XYDO.COM: Search Engine Optimization

The Oatmeal Shows Off the $211,223 it Raised for Charity

This might be the final chapter in the Oatmeal lawsuit saga, but what a satisfying ending it is! Comic artist Matthew Inman, creator of the popular web comic The Oatmeal, has taken a photo of the $211,223.04 in cash his supporters had raised for charity. But to understand why that money was raised, we have to go back to the beginning of the story. About a year ago, Inman wrote a blog post bashing humor aggregator site FunnyJunk for allowing uncredited images of his work. Strangely enough, it took almost a year for FunnyJunk to react, but the reaction was very unexpected, as the site's owner claimed defamation and asked for $20,000 in damages. Very soon, the lawyer repre… Continue reading... More About: charity, charles carreon, Oatmeal

Why Online Success is Crucial to Paralympics 2012

Social and digital media's role in making the 2012 Olympics unlike any previous incarnation of the event has been well documented -- but they will play an even more critical role in making this summer's Paralympic Games a success. While the Olympics receive relentless hype from media for months in advance, and athletes from typically obscure sports become global celebrities, the Paralympics happen on a different plane -- low-profile in the media and largely ignored by sports fans. That, says Craig Spence, the International Paralympics Committee's media communications director, provides a unique set of challenges and opportunities for the organization. "There's no one website in t… Continue reading... More About: Facebook, olympics, Paralympic Games, sports, streaming video, Twitter

All-You-Can-Read Magazine Subscription App Launches on iPad

Next Issue Media, a joint venture backed by five major U.S. publishers -- Conde Nast, Hearst, Meredith, News Corp. and Time Inc. -- is launching an all-you-can-read magazine subscription app for the iPad Tuesday. For a flat monthly fee of $10 or $15, users can get access to the digital versions of 39 magazines from those publishers, including back issues. The lower-priced plan nets you access to monthlies and bi-weeklies, including Esquire, InStyle, Vanity Fair, Vogue and Wired. The $15 plan includes those magazines plus a small roster of weeklies, including People, Sports Illustrated, The New Yorker and Time. Users can also purchase individual subscriptions as well as single cop… Continue reading... More About: ipad, ipad app, magazines, Media, next issue, next issue media

Social Media Is the Top News Source for Brits Under 25

Social media is the news source of choice for Britain's under 25-year-olds residents. According to the first Reuters Institute Digital Report, 43% of people between 16 and 24 get their news from social networks, such as Twitter and Facebook, rather than search engines, such as Google, the Telegraph reports. Over 45-year-olds' use of social media for getting news pales in comparison to the younger demographic -- just 11% say they get news from the social web. For 33% of British people over 45, search engines are the online method of choice. Between different social networks, Facebook is the most popular place to share news. More than half (55%) of people share news on Facebook… Continue reading... More About: connected generation, Media, News, Social Media

Pinterest Leaves Palo Alto, Joins San Francisco’s Tech Revival

Pinterest has joined Twitter, Zynga, Airbnb and a host of other social-based tech companies in San Francisco after announcing Monday that it would leave Palo Alto -- where earlier this year the image-sharing network exploded into one of the fastest growing social networks of all time. San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee -- who has made drawing tech startups to the city a top priority of his administration -- touted Pinterest's move north from Silicon Valley as a victory for the local economy. “I am thrilled to welcome Pinterest to the ‘Innovation Capital of the World,’ and am pleased that our efforts to attract and retain the industry’s best and most innovative companies are working,�… Continue reading... More About: pinterest, Social Media

Apple Removes Green Certification From All Products

Apple's products are no longer considered environmentally friendly after the tech giant asked the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) -- the group that sets environmental standards for electronics -- to remove all 39 of its products from its green registry. According to the Wall Street Journal's corporate-technology blog, CIO Journal, this request took place toward the end of last month. EPEAT made the announcement last week. The standards, which were set by manufacturers, advocacy groups and government agencies, state that recyclers need to be able to disassemble products considered green. This means the average person should be able to take apart the green p… Continue reading... More About: apple, green, macbook, Social Good, Tech

Apple Releases Final Mac OS X Mountain Lion to Developers

Mac users, are you looking forward to getting your hands on the latest Mac OS X -- version 10.8, also known as Mountain Lion? You won't have to wait long. Apple released the final developer version of the operating system, known as a Gold Master, on Monday. Barring small technical issues and tweaks, this is the same version that will be released to the public -- and it's right on schedule. When can you download it, exactly? If you're a developer, right now. Otherwise, Apple has said the $19.99 Mountain Lion upgrade will be available online by the end of July. SEE ALSO: Apple Unveils Mac OSX Mountain Lion: So Long iChat, Hello Twitter The company hasn't specified an actual… Continue reading... More About: apple, mac osx mountain lion

12 Essential Social Media Cheat Sheets

Getting around a social media site is not always easy. For some users, it's a matter of getting used to social media. For others, the issue is keeping up with constant updates and changes to features, privacy settings, and account specifications. This, of course, is why social media cheat sheets exist. Cheat sheets are basically infographics that can give a user a simple rundown of various features and how to use them. Here's a roundup of great cheat sheets for the most popular social networking sites. Google+1. Google+ Cheat Sheet by Simon Laustsen This is a nice little cheat sheet that covers what most users are probably going to need. For example, you'll know how to crea… Continue reading... More About: contributor, features, Marketing, online marketing, Social Media

How to Search: Google Offers Free Online Classes

Everyone knows how to do a simple Google search, but do you know how to read pages in languages you've never studied or track down the location of a friend's picture they took on vacation ages ago? Google wants to show you more tips on how to get the most out of its search results. The search engine giant will be offering a free online, community-based course starting on Tuesday that teaches people different search strategies to find what they need faster and more efficiently. Google -- which first opened registration for the class in June -- will offer six different 50-minute courses called "Power Searching with Google" over the next two weeks. Classes can be taken at your own… Continue reading... More About: Google, Google Hangouts, google search, SEO

Gymkhana FIVE: Watch Ken Block Perform Mind-Blowing Car Stunts Around San Francisco [VIDEO]

Ken Block on Monday released the latest edition of his automotive video shenanigans with Gymkhana Five: The Ultimate Urban Playground, San Francisco.

Kayak Prices IPO at $22 to $25 a Share

Kayak's long-awaited $87.5 million initial public offering is finally ready to cast off at $22 to $25 a share. The online travel company dropped its amended S-1 form Monday morning, in which it disclosed it will offer 4 million shares. The company also reported that for the first fiscal quarter of 2012, it earned $4.1 million on revenues of $73.3 million compared to a $6.9 million loss for the first quarter of 2011. That's a 39% jump in revenues over Q1 2011. Though a date hasn't been set for Kayak's IPO, the company has disclosed that it will trade on Nasdaq under the symbol "KYAK." Meanwhile, the $87.5 million figure is below earlier reports that had pegged it at $150 million. Th… Continue reading... More About: ipo, Kayak

Kayak Prices IPO at $22 to $25 a Share

Next Twitter for iPhone Version to Bring Interactive Tweet View

Twitter is preparing a major new version of its iPhone app, which will include an interactive tweet view, enhanced notifications and more, 9to5Mac reports. The info comes through leaked release notes which bring a detailed list of all the new features in the next Twitter for iPhone version, 4.3. These include a more interactive tweet view experience, letting you see content previews, videos and images within tweets containing links to "partner websites," as well as the ability to choose whether you want to receive push notifications when certain people tweet. Other improvements include highlighted tweets about selected events, autocomplete in the Connect tab, and the ability to t… Continue reading... More About: iphone, Twitter

5 Social Media Lessons 'Small' Business Can Learn from 'Big' Business

Small companies have unique benefits that help them in social media. They can be more personal, more intimate, move faster, and be more flexible. Big businesses have problems due to their size, organization and bureaucracies. But they also shine in some areas that small companies fall short. Here are 5 social media lessons that small businesses can learn from big businesses.

Why Social Media Will Reshape the 2012 Olympics

The 2012 Olympics in London are being touted by some as the world's "first social Games." While some question just how social they'll actually be, there's no doubt that networks such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube will play an unprecedented role in how information is disseminated from London, and how the global sports conversation is driven during July and August. Why the big shift? It's simple: Four years is an eternity in Internet time and since the last Summer Olympics in 2008, social media has exploded. Web use in general has grown rapidly, too. In 2008, there were about 1.5 billion Internet users globally, according to the International Telecommunications Union, making… Continue reading... More About: Facebook, olympics, Social Media, sports, Twitter, YouTube

Social Media Fuels Low Self-Esteem, Anxiety [STUDY]

Social media may do more harm than good when it comes to personal well-being, a small study from the University of Salford in the UK indicates. About half of the survey's 298 participants, all of whom identified themselves as social media users, say that their use of social networks like Facebook and Twitter makes their lives worse. In particular, participants noted that their self-esteem suffers when they compare their own accomplishments to those of their online friends. In addition to confidence issues, two-thirds claim they find it difficult to fully relax or sleep after spending time on social networks. A quarter cited work or relationship d… Continue reading... More About: anxiety, Facebook, Social Media, stress, uk

The Evolution of the Job Application [INFOGRAPHIC]

Just as it’s revolutionized everything from grocery shopping to travel, social and digital media have had an enormous effect on the job hunt. With technology moving forward every day, the job discovery and application process is constantly evolving and in flux. To embrace the future, however, we must look to the past. The infographic below, compiled by Spark Hire, examines the evolution of applying for a job, chronicling innovations as seemingly mundane as the invention of the post office (remember snail mail?) to the development of a little thing called the Internet. How have you applied for the jobs you’ve held? Let us know in the comments below. Every week we post a list of social media and web job opportunities. While we publish a huge range of job listings, we’ve selected some of the top social media job opportunities from the past two weeks to get you started. Happy hunting!

10 Stellar Space-Themed Accessories For Your Office

When you were a little kid, did you want to be an astronaut when you grew up? Well here at Mashable, some of us still do. To keep the dream alive while we’re doing more humdrum jobs, we’ve found 10 awesome space-themed accessories to intergalactic up our workspaces. SEE ALSO: Defend Your Home From These 10 ‘Space Invaders’ Accessories Take a look through our stellar selection in the slideshow above. Let us know in the comments below which ones give you that “Neil Armstrong” feeling.

Here’s the Most Stunning Photo of Mars the World Has Ever Seen

NASA has released a new panorama from its Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, showing the terrain where the robot spent the four-month Martian winter. The full-circle scene combines 817 images shot by the panoramic camera (Pancam). You can download the complete image and learn more about the expedition on NASA's website. More About: Mars, NASA, photography, space

Facebook Deletes Post About Syria’s Human Rights Violations, Apologizes [VIDEO]

Facebook has apologized after mistakenly deleting a post by human rights group Article 19. The status in question linked to a report by Human Rights Watch, which details alleged torture centers in Syria.

Google Launches Gay Rights Campaign ‘Legalize Love’

Google wants to further gay rights across the world, launching a new campaign called "Legalize Love" on Saturday. The tech giant hopes to advance marriage rights for gay, lesbian and bisexual people in countries where it has offices, beginning in Poland and Singapore. Google exec Mark Palmer-Edgecumbe introduced the campaign at the Global LGBT Workplace Summit in London, reports dot429. "We want our employees who are gay or lesbian or transgender to have the same experience outside the office as they do in the office," Palmer-Edgecumbe said. "It is obviously a very ambitious piece of work." Google plans to develop relationships between companies and support grass-roots camp… Continue reading... More About: activism, gay rights, Google

Warner Bros. Releases 13-Minute ‘Dark Knight Rises’ Featurette

If you've been looking for a relatively spoiler-free description of The Dark Knight Rises characters and their roles in the movie, this 13-minute featurette will whet your appetite for Christopher Nolan's final Bat-film. Beyond the triumvirate of Bruce Wayne, Selina Kyle, and Bane, this video revisits familiar characters and introduces us to some new faces rolling through Gotham City. Be warned, though, it does contain some behind-the-scenes and finished footage from the film. More »

How To Hire for Positions That Didnâ€™t Exist 10 Years Ago

Sajjad Masud is co-founder & CEO of , a cloud-based social recruiting platform transforming talent acquisition. Connect with Sajjad and the Simplicant team on and . What do app developers, social media managers, cloud computing administrators, virtualization engineers and Chief Listening Officers all have in common? These positions . Thanks in part to continuous technological innovation, there is a new set of roles that did not exist until recently, and existing jobs now have new requirements and skill sets. These dynamic digital positions are now some of the most popular and highly sought-after jobs in the market, but they can be difficult to recruit for. New jobs and skills require new ways of recruiting for these positions. How people and organizations communicate with each other has completely evolved the way employers seek candidates, both in terms of where they find them and how they engage with them. Most of the candidates that fit these job descriptions are best reached via referrals and social networks. And though roles and positions will continue to change and evolve, the underlying recruiting principles remain the same -- you still need to find the right fit for your open positions. Let’s take a look at a few specific changes that technology-driven practices have introduced into the world of recruitment. The disruption caused by technological changes has resulted in a new set of requirements for existing positions, while also rendering some older job titles obsolete or at least less significant. Today, people in business development and sales must have strong networks on social media and be needed to support their work. Hiring managers and recruiters cannot reach quality candidates if they do not know how to leverage social networks for recruiting. Product and engineering staff cannot work in an agile mode without the collaborative platforms and communication methods they now take for granted. Action Step: Hiring managers need to identify where their target candidates are and establish a company presence within those platforms. , and are among the top platforms to connect and network on, from sharing relevant positions to responding to candidates’ questions. Most of the jobs today reflect some technological influence in their titles. A Social Media Manager, for example, has to be savvy with marketing and public relations fundamentals and have experience with the various social media platforms to effectively perform the job. Requirements for this position could include experience with the newest products and platforms for reaching target audiences, creating engagement with stakeholders and collecting analytical data to make further improvements to the campaigns. Clearly, these are specific skills for which even a few years of experience could be hard to find. The challenge, therefore, is to identify the right candidates who may not have years of experience but can still hit the ground running and perform. Many of the other newer roles would fall into the same category as "Social Media Manager" -- jobs for which the people who have the requisite skills and experience are fewer than the open positions available. Action Step: Prior to inviting a candidate for an interview, pre-screen their technical skills by engaging with them via social media or through your talent community. Interact with the candidates to gain a better understanding of what skills they possess, as well as how dedicated they are to earning a position within your organization. Share as much detail about your as possible, and on the application to gain insights into the candidate’s understanding of the technical requirements of the position. With the war for talent forcing many employers to regularly poach employees from each other, efficiency and speed in the recruitment process are critical. As an employer or recruiter, you want to make sure you are not making solid candidates wait too long for next steps, because they will surely talk to your competitors if they are more responsive and nimble. Streamline your recruiting processes so you are able to get referrals, source, engage, attract and screen at a fast pace. Once you have the candidates shortlisted, schedule interviews and get them in quickly. Collect evaluations, references and make your decisions as soon as possible. Action Step: With a recruiting platform that helps you manage and engage with your talent community, you can quickly identify top candidates to bring in for an interview. However, do not exclude passive candidates who may not be present in the community. Encourage employees to refer candidates through a company-wide referral program and leverage social media for its ability to virtually distribute your jobs to thousands of qualified candidates. Also, you will want to utilize a candidate management system to efficiently and effectively keep candidates informed during each step of the hiring process. Did you know that 89% of companies search for candidates online? Moreover, one in six job seekers found their last job through social networks. With Facebook reporting 901 million users and LinkedIn being the most popular network for job seekers and recruiters, candidates are using these platforms -- and so should you, as an employer. Candidates are more accessible than ever. In addition to social networks, next-gen recruiting platforms make it easier to leverage the power of social networks for recruiting, enabling employers and recruiters to reach candidates in a fast, cost-effective and organized way, while all candidate information is tracked and easily accessible for future campaigns. Action Step: Social recruiting is becoming the norm, as employers need to be skilled in the best methods and practices to reach top talent. However, that does not mean you need to take on more than you can handle. Outline a social recruiting plan and determine the best platforms and outlets on which to focus your efforts. Using a social recruiting platform allows you to organize your hiring process across your entire team. What do you think? What are your thoughts on recruiting for non-traditional positions? Every week we post a list of . While we publish a huge range of job listings, we've selected some of the top social media job opportunities from the past two weeks to get you started. Happy hunting!

New Definitions of Content, the Rise of Mobile Marketing, and a Customer Care Manifesto | Social Media Today

Here's a review of stuff I found interesting in the last few weeks. I hope you do, too. If not, maybe you should reconsider your plans. According to IBM’s annual State of Marketing report, 34% of companies are planning mobile marketing campaigns in the next year. According to the MediaPost article, that represents the fastest planned adoption of a new marketing tactic in the five years since IBM started collecting its data. About a quarter of brands are currently running mobile ads, while nearly half have focused on building out their mobile presence. Forty-five percent have deployed mobile apps. Some 800 pieces of branded content were entered at Cannes this year. A tenth made the final cut, but only a quarter of those are what you would consider traditional entries, like a TV series. The rest? Well, the rest was made possible by the increasing ease with which anyone can innovate and create content. For instance, there was the song performed by members of the Colombian military with Morse code built in so the hidden message of hope could be detected by 16 hostages with radio access. And, according to Scott Donaton’s Advertising Age account, “From Tunisia came The Return of Dictator Ben Ali, which used posters of an ousted leader to spark fears of his return, spurring previously apathetic citizens to vote.” As for the work that ultimately wins, Donaton says he hopes it will show the way forward “to a place where content isn’t a separate discipline but infiltrates all forms of communication, with brands tapping the raw power of stories to move people, fuel desire, change perceptions and drive actions.” As the understanding of what content is evolves, businesses need to keep pace. Do you have the support you need to unleash creativity in your organization? Nike launched a Twitter campaign in the UK that wouldn’t have raised many eyebrows. A couple Manchester united players tweeted endorsements on Nike’s behalf. Yawn, right? But the Advertising Standards Authority said the tweets didn’t make it clear that these were paid endorsements (or, in bureaucratic language, the players didn’t make it clear the messages were “identifiable as marketing communications.” As a result, the campaign was banned, according to a BBC report. One tweet, from Wayne Rooney, read, “My resolution - to start the year as a champion, and finish it as a champion…#makeitcount gonike.me/makeitcount.” The other was similar. Only one complaint was all it took to launch the investigation that led to suspensions of the footballers’ accounts. The U.S. Department of Defense has issued a report (PDF) that “lays the groundwork for future strategies that will harness mobile technology within military and high-security establishments,’ accordin got an IBM SmartPlanet story. “This strategy is not simply about embracing the newest technology,” says the Pentagon’s CIO Teri Takai; “it is about keeping the DoD workforce relevant in an era when information and cyberspace play a critical role in mission success.” Once again, the military is most likely a step or two ahead of your employer. Advertising Age reports that sponsored story ads that show up on mobile news feeds are getting more clicks than the same ads showing up on your full-sized computer mmonitor. More than 7 million Facebook impressions were served during a 10-day period for 12 companies running fan acquisition campaigns, the article explains. “The click-through rate for mobile ads amounted to 0.79%, compared to 0.148% average across all five placements studied: mobile, desktop news-feed only, desktop only (comprised mainly of right-rail ads), news-feed only (desktop and mobile) and the “control” group (uniform bids made across placements). The click-through rate for desktop-only news-feed ads falls roughly in themiddle at 0.327%.” At the same time, Reuters is reporting that Facebook has given in to complaints that likes are showing up as ads without the permission of the user; you’ll now be able to control whether your posts become sponsored stories. That’ll cost Facebook more than $100 million in lost revenue. Socialbakers, the social media and digital analytics company, used LeWeb London as the platform to launch its Socially Devoted manifest, which aspires to be the industry standard for customer care. The goal: improved response rates and times, according to a ZDNet article. A manifesto is a declaration of beliefs or motivations, which you’ll find when you click a link that reads, “Learn What is Socially Devoted.” This manifesto declares that 65% of customer questions should be answered (compared to the current 30% rate), and that 10-30 minutes is appropriate (versus the current 24-hours). The database is what’s interesting here, though. You can see total number of fans, answers to questions, response times and rates of companies in a variety of industry, ranked by most or least responsive. (Volkswagen de Mexico is the most responsive auto company, for instance.) How cool can Facebook be if your grandmother and Uncle Stew are there? A USA Today article claims that teens are fleeing Facebook in favor of newer sites. They prefer to check in on Foursquare and like Pinterest for browsing, for example. The article offers no evidence to support its claim other than a decline in the year-over-year growth rates in unique visits to the social network. Still, it’s not hard to believe, yet I would argue that they’re adding these new sites but not shutting down or vacating their Facebook accounts. Between getting what they need to know from notifications and using mobile apps instead of the website, it’s no surprise that growth rates are slowing. As much as a teen may not want some great-aunt seeing their own photos, they do want to stay current on friends-and-family activities. While some may be quitting Facebook altogether, most are shifting their activities elsewhere while keeping an eye on Facebook, too.

5 Ways To Avoid Wasting Money On Your Google Adwords

Google Adwords are a great replacement for traditional marketing venues, such as newspapers and radio advertising, if used correctly. Too often I come across business owners seduced by Google Adwords‘ offer of $100 in free credits to try the service. Too often the account is set up with little or no understanding of exactly how the program works. Setting up your account incorrectly will not only result in poor results, but also could result in a very expensive lesson on your credit card. Over and over I see the same five mistakes when

Mobile Marketing: Understanding How People Use Smartphones

Mobile is huge—and getting bigger by the day. You’ve likely implemented—or are at least planning—a mobile marketing strategy as part of your overall integrated marketing strategy. Right?

6 Ways to Stay on Top of Social Media

To be successful in social media and community management you need to keep track of the constant changes to that ecosystem. That's because everything you know about Facebook, Twitter, and other social spaces today will somehow be different in six months. Layouts will be altered, features will be added or removed, and new social networks may pop up. So how should you keep track of all these moving parts? Here are six tips for staying on top of social media. 1. Blogs There are hundreds of blogs focused on social media. Keep it simple by signing up to RSS feeds and spend twenty minutes every morning catching up on your social media news. Stick to blogs that are updated daily and focus… Continue reading... More About: contributor, features, Marketing, Social Media

Apple May Not Include NFC in the iPhone 5 [VIDEO]

In the battle for your mobile wallet one company has been noticeably silent: Apple. Google has its own mobile payment service: Google Wallet, and Microsoft even announced in June that it would be adding a digital wallet service with NFC capabilities to Windows Phone 8 that would store credit card and mobile payment information. So, where is the world’s favorite fruit company? In its announcement of iOS6 mobile payments were left off the agenda. The company unveiled Passbook, a service for keeping track of tickets and coupons, but not credit cards. According to the Wall Street Journal, some Apple engineers fought for mobile payment func… Continue reading... More About: apple, iphone, iPhone 5, nfc

7 Top Comments on Mashable This Week

As always, tech and pop culture news came streaming down our news feeds, and Mashable readers were quick to respond. When the Internet hijacked Walmart's campaign in order to send Pitbull to a remote island, readers took the opportunity to poke fun at "Mr. Worldwide," advising him to dress warmly for what looks like an impending trip to Kodiak Island. The unveiling of the cover of J.K. Rowling's new novel for adult readers also inspired a spirited discussion -- leading fans to debate the true meaning of judging a book by its cover. Readers also reacted strongly when the U.S. Patent Office granted Apple a patent for a “peripheral treatment of head-mounted displays" -- in other wor… Continue reading... More About: COMMUNITELLIGENCE, community, top comments

6 Ways to Stay on Top of Social Media

The Bay Parties It Up For Social Media Day 2012

There was a full house at The Box SF for Mashable's third-annual Social Media Day celebration in San Francisco on Saturday, June 30, 2012. The sold-out event featured networking, dancing, gadgets and, most importantly, commemorating the importance of social media in the world today. Mashable staff and fans danced the night away to San Francisco-based DJ Duo A Plus D - a.k.a. Adrian and Mysterious D. A Plus D, creators of Bootie, the biggest mashup bootleg party in the world - kept the party going all night with their amazing mashups including an unforgettable mix of Beethoven with House of Pain. See Mashable's complete coverage of Social Media Day Global sponsor Motorola Mob… Continue reading... More About: San Francisco-San Jose, social media day

7 Apps You Don’t Want To Miss

It can be tough to keep up with all the new apps released each week. But you’re in luck: We take care of a lot of that for you, creating a roundup each weekend of some of our own new and updated app highlights from the week. This week we found a few water-based games that require you to come up with a little strategy in order to win, and we found an old favorite game that has finally made its way over to Android. iPhone owners saw an update this week to a popular music app, and got a new photography app that will let you take some pretty unique shots. Another app will help you keep up-to-date on everything going on at the Tour de France, and another will keep you in-the-know w… Continue reading... More About: android, App, iphone

Top 10 Pinterest Pins This Week

Our top 10 Pinterest pins will brighten up your day with beautiful photos and refreshing ideas. Each week Pinterest brings us an array of wonderful images and tips, and we choose 10 to share with you. One of the things Pinterest is known for is its helpful tips and craft ideas. From a pin that will change the way you set up your home electronics, to a pin that shares a handy eye-brightening Photoshop tip, we hope these pins add to your Pinterest experience. In addition to tips and recipes, there is no shortage of gorgeous imagery in this week’s top 10 pins. There is a gorgeous shot of Nordic fog from Pinterest power-user Jennifer Chong and a photo of a gamer/movie-lover’s comfy paradise. All of our top 10 pins are repinned in this Pinterest board for you to easily repin and follow the users we found them from. We collect our weekly top 10 to share with you the pins we enjoyed from the visual network this past week. Everyone’s Pinterest experience is different and revoles around their own personal interests, but we hope our pins provide a diving-in point to the vast sea of Pinterest. What were your favorite pins this past week?

Top 10 Pinterest Pins This Week

20+ Beautiful Camera-Themed iPhone Cases

Vintage Camera Case This classic-looking, colorful option is available in pink, red, beige and mint. Cost: $16Click here to view this gallery. Has your iPhone become your primary camera? Then why not get a case that celebrates it? There are a wide variety of camera-themed iPhone cases, covers, skins and decals available. Spanning eras from twin lens reflex cameras to retro-styled compacts, right through to cases that are designed for fans of current iPhone photography apps, we have a wide selection for you to peruse. SEE ALSO: 10 Cassette Cases for Your iPhone Take a look through our hand-picked choices in the gallery above. Let us know in the comments below which case best suits your iPhotography style. More About: cameras, features, Gadgets, gallery, iphone, iphone accessories, iphone cases, iphotography, Mobile, photography, Tech

Social Media Day 2012 Around the World

One week ago, thousands of people celebrated Social Media Day with hundreds of meetups held around the globe. Mashable started Social Media Day to recognize the importance of social media and its role in empowering individuals and strengthening connections. Now in its third year, it has grown into a worldwide celebration. This year, 17 cities and three states proclaimed June 30 a day of recognizing the power of social media. Many more held meetups around the world. Some of the most popular events occurred in places such as Morocco, Brazil, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and the United States. Our Storify offers a glimpse into what people were doing around the world. Whether it was through… Continue reading... More About: social media day, Storify

Poster Design Contest: Redesign The Web, Redesign The World!

Web design has evolved dramatically in recent years. Better browser support and innovative design techniques are changing the way we design websites. In fact, we’ve become quite versed in producing beautiful and performant user experiences. However, this doesn’t hold true for most websites out there, now does it? How often do you stumble on slow, clunky websites? Websites where text is embedded in images and interfaces are unusable and messy — not to mention that the code is hacky and unmaintainable? Websites that are completely unusable on mobile devices and that are cumbersome to navigate? We all deserve better than that. With this poster contest, we’d like to raise awareness of the beautiful and accessible Web: Yes, it’s been around time to redesign the Web and, hence, to redesign the world. We can make the Web a better place. But to do that, we need your help. Where Do We Begin? As professionals, we do our best to employ the best coding and design practices. We encourage our friends, colleagues and clients to advocate the user’s interests, and we follow recent developments in the industry. However, we probably have to do a bit more if we really want to make the Web a bit more usable. We have to remind ourselves, our colleagues and our clients of the problems that their websites have, and potential solutions to these problems. We have to make it clear that websites require a minor adjustment or a major redesign. All of the little tasks listed below would take just a couple of minutes each day, but if we use them consistently and stay persistent, our voices eventually will be heard. Here is what each one of us can do: Create a critique email template that you can use to notify website owners about issues with their website. Then, whenever you come across a poorly designed website, just paste the template into an email and send it to the website owner. Also, if you have a minute to spare, tweet the owner directly using the hashtag #redesigntheweb to raise awareness among your friends and colleagues. Subject: Your website is very difficult to use! Dear [--Website Owner--], I just stumbled on your website [--URL--] and found it very difficult to use. I wasn’t able to [-- perform a certain task / find what I was looking for --], although I am confident that your website does have this information. I would love to use your website, and I am sure you’ve put a lot of time and thought into it, but unfortunately it was more frustrating than helpful. For me, a website’s information and features must be, above all, accessible and useful. It they aren’t, then the website doesn’t serve any real purpose. Please consider redesigning the website and improving its user experience so that I can visit it again. Otherwise, I’ll have to keep seeking alternatives. Thank you for your time, and I hope to stumble on your (redesigned) website in the future! Sincerely yours, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Whenever you see a bug or dark UX pattern on a website, report the issues via the website’s contact form. Explain the issue and suggest solutions for solving the problem if you can. Whenever you stumble upon a truly poor customer service, drop an email to the website owners explaining that you’ll seek an alternative service provider because your experience has been unacceptable. Be concrete in your criticism. Upgrade the browser of your friend, colleague, coworker or relative to the latest version. Propose solutions. Most owners don’t know that their website is inaccessible or slow, so help them help their users. Point them to useful templates and resources that will help them solve their problem. Whenever you see a useful or clever design solution, send a short email to the owners applauding them for their effort and attention to detail. If you are a designer or developer, join the Move the Web Forward campaign and help browser makers and open-source projects do just that. And, of course, recommend only best practices to students and newcomers to the industry. Or you could also join this contest and create a poster to spread the message! Join The Poster Design Contest! We challenge you to design a beautiful, thought-provoking and inspiring A4/A3-sized poster and send it over to us. The poster should encourage everyone to create fast, user-friendly and accessible websites; websites that deliver value and are a pleasure to use. We will then select the most interesting designs, release them for free on Smashing Magazine, and invite everyone to republish them, print them out, post them on walls and send us photos of the posters from across the globe. Prizes To Win As always, we have valuable prizes for the best entries. The winners of the contest will be determined by Smashing Magazine’s editorial team. Here are the prizes: Letterpress Prints If you love letterpress posters like we do, you can select two of them from Jessica Hische’s collection or Wilkintie collection and we’ll deliver them for you. Alternatively, you can pick the ILoveTypography’s limited edition “A World Without Type” type poster. 52 Aces Card DeckA limited edition poker deck consisting of 52 extremely different cards, each of them individually designed by an international designer or illustrator in their distinct style. Wacom Inkling Drawing Pen This pen records your sketches as you draw. Simply transfer the files to your computer and continue working on the sketches digitally. It’s a tool that every modern designer should have. Bose QuietComfort 15 Acoustic Noise Cancelling Headphones According to various tests, the Bose QuietComfort 15s currently offer the best quality sound and silencing capabilities in a pair of noise-canceling headphones. If you want to focus on your work and do not get distracted by subway or cars driving nearby, that’s the headphones you probably need. How Do I Join the Contest? To participate in the poster contest, please follow the rules listed below. Please note that we will not consider designs that don’t meet these guidelines. Come up with an original, beautiful and unique design. It could be an illustration, collage, photographic piece, typographic design — anything! Please make sure the design looks great when printed out, both in color and black and white. The design should be well formatted for printing: in A4 and A3 sizes, and with a 5-mm print margin. The design should include a small Smashing Magazine’s logo. You may also include your own logo. Please make sure both logos are readable yet unobtrusive. Pack up your source files, preferably in a layered PSD, AI, EPS or INDD file, in a ZIP-archive, e.g. [your-name]-[submission's-title].zip would be great. Submit your poster design by the 23rd of July 2012 to the email address submissions[.at.]smashingmagazine.com, with the subject line Redesign the Web Contest. Please also give credit where credit is due. Make sure to respect the copyright of designers whose images and words you use in your design. And feel free to submit multiple entries; however, each entry should be unique and distinguishable. In the future, we’d love to print the best designs in a series of t-shirts (only with your permission, of course), so bear this mind when designing your work. We will feature the selected posters a week after the submission deadline. Feel free to include a link to your portfolio in your submission email; we’d love to link to it in the release post! Redesign the Web: Inspiration But what might such a poster look like? Well, we asked five well-respected designers to interpret the “Redesign the Web, Redesign the World” theme with their own ideas, creativity and style. The results are striking and inspiring, and they prove once again that cultural diversity turns every task and problem into a unique experience. These are only few interpretations of the theme — there are many more out there! Nick La interprets the Web as an earth-like eco-system. The Web is situated in an abstract, futuristic environment, with colors and elements that convey an almost mystical atmosphere. The interpretation has a visionary quality to it and shows a touch of Jules Verne. Have you noticed how Nick managed to have both dinosaurs and tweets in one artwork? by Nick La Larissa Meek’s first poster concept is strongly geometric and bursts with color. “I wanted to capture the essence of what a more beautiful world would feel like based on the statement ‘Redesign the Web, Redesign the World,’” Larissa says. The result sure catches the eye. by Larissa Meek Larissa Meek’s second concept shows another interesting approach, visualizing the various elements that the Web currently consists of. The poster captures techniques such as CSS and HTML, workflow elements such as storytelling and also the daily realities of the professional designer such as deadlines, coffee breaks and ideation. All elements are interconnected in a clever composition using just two main colors: red and orange. by Larissa Meek Simon C. Page is known for his abstract geometric styles. His poster design is made up of a variety of shapes and structures that are fundamental to the Web — the world being one of them. by Simon C. Page Brazilian designer Ricardo Gimenes’ first concept relies on Smashing Magazine’s familiar cartoon style and introduces what might be considered a tag. by Ricardo Gimenes Veerle Pieters’ cover design for the Smashing Book 3 reflects the various elements that a redesign has to balance and the various building blocks of Web. Read more about Veerle’s ideas behind the design and the process. If you would like to buy a print of the poster, please visit our Smashing Shop. Smashing Book #3 and #3⅓ cover designs by Veerle Pieters It’s Your Turn To “Redesign the World”! We are excited to see what you are capable of, and we sincerely believe we can all shape the future of the Web together. The poster contest is just a humble attempt to change the way things are, and it will hopefully trigger your creativity and encourage you and others to reinterpret the Web and the world through a new lens. Good luck, everyone! We are looking forward to receiving many beautiful entries! Yours truly,The Smashing Team “Now is the accepted time, not tomorrow, not some more convenient season. It is today that our best work can be done and not some future day or future year. It is today that we fit ourselves for the greater usefulness of tomorrow. Today is the seed time, now are the hours of work, and tomorrow comes the harvest and the playtime.” — W. E. B. DuBois © Smashing Editorial for Smashing Magazine, 2012.

In-Store App Smartly Syncs Shoppers And Sales Staff

The Spark of Genius Series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. Each post highlights a unique feature of a startup. If you'd like your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here. Name: Signature Quick Pitch: iPhone app connects customers with sales associates 24/7. Genius Idea: Leveraging mobile to provide an unprecedented level of customer service. Though online shopping has undergone multiple transformations over the past two decades, the same can not be said for brick-and-mortar retail. Shoppers are still brought in using approximately the same marketing tactics (think direct mail catalogs, window displays, seasonal sales). Product is still refreshed at… Continue reading... More About: bizspark, fashion, neiman marcus, retail, signature

The Furby Is Back

Furby is back! The must-have toy of 1998 will return this holiday season, but this isn't your father's Furby. Hasbro is re-launching the furry character for the digital age, with apps, new sensors and more. You may remember Furby from his first incarnation, the chatty five-inch-tall robot that found its way under countless Christmas trees in the late '90s. Furby was equipped with robotic eyes and ears, simple sensors and the ability to speak. A lot. The new Furby takes the idea of a talking electronic sidekick to a new level: Covered in blue-green fur, its body is more active, with the ability to wiggle its ears and dance. In an interesting design choice, Hasbro opted to replace Fu… Continue reading... More About: apps, Furby, toys

Spider-Like iPhone 5 Design Is Creepy Yet Cool [PICS]

The iPhone 5 as a Spider? Designer Federico Ciccarese re-imagined the iPhone as a futuristic (and creepy) gadget that lives on the back of your hand. What do you think of the design concept?Click here to view this gallery. What will mobile communication of the future look like? Google thinks it could be a pair of glasses; IBM favors More About: desgin concept, design, iphone

In-Store App Smartly Syncs Shoppers And Sales Staff

Tiny Wings 2.0 Trailer Is Awesomely Retro [VIDEO]

Tiny Wings is a fun iOS game that eschews the anger of another avian franchise for the underdog appeal of a bird that can't fly. We especially like that it's easy to play with just one hand (great for subway commutes). If that wasn't enough to get us looking forward to the next version of the game, this excellent trailer has done the trick. From the punch-card game track to the fairly game-accurate movements to the fun ending, it's got us putting alerts in our calendar for July 12 -- the date of the release. What do you think of the Tiny Wings 2.0 trailer? Share your thoughts in the comments. BONUS: 10 Games for iPhone You Can Play With One Hand More About: games, iOS, iphone, Tiny Wings, videos, YouTube

Twitter Search Gets Smarter, Adds Autocomplete

In the age of Google Instant, where we expect search results to complete themselves before we’re done typing, Twitter’s search feature has long seemed a little slow and dumb. Can’t it guess at what search term or person you’re looking for? Can’t it autocorrect your spelling? Can’t it just search among the tweets of people you follow? Well, now you can do all of that, in theory. The microblogging service took the wraps off a new smarter search product Friday, after teasing us late Thursday with a brief announcement that search and discovery on Twitter was about to change “forever.” The changes, which are rolling out to all users on mobile Twitter and Twitter.com, fall into three categories. First, there’s the Google Instant-like guessing. “Search autocomplete shows you the most likely terms for your query as you enter it — especially useful if you’re trying to follow the hashtag for an event or you’re looking for a certain Twitter account,” writes engineer Frost Li on the Twitter blog. “You can select your query from the drop-down menu even before you finish typing it.” Search autocomplete will also correct your spelling if there’s a common search term with slightly different letters — a feature Google has boasted for years. Secondly, Twitter says, search is about to get a lot smarter when it comes to related terms, hashtags and accounts. “If you search for a topic for which people use multiple terms,” says Li, “we will provide relevant suggestions for terms where the majority of that conversation is happening on Twitter.” And finally, once your search is complete, you have a new option to narrow it down: click on tweets from people you follow. This will appear next to the regular search filter options, “top” and “all.” In other words, if you want to forget the rest of Twitter exists outside your circle of follows, the company just made it a lot easier. Is smarter Twitter search working for you yet? Let us know in the comments.

Twitter Search Gets Smarter, Adds Autocomplete

How We Look at Online Ads

Advertisers, do you want your banner ads to be noticed? Then go above the fold, to the left — and include some pictures of faces. That’s the advice of a recent eye-tracking study of banner ads. Using a technology called Real CPM, EyeTrackShop aims to increase the efficacy of such display ads, which are known for abysmal click-through rates. “With Real CPM, agencies will finally have the opportunity to take all of the guesswork out of ad placements,” says EyeTrackShop CEO Mathias Plank. Real CPM provides you with data about where on a page your ads receive the most eyeballs. In general, banner ads receive the most, followed by left then right placements above the fold. The idea is to give you a sense of where consumers’ eyes go when they see your ad and then adjust variables like page placement, time of day, gender and media outlet focus for maximum benefit. Real CPM works by recruiting test subjects from websites and global online panels, whose gaze is tracked by their webcams. The product creates reports, showing the percent of people who see the ad, the average time spent looking at it and the amount of time it took to notice the ad. Your report will also show the number of people who remember the brand and the ad after leaving the page. Of course, there’s no guarantee that just because people are looking at your ads that they’re going to buy what you’re selling. There’s also a phenomenon known as “visual vampires,” an industry term for distracting visual elements that undermine the purpose of your ad. Nevertheless, eye-tracking can at least tell you if people are tuning out of your ads. Is this technology useful? Let us know your take in the comments.

Facebook's App Store Arrives in the UK

Facebook has begun rolling out its apps marketplace internationally, launching a version for UK users Friday morning. Facebook’s App Center (or Centre, in British spelling) launched in the U.S. early last month. It’s similar to Apple’s, Google’s and Amazon’s app stores, allowing users to browse apps by category, such as Games or Sports, and filter to show apps that are available via the web, mobile or both. Apps are recommended based on collective ratings, personal recommendations, what’s trending and popularity among your friends. The App Center isn’t exclusively made for Facebook’s apps: It also indexes apps available only on third-party sites, or through other mobile app stores. When users click to sign up for apps like Netflix and Hulu, for instance, they are sent to their respective websites; other times, they’re sent to Apple’s App Store or Google Play. In the somewhat rare instance where a paid app is sold directly through Facebook’s store, the company takes a 30% cut; it takes the same cut of purchases made within apps based on its platform. SEE ALSO: Facebook App Center: What Does It Actually Do? The Center can be accessed at facebook.com/appcenter, and through Facebook’s apps for iOS and Android devices. (Note: We have not been able to verify whether the App Center is yet available on Facebook mobile in the UK.) Conveniently, if users select an app while browsing in the App Center, they can opt to be reminded to install the app the next time they turn on one of their mobile devices.

Twitter to Announce a Big Search and Discovery Change Today

Popular social network Twitter will unveil significant changes to search and discovery as soon as today, according to a tweet by engineering manager Pankaj Gupta. “Search & discovery in @twitter set to change forever after tmrw,” Gupta wrote on Twitter on Thursday evening. “Team – congrats and enjoy the enormity of ur impact few understand today!” Search and discovery are incredibly important features for the network, and many times a search on Twitter is more valuable than a Google search because you can see real-time responses to things that are happening now. Discovery is important too, and with a well-implemented design, discovery can make you want to spend more time browsing a network. Gupta’s tweet suggests that the changes will take place either today or tomorrow, but we’d be more likely to bet on today because more people will be around to write about the changes. We’ve contacted Twitter for more information about the changes, and will update this post if the company gets back. Twitter bird photo: Beau Giles/Flickr Filed under: social

Apple Fixes Server Bug and Two Other Stories You Need to Know

Welcome to this morning’s edition of “First To Know,” a series in which we keep you in the know on what’s happening in the digital world. Today, we’re looking at three particularly interesting stories. Apple Fixes Server Bug Which Resulted in Corrupted Apps Apple has fixed the server issue which caused some iOS apps to crash immediately after launch, the company has announced. "We had a temporary issue that began yesterday with a server that generated DRM code for some apps being downloaded. The issue has been rectified and we don’t expect it to occur again,” Apple said in a statement to AllThingsD. Amazon Is Working on a Smartphone That Would Compete With iOS and… Continue reading... More About: apple, features, first to know series, mashable

Just How Interested Is the World in SEO? [INFOGRAPHIC]

How big is the SEO industry on the Internet? Really big, according to a new infographic by Spanish-based SEO service provider BlueCaribu. In fact, the infographic reveals that 3.5 people look up the term "SEO" on Google each second and 9.1 million web users are digging up information on the topic each month. People are getting their information about search engine optimization (SEO) from a variety of ways. There are 863 million websites worldwide that mention the term "SEO" and 164,000 YouTube videos are indexed with the topic. Google Shows Startups How to Master SEO in 10 Minutes [VIDEO] Los Angeles may be the number one city in the U.S. to search for SEO, but India is the top c… Continue reading... More About: Business, Google, google search, SEO

What If You Could Combine the iPhone and the Samsung Galaxy S III Into One?

Regardless of what your expectations of Apple's upcoming next-generation iPhone are, there's probably a feature or two you've seen on Android devices which you'd like to see on the iPhone as well. Some, like a memory card slot, have been desired by users for what seems like an eternity, but Apple wouldn't budge. However, one can always dream, and now that dream has been turned into a 3D rendering that looks quite desirable. The iSung Galaxy V, as the folks from Techradar have imagined it, is -- simply put -- the best of both worlds; an iPhone and the Galaxy S III melded into one device. It has features such as NFC, ultra-shutter, a memory card slot and iPhone's singular butto… Continue reading... More About: iphone, iSung, Samsung Galaxy S III