an example for the type of product or a link to a web page needs to be included with any posted message. Make sure to keep extra clicks to get to the link for your product to a minimum. The link on a Facebook page or your Twitter account needs to go directly to the product. If a link simply goes to a main page for a website, a business may miss out on converting fans and followers into a sales prospect. 

Utilize a Facebook or Twitter page to create soft leads. Potential customers that follow your pages enter the sales process at an early stage and may not be at a buying stage at this point. However, a business is able to create a new lead or sales prospect by using an email list. This allows a business to use an email marketing campaign to promote their product and other offerings. 

The sales prospects being nurtured on fans on Facebook or followers on Twitter are different than those of a traditional sales lead. This means that a traditional email campaign for this type of prospect is not a good choice to drive a purchase decision. These emails should include basic information of a product to keep up interest. 

Measure the effort to convert a fan or follower into sales prospects. This can be done by tracking how many visitors click on a link the is posted to Facebook or Twitter. Compare the number of clicks on your links to the number total number of potential leads following on Facebook or Twitter.

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Google debuts "Vault" Archiving and Records Management System

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Google debuts "Vault" Archiving and Records Management System

It seems like everything is moving to the cloud and with the advent of the Google Vault, business communications are headed there as well. The company recently announced its archiving service for users of its chat and email services. This service costs $5 per month and is geared toward any organization that might benefit from an archiving system during times of litigation, investigation, and compliance audits. We think it's a strong addition to the company's other business services, which you may already be using, including Cloud Connect, Groups, Sites and Docs.

Water cooler talk has been positive. If you already rely on Gchat or Gmail don't need to make any changes. This records management system simply archives the data that is already being communicated in those channels. It offers an easy solution during a difficult time. Legal processes that require a retention period, or hold, on such data go that much more smoothly when it's easy to locate and save that data.

Google explains that its Vault service allows businesses to comply with those legal holds and the system will hold the chat and email data until the retention expires. Although you can manually save some of this data, the automated records management system ensures that it is preserved for longer than Gmail or Chat may usually allow.

Even when litigation and compliance aren't an issue, this new service allows small company owners to quickly search through archived data to find specific information. The search tool is handy because it allows you to locate data based on message content and meta-data such as labels. It also promotes collaboration between users for message management purposes. Plus, there's no need to move your sensitive files between hard-drives, a practice that can sometimes result in corrupted files. This new service is just one more way to ensure that important information never becomes lost, even in the event of a hard-drive or network failure.

Google wants business owners and IT managers to sign up with this service right away. What is its reasoning? Vault provides an easy-to-access method for quickly finding data. The archiving service is a small fee, the company says, especially when compared to costly data retrieval and wasted man-hours when the auditor makes an appearance. Operations quickly return to normal, and audits become less painful. It's certainly a convincing argument and we think it's always better to be safe than sorry.

New Media Plus Relaunches Blog

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Written by Bill Pojunis on 27 July 2012. Posted in Blogs

 

New Media Plus is now re-launching our blog onwww.newmediaplus.net.

 

During the next few weeks, you will notice our re-energized commitment to providing valuable information on all things relating to social media, website development and online advertising.  We now will be providing information and an enhanced emphasis upon how public companies can more effectively manage their investor-related materials through social media and new media. We will be bringing our readers trends and new developments, industry news and best practices from sources to complement our own staff of contributors and experts.

We are back, better than ever, and raring to go!  The new content is on schedule to begin release in the next few days.

We hope you like what you see, and that you will give us some feedback so that we can continue to improve things going forward.  In addition, we would greatly appreciate it if you could help us by sharing articles and posts you like or find helpful to your business!

As the saying goes, we are ramping up for success! Glad to have you join us!

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PayPal Wallet's Take on Payments- Click here http://bit.ly/rXt6xm for full article

PayPal Wallet's Take on Payments- Click here http://bit.ly/rXt6xm for full article

The idea of a world where consumers are free from carrying multiple debit and credit cards with them has picked up a head of steam over the last year. The biggest push for this concept may have come from Google Wallet, the company’s NFC-based payment solution. Google’s dream of a future where everyone uses Google Wallet won’t come to fruition if PayPal has any say, though.

PayPal recently unveiled its new PayPal Wallet interface. Like Google Wallet, the service lets consumers spend anywhere that PayPal Wallet is accepted using a unified account. All a person needs to do is select what account they want to spend from, and either key in a PIN or use a PayPal credit card. The rest is handled by PayPal, without the buyer needing to carry around a card for each of their spending accounts.

The biggest differentiator for PayPal Wallet from Google Wallet is that PayPal’s new service isn’t based on NFC. While Google Wallet requires its users to have an NFC-enabled phone – something that is still a rarity in the world of smartphones – PayPal doesn’t require NFC. It will have support for NFC in the future, it won’t be required. Instead, users can use the aforementioned PayPal credit card or PIN method to verify purchases.

It’s a great idea, and one that PayPal is hoping will allow it to be a leader not just in online payments, but also in offline. When compared to Google Wallet, its largest competitor, the only major advantage that Google Wallet has is that it lets the user choose what payment method they want to use prior to the purchase. PayPal Wallet, meanwhile, uses a default payment method that can’t be conveniently changed prior to each purchase.

To make up for this shortcoming, PayPal Wallet lets its users change their payment method after the purchase has been made. For example, if a person sets their debit card to be their default payment method, then that’s what will be used in all PayPal Wallet purchases. Once that person gets home, though, they can log on to their PayPal account, single out the transaction and switch the funding source for it.

PayPal Wallet promises to be an innovative new service that will allow consumers to spend more while fumbling through different cards less. Because of this, business owners can benefit from implementing PayPal Wallet functionality. It takes away the roadblocks associated with traditional spending, and that means more sales for businesses. And, of course, more business for PayPal.

The Release of Siri: What You Need To Know-Click here http://bit.ly/nF4i6q for full article

The Release of Siri: What You Need To Know-Click here http://bit.ly/nF4i6q for full article

Of all the many upgrades and new features included in the latest iPhone 4S, the most highly anticipated has got to be Siri. In a nutshell, Siri is a digital personal assistant program that's included in iOS 5, the latest and greatest version of Apple's much-lauded mobile operating system. Relying on natural language recognition and artificial intelligence to respond to queries from the user, Siri can do everything you would do yourself automatically without having to push a single button. While there are many similar programs on the market, few attain the level of polish and sophistication that Siri achieves.

Main Features and Benefits
Siri is like having a digital personal assistant within your phone. Using natural language recognition melded with cloud database storage, Siri responds to a user's commands and questions and learns as it goes. In order to launch Siri on a new iPhone 4S, simply hold down the home button. Once activated, you can ask Siri nearly anything you can think of and it'll answer you to the best of your ability. Simply ask Siri “What can you do?" if you're unsure where to start. It'll give you a rundown of the available options and capabilities built in to the service.

Siri's voice-activated web search is impressive enough by itself. But the truly astounding thing is the way in which it organizes and streamlines communication online or on the phone. Due to its tight integration with your contacts, E-mail, and messaging accounts, you can easily fire off calls and SMS messages by voice command alone. If you want to update your Twitter stream or see what other people are saying, Siri's got you covered. It can tell you if you need to grab an umbrella before you leave the office, and even book a hotel room for you if you so desire.

How Siri Will Change The Digital Landscape
It's not an understatement to say that Siri will be a major boon to small and medium-sized businesses that rely heavily on the iPhone to make their work force more productive. Siri's personal assistant technology makes having a secretary for lower-level executives almost redundant. For the rank and file, Siri makes keeping track of appointments and staying on top of deadlines less of a headache. Overall, Siri makes everyone a more effective worker. As Apple's flagship voice recognition software catches on with more and more users, expect to see competition in this sector heat up as Android jumps on the bandwagon and releases a digital assistant application of its own.

Wall Street Protests- Click here http://bit.ly/ptkPFs for full article

Wall Street Protests- Click here http://bit.ly/ptkPFs for full article

Back in August, the self-proclaimed ‘culture jamming’ Canadian magazine Adbusters launched a call to action to all disenfranchised Americans. It was time for the USA to have its ‘Tahrir moment’ they said, and they began a movement to ‘Occupy Wall Street’ with at least 20,000 people.

On September 17, the date finally arrived, and fewer than 1,000 people showed. Only a small shadow of what the original call was. Come next morning hundreds had left, and by Monday the 19th, only two days into the Wall Street protest, a mere 150 committed people remained.

Those who followed the ‘Occupy Wall Street’ movement expected it to fade out into the background and disappear, obscured by a mainstream media blackout. Now, 20 days in and contrary to early forecasts, the movement has not only grown, but snowballed nationwide beyond the already high expectations of the original organizers.

‘Occupation’ actions are being held and organized in over 200 US cities, including Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco and the District of Columbia. It has also grown internationally, with ‘Occupations’ taking place in Spain, Canada, France, Brazil and Greece to name a few.

The occupation movement was originally met with derision and condescension by the media, due in great part by the lack of a cohesive and unifying message. But it may perhaps be this lack of a clear demand what is the most telling about the Wall Street Protests.

On Thursday, President Barack Obama addressed the protests, stating he believes “it expresses the frustrations that the American people feel” and that “the protestors are giving voice to a more broad-based frustration about how our financial system works.” It may very well be this generalized message of frustration towards inequality that has made the movement resonate with so many Americans – and draw support from so many varied and eclectic sources.

Increasingly, these grassroots demonstrations against perceived injustice and corporate greed are drawing the attention and support of heavy hitters across the sociopolitical spectrum, like labor unions, Nobel laureates, anarchistic organizations like Anonymous, celebrities, active-duty and veteran US military, politicians and even groups of Tea Party members.

Ironically enough, the NYPD presence which was deployed to contain and disperse the Wall Street protests has only succeeded in helping galvanize public support for ‘Occupy Wall Street’. In fact, on September 23rd the occupation movement was still only a couple hundred strong, but the now infamous video of Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna pepper-spraying female protestors on September 24th played a key role in creating public support for the Occupation movement; catapulting it to the nation-wide pressure group it has become.

With such a broad range of issues ‘Occupy Wall Street’ wants to tackle, as well as the growing number of groups, parties and unions attempting to co-opt the movement into their own agenda, it is extremely hard to tell what the future of this grassroots campaign holds. However, one thing is certain: It has been 20 days and everything indicates it will only get bigger.

The Loss of a Visionary, the Death of Steve Jobs- Click here http://bit.ly/r3QA8F for full article

The Loss of a Visionary, the Death of Steve Jobs- Click here http://bit.ly/r3QA8F for full article

Hailed as both a visionary and creative genius, Steve Jobs passed away Wednesday night after a long and mostly secret battle with cancer. In addition to his friends and family, Steve Jobs leaves one the most successful technology companies and a host of innovations that will forever change the world. His family issued a short statement Wednesday, informing the public that he had left peacefully. Although many knew him as a creative genius, the release noted that he cherished his family. They requested privacy as they mourn his loss and committed to setting up a website dedicated to honoring his memory.

In response to the tragedy, many have begun to take a second look at Jobs fantastic life. Some have begun to assemble at Apple retail stores as they remember Jobs and his profound effect on the world. This effect was most recently realizied in the development of some of the most celebrated technological devices, the iPod, iPad and iPhone. The personal device revolution they have inspired is not dissimilar from the success Apple first experienced in the realm of personal computers.

Without Steve Jobs, in cooperation with Steve Wozniak, the computer revolution may have never happened, or at least been significantly delayed. Apple led the industry in personal computing until the 1990’s when the company lost a great deal of its popularity and market share. This coincided with Job’s absence from the company, beginning in 1986 when the creative genius and ended after Jobs returned in 1996 and led the company to release the first iPod in 2001.

Jobs brought more than just technology to the world. The visionary was responsible for number of contributions to society and worked with other corporate leaders like Bill Gates to encourage positive growth in society. He also gave joy and laughter to millions through a number of films produced by his animation company, Pixar. Steve Jobs bought the company in 1986 and after leading it for a number of years, accepted a buy-out agreement in 2006 and became the largest share holder in Disney. He continued to serve as a director until his death.

Apple issued a statement declaring the visionary a mentor to those he knew and an amazing human being to all. Until a website is released, they officially designated rememberingsteve@apple.com as the place to send condolences and appreciate for the man who changed so many lives.

Take Your Best Shot!- Click here http://bit.ly/nEgedy for full article

Take Your Best Shot!- Click here http://bit.ly/nEgedy for full article

It used to be that anyone who wanted to take good display-quality photos would need to invest a lot of money in serious photo equipment. Most people who took photos did so with instamatic-type cameras and were happy to just have personal records to keep for memories’ sake and not to necessarily display.

With the advancement in today’s technology, though, it is now easy and relatively inexpensive for anyone to explore their creative talents with photography. Today, a digital camera comes with almost every cellphone made. For example, the latest iPhone comes with a 5 megapixel camera and an L.E.D. flash. You will find cellphone cameras in use by many teenagers today. They love to send pictures to each other via the Internet and to post them to social networking sites. You will even find many of them sporting iPhones. Whether it be an iPhone or another type of cellphone camera, no child today feels complete without their digital camera.

For a minor investment, a budding photographer can more deeply enter into the world of photography by buying what used to be thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment in one affordable digital camera (typically known as a prosumer camera); a camera that allows the user to go from total novice settings to fully manual. Prosumer cameras typically come with zoom lenses of various focal lengths, some have a very impressive range of zoom—from wide-angle to super-telephoto.

For those who want even more, a modern DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) camera is the way to go. The DSLR is the camera of choice for those serious about photography, especially for those who make their living taking photographs, such as photojournalists. The DSLR allows the photographer to add myriad accessories such as different lenses to multiple flash units in order to get the shot

In a fast-paced working environment such as photojournalism, DSLRs are the cameras of choice. Photojournalism has become simpler with their use. The photographer no longer needs to wait to get back to the lab to get the film developed. She can now transfer the images directly from the location over the Internet to her editor for review. In some ways, digital cameras could be said to have revolutionized the world of photojournalism.

Digital cameras truly have opened up a new world for many today. There’s never been a better time to enjoy the fun of picture taking.

Why Facebook Needs a Hit- Click here http://bit.ly/pOVBwc for full article

Why Facebook Needs a Hit- Click here http://bit.ly/pOVBwc for full article

While Facebook still reigns over the social media kingdom, boasting over 750 million subscribers and $4 billion in sales so far in 2011, the site seems to have hit a snag. Essentially, Facebook hasn't come up with anything innovative in recent years, and is unfortunately falling victim to the curse that so many businesses have fallen victim to; getting too big for your own good. Facebook, it seems, has begun to stray away from their core audience; people that want to interact with their friends. Instead, the site has tried to incorporate a litany of options to do so, leaving many people to wonder just what Facebook is anymore.

In the beginning, the concept was simple. You signed up, filled out some info about yourself, uploaded a picture, started adding people, and before you knew it, you were stalking your friends. Most people enjoyed the fact that it was simple, as the "less is more" approach is a key element to survival on the web. Google has proven this time and time again by remaining minimalist in almost all of its offerings. However, as Facebook has grown in popularity, the site's developers seem to want to cram anything and everything into the site and it seems that no one has told them that the vast majority of users really don't care about this stuff.

For instance, Facebook began offering facebook.com email addresses. What no one stopped to think about was the fact that people already have so many personal email accounts, social network accounts, work email accounts, school email accounts...no one wants another email account! It doesn't matter what the domain name is, it's just that people are overloaded as it is. Facebook has also toyed with pushing its Places feature, but users already had other sites for that. As well, they tested a daily deals type of offering, similar to Groupon. Once again, however, there are already sites for that! Facebook has failed to realize that people want to use Facebook to Facebook, not to do other things.

With all of that said, Facebook has come up with innovative features in the past, and the site in and of itself is innovative, but in order to keep that momentum going, they are going to need to find a simple, useful offering that people will actually care about. Every company is going to have duds from time to time, but the way Facebook's current track record is looking, they may need to wait until next season to have another crack at this year's championship.

Google Plus Open To Everyone!- Click here http://bit.ly/rgxKVq for full article

Google Plus Open To Everyone!- Click here http://bit.ly/rgxKVq for full article

Google has opened the doors on its new Google+ platform allowing anyone join. Over the summer, they had been beta testing this platform to compete with Facebook, and users could only get in by invitation only.

This shift to being open to everyone coincides with recent changes that have frustrated Facebook users. Some of those unhappy Facebook users are seeking an alternative, and Google has opted to be available to those seekers.

Google+

Google+ is a social media platform designed to compete with Facebook. Google's version offers many features that Facebook does not yet offer, or did not offer until very recently. Google+ distinguishes itself with circles, hang-outs, and search capabilities far beyond other social networks.

Circles

On Facebook, you either "friend" a person or "like" a fan page. On Twitter, you follow a user. Both of these platforms offer list functions you can use to sort your connections, but adding people to lists after connections have become unmanageable challenges many social network users.

On Google+, you add people to your "circles." You name each circle, they can overlap (a writer who is also a cousin might appear in both a "writers" and a "family" circle), and no one can see in which circle you have placed him. By forcing users to assign connections to circles at the beginning of the relationship, Google+ helps users manage their lists right from the beginning.

With each post you make on Google+, you are asked which circles you want to share the post with or whether you would prefer it be open to everyone. This helps users consider the level of sharing they will choose for each item.

Hang-outs

Hang-outs are video chats that allow you to have a video conference with up to nine other people. Others can watch your hang-outs, and you can record them for later review.

Facebook does not yet have a video chat option, so Google+ has the competitive edge here.

Search

Of course, Google owns online search at this time, so it is no surprise that they would have search capabilities that others will rush to imitate. The Google+ search function includes posts you are permitted to see via circle connections along with public news and views.

Facebook Stumbles as Google+ Grows

Facebook's recent changes demonstrate they are feeling the pressure to catch up with Google+'s improvements to social networking. Now that Google+ is open to everyone, we can all take a peek and see whether we think Google can compete with Facebook.

California New Cell Phone Laws-Click here http://bit.ly/p8WyjM for full article

California New Cell Phone Laws-Click here http://bit.ly/p8WyjM for full article

In California, as well as in many areas of the Western world, law enforcement agencies are having to adjust to changes as a result of new media sources like cell phones, mobile media devices, and laptops. In the past, California authorities were able to obtain evidence without a warrant from mobile media devices taken from anyone arrested for a crime that carried such a device, but as a result of recent legal developments, that approach may soon change.

California Sen. Mark Leno has sponsored a bill in the California legislature that would make it illegal to obtain data off of mobile devices such as cellphones without a warrant in the event of an arrest. Previously, due to a January ruling by the California Supreme Court, authorities could conduct warrantless searches of these devices in the event of an arrest, even if the device and the data it contained had nothing to do with the case, and even if no criminal charges were ever filed. The bill has already been unanimously passed and is awaiting the signature of Governor Brown.

The ramifications this change would make are massive. If signed into law, essentially, law enforcement would need to have probable cause to even seek a search warrant to obtain data from mobile devices, even if the information on the device pertained directly to an arrest. Opponents of the bill claim that it would hinder the ability of law enforcement to do its job, leaving police officers and other authorities to waste precious time seeking a warrant, which could be denied.

However, proponents of the bill state that mobile devices do not pose an imminent threat to police, and the current practice of confiscating such devices while in custody eliminates the ability for the suspect to destroy evidence. The real issue, they claim, is that the ability of the police to search a suspect's mobile device without a warrant is a violation of the 4th Amendment, and that if authorities believe they have probable cause, then there should be no issue in getting a legal warrant.

Whether the bill passes or not, what remains to be seen is if there will be further legal challenges to the issue. Just as this bill would over rule the original January Supreme Court decision, it is almost certain that the issue won't end there. Because of the language of the bill, the argument may then become what types of mobile media devices are covered, and what information can be obtained from them. More than likely, the issue will end up back in the Supreme Court in one way or another, but until then, California's legal system is holding its breath.

Facebook Changes- Click here http://bit.ly/pz0iNU for full article

Facebook Changes- Click here http://bit.ly/pz0iNU for full article

Along with the September 2011 changes made to Facebook came many angry users. While Facebook has had complaints about changes it has made in the past, the latest round of changes has drawn criticism from even the most supportive Facebook fans, and many users have even vowed to leave the social networking giant for good as a result. The reason for this is because Facebook essentially changed the way the site operates, leaving many users in the dark as to how to even navigate the new system, let alone enjoy its new features.

For many regular Facebook users, the draw to the site was its simplicity. Users posted status updates and could read their friends' status updates in a real time, chronological order via a news feed. This meant that site members could keep up with their friends, family, and coworkers in an easy to read list, all without having to search for information. If someone did not want to have a post or a particular person's posts in their news feed, they could simply choose to hide the post or hide all posts by a particular person. As well, Facebook tailored each ad to the specific post being read at the moment, allowing for more targeted ads relating to what the user found relevant.

Unfortunately, Facebook's ideas for the future of the site have left most users quite unhappy. Most users have a "if it ain't broken, don't fix it" mentality when it comes to internet sites, and unfortunately for Facebook, the site's developers did not share the same view. The new version of Facebook now sorts status updates and posts based on what they think you will want to see. As well, the site now forces users to classify their friends into different categories, such as close friends, schoolmates, etc., meaning users no longer see a list of all updates, and instead only see updates from the people Facebook thinks they should see. Facebook claims that this was done based on user feedback, and that the new layout allows people to see top news stories instead of just updates. While users are still able to see updates from everyone on their friend's list, they now have to sift through updates and fiddle with settings in order to make it a reality, and even then, the system still inundates a user with updates.

The ultimate problem that this will cause is for advertising on the site. Facebook has long been an advertiser's dream, as they could target specific ads to specific users based on specific posts. Now, because users are left sifting through various updates in various places, the targeted advertising methods that made the site so popular among the marketing community may be a thing of the past, leaving advertisers to seek the next big thing in social media. As to whether Facebook will hear the message or not is anyone's guess at this point, but unless they want to become the next MySpace, they may want to turning up their hearing aid.