Curated Stories October 21, 2010

This exercise was born after observing too many storytellers hooked on their artistic choices for telling a story, ignoring the audience’s most basic desire as human beings. This is not to say they were not a…

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This terrific, step-by-step list of how to strengthen and edit your manuscript comes from RedRoom’s …

Walking through the Denver airport last week, I couldn’t help but notice the cute dog on this wall ad. After admiring the dog, I realized the Xerox ad features a customer, Target….

Macworld Germany has described what they’re calling a security hole in the FaceTime for Mac beta (Google translation). The gist is this: once a user has logged into FaceTime for the Mac, his/her Apple ID and pa…

When Steve Jobs announced the Mac App Store yesterday, my first feeling wasn’t excitement, but rather worry. My concern is that the Mac App Store will, perhaps in two or three years, become the only effective…

A mind map is considered a great way to brainstorm and generate more ideas. It helps you create a number of small ideas from one big idea, see how different ideas could be connected together and create a plan o…

I know what you’re thinking: a content schedule? How hard can it be? Get a calendar, drop a blog post onto each day, and you’re done. Right?
Well, sort of. That approach might be fine in the early days of a…

The Flintstones has been off the air and in syndication since 1966. But Flintstones Vitamins remain on the shelves and in homes, despite the fact that this generation of children probably has no clue who Fred,…

Have you noticed the number of commercials being run by high-profile tier one companies and websites that are in the local listing industry?
For example you may have seen TV commercials for Angie’s List, S…

Tackling the development of a new search and social media course is no mean feat – ask Aleksej Heinze, from Salford University’s Business School! He’s been the driver behind a new academic-led, indu…

I, like so many others my age, fell into user experience design from a social science and humanities background, without any formal design or human-computer interaction training. My undergraduate degree is in a…

If you run a WordPress blog and openly accept submissions from others, you may want to take a look at AFF Helper’s Content Submit Plugin.Fundamentally, what the plugin does is create a form that you can inser…

When Amazon first approached Zappos to talk about an acquisition, the online shopping behemoth wanted to fold the smaller shoe retailer into its site. Zappos didn’t budge.
Eventually, Amazon and Zappos CEO Tony…

It’s not that a pricey ultraportable threatens Windows’ still-huge market share. But its ultra-fast resume feature and long battery life could be tough for the PC to match.

New app from Kenobi Studios let’s mobile users publish directly to WordPress blogs using WooThemes “tumblog” themes.

If you write a novel, it’s clear to everyone who owns the work. You wrote it. You own it.
But if you write a website for an employer or client, who owns the copy?
What we’re talking about here is “copyrig…

Today at Facebook’s headquarters in Palo Alto, CA, venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins unveiled a new $250 million fund for investing in social applications, called “sFund”. Joining Kleiner Perkins in t…

The Digital Entrepreneur Series is supported by Egnyte. Egnyte Hybrid Cloud File Server delivers critical business infrastructure — online storage, file sharing, collaboration and backup — at LAN speeds. Vi…

The question is, how do you know what’s truly the right thing? More »

I came across some interesting data from a July 2010 survey of US marketers by the Direct Marketing Assocation and COLLOQUY which found that brand awareness was the primary objective of social media marketing,…

Yesterday I wrote about how the new MacBook Air isn’t for pros. Today I want to take a look at some of the new MBA’s strengths and make a case for it being the ultimate couch surfboard.The target audience f…

In a Wall Street Journal profile on how iPad apps are being used by special needs children, such as those who have speech impediments and as a communication tool — Steve Jobs commented on how even he did not…

Next week (October 28 and 29) Microsoft will host its Professional Developer Conference (PDC) on its sprawling Redmond, WA campus. Typically, PDC – which the company only organizes when it wants to talk about m…

I must be old school because for me pumpkin carving meant lots of newspaper, a couple of sharp, or hopefully sharp knives along with a nice and simple design. However the guys at ToolKing.com decide to go one…

While you could always go on an unsubscribe purge every once in a while, dealing with pesky newsletters still isn’t a fun process. Free service Unsubscribe.com…

Getting into Apple’s new Mac App Store looks like it’s going to be just as tough as getting into the iPhone/iPad App Stores.
Apple has provided guidelines for developers, and someone posted it to the web. Here’…

Amazon just announced a “free” usage tier to Amazon Web Services.Join the conversation about this story »

Write To Done has a good guest post called Are you using protection? Free speech, libel, and covering your ass. The definition of libel I like best is:
defamation by written or printed words, pictures, …

Foodspotting, a geolocation guide for foodies, reached a pretty sizable milestone today, announcing that it now has 400,000 members.Foodspotting was launched in 2009 by Alexa Andrzejewski (Adaptive Path) and Te…

Apple just announced reduced efforts on OS X for support of Java in the future.
Java (like Flash) is already not allowed on the iPhone and iPad. Is this a bit more pressure for its demise?
Given that Android…

Is there really any doubt the Mac App Store will be anything other than a huge hit when it debuts in 90 days? Seven billion downloads on the current App Store would suggest that Apple knows what it’s doing (a…

The Web Development Series is supported by Rackspace, the better way to do hosting. Learn more about Rackspace’s hosting solutions here.PHP is the language behind some of the most powerful and pervasive web a…

One of the original forms of content marketing is publishing a good old-fashioned book. It’s not the book sales that make most business authors wealthy, but what they can do because they’ve written a book…

Note: This post was originally published on OPEN Forum.
Your small business probably already has a website. (If not, what are you waiting for?)
But do you know what is going on and how it’s being used? If not,…

Yesterday, at Apple’s “Back to the Mac” press event, the company announced an App Store for the Mac, similar to the stores it already runs for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad within iTunes. There’s no doubt a c…

I’ve been doing some research on how/why people lose their jobs. I think there’s a funny/sad book in it. Anyway, here are 10 real (short) anecdotes from real people who’ve given me permission to post. I�…

It may seem heady subject matter for daily flossing, but I’ve been doing lots of research lately into indigenous and recently-contacted tribes in remote areas, and the people who contact them — which, more…

Do a search on great jazz singer “Emily Barlow” in Amazon and you’ll find… nothing. That’s because her first name is spelled Emilie and Amazon gives up.
Do a search on Lord of the Flies and you’ll find tons…

Neat artifact: Steve Jobs’ business card from 1979, via Holy Kaw/Shibani Joshi on Twitter.
Join the conversation about this story »See Also:Steve Jobs: Touchscreen Laptops Don’t WorkRIM Co-CEO Slaps Steve Jobs…

Yesterday I had an interesting thing occur when testing out a new Facebook application: my activity was automatically shared with my friends without me being aware. This new functionality is part of Facebook�…

Here come the Groupon partnerships. In what may be the first of several big distribution deals aimed at cementing its lead in social commerce, Groupon and Ning are launching an affiliate beta program today….

The SMB Group studies small businesses. It recently published a new report titled “Moving Beyond Email — The Era of SMB Online Collaboration Suites.” The report covers Google Apps for Business, HyperOffic…

See a photo of Lou, his bio, Part 1 of this QA, Part 2, and Part 3,.

QA with Lou Hoffman, Questions 6 and 7:

Q: The culture is abuzz about Web 2.0 and social media. To what extent do you participate in…

We get it – you have both a Twitter and Facebook account and you’re too lazy to update each separately. What’s the obvious solution? Use Twitter for Facebook to automatically import everything you say on Twitte…

The Small Business Round Table Series is supported by the British Airways Face-to-Face Program, which offers U.S. entrepreneurs and small business owners critical tools for building business relationships abroa…

Windows 7 launched one year ago, and this morning Microsoft announced that it’s sold more than 240 million licenses. That sounds like great news for Microsoft, right? More than 240 million people have chosen to…

Why is it still not uncommon to attend a social media or digital marketing conference and overhear stories about people with little to no significant experience who recently filled new mid-management social med…

There’s no denying it: Conversion Rate improvements are great, but at the end of the day, data is nothing more than a bunch of numbers, while cash is something you can take to the bank! And more importantly, if…

Many companies develop products and services relying on their networks and various types of “do it yourself” marketing to get the word out. As companies grow, especially in the software and tech business, s…

Testimonials. They can do wonders for your business as long as they are used the right way.
The main reason for using them is that they help establish credibility and they give you the opportunity to prove cl…

I’m a little behind on my blog reading. With SMX East, BlogWorld and other commitments landing side-by-side the past few weeks, I’m just getting back into the swing of things. One thing that caught my eye…

At long, long last, the Macbook Air has been updated. But if you were hoping for enough CPU muscle in the new models to keep a bunch of Flash-addled webpages from bringing the entire port…

Dog owners can sleep easy tonight because physicists have discovered how rapidly a wet dog should oscillate its body to dry its fur. Presumably, dogs already know. From the article: “Today we have an answer tha…

Jason Snell spent the day with the 11.6-inch MacBook Air. Here are his initial notes on the product, in advance of our full review.

Today isn’t just a pretty neat date (20/10/2010); it’s also World Statistics Day. While designed to celebrate the collectors of national statistics, it’s also…

SongLifter points us to the news that the California State University system has sent a cease-and-desist letter to the site NoteUtopia, for enabling students to buy and sell various class notes (among other thi…

RSA Animate – Changing Education Paradigms This animate was adapted from a talk given at the RSA by Sir Ken Robinson, world-renowned education and creativity expert and recipient of the RSA’s Benjamin Franklin…

Those of us working in marketing have been inundated on the topic of “conversation”. Joe Jaffe asked us to “Join the Conversation”, told we’re living in the Age of Conversation and so on. But what doe…

In my continuing quest to understand the fiction genres featured in market listings, I’ve come to the categories of mystery, thriller, and suspense.
Sometimes the three are presented as separate genres, and s…

Stop. Take a deep breath. Before my headline gets you all worked up, consider what I’m saying here. The CD and other optical discs, like DVDs and Blu-rays, are obviously going to live on for a while as a way…

There’s nothing like a bit of blog housekeeping. Beats the domestic sort anyway
Here are some plugins that help do a bit of joining up, within your site, and to other social media.

1. A…

We recently wrote about a new startup operating in the social commerce space, called ShopSocially. Founded in late 2009 by entrepreneurs Jai Rawat and Samir Palnitkar, ShopSocially’s tagline is “where frie…

 Don Draper of “Mad Men” Generally speaking, you won’t find me highlighting the mastodons of old media as they attempt to catch up with this blogging craze. But gosh, the Washington Post is trying…

I was reading bedtime stories the other night and came across a gem by Richard Scarry in the 365 Bedtime Stories compendium, which I think is incredibly illustrative of the way we dealt with bullies in the past…

This month has been crazy busy. I have spoken publicly a dozen times already, and the month isn’t even over! In addition, I’ve had to finalize our strategic plan and attend two different board meetings. I�…

Study shows that smokers experience more severe pain after ambulatory surgery and might be more vulnerable to developing chronic pain. Medscape Medical News

We’ve discovered that you can run both a FaceTime and an iChat video chat on your Mac at the same time. Full audio and video for both chats. Video:

Some heavy words from Goatberg:
But I couldn’t find a killer innovation that would be likely to make iPhone or Android users envious, except possibly for dedicated Xbox users. Even the built-in Office can be…

Into every life a little rain must fall, or so they say — so hot on the heels of the release of beta Facetime software which lets Mac users chat to their iPhone-using buddies, a German Mac website is warning…

I spoke with John Blue of Truffle Media at Blogworld about what he does within a B2B niche using social media. He produces regular audio shows, also called podcasts, for the agriculture industry, as well as vid…

Banner advertising never had a chance.

And that’s not a cynic of advertising talking, but rather someone who spent the bulk of the early Internet days selling banner advertising and cutting deals. Even during…

UPDATE: See the end of this post for a link to screen grabs and first impressions of the Starbucks Digital Network experience. Starbucks is giving customers one more reason to stop in, and to stick around, wi…

http://chitika.com/research/2010/google-lack-of-buzz/
plus Google insights search picture image Google Buzz About to become extinct

TweetPart 1 of a 3-Part Rant
I realize it’s in the best interests of Facebook, the media, application developers, and sometimes even brands themselves to concoct pseudo-science that “proves” that people…

Doug Kessler is Creative Director at B2B agency Velocity, which has just published its B2B Manifesto, a call to action for marketers.
I interviewed Doug about the manifesto, what is wrong with B2B marketing…

The social world has become much more social lately with the release of The Social Network or affectionately dubbed, “The Facebook Movie.” Now more than ever, people are flocking to the Int…

Companies who take a more systematic approach to testing and optimisation are reaping the benefits of improved conversion rates, according to the Econsultancy / RedEye Conversion Report.
The report finds that…

Great Presentations Start With ResonanceThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing
Marketing podcast with Nancy Duarte (Click to play or right click and “Save As” to download – Subscribe now via iTunes
I’ve…

Innovation is not just about coming up with new ideas — we do have a fair number in circulation. Execution can be innovative, we see it all the time. Yet, many consider innovation sexy and execution… well,…

The millions of messages sent daily via Twitter Inc. can help predict moves in the Dow Jones Industrial Average by analyzing sentiment, said researchers at Indiana University and the University of Manchester.

Social media networks provide channels of distribution to share information and content that marketers have realized can be very powerful in speed and spread.

Brands are constantly working with their marketing…

Before Amazon acquired online shoe retailer Zappos, CEO Tony Hsieh had one condition for Amazon to meet before talks even began – that Zappos would remain independent and be able to expand upon its own brand…

The recent radical redesign of the Twitter homepage integrated media like photos and video into the sidebar of every user’s page, and today the company announced that it has partnered with an outside organizati…

The Washington Post sent a memo to its staffers telling journalists not to answer critics from Post-branded Twitter accounts or to use their personal accounts to “speak on behalf of the Post.”The memo comes…

We are constantly evaluating numbers, whether in personal finance or other areas of life, but often the number’s value is overshadowed by associations that num…

Here’s a couple potentially annoying features in Apple’s new FaceTime for Mac software, which launched in beta today:
1) FaceTime for Mac isn’t designed well for computers that are shared by two or more people….

If you’re a social media-savvy citizen, Uncle Sam wants you to help populate a brand new timeline of the most important moments in government social media use.

Earlier today, David McClure, the associate admi…

Yesterday I made some comments on Twitter that were critical of Android’s claims of openness. As many have learned the hard way, it can be challenging to discuss a complex subject in 140 character chunks witho…