Gadgets and gizmos are top of mind when people start talking about technology. It’s in the phones that we carry. It’s at our desks in our offices and at home. Technology is becoming a part of everything. Starting tomorrow in Las Vegas, new technologies will be highlighted at the NADA conference where members of the automotive industry converge once a year to see the latest and the greatest.

This year’s event is a little different than it has been in the past. The industry has always been somewhat isolated from the rest of the technological world in a way similar to pharmaceuticals and space exploration. All three share a separate focus in their own technologies that isn’t easily translated into other industries the way computers, entertainment, and other verticals are able to do.

As was shown at this year’s CES conference, automotive is merging more closely with other technologies and both learning as well as teaching other industries about integration.

“NADA in the past has been about getting the best lifts for the shop or putting out better signage for sales,” said Gilbert Holmes of Chevrolet Humble Texas. “This year it’s completely different. Half of the vendors are talking about social media and smartphones.”

The rapid evolution of internet marketing is fueling the shift in attention. It’s not longer possible for dealers to rely on television and newspaper advertisements to bring in customers. They have to look online because it’s where the consumers are going.

“We’re planning on going all-in this year with the internet,” said Chuck Capps at Seattle Nissan. “Traditional advertising just isn’t bringing in the bang for the buck.”

President George W. Bush will be the closing keynote this year. Two years ago, his father was the closing keynote along with President Bill Clinton.

Quadrotor technology developed at the General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception (GRASP) lab at the University of Pennsylvania is able to fly with better accuracy than anything we’ve seen to date. Their ability to run complicated formations is both beautiful and terrifying.

The beauty is obvious. They may sound like bugs and look exceptionally creepy as they do flips and run tight formations (the figure-8 is amazing), but they are “geek beautiful” in ways that few robotic devices have achieved. They are terrifying because the possibilities are endless. When possibilities are endless, it’s the military that often makes them “useful.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

It’s clear that online payments are the future. Many pay for nearly everything online, but there are still security and convenience concerns that keep some skeptical. Billion of dollars will be spent online this year, but there are things to consider before putting one’s credit card online.

This graphic by our friends at ZoneAlarm breaks down some of these concerns that face the online payment industry. Will they be fixed this year? Will more concerns arise?

To get an iPhone that works in China, one must subscribe to China Unicom, the 2nd-largest carrier in the largest country in the world. That may not be enough to quench their thirst if recent statements by investment bank Morgan Stanley is to be believed.

Late Sunday, Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty informed investors that the untapped market in China for the iPhone may be a target the company will pursue “over the next year.” Their sites are set on the largest and 3rd-largest carriers, China Mobile and China Telecom. The move could mean as many as 40 million units sold in 2013.

Read more about it on AppleInsider.

In a great economy, it’s hard to start a retail company and get attention in industries where the major players have already hit the field. Things are rebounding around the country to some extent but it’s definitely not what most would consider to be “great.” That isn’t stopping one Southern California shoe company from making a splash by using the most important ally for growing businesses: social media.

There are many huge companies in the women’s footwear industry that make it challenging for new companies to break through. A decade ago, success stories in this industry were few and far between. Today, a success story is building for Not Rated Shoes thanks to innovative marketing and a willingness to take chances, particularly with their online presence.

Take a look at their Facebook page. A cursory glance shows that they’re much more like Zappos in their posting-style than competitors like JimmyChoo or Prada. On one hand, you have the big brands that women already know and love. These brands can post whatever they want and get nice exposure through social media. For a small company, it has to be more personal in the beginning as they grow. They have to engage with their users to build up momentum.

That doesn’t mean that they can’t post about shoes or use leggy models to expose their brand. The fearless style that their shoes portray (disclosure: I just bought some!) puts them in the same league as their bigger competitors when it comes to fashion sense. Now, they only need exposure.

From a grassroots marketing perspective, they are hitting social media hard through Twitter,  Tumblr, and Pinterest. The strategy on these networks is also sound – strong visuals, attractive models, and users interacting.

The internet is both a promised land and a quagmire for emerging retail businesses. Social media in particular is the most challenging to conquer as most make the mistake of using it as a broadcasting tool rather than an area for engagement. This is one company that is building up the right way.

As much as it deserves a tirade about professional recruiting, brand positioning, and using human relations as a public relations tool, the video that Twitter released recently as a recruitment tool will do one thing very well.

It will work.

Forget the fact that it was intentionally, professionally done unprofessionally. Forget the cheesy attempts at satirical humor that may or may not elicit a chuckle depending on the disposition of the viewer. Forget the clear buy-in by CEO Dick Costolo. Instead, let’s consider that it will be the second most-watched video Twitter has put out in nearly a year and will accomplish what it’s meant to do: get top talent around the world to consider working for them.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The war for talent in Silicon Valley is fought daily. Outrageous perks and aggressive headhunting highlight the growing need for geeks. Twitter’s attempt to reach them may be unorthodox, but it exudes the right messages. Fun. Non-corporate. Willing to take chances. Intellectual (in a quirky way).

It’s everything many talented geeks look for in a job. There are many things that go into recruiting. Silicon Valley is the rare exception where the standard suit-and-tie, wine-and-dine approach is ineffective. The top talent in Silicon Valley wants engagement, excitement, and ingenuity. They want to work for companies that are stable but willing to take risks. This sort of video will only work in one arena.

Thankfully for Twitter, they’re smack dab in the middle of that arena.

Over the past few decades starting with the computer revolution and continuing through the digital age, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has been a leader in cutting edge (and often bleeding edge) styles of educating the brightest minds around the world. It’s no wonder that in an atmosphere where free is not always free and content is being safeguarded for the sake of political aspirations and monetary gains, MIT is blazing the trail for an open form of communication through OpenCourseWare.

The infographic below breaks down how OCW has changed education, which programs are currently experimenting with the emerging trend, and what the future holds. Click to enlarge.

 
Via: Online College Courses Blog

The internet is rife with theft. People take content and concepts from others on a regular basis and pawn it off as their own. It’s so common that many websites (including this one) have given up on fighting content-scrapers, spammers, and intellectual property thieves altogether. If you can get by without being too-badly hurt by them, it often isn’t worth the fight.

Sometimes, however, it is so blatant that it cannot be ignored. Such is the case with Y Combinator startup Curebit who took design ideas and code directly from 37signals.

The startup just received $1.2 million in funding from Dave McClure’s 500 Startups fund and abruptly copied a good chunk of “inspiration” from 37signals’ product Highrise. 37signals was founded by Ruby on Rails creator David Heinemeier Hansson and Jason Fried who are well-respected within the startup world.

Jolie O’Dell from VentureBeat describes the productivity company as, “not the most low-profile place from which to nab a little ‘inspiration.’”

The fallout is already starting and there is a battle brewing between the companies. The response from DHH was harsh and it seems to be only the beginning.

Curebit co-founder Allan Grant took to Hacker News, a Reddit-style news aggregator and discussion board run by Y Combinator, to try to clear things up. The comments indicate that things are far from getting cleared up and that 37signals might not be the only victim of theft for the sake of “A/B Testing” by Curebit.

Launching a startup is hard. It takes investments of time, money, energy, passion, brainpower, faith, and luck to make it work in an ultra-competitive environment during a down economy in an election year. The odds are stacked against everyone getting started, but there are those who have made it with less than a recent 7-digit investment to help it along.

Curebit and others who are willing to, for whatever reason or validation they feel is appropriate, steal directly from others without offering the slightest attribution are taking a risk of tanking before they get started. Invoking such phrases as “ghetto testing” or “shoestringing” will not change the fact that if you get caught, you’re going to lose more than you gained.

Don’t be lazy. Don’t be stupid. Be original. Not everyone can take a concept from someone else and turn it into a multi-billion dollar corporation poised to launch an IPO shortly.

LinkedIn and Facebook may have the market cornered for building relationships between business professionals, many startups are starting to pop up that take it to the next level. One such startup is Favo.rs.

I was first turnedonto Favo’rs a couple of months ago from an article on Wired. A “good ol’ boy” network, as they describe it, Favo.rs allows users to connect with other professionals just as LinkedIn and Facebook. The difference is in the accountability aspect; with Favors, users get to keep track of what they do for others and what others are doing for them.

The interface is solid, keeping a timeline of those who are needing favors within ones network. This is where it gets important. It is through the accountability and desire to grow a network that Favors separates itself. Making connections is often the key to business social networks and receiving introductions is an important component of a network’s success.

We will watch more closely, but for now, we’re simply going to give it a shot.

Today is a different world when it comes to political campaigns. A decade or two ago given the same candidates of today with the same scenarios but a less-prevalent internet, Ron Paul would be in single-digits in the early primaries and Rick Perry (and possibly Herman Cain) would still be alive and well. Mitt Romney would have a commanding lead and Santorum would have placed 3rd or 4th in Iowa instead of winning it.

The internet has completely changed the way that candidates get their message out. It has completely changed the virility of news and opinions. It has completely changed the impact of the campaign dollar.

Ron Paul is still a contender because he has masterfully played the internet like a 35-year-old tech geek instead of a 76-year-old politician. If any of the 6 other candidates that were in the race a month ago had the same skills, the race would be nothing like it is today after Gingrich’s win in South Carolina.

Social media and politics

There is little doubt that political social media is a driving force in amplifying messages positive and negative surrounding the candidates. Herman Cain is the only victim of this year’s presidential race who could not have changed his fate by using social media. All of the others who have dropped out would have had a chance of making a stronger impact if they had been working social media for the past year the way that Ron Paul and his supporters have done for a long time.

Social media is two-fold. It is obviously a place where people go to express their own opinions and hear the opinions of others, but it’s also a barometer that mainstream media uses to gauge sentiment. After every debate so far, there has been a mention of Twitter and Facebook.

After the Fox News South Carolina debate earlier this week, Twitter was a focal point. Ron Paul was the only candidate who showed positive sentiment across the board. Mitt Romney, who went into the debate with a commanding lead, failed on Twitter in every subject.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Is this reality, or is it “Ron Paul Bots”? It’s likely a mixture of both, particularly in this case where the question being asked on the topics was about whether or not the candidate dodged the question or answered it. Agree or disagree with Ron Paul’s policies, nobody doubts that he says what he means and means what he says.

Some will say that his lack of a victory means his social media tactics aren’t working. On the contrary, I would contend that it’s because of his social media mastery that he’s still in the conversation at all.

SOPA opposition

There were only two people running for President who voiced opposition to SOPA and PIPA before the South Carolina CNN debate Thursday: Ron Paul and Barack Obama. Paul was also the only GOP candidate who participated in the SOPA Blackout. Had any of the other candidates sent out a simple Tweet in opposition on Wednesday, they would have received free publicity and air time on television. Instead, they were silent and the opportunity passed.

Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum had a “wait and see” approach to SOPA. Once they saw that the protest was approved by most Americans, they echoed the public’s view during the debate the following day. Mitt Romney gave luke-warm opposition and used gentle language so as not to risk any campaign dollars that might head his way (despite most dollars in Hollywood being slated for Obama). Ron Paul has been opposing PIPA and SOPA from the beginning.

Just as movies are made outside of Hollywood and cars are built outside of Detroit, entrepreneurs, startups, and venture capitalists are present in places other than Silicon Valley. Worldwide, there are business-friendly environments that are conducive to expansion of technological advancements.

This graphic by Gist examines these various “Entrepreneur Meccas” where talent and dollars collide to bring advancements to the world. Click to enlarge.

(Via: Gist. H/T: Cleveland VW.)

The “Startup Sea” is broad and loaded with life. There are those who are considered predators, which means someone has to be the prey. It’s a self-sustaining culture as long as there’s enough people (and dollars) looking for “the next big thing” coming into our lives. That part, at least, seems to be consistent.

Everyone from angel investors to tech bloggers play a role. It can be an ugly process to create something wonderful.

This graphic by our friends at Udemy examines this ecosystem and makes the distinct roles come to life. Click to enlarge.

Today is SOPA Blackout Day to oppose the bills currently being proposed in Congress, Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect-IP Act (PIPA). You may have noticed that there are several major websites that are down today, including Wikipedia, Reddit, and Mozilla. You may have noticed that you Google has a message on their homepage encouraging people to contact Congress.

What exactly is SOPA and PIPA?

In essence, these are attempts by the US government being fueled by the entertainment industry to fight online piracy. They are being positioned and publicized as anti-piracy acts by government entities that do not understand the consequences of what they are proposing. Hollywood donates large sums of money to politicians and that money is being threatened, in theory, by increases in online piracy. Thus, these bills were born.

First, let’s take a quick look at a video on SOPA Blackout that explains in layman’s terms what this is all about:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Now, let’s take a look at some of the perspectives on the internet right now that tell the story of the SOPA/PIPA opposition. If you’re thinking that this seems to be a one-sided piece, it is. There is only a sliver of gray area here. These bills offer an overwhelmingly obvious glimpse of censorship that takes us down a path which can only lead to one thing: a closed internet.

First and foremost, here’s an open letter to Washington signed by many founders of major tech companies:

An Open Letter to Washington

We’ve all had the good fortune to found Internet companies and nonprofits in a regulatory climate that promotes entrepreneurship, innovation, the creation of content and free expression online.

However we’re worried that the PROTECT IP Act and the Stop Online Piracy Act — which started out as well-meaning efforts to control piracy online — will undermine that framework.

These two pieces of legislation threaten to:

• Require web services, like the ones we helped found, to monitor what users link to, or upload. This would have a chilling effect on innovation;
• Deny website owners the right to due process of law;
• Give the U.S. Government the power to censor the web using techniques similar to those used by China, Malaysia and Iran; and
• Undermine security online by changing the basic structure of the Internet.

We urge Congress to think hard before changing the regulation that underpins the Internet. Let’s not deny the next generation of entrepreneurs and founders the same opportunities that we all had.

Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Netscape and Andreessen Horowitz
Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google
Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter and Square
Caterina Fake, co-founder of Flickr and Hunch
David Filo, co-founder of Yahoo!
Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn
Arianna Huffington, co-founder of The Huffington Post
Chad Hurley, co-founder of YouTube
Brewster Kahle, founder of the Internet Archive and co-founder of Alexa Internet
Elon Musk, co-founder of PayPal
Craig Newmark, founder of craigslist
Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay
Biz Stone, co-founder of Obvious and Twitter
Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation
Evan Williams, co-founder of Blogger and Twitter
Jerry Yang, co-founder of Yahoo!

Now, let’s hear from Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia, as he discusses SOPA on CNN:

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you think that it’s just the internet elite trying to protect their meal ticket, think again. Here’s a great video depicting what SOPA and PIPA means to someone who doesn’t make millions of dollars of the internet:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Additional resources and articles:

• Learn if your congressperson is involved
• A technical examination of SOPA and Protect-IP
• PublicKnowledge.org chimes in
• SOPA Facts
• More SOPA/PIPA Facts
• Mashable thinks SOPA is “dangerous”
• Interview: Sen. Ron Wyden’s fight to stop SOPA and save the Internet
• A list of those who are going dark

So, who all is involved? Several major websites and a ton of smaller sites are expressing themselves:

Google is involved

They aren’t participating in the blackout directly (and rightfully so, as people who do go to sites that tell them for the first time about SOPA or PIPA will go to Google to find out what it’s all about), but they blacked out their famous logo and linked from their homepage to a message about the bills. The also made a nice little infographic, but unfortunately (at the time of this writing) the link doesn’t work.

BoingBoing is involved

Minecraft is involved

Vanilla Forums is involved

WordPress is involved

The CTD is involved

Wikipedia is involved

MichaelMoore is involved

The ECA is involved

Cryptocat is involved

Errata Security is involved

Syracuse University is involved

Digibase is involved

941 Media Project is involved

Occupy Birmingham is involved

The Pirate Party is involved

The Day the LOLcats Died

Last but not least, let’s watch this video that would be funny if it wasn’t so close to the truth.

Click here to view the embedded video.

SOPA and PIPA must be stopped. Do your part. Stay informed. Spread the word.

The Tea Party movement was intended for Americans to harken to the revolutions of the past when tyranny and taxation reigned over the colonies. The #OccupyWallStreet movement drew awareness to the tremendous gaps between the “haves” and the “have nots” with a call for a more sensible distribution of wealth. Both have supporters and detractors of equal passions. Neither was as purely American as what the SOPA/PIPA/OPEN blackouts planned for tomorrow represent.

There is distinct gray surrounding the Tea Party and #OWS. Both galvanized parts of the population but the political questions being asked by both sides weren’t as clear cut as tomorrow’s protests. With the Tea Party, there are as many people (if not more) who believe that the act of lowering taxes for the sake of freedom was a dangerous proposition in a world where the government can barely keep things together with the money they have coming in. With #OWS, there were as many people (if not more) who believed that the rallying calls were more about socialism than fairness.

With StopSOPA, the voices of those “in the know” are unified. Now, it’s a matter of getting the world out to those who do not know what’s at stake.

It’s for this reason that Wednesday’s protests are the most American thing that his been done in a long time by a large group of people.

It is coming to light that many of those in Congress who are supporting the bill have a complete lack of understanding of how the internet works and the consequences of censoring it in the way they propose. The financial donations from Hollywood, Nashville, and New York City are high and the lobbying efforts are strong. There are few who are willing to donate time or money to an opposition that will be labeled as “pro-piracy” which is why the general population on the internet is the only defense against the tyranny of idiocy that faces the country today.

Social news site Reddit has propelled itself to the front lines as the leader in the most important protest in recent history. Not since the Vietnam war has so much been at stake where the unified people have the potential to defeat an oppressive government. With Wikipedia, Cheezburger, Imgur, and other powerful websites on board, this will certainly help the cause and send a clear message to Washington that these pieces of legislation are asinine and not supported by their constituents.

In general, the average American has no idea what SOPA is and what’s at stake. They read the reports from mainstream media that this is an anti-piracy bill protecting the rights of content owners. They hear that those of us who oppose it simply want to be able to download free movies from foreign sites. This is not the case.

I am not a pirate. I haven’t downloaded anything illegally since the Napster days and I do not support piracy. I also do not believe in amputating an arm because there’s a wart on somebody’s hand. The statement isn’t meant to downplay the problems that piracy poses to the entertainment industry. It’s simply to illustrate that destroying the freedoms we have today for the sake of a powerful and wealthy lobby is insane and completely un-American.

SOPA is against the ropes and PIPA isn’t far behind, but Americans must remember two things: politicians are slippery and there’s a lot of money at stake. There can be zero doubt left on the table after tomorrow. There can be zero doubt left on the table next week, next month, next year, or whenever the next time this type of legislation is brought to the table.

If they are defeated, they will return. Of that, there is no doubt.

It’s not enough to post comments in support. Congress must be called. They must be faxed. They must have letters (yes, the ones with pen and paper) sent to them. Emails won’t work. The time spent and messages sent must be tangible.

People must be informed. The protests are going to bring it to light for many Americans but it can’t stop there. Tell your friends. Talk to people at work. Educate your family. Get the outrage built and the keep the protest sustained. Wednesday does not mark the end of SOPA, PIPA, or OPEN. It marks the beginning of the ongoing defense of our internet liberties.

It’s the American thing to do.

There are several questions that programmers must answer when deciding on their language of choice. Depending on who you ask, the passions towards one language or another can spark debates, even “nerd fights” as can be found in some videos (we won’t like them here but you can find them on YouTube).

The three generally-recognized “modern languages” combine many aspects from past languages and attempt to solve the problems that they had. There is no clear winner, as certain needs can be more easily filled with different languages. PHP holds Wikipedia and Facebook in their camp. Python was the language of choice for Twitter and Hulu. Ruby powers YouTube and Google.

What are you building? That’s the real question.

This infographic by Udemy should come in handy for those considering learning a language or those who already know one or more and are deciding on which is best for their current projects. Click to enlarge.

(Via: Udemy. H/T: Florence Alabama Used Cars)