Curated Stories July 5, 2010

I recently attended a fashion show where my fashionista daughter had two of her fashion items entered and as a proud father I came along to support and cheer from the sidelines.
My expectations of the fashion s…

Zee / The Next Web:
Apples app store, filled with “App farms” being used to steal. [Examples] — As the story of of iTunes accounts being hacked continues to develop, weve come across a number of w…

With its background in search, it should not be a surprise that Yahoo’s news division plans to use search queries to drive another portion of its business — news. However, what is surprising is that it will…

Like this post/presentation – Influence through storytelling – #UX – http://bit.ly/aovJ8d (by @joyce_hostyn)

Insightful post – Making sure you leave a ‘scent’ trail users can search – http://bit.ly/c7kIQH (via @johnnyholland)

Yesterday my good friend Louis Gray penned one of his best blog posts in some time. It is a very concise and clear look at the whole data portability issue that is a hot topic among the digerati of social med…

This is a developing story, and not all of the facts are out yet, but if what is being reported on The Next Web and by developer Alexandru Brie turn out to be true, it may be prudent to stop reading this now an…

In a less secure professional world than anyone has ever known, you need a tougher, more pragmatic approach to managing your professional life. It’s time to stop thinking of yourself simply…

The True Value of Social Media
View more presentations from Brandon Murphy.

In Social Media, ROI = Return on Interaction + Return on Influence
Guest post by Peter Bihr
The Waving Cat
How to…

Yesterday, users and developers started complaining of missing @replies in Twitter streams. At first Twitter infrastructure engineer John Kalucki wrote in the forum that the mentions timelines were updating wit…

Somewhere in between full blogging platforms like WordPress and the 140-character limit of Twitter, true microblogging sites like Tumblr and Posterous are taking off. I call these true microblogging sites bec…

One byproduct of the beloved two-way conversation of the social web is that we all feel the urge to offer our “feedback”. Because we can, because it’s expected, because how interesting are we if we have n…

The San Jose Mercury News’s Troy Wolverton prefers sharp smartphone screens (like those on the iPhone 4 and Droid Incredible) to big smartphone screens (such as the ones on the EVO 4G and Droid X).

I’m in the “there’s gotta be a better format” school when it comes to website advertising. And by “better,” I mean, anything’s better than “the banner ad.”
This morning, I saw (see on ri…

Last week I had the chance to attend Qualcomm’s Uplinq 2010 conference in San Diego where I was able to sit it on several interesting discussions about mobile technology and its future. One of the sessions I wa…

Last month, I decided to take to the road with my blogging. Armed with a 12-inch netbook, an iPhone and a 1995 Chevy Astro Van, I’ve hit the paved pathways with many intentions to see just how mobile technology…

This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.With social media itself an exponen…

Marketing and advertising are interesting avenues when it comes to products that may initially be considered “bland” or “not exciting”. Creative professionals have such an uncanny and amazing ability to bring t…

I feel better now — and at least for now. I finally changed something that has been bothering me for a long time. My header use to say Writelife and below it, “Musings on the craft of writing, technology, s…

I was at the bank today, dealing with a young, freshly-hired teller. It got me thinking about how my life could have been with just a few different turns.
I used to find big, comfy jobs very seductive. I remem…

(This is the first of a five-part series about SEO for hyperlocal blogs/web sites. Future editions will be published on the next four Mondays.)
Most SEO basics are the same from one site to the next and one ind…

It might not be long before those little signs on storefront windows read “We accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discovery and Google Checkout.” Google released last week an extension for its Chrome bro…

While the opportunities for social technologies to change the world, business, and our individual lives continue to unveil, it’s also key to focus in on the challenges that impact the industry. For many fol…

Let’s take our PR and marketing hats off for a moment and talk consumer to consumer about the news and information we consume each day. I’m a creature of habit when it comes to my daily regimen.
I wake up…

Hugh Pickens writes PC World reports on a study showing that reading from a printed book — versus an e-book on any of the three tested devices, an iPad, Kindle 2, and PC — was a faster experience to a signi…

Dennis Byron submits:

There is no doubt that Microsoft (MSFT) has been unable to get mobility right. But I don’t think the biased explanation in the NY Times July 4 has anything to do with it. How come -…

PewResearch.org:
The Future of Online Socializing — Overview — The social benefits of internet use will far outweigh the negatives over the next decade, according to experts. They say this is be…

The most powerful aspect of business blogging is the potential to generate word-of-mouth marketing from the content you publish.
If you can engage your audience members and get them talking about your busine…

For a long time, I’ve resisted the suggestions that I try using tools that offer typing shortcuts, like TextExpander. I’ve mastered the keyboard shortcuts that are built into programs, like…

Doctors trying to help patients understand a course of treatment must teach them new terms such as “medical evidence,” “quality guidelines” and “quality standards.” Patients might not be willing to…

The success of iPhone 4 has been astonishing to witness…

Some content you create and publish on the web is too great to be used only once. No, I don’t mean republishing here. What I mean here is leveraging your best content by giving your readers the ability to sav…

This holiday weekend Matt and I decided to write a point-counterpoint to the Mac/PC debate. You can check out our two posts and comment/howl in outrage over at CrunchGear.
The Three Mac Features I Want On My N…

Considering the immense fragmentation that characterizes the mobile apps industry, it’s good to see decent research help us try and make sense of what’s going on in that particular part of the digital econ…

Originally solely the domain of specific industries, like consulting, the behavioral interview question is starting to appear in job interviews across the board.
These types of questions require you to give mor…

If you travel at all for business, there is a new travel Blog that is worthy of your attention.

Our good friend, Chris Brogan (co-author with Julien Smith of the best-selling business book, Trust Agents, autho…

You make something. It’s intended to do this and to be used in a certain way. Then people come along and muck it all up by using it in an entirely different way. You intended this; people did that. People mak…

Is the Internet a positive force in your life or a negative one? Most of the technology experts, researchers and commentators surveyed in a recent study by the Pew Research Center’s Internet American Life…

iWeb ’09 lets you create attractive Web sites quickly, but quickly isn’t always fast enough. Adam Berenstain offers tips on how to make iWeb even faster.

There’s an interesting thread today over at social news site Reddit, in which Google employees are asked to describe their experiences working for the Internet giant.The replies are anonymous, and should thus…

As the social media space slowly matures, we’re starting to see more and more reports released by companies offering insight into the ebbs and flows of peoples’ behaviour online. Not surpri…

The Future of Social Networks Is VerticalThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing
Even as social networks like LinkedIn and Facebook grow, in order to remain relevant they will need to evolve. In my opinion that…

If you live in the United States, a warning: you may want to read the terms of service of the websites you use a little more carefully. That’s because a government prosecutor in New Jersey is pursuing criminal…

I believe Kindra Hall sought me out on Twitter or Facebook (or both). As I learned more about her, I was utterly charmed by this lovely young woman and her entertaining newly designed site/blog Kindra Hall Te…

Before you throw another firework on the grill — or whatever July 4th tradition you abide — take a few minutes to peruse this week’s batch of social, tech, and business resources that may have gone unnoti…

Happy Independence Day to all readers here in the U.S. Hope you’ve had as enjoyable a holiday weekend as I’m having. I just posted a couple fireworks photos on one of our hyperlocal blogs, and coupled it wi…

Easy to understand infographic explaining how google works – http://bit.ly/9AJ7Yg (via @armano @olivermarks)

Update: Following last night’s post, Jason Shellen of Thing Labs, as well as Alex Rainert of Foursquare both said there was more smoke than fire to this and that the two companies are merely friends. I still th…

As soon as everyone got to actually see the unreleased Google Desktop application in action, they wanted to have it.
The only problem is this isn’t just about waiting until Google finishes it off and ships i…

Erwan Mahe submits:Stock markets remain under constant pressure in both G7 and emerging countries. The picture is beginning to look fairly gloomy, with the SP and Eurostoxx 50 down 15% from their peaks of 2010…

An idea turns into a meeting and then it turns into a project. People get brought along, there’s free donuts, there’s a whiteboard and even a conference call.It feels like you’re doing the work, but at some poi…

Even though my company officially uses Microsoft Exchange, including the calendar function, I use Google Calendar. I do this because a few people outside the company need access to my calendar. Google Calendar…

Tests taken across a small (24-person) sample group suggest reading eBooks remains slower than reading paper, with the iPad being faster to read than a Kindle device.Jakob Nielsen of the Nielsen Norman Group s…

A massive WTF moment interrupted my reading of The Observer’s review of the paywall going up around the Times and Sunday Times.Shortly before the end of John Naughton’s piece, he declared:

Think of all the cos…

Marketing, July 1, 2010 — Brands are failing to exploit search marketing fully, according to research carried out by the IAB. The ‘IAB Search Marketing Barometer 2010’ is based on a survey of 140 seni…

Your customers have their own antenna, complete with BS detector without needing a two-year plan for it. While it was easy to see how a bit of attention and time on your part would have given you better i…

By adding new features and attempting to make Facebook a one stop
internet shop, as well as aggressive outreach in new territories like
Korea and Russia, Mark Zuckerberg certainly seems confident that FB can…

The argument over the utility of open source has one more voter in the yes camp. This time, it’s the Journal Register Company, a U.S. newspaper chain with 170 publications.

Calling it the Ben Franklin Project…

I Want My Data Independent of Companies and ServicesWe don’t live in a data democracy. Every day, we give over more of our data to people we don’t know, whose motives we may not fully understand, and the possib…

Filed under: Apple HistoryTo say the least, Bill and Steve had had an interesting rivalry over the years. Of course, Bill Gates has retired to charity work leaving Steve Ballmer in charge of Microsoft.

The Hu…

Yes folks you can now rest easy because Apple has come to your rescue once again. Sure it might require a little bit of anesthesia and a sharp surgical knife hopefully wielded by some-one who knows what they…

Never underestimate the importance of having a good story when pitching your startup to potential investors, clients, partners, and journalists. As Seth Godin writes in his 2005 bestseller All Marketers Are Lia…

One of the biggest challenges any company or CEO has is trying to decide on what to devote your time and resources on to achieve the best result. Some of the questions the CEO is going to ask are..”Do we sp…

Last Thursday, Google placed a major $700 million bet on a new strategy. It announced an agreement to purchase ITA Software, a leading provider of flight information (fares, schedules, availability) to most o…

PowerPoint. This single word has fueled a cottage industry of blogs, training seminars and books on how to use the software more efficiently and more effectively. This is mainly because of how much PowerPoi…

Today Journal Register, a newspaper company, declared its freedom from old publishing methods and old journalistic methods. The company’s 18 dailies published today, July 4, using nothing but free, web-based…

Ok, so do this.

Go to http://facebook.com and do a search for JC Penney. Go to the #1 result. Its a page here.

Now go to Facebook and do a search for JCPenney. Go to that #1 result. Its a totally differe…

Yesterday an interesting question appeared on Quora in which a user was wondering what forms of automated testing Facebook uses. Steven Grimm, Facebook’s test engineering tech lead, jumped in and provided a…

More than most people, I am very tolerant of advertising… the bigger and bolder, the better!
Below, USPS.com is promoting Toy Story 3. Its big and cute… but it is without context or action:
- there doesn�…

While the phrase “founding fathers” is often used in conjunction with men like Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, we wanted the think about the phrase on the global level. And what i…

The television has long been referred to as an electronic babysitter for busy parents, or their lazy, less-involved counterparts. Rather than designing interactive projects for their children, it’s far easier t…

I’ve seen plenty of Web sites that offer story prompts. In fact, I keep intending to create a Story Prompts section on A Storied Career.

But Plinky is the first story-prompt site I’ve seen that combines st…

We are what we do.
We are more than that, of course, but it helps to have answers to the questions “What do you do?” and “What have you done?”
Among many other notable things Persephone Miel did was sur…

It’s rumored once again Apple’s next bold move is in the living room. We’ve heard this for years, but now the scoop is Apple will redesign Apple TV around iOS (think iPhone without a screen). This makes sen…

Regular readers will know that recently I’ve liked to state my bias in the title of my mobile device reviews: I love the iPhone. Some will call that being a fanboy, and that’s fine. But really, it’s just…

This rather sad article in the New York Times about long-term, middle class unemployment got me thinking…
Got me thinking about the cartoon above, in fact.
Any long-time blogger knows this: The only way to k…

The famous File Not Found page, or otherwise known as a 404 Page is something that we have all seen at some point in our web surfing life. Some are boring and some are really good. The kind that you almost wis…

There is a friend of mine on Facebook who is just three weeks younger than me. He’s interested in women, single, and is looking for friendship, dating, or a relationship, should things progress. He says he’s an…

Stay away from irony or satire. There’s very little money in it. You’re likely to wind up with reviews—like some of mine—that say, “I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.” There’s no such questi…

It took only two days since my last post for word to reach me that someone is about to release a new product (the same product that I was hoping someone would create), which will make individuals and/or brands…

“Freedom is about being vulnerable to one another, realizing that
our ability to connect is more important than feeling secure, in control
and alone.” [by Eve Ensler, from my July
4, 2007 post]
…

By adding an Amazon Bookshop to WordPress I can earn a little money, recommend some cool books and look rather groovy. And it doesn’t cost me a thing but time! AND gives you a bunch of Online…

Operating a small business requires familiarity with accounting basics in order to make effective management decisions. Every business transaction affects accounts within five types–Assets, Liabilities, Equity…

Earlier this week, Boy Genius Report published an email exchange that reportedly took place between Apple CEO Steve Jobs and a frustrated iPhone 4 customer named Jason Burford, who sent some heated messages to…

Vivek Kundra is Obama’s evangelist for cloud computing.

On Friday, Kundra, the White House Federal CIO, faced one of his first big tests as he testified before the U.S. Congress about cloud computing and why…

Earlier in this week we covered the new version of Google News. It’s normal to see a backlash against a redesign (see the reaction to Facebook redesigns for instance), but reaction to Google News’ new layout h…

thisisauniqueid writes “In light of the clamor over the iPhone 4 Grip of Death, AnandTech recently reverse-engineered the phone’s signal-strength-to-bars mapping. Because Android is open source, we can determin…

There’s no denying it, running any sort of Digital Marketing initiative without some component of a web analytics tool is akin to driving with your eyes closed. That being said, we’re starting to see more and m…

Distimo has released its June 2010 report which covers the Apple App Store for iPad and iPhone, as well as all other major venues, including the BlackBerry App World, the Google Android Market, the Nokia Ovi St…

Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?

Last week, I had lunch with Alistair Croll (BitCurrent, Rednod, GigaOM, Human 2.0, the aut…

eldavojohn writes The latest versions of Microsoft Windows have some good security options available — now if only they could get their most popular third-party applications to use them. A report from Secunia…

Editor’s note: Guest author Steve Cheney is an entrepreneur and formerly an engineer programmer specializing in web and mobile technologies. His last guest post was on Why Mobile Innovation Is Blowing Aw…

Dear Steve,
First off, thank you for all the brilliant, innovative products you created over the years. Thanks for demonstrating that hardware can be more than a commodity. Thanks for showing that software can…

Social Shopping is not new, but it is indeed gaining significant momentum. In fact, it represents the latest leaf in the new Conversation Prism infographic set to launch next week. Twitter too, is gaining velo…

A Guest post by Treacle from The Lingerie Addict.
When the internet first became popular, many people loved the idea of creating a new identity online. Name, gender, age, hobbies …anything and everything coul…

Kids are leading the world’s transition to digital media.
This is in part because kids aren’t afraid of technology, and in part because kids haven’t spent years getting use to anything else.
So if you want to g…

Intel may have come up with a way to solve one of the most pressing problems with home energy management consoles, and the solution harks back to the early ’80s.
Hi. This is Mom. Is your refrigerator runni…

A patient complains to his psychiatrist: “Nobody pays any attention to me.”
The psychiatrist says: “Next.”
You may only have seconds to seize the interest o…

Mike Gikas / Consumer Reports Electronics Blog:
iPhone 4′s supposed signal woes aren’t unique, and may not be serious — The debate over the iPhone 4s supposed reception problems continues, including a n…

This post doesn’t have any tips or suggestions that will help you to solve problems or engage your creative side. It’s really just an observation. It’s about something everyone will inevitably encounter i…

There’s a reason economics is called the dismal science, and weeks like this just give it further meaning. In economics, there is what you see and what you don’t.
This week we are going to examine the headline…

I find that Paul Greenberg (follow him on Twitter @pgreenbe), one of the early adopter who mapped out the CRM space gives a succinct overview of what’s happening in the Social CRM space. He points out the tw…

Om Malik is the founder of the growing GigaOM blog network, and he launched it all from a Starbucks. With Starbucks now offering free Wi-Fi, Malik offers up hi…

Ever been frustrated by devices not working because you put the batteries in the wrong way? Well, the days of making sure the + and – side of your AA batteries are in the right direction are over, thanks to…

Andy Greenberg / Forbes:
Steven Levy On Mark Zuckerberg, Hacking Heroes — Twenty-five years after his landmark book, hacker historian Levy revisits the tech revolution he chronicled. — Before the…

Stephan Kinsella sends over a fascinating talk by Dr. Terence Kealey, a UK biochemist and professor, discussing why — contrary to what most people think, “science” is not a public good, and that government-fun…

Read a couple of articles recently that talk about elements that make stories work.

In Atticus Finch Would Not Approve: Why a Courtroom Full of Reptiles Is a Bad Idea, Stephanie West Allen, Jeffrey Schwartz, a…

I’m writing this post from my local ale house (hey, you work where you want; I’ll work where I want). The guest at the table next to mine asked their server, “What do you think of the halibut special?”…

When you measure an activity, you can improve it. Computers make it easy to optimize just about every portion of your life.Surely, you can optimize a website or a blog for traffic. You can optimize ads to make…

I test a lot of extensions, hundreds by now. I install pretty much every one of them to make sure it at least works before I write about it. Once Safari gets up to a few dozen of them, things get a little rough…

A new wave of iPhone applications is giving both sides quick points to use in the debate over the existence of God.

Twitter has rolled out several different advertising systems in recent weeks and we’re hearing that the next one will take a page from the Dell Computers playbook. In December, Dell famously reported $6.5 mill…

How jobs were created in the industrial revolution and how they can be created now as well as Facebook fatigue and memo writing lessons are on this weekend’s reading list.

Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, may think email’s dying, but until it’s dead it’s still the incumbent monarch of enterprise communication. Tools that don’t fit seamlessly into existing processes and workflow…

As we noted in our coverage of Appcelerator’s mobile developer survey last week, for lots of developers, a singular development target just isn’t enough, with many developers expressing interest in making a…