My Name is Kate

links for 2009-11-11

2009-11-11T10:30:23-08:00

Hundreds of Facebook Groups Hacked - loose wire blog

I'll bet this backdoor to taking over an abandoned group on Facebook won't be open for long, but while it is, there certainly are some significant implications for individuals, causes but also lightly-branded corporate groups (say a group that was started by some employees but then shuttered by a corporate mandate). And it certainly is another lesson that social networks are valuable tools that are not fully secure.

(tags: socialmedia facebook privacy security)
How-To: Search the Social Web – Ultimate Toolkit

Lots and lots of great links to different types of search engines - all geared to help you search the social web. Useful for brand and reputation monitoring. Found because of a request from the delightful @BookMadam.

(tags: search socialmediasearch socialmedia monitoring searchengine aggregator tools)

links for 2009-11-10

2009-11-10T10:30:25-08:00

Esquire's Augmented Reality Issue | The New York Observer

Analysis of features in the Augmented Reality issue of Esquire.

(tags: augmentedreality publishing magazine marketing technology trend fad)
Women and Social Gaming - Q Interactive

Study on Women and Social Gaming by Q Interactive. Some good stats on who is playing social games and how they engage.

(tags: research socialgames women socialsoftware statistics)
Facebook | Facebook Promotions Guidelines

Facebook updated their promotion guidelines. I confess, I hadn't read them before. This version seems VERY restrictive. If I read this correctly, a lot of companies are now in violation of these guidelines. Seems like you can't run a contest or a sweepstakes and have people enter by updating their status or commenting on your page. Wow. This is a pretty big deal and is going to change the way a lot of businesses use FB. Hattip to the lovely and talented @RobCottingham for tweeting this.

(tags: socialmedia business facebook contest guidelines promotion)
Facebook: Mafia Wars CEO Brags About Scamming Users From Day One

Another piece on funding social games by selling lead generation contacts, often for shady enterprises. This gaming segment is really going to have to clean up their act and find less spamesque revenue streams. Perhaps better partnerships with their own gaming community?

(tags: facebook gaming socialgames socialsoftware zynga)
5 Simple Tips for Creating a Content Culture at Your Company

I like the phrase "creating a content culture" - this can be so tricky to do. Especially when corporate types haven't been encouraged to be creative. Some very good starting points in this article. Most importantly - blogging (or other content creation) is a team effort!!

(tags: blogging tips corporate content howto)

links for 2009-11-07

2009-11-07T10:30:19-08:00

From "That's So Gay" to "No Homo": A Small Sign of Progress

Really interesting piece from Michael Kimmel on the semantic and emotional implications of saying "No Homo" after men engage in homoerotic behaviour rather than using "That's so gay" to PREVENT homoerotic behaviour. Nice analysis.

(tags: glbt semantic language culture)

Investing in Girl Power

2009-11-06T11:33:39-08:00

Plan Canada just released the 2009 edition of their report series "Because I Am a Girl". This year's report is called Girls in the Global Economy: Adding It All Up. It discusses how girls and women face not only economic inequality from a wage perspective - but that this inequality exposes them to additional violence in their lives. Whereas small incremental investments in education for girls can help break them out of this cycle.

Jennifer Heil is a celebrity sponsor of Because I Am a Girl. In the video below, Jennifer talks about the importance of dreams for young people and how she was touched by the dreams of young women she visited in a school in Burkina Faso.

There is also this great video about the AWESOME Willa who shaved her head to raise money for an ophanage in Toronto.

You can connect with and show your support for Because I Am a Girl in a variety of ways. Easy stuff:

Visit www.becauseiamagirl.ca to learn about the campaign, become engaged on the issue of girl’s rights and contribute to the documentary by submitting a video
Follow the Because I am a Girl Blog to read about the documentary team’s cross Canada trip, some of the exceptional young women they have met and issues that are important to girls and young women in Canada and around the world
Become a fan of Because I am A Girl Canada on Facebook
Follow Plan Canada on Twitter

Or, if you're feeling really inspired, donate. I've set up an easy monthly donation on my credit card. I know Christmas is coming and money is tight and everyone is asking for donations right now. But it's important that girls be able to pursue their dreams free from violence. I've had that privilege - how can I want anything less for these girls.

links for 2009-11-03

2009-11-03T10:30:15-08:00

Nettwerk Records Makes Musicians Joint-Venture Partners | Vancouver Music Industry | Polyphonic | BCBusiness

Polyphonic, new venture from Nettwerk, positions musicians as partners w/ the label. Label takes a %; musician retains the IP rights and exerts more control over decisions.

(tags: music businessmodel musicindustry nettwerk neweconomy musicians polyphonic)
Using Evernote as a Design Scrapbook / journal / hicksdesign

(tags: design tools creativity inspiration evernote scrapbook)

Revisiting Books from My Childhood - Taking the Shelf Discovery Challenge

2009-11-01T19:18:36-08:00

I have always been a voracious reader. Most of the summers of my youth I participated in our local library's reading challenge. You know the one - it usually had some kind of cheesy theme like "Discovered Hidden Treasure through Books" to try to encourage kids to read.

A number of books that I discovered in these tender years set my character and my expectations. I took these books as realistic depictions of what I could accomplish as a young woman if I only had the right drive and curiosity. And as both a guilty pleasure and the literary equivalent of comfort food, I have returned again and again to these books - to renew my inspiration, or to simply experience the litany of familiar words and their attendant emotions.

I was delighted to discover a new book Shelf Discovery: The Teen Classics We Never Stopped Reading by Lizzie Skurnick. So many of the books that she and her co-authors discuss fueled my hopes and dreams.

From Publishers Weekly

Launched from her regular feature column Fines Lines for Jezebel.com, this spastically composed, frequently hilarious omnibus of meditations on favorite YA novels dwells mostly among the old-school titles from the late '60s to the early '80s much beloved by now grown-up ladies. This was the era, notes the bibliomaniacal Skurnick in her brief introduction, when books for young girls moved from being wholesome and entertaining (e.g., The Secret Garden and the Nancy Drew series) to dealing with real-life, painful issues affecting adolescence as depicted by Beverly Cleary, Lois Duncan, Judy Blume, Madeleine L'Engle and Norma Klein. Skurnick groups her eruptive essays around themes, for example, books that feature a particularly memorable, fun or challenging narrator (e.g., Louise Fitzhugh's Harriet the Spy); girls on the verge, such as Blume's Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret or danger girls such as Duncan's Daughters of Eve; novels that deal with dying protagonists and other tragedies like child abuse (Willo Davis Roberts's Don't Hurt Laurie!); and, unavoidably, heroines gifted with a paranormal penchant, among other categories. Skurnick is particularly effective at spotlighting an undervalued classic (e.g., Joan Aiken's The Wolves of Willoughby Chase) and offers titles featuring troubled boys as well. Her suggestions will prove superhelpful (not to mention wildly entertaining) for educators, librarians and parents.

I also discovered that Booking Mama is hosting a Shelf Discovery Challenge - to participate you pick six books that Skurnick covers and write your own review between now and April 2010 (essentially one a month). So, being in a nostalgic mood, I've decided to participate. My six books are:

links for 2009-10-28

2009-10-28T11:30:20-07:00

Let's go to the video tape: blogger's complaint exposed as hyperbole - DaveJones.ca

Nice summary of a recent incident where a blogger wrote about an "incident" with the TSA - and how the TSA blogger handled. Speaks to the importance for corporations to have some kind of established social media channel for responding to incidents like this as well as the importance of SM monitoring. Does your company have a social media channel where they could respond?

(tags: socialmedia blogging pr casestudy reputation management TSA)

links for 2009-10-26

2009-10-26T11:30:14-07:00

Social Games: How The Big Three Make Millions

Good overview from Techcrunch on Zynga, Playfish and Playdom and their place in the social games world. Good stats. Mild commentary on their lead-generation revenue model.

(tags: socialmedia socialsoftware socialgames playfish)

links for 2009-10-20

2009-10-20T11:30:16-07:00

Rocket Watcher: Collateral Damage: Building a Content Plan

Every product needs a content plan! And April Dunford tells you how to do it. Great walkthrough of a number of different content vehicles.

(tags: product+development content writing video presentations howto onedegree)
Clear Disclosure in 140 Characters

Great piece by Shel Holz on a way to attempt to conform to the US's FTC disclosure guidelines particularly vis a vis Twitter. In Canada, we're not bound by them, but this post discusses a convenient shorthand to use when you only have 140 characters.

(tags: disclosure twitter blogging ethics socialmedia ftc onedegree)

links for 2009-10-14

2009-10-14T11:30:22-07:00

8 Tips For Getting Your Fan Page Found In Facebook Search

Some good tips - for even just having a solid FB fan page. Article notes the importance of paying attention to Bing which is interesting. First I've seen on the importance of Bing.

(tags: facebook marketing socialmedia SEO search)
Gary's Social Media Count | PERSONALIZE MEDIA

Get the real time scoop on what people are doing on social media. Good for presentations where you want to WOW people with what's happening out there. I like that he includes $$ spent on virtual goods. Via @brainpicker on Twitter

(tags: socialmedia statistics visualization stats tools)
45 Outstanding Free Vintage Fonts « Noupe

Ranging from Wild West to Victoriana, Avant Garde to Calligraphy - some very cool vintage fonts.

(tags: typography free vintage design resources font retro)
The myth of the page fold: evidence from user testing | cxpartners

Article that offers evidence that users don't mind scrolling plus some cases when users WON'T scroll. Some good examples - plus piece is being updated w/ notes from the comments.

(tags: usability WebDesign design ux ui)

links for 2009-10-13

2009-10-13T11:30:16-07:00

Daily Drop Cap

Lovely! Typographer and illustrator Jessica Hische creates a decorative drop cap letter to use in your blog posts. Found via @RobCottingham

(tags: typography design illustration fonts inspiration lettering type)
Ten Steps for Creating a FANtastic Facebook Fan Page : MarketingProfs

Some good tips - esp note about photo. Easy checklist for people just getting started w/ fan pages.

(tags: facebook tips how-to bestpractices fanpage)

Michael, Sookie and Don - 2009 Halloween Costume Trends

2009-10-13T09:59:45-07:00

With Canadian Thanksgiving behind us (or that rockin' holiday in the US, Columbus Day), it's time to start thinking about Halloween costumes. Halloween is on a primo Saturday night this year, so I would think there are going to be more folks out than usual and that means more ghosts and zombies to compete with for best costume prize.

I had the opportunity to check in with Karen Bard, eBay's Pop Culture expert. Apparently it is the year of the celebrity costume. Between the death of the King of Pop and the rise of sexy vampires and their associates (think Edward Cullen (played by Robert Cullen) from Twilight or Sookie Stackhouse (played by Anna Paquin) from True Blood), celebrities are hot this year as Halloween choices! And while vintage costumes have been popular in past years (think 1920's gangsters and their molls), vintage is even more in vogue with the popularity of Mad Men characters like John Draper and Peggy Olson.

I was also pleased to hear from Karen that the celebrity wig is a hot item. Last year it was "The Palin". This year, "The Gosselin".

Karen advises that eBay can be a great boon for folks who want to be star of Halloween this year and offers the following tips for finding the just right look for Halloween:

Search for both the name of the show as well as the character or the name of the celebrity. This way, you'll cover more bases. Also, using words like "style" (e.g. "Mad Men style") will help focus your search.
Shop early. Costume purchases on eBay peak in mid-October. (So get on it!!)
If you don't find the precise costume you're looking for, you might be able to someone to MAKE you the perfect costume. A number of the costume sellers on eBay are also makers.

I was also able to get a few more "Halloween costumer trivia" bits from Nazia over at Environics (she provided trivia about Valentine's Day earlier this year).

‘Halloween costume’ is the most popular search in the Clothing, Shoes & Accessories category on eBay.ca
One of the most watched items on eBay.ca is a Michael Jackson Billie Jean sequined jacket and matching pants.
There are 80 sequined gloves available on eBay.ca. Prices range from $2.33 to over $100.
Which MJ do you want to be? eBay.ca has costumes based on Billie Jean, Beat It, Thriller, Smooth Criminal, Bad and other iconic MJ “characters”
There are over 50 Sookie Stackhouse/Merlotte’s waitressing costumes on eBay.ca – some even come with a bottle of O+ blood beverage.
According to the National Retail Federation (US), vampires will be popular costumes (think True Blood and Twillight). There are over 1700 vampire costumes and accessories on eBay.ca
To recreate that Gossip Girl look, there are close to 300 blouses, dresses, headbands and other accessories inspired by the hit show found on eBay.
The average price for a Halloween costume on eBay is $27.63

In addition to finding elements for a costume, you can also find patterns to sew your own. Both eBay and Etsy are great sources for vintage patterns. I found this great Amidala and Princess Leia pattern set on Etsy.

I asked Karen what she was going as this year for Halloween - she is trying to decide between a character from Saturday Night Live and Cher from the Sonny and Cher days. Rosemary and I have been discussing our costumes. I think we're going to eschew the celebrity trend and go as bees. Like these rappin' Honey Bees.

What are your ideas for a Halloween costume?

links for 2009-10-09

2009-10-09T11:30:21-07:00

Pixel Perfect Background Photoshop Template for Twitter « planetOzh

People who do stuff like this are what makes the internet awesome. A smart photoshop template for making your Twitter background. Nice.

(tags: twitter Photoshop template background psd)

Getting My Label On - Review of the Brother PT1230-PC Labeler

2009-10-07T13:48:13-07:00

I have long been a big fan of Clean Sweep. It is no longer in active production, but we PVR the syndicated episodes to watch on Sunday mornings as inspiration for the rest of the day. Ahh, the organizing mastery cum pop-psychology of Peter Walsh ("this dirty sewing bag IS NOT your mother - you will still have your memories of her, even after we throw this away"). The extreme perkiness of Tava Smiley. The make-it-look-so-darn-easy carpentry of Eric Stromer. The racing-stripe designs of Angelo Surmelis.

I am totally addicted to this show and always wanted to be one of those couples who was "Clean Swept" (Side note - I appreciated that Clean Sweep always treated GLBT couples like any of the straight couples they had on their show. Heck, the fact that they even HAD GLBT couples on their show - very cool.) Not so much for the clearing of the clutter or the nice new rooms. Well, it was for one specific aspect of the rooms. One of the rooms was typically a home office and as part of his organizational contribution, Peter would tidy up the couple's files and paperwork, put it all in shiny new boxes and folders, and then label those boxes and folders using some handy dandy label maker.

I've never had a label maker.

Until now.

I believe that Brother must have heard my psychic longing for nice, neat labels. They sent me one of their P-touch® Labellers (PT-1230PC) to try out.

It arrived in the best external packaging EVER - a plain brown box covered with examples of their labels. Whoever wrote these labels - funny.

The P-touch 1230 was very easy to use. I'm generally on a Mac (it's Windows-based), so I hooked it up to my Acer netbook. Super easy. There is a "lite" version of the labeling software on the device - so it is completely plug-n-play - you don't have to install anything on the computer you're using it with. Very handy for a number of reasons. Mainly, it contributes to the portability of the product - I can use it at home and then take it to the office and not have to worry about carrying a disk or downloading software. Also great for offices who have managed desktops.

When I plugged it into a USB port, Windows asked me what I wanted to do. One of the options was "use the software on the device". Up popped the label editor. It detected the ribbon size and cartridge I had in the labeler which was handy. Essentially, I could just start typing. Which I did. Tried a couple of the fonts (it picked up all the fonts I had installed on the netbook).

And because I'm a sucker for wingdings and other little graphic-gimmicks, I experimented with the "frames" that Brother includes in the software. Here, I framed my phone number with the "phone" frame (so someone can call if I ever lose my coffee mug). This was not my fav frame, but it is a good example of the little graphic extras that are included. Full set of my pics are here.

I thought the PT1230 labeler would be perfect if you were an event organizer. It's super light and portable. And you COULD use it for registration labels or other things that ALWAYS need labeled at an event. I like the input via the computer keyboard. The layout of a label is surprisingly versatile. You can have single line, double line and image components all in one label. (Note - this is a screen shot from Brother's support site for the PT1230. I couldn't figure out how to do a decent screencap on the netbook - sigh, once you go Mac you can never really go back).

The PT1230 labeler retails for $69.99 CDN which seems quite reasonable. The bigger cost comes in when you purchase the label cartridges - they range in price from $17 to $30 depending on the type of material. Each cartridge usually has 8 meters of label material. My average test label was about 10 cm long. That's 80 labels or so. So that's, what, 21 or 22 cents a label for the least expensive label material? As someone who has stayed up very late at night, printing out page after page of tiny little words to glue onto a USB key, well, that 21 cents per would have been totally worth it :)

As a side note, Brother is starting to engage in social media which I take as a very encouraging sign. This is the second blogger relations campaign (the first was for one of their wireless printers for small business) that I have engaged in with them (with two different agencies - so it seems it is a cross-product approach for them as an organization). They have a Facebook group. And a Flickr account- where I pulled perhaps my favourite label-related picture from them - a neatly labeled "Plateau de fromages".

Photo Credit (first photo): The Container Store (omg - I WISH we had a Container Store in Canada)

links for 2009-10-07

2009-10-07T11:30:12-07:00

Basic Advocacy Headlines Explainer - Google Docs

This is a very smart idea for political/legislative advocacy - communicating in the subject of an email the legislation you're commenting on, your position and your geographic locale so that the legislator knows you have a vested interest. This is geared towards US politics but could be easily adapted.

(tags: activism email advocacy infodesign communication effective how-to)
Release: FTC's new disclosure regulations fully reinforce SMBC's Disclosure Toolkit

If you're a blogger in the US, the FTC requires you to disclose your relationships or face fines up to $11,000. The Social Media Business Council (formerly the Blog Council) has a great best practices toolkit for disclosure - both for bloggers and companies working with bloggers. [My own disclosure - I have clients who are members of the SMBC and who contributed to the development of these guidelines.]

(tags: onedegree blogging socialmedia disclosure ftc bestpractices tools)
Don't Screw Up Your Mobile Marketing Opportunity - Groundswell Blog

From the post ... Mobile is so close to the customer (in her pocket!) that it’s pretty powerful if you do it right. It’s also dangerous to your brand if you do it wrong, especially since consumers are very aware that they pay for mobile phone and data services. So rather than just be a cheerleader, I’ll put down some advice here based on successful marketing campaigns.

(tags: advertising marketing mobile onedegree)