Curated Stories May 25, 2010

That post last week about Caps new Facebook Connect-powered tour experience got us talking again about the promise and possibility of integrating brand content with live social input. Of course, we looked at al…

In looking at a newspaper or even more of the headier magazines, isn’t it always fascinating to see some of the titles they give to the writers?

Recently, I came across some media titles that made me smile: “A…

General Electric may be a big company, but it’s not often one that consumers interact with directly. As the company’s global executive director of advertising and branding Judy Hu put it at TechCrunch Disrupt t…

Android has more features than iPhone OS, this much we know. But all isn’t perfect in Mountain View. There are several things that the Android team can learn from the iPhone OS. I outlined some of them in Mar…

Apple may be preparing to update Safari with extension support…

Ian Capstick posted an excellent piece about news releases and online newsrooms in the PR column of the PBS MediaShift blog yesterday. (And of course we were delighted that he chose a release a…

If you need to get in touch with someone important (such as an influential VC, business leader, or blogger), but you’re at a loss as to how to do it, the key could be in the way you craft your e-mail.
Pace Smit…

It seems like the idea of checking-in to a location, restaurant or venue has become more of a mainstream activity thanks to Foursquare, Gowalla, Loopt and other location-based services. Many of these services r…

Last week we asked you, our readers, to tell us why you’re planning on leaving Facebook (if you actually are, that is). Well, more than 5,000 votes later, and the results are in: 31% of respondents proclaime…

This series is supported by The Poynter Institute’s Mobile Media blog – your guide to the intersection of mobile and media. Sign up to receive the blog in newsletter format and be entered into a drawing to…

Todd Bishop / TechFlash:
QA: Microsofts Bach on his exit, and the future of the company — QA: Microsofts Bach on his exit, and future of the company — Robbie Bach may have been viewed at one point…

Aza Raskin, the creative lead for Firefox, has just posted about a new type of potential phishing attack, dubbed “tabnabbing.” Raskin has a proof-of-concept and an explanation for how this type of attack c…

Facebook plans to launch a feature that will allow its users to make the site aware of their locations, but this product will not be designed to replace the functionality of Foursquare, the mobile app that make…

Google Wave has graduated to Google Apps, showing a resurgence in user interest that seemed unlikely just a few months ago.

It took a lot of criticism over the past year, following its launch at Google I/O in…

photo credit: flakeparadigmIf you are a freelance writer/blogger, your copyright is quite literally your livelihood. After all, if you lose the ability to sell and trade on your work, you lose your revenue…

Last week, one creative Twitter user began posting Tweets under the name “BPGlobalPR”.
According to the WSJ, the fake account now has double the followers of the real BP corporate Twitter.
Whoops. That’s a majo…

This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.The goal of recruiting is to find…

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos: Cloud computing “has the potential to be as big as our retail business.” — TechFlash’s Eric EnglemanJoin the conversation about this story »

Ben Horowitz’s recent article about the futility of trying to predict whether a start up executive can scale (it’s both counterproductive and demoralizing) was completely right.
But I’ll go out on a limb…

In my most recent column on Search Engine Land I wrote about Foursquare Tools for Businesses. After writing that article, I came across a local promotion.
This promotion came from a local Italian ice shop. Now…

One of the most amusing uses for Twitter is when someone sets up a clever parody/satire account.
Corporate villains du jour British Petroleum have been lambasted in the media since the Deepwater Horizon rig ex…

From Entrepreneur:
Right now online, your customers, clients, members and prospects are chatting up a storm.
Whether they’re tweeting on Twitter, posting on Facebook, forwarding YouTube videos or commenting on…

The internet is undoubtedly a wonderful place, but let’s face it: some web sites are only too happy to serve up annoying ads, unnecessarily heavy Flash element…

We’re still here at the first TechCrunch Disrupt conference in New York. Up on stage right now is an interesting group of people discussing how brands can best engage with digital audiences in this day and a…

Just a quick celebration of this morning’s news: Robbie Bach is retiring from Microsoft.I’m so happy for him. And for Entertainment and Devices. And Microsoft.This is a great opportunity for ED to evolve and re…

One thing people do on the web is create a huge and only slightly disorganized knowledge collaboration space. On a daily basis, just in the English language alone, they create about a half million blog posts te…

I’ve been going on and on about LinkedIn lately. I promise that I’ll stop after this little discovery. In looking at my network activity for a while yesterday, I noted a few things. You’re working to ke…

A look at old book and magazine covers can be inspiring in a number of different ways.

Magazine – Recreation – art – Books – Literature

We’ve been working our way through Google Webmaster Tools learning how to set up and configure a website and took a detailed look at the site stats Google provides. This post covers the Diagnostics section of…

Listen; engage; develop.
That’s the three-step approach we recommend companies take when it comes to approaching social media marketing activities for their organization. While you’ll hear…

Why Social Media Doesn’t Matter AnymoreThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing
The hype over social media still echos, but it just doesn’t really matter anymore. Recent surveys suggest that small businesses…

I have a soft spot for data relating to how users search. I think it’s imperative to understand how people search if we want to optimize our content so it’s visible when they do. Typically, data about query…

Book of the CenturyMark Twain knew how to sell books. This fall his full autobiography will be published – 100 years after his death, just as he stipulated.The IndependentAh, WildernessWhat novelist Michael Cha…

Friday was a record 700,000 checkins for Foursquare, said founder Dennis Crowley at TechCrunch Disrupt, tweets Jenny 8. Lee.Join the conversation about this story »

What makes your approach different from anyone else’s?

This question, which I came across in a recent interview with designer Arik Levy, stood out as possibly one of the most telling things we web workers ca…

For most bloggers, internal linking is a “let’s wing it” process. Think of the recent posts you’ve made, and where they fit, and insert them into the post. This isn’t an efficient process, and mo…

You work hard to build your blog through traffic and content strategies, but are you working equally as hard at converting readers into paying customers? As Darren demonstrated during his week-long, $72,000 eb…

Yext, a popular local business search engine, debuted Yext Calls last year at TechCrunch50, which is sort of like a Google Voice for businesses. Yext allows local businesses to use its software to process incom…

Want to meet other people who’ve read REWORK? Want to talk with other business owners (or potential business owners) who believe ASAP is poison, meetings are toxic, planning is guessing, and inspiration is pe…

A few weeks ago, Facebook announced an Open Graph initiative –
a move considered to be a turning point not just for the social networking giant,
but for the web at large. The company’s new vision is no longer…

On stage today at TechCrunch Disrupt in New York City, Facebook’s vice president of product Chris Cox announced that starting tomorrow, Facebook will be rolling out “drastically simplified” and improved p…

If Yahoo can’t afford to buy Foursquare, might as well buy something that offers something similar to the location-based mobile community site. And that’s what Yahoo just did as it buys Kropol an Indonesian…

Today, Im facilitating a conversation for the executive track of Social Media Plus in Philadelphia. Well be talking about why social media is important for brands, and how to develop, implement, manage and m…

OK, we got rid of some wasted clicks from our PPC campaigns there. Now, let’s do some more.
Let’s say we have an ad group that is dedicated to selling something specific like “Gibson Guitars.” We’…

In celebration of National Small Business Week…
This year, Social Media marketing will gain significant support in resources and investment across businesses of all shapes and sizes.
So what’s new?
Now,…

Today at TechCrunch Disrupt in New York City, Michael is on stage to talk about the future of mobile with Facebook’s Chris Cox, Google’s Vic Gundotra, and Foursquare’s Dennis Crowley.
Below find my live…

A few years ago, the story broke about how TJX, the corporate parent of a series of retail stores, including TJ Maxx and Marshalls, had suffered a huge data breach, after some hackers had accessed its computer…

Cover of The Stepford Wives

I’ve been doing a little side work lately, and one of the tasks I’ve been doing is a little social media ad campaign research. This involves me looking at a lot of blogs…

Today, at TechCrunch Disrupt, we’re announcing the launch of Publish2 News Exchange, a platform aimed at disrupting the Associated Press monopoly over content distribution to newspapers. With Publish2 News E…

Every week or two, someone asks me a question about Seth Godin. “Why doesn’t he allow comments on his blog?” For the record, Seth answered this, so you could just go read that. In essence, every time some…

Want to see the iPhone or full desktop version of a web page that keeps trying to shoehorn you into an Android theme? You can change how your browser identifie…

Recently, CNET reported that Windows 7 has captured ten percent of the personal computer market. That means, now, 1 in 10 computers worldwide runs on Windows 7.There are no doubts about the fact that Windows 7…

Will the pay wall the New York Times (NYT) is building scare away the paper’s natural allies — bloggers who like to link to the site?
Daily Finance’s Jeff Bercovici floats the scenario, by pointing to som…

Ever seen those apps that show you “how much your website is worth?” They’re sort of fun, except no one actually takes them seriously. What if you applied that same concept to a Facebook page? It wo…

The head of the map collections department at the British Library shares ten maps that changed the world.

5. Google Earth. Google Earth presents a world in which the area of most concern to you (in this instan…

Before you shake off the idea of repairing your cracked iPhone screen yourself with a kit, consider Brett. The crafty 10-year-old repaired the cracked screen o…

What we loosely call “social media” is built on shifting sands. When I first started blogging what now seems like eons ago, blogrolls were a hot topic. Even now I still get the occasional email from someone ask…

We live in a society that likes to think that its most important resources are the physical ones like gold, diamonds, oil, or just about anything that can be translated to a dollar amount. However when it come…

On behalf of myself as a professional communicator, I want to apologize.
If you are a company, I’ve misled you. If you are a consumer, I’ve
used you. And as much as I’d like to change the future, there ma…

It does’t look like we’ll be seeing much Tweeting-from-the-bench on the Supreme Court any time soon, but the Hillicon Valley blog highlights an amusing moment at a recent House Judiciary subcommittee meeting, a…

I must thank Heather for bringing up this brilliant question. To me, Twitter Favorites is another hidden gem for content discovery. Apart from discovering smart tips, Twitter Favorites works as …

The theme of our upcoming Real-Time Web Summit in New York City is use cases for the Real-Time Web. In the run-up to our June 11 event, we’ll publish a series of posts exploring use cases across a variety of in…

Continuing in my series of “20 Leadership Questions,” we come to the fourth question that Michael Smith asked when he interviewed me. This one is especially important in a world that seems like it is changi…

There’s something deeply unsettling about Twitter’s new crackdown on publishers who run ads through Twitter. Actually there are many things that are unsettling about it.
1. First, it’s not at all clear what the…

Today The Times launched its new online edition, which it will effectively be closing again late June when it starts to ask people to pay for it. Times editor, James Harding, was interviewed this morning on t…

Neal Stephenson, Greg Bear and several very talented friends (including one of the neatest hackers I know and somene whom I’m reliably assured could lay claim to the title of “World’s Greatest Swordsman”) have…

Introduction to Creative Problem Solving
This is part of a short series that we’re calling Thoughtwrestling Moves. We’re going to describe a series of tools that you can use to help wrest…

Joshua Topolsky / Engadget:
Confirmed: Apple’s next iPhone will have video chat, feature to be shown in ads directed by Sam Mendes — Well this cant be tremendously surprising. Apparently American Beau…

Daniel Eran Dilger
Last week, Google’s I/O conference presented a look at the company’s future plans, exciting the base of its enthusiasts. But will Google’s intended strategies, patterned after Microsoft…

Sometimes, it is not about creating something new for an existing brand, because it should be more about ensuring that the true value of that band, product or service is ever-more obvious to the consumer.

Adve…

Im really excited to announce the launch of the Content Marketing Institute (CMI).

The idea of CMI is simple – while there are a lot of great blogs, books and experts out there in and around content m…

Social media can help. Brooke’s note: If you’re like me, you feel like you’ve heard it all when it comes to social media but you wouldn’t want a pop quiz on …

We believe that effective multichannel marketing is arguably the single biggest challenge – and opportunity – for businesses over the next few years. For this reason, we recently announced our October JUMP eve…

I recently returned from my first-ever trip to beautiful Asheville, North Carolina. I was there speaking at the Counselor’s Academy PRSA annual conference. (Counselor’s Academy is the section of PRSA for ow…

Gerd Leonhard is CEO of The Futures Agency, and has been described as one of the leading media futurists in the world for his views on the development of next-generation business models in the content, commun…

Augmented reality guru Bruce Sterling shared a fascinating video on his Wired.com blog Beyond the Beyond today that shows a developer building an AR application without any programming language in just shy of f…

Earlier this year, we mentioned the Supreme Court was reviewing a lawsuit over whether or not the NFL had the right to have an exclusive license for its apparel. A company, American Needle, who had supplied ap…

Hey Zuckerberg, take a clue from Google. The world’s largest and most pac-man friendly search engine is successfully running a new search option Google SSL, a security encryption version of the companies sea…

The success of Android makes Chrome OS irrelevant before it has even launched, argues Om Malik.Join the conversation about this story »

Mark Twain’s will stipulated that his autobiography remain unpublished for 100 years after his death, the 100th anniversary of which was April 21st. In November, the University of California Press will release…

To the masses of iPhone users yearning to be free of ATTs overburdened network, this news is incredibly cruel: ATT just settled a class action lawsuit in part by agreeing to let all of its customers switch to o…

Mandatory viewing, especially if you’re thinking at all about education and how badly we’re failing the generations of students now in school. Read more at TED.com.

Did you enjoy this blog post? If so, pl…

Facebook’s getting lots of advice these days on how to get out of the current jam it’s in over its recent, ambitious drive to put itself at the center of the net by pushing users to be more public.
One of t…

I.B.M.’s software acquisition strategy is focused on companies that ease online transactions among businesses.

Cracked iPhone screens are an all-too-common occurrence. Have it fixed at an Apple store and it’ll cost you at least $200. But do it yourself and you’re looking at around $20. See how one 10-year-old kid did it…

A dose of testosterone might be enough to save gullible types from being ripped off, a new study reveals.
Testosterone is linked to aggression, competition and social status. Now scientists have found that the…

Today at TechCrunch Disrupt in New York, we had a panel entitled “Does The iPad Change Everything For News, Or Is It Still All About The Web?” The New York Times’ David Carr moderated the panel which inc…

It’s much easier to market your business when customers readily associate a face with your brand. Many companies, from Apple to Zappos, have drawn success from their leaders knack for capturing the publics atte…

Atlanta-based Chick fil A is experimenting with online reservations for a free sandwich giveaway. Here’s our Top 4 list of food experiences we’d like to reserve by iPhone.

Derek Thompson / The Atlantic Online:
Facebook Doesnt Adhere to Its Stated ‘Principles’ — Facebook has faced backlashes before, but this time feels different. Despite amassing an empire of nearly 5…

This post is part of Mashable’s Spark of Genius series, which highlights a unique feature of startups. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here. The serie…

Steve Gottwals / Adobe Reader Blog:
Introducing Adobe Reader for Android — On the heels of some cool Adobe news last week at Google I/O (The Engineering Behind Flash Player 10.1, Available Now: Develope…

Appolicious – Facebook put itself in a position to “take over the Web” with its Graph API, and it’s looking to do the same on a mobile level. At the Google I/O conference in San Francisco last week, Faceb…

Media companies — whether they produce video, print or social content — are all struggling to price and sell their products today. In a digital world, stolen content is also an increasing concern. But at Te…

One of the best benefits of sifting through hundreds of new RSS items each day in Google Reader and selecting the best ones to share has been the ensuing conversations that have developed as a result. It used t…

Kathryn Koegel / AdAge:
Memo to Steve Jobs: the IAd Is No Miracle Worker — Why Apple Should Rethink Its Strategy in Deploying Mobile Ads Into the Marketplace — A veil of silence hangs over the adve…

Online news aggregation and curation startup Publish2 is today at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference launching a new product dubbed Publish2 News Exchange, with the ambitious goal of disrupting the entire reaso…

It’s a lot easier for a small company to happily grow into a large one than a large one happily downsizing to a small one. When you’re small you have options – you can stay small or go middle or go big. B…

Last week, Mike Davidson put up a post about Apple discussing the idea that having a ruthless company making great products is a good problem to have (compared to a ruthless company making so-so products). It g…

Has Twitter killed instant messaging? That’s one possible explanation for the sudden and precipitous drop in instant message traffic in the past few years. A recent study shows that Britons spent an entire 14 p…

Appbistro launched at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference what can best be referred to as an application marketplace for Facebook Pages.
Using the Web-based service, Facebook Page administrators, be it global b…

When evaluating if a move to Mac was possible, I created a list of the software tools that I used on a day-to-day basis, and then looked for replacements on the Mac side of the fence. I knew that the hardware…

We covered AppMakr a few months ago and found that they were a fairly cool way to make simple iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch apps with a minimum of fuss. They’ve just announced that they hit 1 million downloads onall o…