The Corporate Social Strategist

As we develop our own social media discipline, we have given a lot of thought to roles and responsibilities, and where the sweet spot lies in the social media landscape for our organization. There are a lot of variables and moving parts, not to mention the constantly evolving technology landscape that drives social media evolution. As we look at roles, the postion of social strategist or community manager has intrigued us. Historically (as in the past 3 years or so) a cottage industry has arisen around businesses that can manage a brand's social presence. While this is all fine and good, it is certainly not an endpoint. What we are seeing now is a trend towards community management and brand voice in the social space moving to the client side of things, for a laundry list of reasons. Along with this the client side role of social strategy is being more clearly defined, albeit with a very concrete set of challenges. This report by a group of folks at Altimeter interviews over 140 social strategists to get their take on this ever-changing landscape. Check it out!

Share

Aloha, Silverlight!

I had read some speculation about Silverlight's demise a few months back, but now it is seeming more concrete. According to Bob Muglia at Microsoft, "[Microsoft's] strategy has shifted" citing that "HTML is the only true cross platform solution for everything." While Microsoft does plan to continue to develop the Silverlight platform, it's focus as a priority is slowing. While I'm not crazy about Flash, I do like it. I'm also eager to see how HTML5 manifests in the marketplace, especially as there is broader adoption by both developers and browsers. I'm really glad Silverlight is not another burgeoning platform. Read more!

Share

Long Live the Mobile Web App!

Ever since Apple opened the App Store through iTunes, the web app became yesterday's news. Palm's failed execution with The Pre only reinforced that perception. Personally, I'm still a fan of mobile web apps. The App Store is cool and all, and native apps have their benefits, but there is still a thriving and evolving library of cross platform web apps. One of my personal favorites is the Facebook Touch App. But wait there's more! Don't believe me? Stop on over to the Apple Web Apps Page and see for yourself. Long live the mobile web app!

Share

Microsoft Gets into the Cloud; Meet Office 365

Microsoft is finally dipping into the cloud after Google took the world by storm. Soon ready with a tasty treat called Office 365, Microsoft is hoping to revolutionize the way people work.

Office 365 is an online Office/email/file sharing/collaboration/project management service that aims to compete with Google, but geared specifically for businesses. PowerPoint, Excel, Word? Online and available anywhere! Multiple people can open the same document at the same time and edit, etc. Full, robust e-mail with 25GB of space? Online and available anywhere, on any device even (full Mac, iPhone, Android, PC, Windows Phone, and Blackberry support, mmm no more Mac/PC weirdness), built in chat system, scheduling, feeds, social networking, and the list goes on...

Check out their site to learn more:
http://office365.microsoft.com/en-US/online-services.aspx

I wasn't sure Microsoft would be able to pull it off, but after watching the videos and reading up on it, I am really interested in trying it out. We have been looking at possibly switching to Google Apps, but it looks like we may have a serious alternative that is going to make our decision even harder. I am looking forward to hopefully being able to test it out in the beta... fingers crossed. Come on MS let me try it out! *wink wink*

Of course the downside to the cloud (with Google, MS, or any company really) is that if the internet goes down or you can't get to an internet connection, well... looks like you get some time off until things are back up and running, ha. I am not certain that Office 365 has an "offline" version or mode included, but I will be keeping a close eye on this one.

Share

Facebook Keeps Your Deleted Photos Accessible for Years

Remember that picture you thought would be hilarious, so you uploaded it to Facebook, then later realized how incredibly embarrassing it was so you removed it? Well, it's still accessible if someone copied the URL of the photo, even if it was deleted years ago.

Ars Technica recently posted an article about how bad Facebook is about actually removing photos that have been deleted from their servers. Their example was a photo posted 16 months ago and was still accessible by the address of the photo. Of course once they pointed this out Facebook quickly deleted it. One user commented about a photo of his child that was posted 2.5 years ago that he deleted and it is still accessible. Deleted 2.5 years ago and it's still accessible? Wow... it's hard to say how long the photos will stay on their servers!

Always be careful what you post online. I believe it was the CEO from Google that said once you upload something to the internet, its forever.

Share

Verizon's 4G Service Detailed, Unlimited Data Becoming a Thing of the Past

Verizon has just detailed their 4G service that will give speeds of 5-12Mbps download and 2-5 Mbps upload - that is roughly the speed of most of your Comcast connections at home! They expect to have 38 cities wired up by the end of this year.

While they say they won't be changing their data plans yet, they will be down the road. One of those changes will most likely be the end of unlimited data (though their current unlimited data is 5GB I believe).

If you have a cheap "unlimited" data plan with Verizon, hold on to it with your dear life :) That thing could get valuable!

Read the full article, here.

Share

Our Latest Launch - Waterpik Sinus Health - Sinusense

A few months back we launched a microsite to build awareness for Waterpik's new line of sinus health products, also known as Sinusense. Since then we have rolled the contents of the microsite into a more content rich format that now lives at http://www.waterpik.com/sinus-health/. Check it out!

Share

iPhone Enterprise Dev Program Gets a Little Looser

Recently Apple was in the news (amongst a million other reasons) for loosening restrictions on iPhone developers. It mostly focused on allowing developers to use third party tools to compile code prior to building the application. This had been the case originally, then Apple stated that you could only use the iPhone SDK (software development kit), then recently retracted that.
A while back we had applied to join the iPhone Enterprise Developer Program. We wanted to be able to develop apps that we could distribute internally without having to go through the App Store. We were rejected because one of the criteria was company size. You needed to have 500 employees to be eligible, and we are a few years (at least) away from that. Today I got a call from Apple letting me know that the restriction based on number of employees has been lifted. Enterprise Developer Program, here we come!

Share

Context Aware Computing

Forget about location aware platforms, the next generation of big brother like tech is almost upon us. In the video above, Justin Rattner, CTO at Intel, demonstrates Intel's latest take on context aware computing. Take all of the data that you've fed into, and will feed into, various social media platforms, mix it all up and shape into a real-time recommendation engine, and you have context aware computing. Go beyond simply suggesting restaurants nearby to understanding what kind of food you like, or moreover what kind of food you are in the mood for at that very moment, and you begin understand the power of the platform..

Share

What's New With Twitter?

Today Twitter announced a slew of advancements to their incredibly popular microblogging service. At the core they are bringing many of features found in 3rd parts apps like Seesmic and Tweetdeck into their default web interface at twitter.com. This is especially interesting in light of Wired Magazine's pronouncement that the web was dead. What they were really saying, with some degree of accuracy (sort of), is that the web BROWSER is dead. Citing a migration of functionality from the web browser to dedicated standalone apps, whether they be on the desktop, tablet, or mobile device. I'm still a big fan of browser based apps, and I'm not sure they are going away any time soon. Either way read more about the new twitter.com features in this Mashable article.

Share

Sony PlayStation has it's 15th Birthday

It's hard to believe the PlayStation name has been around for 15 years! I can remember when I got the first PlayStation (heck I remember playing the Nintendo when I was two!). PlayStation has brought us some amazing games over the years, many of which got their start on the original PS. One of my favorite games of all time was Twisted Metal (which is in development for PS3, woot!), and the Resident Evil series.

Joystiq has a nice image of PlayStation through the years, check it out and their article here.

Here is to 15 more years of gaming! :) With Microsoft and Nintendo and now Apple and Android in the ranks (R.I.P. SEGA, but at least you still make games), it's a great day to be a gamer.

Share

iOS 4.1 Highlights - Expected Imminently

I came across this highlight reel from last week's Apple Keynote. I've been very frustrated with my iPhone 4, but I've been frustrated in the early stages of each iPhone release. They always fix the problems. . . eventually. Here's to hoping!

Share

Consumers Are Confused About Energy Efficiency

Ars technia just did an article about energy efficiency that shows consumers are still very confused about saving energy (and money). Here is an example that they mention:

• Researchers found that 55 percent of the participants thought the most energy could be saved by trying to curtail the amount of energy they used—turning off lights, adjusting the thermostat, and so on. But this answer, for the most part, is incorrect. Much more energy can be saved by pursuing efficiency and installing energy-sipping appliances, since there's only so much we can or are willing to shut off.
• The gap between curtailing inefficient appliances and using efficient ones can be large, so it shocked the researchers how many people underestimated it. An example: a 100-watt bulb that is on for six hours uses 600 watt-hours. By leaving it on for one hour less, you save 100 watt-hours. On the other hand, a 15-watt fluorescent bulb could be left on for all six hours and only use 90 watt-hours, saving 510 watt-hours over the incandescent bulb.

Just think how much energy you could save if you replaced all your lights in your house/apartment with fluorescent bulbs! The article is pertty interesting and I defniitely recommend reading the full article, here.

Share

Our Latest Launch - Waterpik.com

Here is our latest work for Waterpik in Fort Collins, CO. The waterpik.com home page is a rich experience that was executed via flash and makes efficient use of some pretty incredible video footage. Check it out!

Share

Android Activating 200k Devices a Day

Going along with the post earlier this week; Q3 is on track to be an even better quarter for Google's Android OS. As of August, 200k Android devices are being activated per day! Wowzers... with the impending release of Samsung's Epic for Sprint and the new Droid 2 for Verizon, those numbers are likly to shoot up even more. It appears that everyone and their Grandma is thinking Android.

In May of this year, Google was proud to announce 100k units activated each day and just a few months later they have doubled that.

A few of you have asked why it's selling so well compared to the iPhone. The main reason is that only Apple makes the iPhone and it's only on AT&T. Apple will most likely never allow other companies to manufacture devices with their OS, as they hate anyone touching their stuff (see Hackintosh lawsuit as an example). With Apple being the only manufacturer and the iPhone currently only available for AT&T customers, many don't even have the option of getting the iPhone. There are something like 7-8 Android manufacturers and it's available on all major carriers, so you have a lot of choices. I won't say whether the iPhone is better than an Android powered phone or vice versa as that is just personal preference.

Both types of phones work great on our network though :)

Source

Share

Android Now the Largest Smartphone Platform in US

Q2 sales reports have come out and Android has offically become the largest smartphone platform in the US. Worldwide, Android saw an almost 900% increase in units shipped. Congrats to Google and manufactures like HTC, Motorola, and Samsung being a part of this feat.

At SRG many folks have been getting Android devices, so I will be making an e-mail list to help send alerts to Android users if need be, as well as helpful Apps, etc. like we have for iPhone users.

Source

Share

Google Distributes More Twice the Malware of Bing, Yahoo! and Twitter Combined

The most popular platforms are always targeted for malware and viruses. Google, as you all know, is the most popular search engine on the planet. Malicious links and software are often designed to come up most often in Google searches as well as in sponsored links. Barracuda Labs did a study on malware and viruses distribtuted through search engines and found Google's distrubutes more than two times the amount of malware than Bing, Yahoo! and Twitter--combined!

The report and Downloadsquad point out that only 2% of the malware is 0-day, meaning malware that came out/was released to the public domain that day and that 98% of the malware is older-known malware. Downloadsquad also brings up an interesting question- why doesn't Google do more to block known malware?

Hopefully stories like this one will motivate Google to help combat malware and viruses.

Source

Share

Verizon Moving to Tiered Data Plans

Engadget reports that Verizon will soon be moving to tiered data plans in the next month, much like AT&T has done. The reason they are doing this is because of a data usage boom in smartphones. The other day I saw an article that said Droid users utilize an average of five times more data than other smartphone users.

T-Mobile is keeping to their "unlimited" to 5GB soft limit and 10GB hard limit (they publish a 5GB limit for their unlimited plan, but supposedly you can hit 10GB until you have your data speeds limited. Sprint has similar limits for their 3G phones, while their new 4G phones will be allowed to legitimately use unlimited data (although you pay a $10 a month premium for it currently).

Share

Turn Your Handwriting into a Font

The folks over at Pilot have created an innovative new tool for converting your own handwriting into a font. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words so I'll shut up now and let the video do the talking.

Share

Our Latest Launch - SayNoToString.com

This week we launched another in a series of campaigns for Waterpik up in Fort Collins. SayNoToString.com is aimed at promoting the benefits of using a Waterpik Water Flosser instead of painful, messy, and annoying dental floss. On the site there are a series of videos which correspond with banners ads that are driving visitors to the site. If you are looking for an alternative to the bloody gums caused by using string floss, you should check it out.

Share

New Samsung Android Phone Available Soon on All Carriers

Samsung is releasing their Galaxy S phone in the US soon on all major carriers. This will be one of the first Android phones available on all carriers, even international carriers. There are many things that make this phone the "next big thing" spec-wise, but this article is about it's insane battery life.

A Geek Blog got their hands on the GSM version of the Galaxy S and ran some battery tests. Here are their results:

Here is what we did with it over the 84 hours from its full charge to its battery going flat.

• 90 minutes video playback
• 2 hours music playback
• 40 minutes voice calls
• 30 minutes navigation
• 30 minutes general usage
• 10 minutes browsing
• 10 minutes shooting photo and video

I challenge you to test your phone with the above tasks and see how many days it lasts! ;) An incredible feat for the worlds most powerful smartphone... best of all? This sweet thing is going to be available on all major carriers - AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, and T-Mobile. The Sprint version will be the only one with a full hardware keyboard that slides out. No word yet on whether they will be getting a non-hardware keyboard version yet.

Because of the popularity of the phone, it will also have a giant modding community following it. Mmmhmm. Hitting some carriers as early as mid July, keep an eye out!

Image from Engadget.

Share

Switched Asks - What is Android?

I blame the Droid. Naming one of the first Android phones to come out Droid really has caused a lot of confusion over what Android really is. Since Google licenses their OS, the potential for confusion is much greater.

Switched asked folks on the street what they thought Android was:

Link to video - embedding breaks the video, doh!

So what is Android? What is the difference between Droid and Android?

-Android is Google's cell phone Operating System (OS), much like Windows is Microsoft's OS, or Snow Leopard is Apple's OS. It is the backbone of a device that all apps, etc. run on top of.

-Driod is a cell phone made by Motorola that is powered by the Android OS. There are many different phones powered by Android, but only one Droid phone (well, actually there are two as the new model just came out).

Now go forth and share your knowledge of Android!

Share

Non-Competes & Social Media

In a first-of-it's kind lawsuit, a tech recruiter was sued by her former employer for violating her non-compete clause after connecting with former clients on LinkedIn. This case is especially interesting to me because I know two colleagues who have left recruiting firms to start their own and have become embroiled in legal action for doing so. What this really comes down to is did the recruiter reach out the the recruits or vice-versa. You be the judge.

Share

Gmail Attachment Tips

One of the endless things I love about Google software are the regular updates that happen without reinstalling, patching, or otherwise modifying of anything. It's the beauty of SaaS. On the flip side of that I have had things break after Google updates a product. Most notably I had several filters in Google Analytics stop working without notice. But I digress. . .over the past year Google has had some nifty feature updates for email attachments in their gmail product. My favorites are drag and drop attachments (in a browser!), and the forgotten attachment reminder (we've all done it.). Check it out.

Share

Gatorade's Social Media Command Center

Mashable, my favorite Social Media blog did a fascinating write-up on Gatorade's Social Media Command Center. As SRG considers their own form of innovation lab and command center, it's great to see what other teams are doing in a similar vein. Generally speaking I'm not a fan of technology for technology's sake, but I think this forces an organization's finger onto the social pulse of their brand, and if nothing else, looks pretty darn cool. Check it out.

Share

Greatest or Worst Idea Ever? Nicolas Cage Netflix Queue

People are either going to think this is the greatest idea ever, or the worst. I may get made fun of for posting this, but I have no shame in admitting that I really like Nicolas Cage movies. No, please! Stop laughing at me! Oh what the heck, keep laughing at me...

Some freaks (or freakishly awesome people, you decide!) have created "add all Nicolas Cage movies to your Netflix queue." I don't have Netflix at the moment, but I am darn tempted to get it, just to try this out!

Are you a Nic Cage fan? Do you hate Nic Cage and want to watch his movies while making fun of them ala MST3K style? Come on, you have to fit in one of those categories!

If you do, you just may want to add every movie he has been in to your Netflix queue...

http://wonder-tonic.com/cageflix/

Share

Location Aware Social Platforms - A Quick Primer

Here are a few reference points on Foursquare, the leading location aware social platform. There is tremendous momentum around this type of social platform. The links below will help you get familiar with what it's all about:

Foursquare explained in 118 seconds: http://srg.io/b8Cio8

Foursquare testing 'Add to Foursquare' buttons: http://srg.io/9sYkeV

Check-in to virtual locations (like Amazon.com): http://srg.io/ceYiZW

Foursquare banned in China: http://srg.io/b5h29a

Share

Digital Rites of Passage

When I first moved to CO I did some freelance tech consulting in the local music scene. A rite of passage for a lot of the up and coming bands was having their tickets scalped. While this is ultimately a bad thing, it's also a clear indicator of the popularity of the band. 12 years later I'm still working in tech and I've identified a new rite of passage for tech companies. . .getting blocked in China. Again, not really a good thing, but a clear indication of the popularity of your web site, service, or platform. This week Foursquare joined the ranks of Facebook and Google and is now also blocked in China. Read more.

Share

Google Switches from Microsoft OS

Google has begun moving people off Windows and on to Macs and Linux based machines. Any new employee is given the option of having a Mac or Linux powered machine. Only special users are allowed to use Windows and that must be with CIO approval.

Google blames Microsoft for their company being hacked in China and this is the step they are taking to ensure it doesnt happen again. Rumor has it, that Google eventually wants to move toward a GoogleOS system.

Microsoft is not too pleased by Google's outspoken remarks and backs up their OS saying Microsoft Windows is technically more secure than Linux or Mac and say third parties agree as well that Microsoft is doing more than any other company to secure their OS. There are many more attacks on Windows since something like 95% of the world is on it and they definitely have to do more to stay on top of it.

In most cases, informed users is the best way to prevent viruses!


Source

Share

Sarcasm Algorithm

A major development in the machine interpretation of human language is happening. Up until now sarcasm has been the bugaboo of search engines, social monitoring tools, and any other tool that analyzes UGC (user generated content). "Devised by computer scientists at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the algorithm has been programmed to recognize sarcasm in lengthy texts by analyzing patterns of phrases and punctuation often used to indicate irony." Read more.

Share

Google Phone Adds WhisperAd Service

Google as announced a new ad service called WhisperAd that willl whisper ads into your hear on your Google Phone, cutting the price of your cell to almost free! The Onion News Network has the hilarious report below:


Ahh, nothing like a good laugh first thing in the morning.

Share

Sprint EVO Coming June 4; First 4G Phone

Sprint is releasing one of the first "superphones" June 4th: The Sprint EVO. What makes this phone so super? To start, it has a 4.3" touchscreen. Mmmm, nice and big. It has two cameras built-in, one front-facing camera for video chat (which can be done over Qik, Skype, etc.), and an 8 MP camera on the back with flash. The 8 MP camera is able to record video in high-def (720p), and even sports HDMI-out for playing your videos on an HDTV or computer. Besides those lovely features, it will be running on Sprint's existing 3G network and their new 4G network, which is still being rolled out across the country. 4G is capable of speeds up to 10Mbps, wooo! That is faster than most of your home internet connections! Denver is on schedule to get 4G later this year.

So, the phone has some nice features, but there is more... Sprint will be charging $10 extra a month for those that get this phone... grrr, but wait! The $10 a month will allow you to have unlimited data- literally. Not the "unlimited data, to 5GB" all carriers have now (anyone else notice 5GB as a limit? Yeah, that's funny...) Sprint will allow you to use all the bandwidth your heart desires. The EVO also comes equipped with free software to turn your phone into a 4G wifi hotspot, allowing up to 8 computers/phones to tether, right out of the box. Hopefully Sprint can force other carriers to offer similar deals.

I figured someday I would go Android... that time may be coming sooner than I expected.

Check out all the details on the Sprint EVO, here.

Full specs for the nerds:
-First Android phone with Sprint 4G WiMax / 3G EV-DO Rev. A
-4.3-inch WVGA diaplsy 800×554
-1GHz processor Snapdragon QSD8650
-1 GB flash ROM, 512 MB RAM
-8 megapixel camera with 720p video capture
-1.3 megapixel front facing camera
-Output pictures, slides and videos in HD quality (720p) via HDMI cable (sold separately)
802.11b/g WiFi
-1500 mAh battery
-8 GB microSD included
-Android 2.1 with Sense UI
-Mobile hotspot connectivity, supports up to 8 devices
-Built-in kickstand for hands-free viewing
-Media player with 3.5mm stereo headset jack
-FM radio and Amazon MP3 store
-Dimensions: 4.8″ x 2.6″ x .5″, Weight: 6 ounces

Share

Our Latest Launch - Waterpik Consumer Oral Health

Today we launched the second in a series of website redesigns for Waterpik. The first was the dental professional site that launched in early March. We launched the consumer oral health site today that continues to breathe new life into the Waterpik online brand experience. More to come, but in the mean time, check it out.

Share

Nifty Amazon Price Tracker

I am all about getting the best prices. Online, it's incredibly easy to get sweet deals that you just can't get in stores. One of the best sites out there is, as you probably guessed, Amazon. Amazon can have some crazy deals and has probably the largest selection of goodies for your hard-earned cash, but how do you know when to drop the cash (more like plastic in this case)?

Camelcamelcamel is a nifty Amazon price tracking website. You can paste in any product URL, or search with keywords and it will give you it's price over the years for Amazon and any 3rd party retailer through Amazon (new and used). Believe it or not, Prices actually fluctuate on Amazon a lot, so a tool like this can help you swoop in and purchase products that are about to bottom-out price-wise. The site will also give you product rating info if it's available. The best part is, you get a nice little graph based of a timeline and price.

If nothing else, it's fun to look at stuff you bought in the past and cry about it :)

Try it out:

http://camelcamelcamel.com/

Share

Google Reader - Play

I was tinkering with Google Reader Play this morning. It's a visually oriented feed reader that streams random popular feed items through a clean appealing visual interface. Flipping through funny photos and random stuff from across the internet, I came across this:

Share

Google Apps to Integrate Google Services

It's no secret - I follow the evolution of Google's products and services very closely. One of the things I'd like to see happen is the integration of Google Apps (email, contacts, calendar, chat, security) with Google Services (Analytics, AdWords, YouTube, Blogger, Picasa). As has always been the case, Google listens closely to their users, and integration of common Google Services into the Apps Suite is in their near term roadmap, for release over the next several months. Over the past year Google has really reached a critical mass in terms of their services and capabilities that it is becoming more and more of a no-brainer for Sterling-Rice Group. Read more!

Share

Are Facebook Pages the New Microsite?

Are microsites dead? With the proliferation of Facebook pages and the extension of Facebook to the public internet via the Open Graph API one would think so. I went to see the premier of Iron Man 2 the other night. Every single summer blockbuster that appeared in the previews had it's own Facebook page. Just a few years ago every movie promo had it's own microsite. Even Apple is getting in on the action.

Share

McDonald's Goes Local - on Facebook

As Facebook gets into the location awareness game along with Foursquare and Gowalla, McDonald's is the first in line to test the new feature. You will soon be able to skip the other location aware apps and check-in to your favorite McDonald's right through Facebook. Trying out the 'Local' tab on McDonald's Facebook page, you'll see that the functionality has not been rolled out yet, but they are actively promoting it's arrival. Read more in AdAge.

Share

IE Loses Market Share - All Other Browers Gain Share

It's a great day for browsers. IE continues it's downward trend, Chrome experiences a 10% growth, and Firefox increases speed and popularity. Check it out.

Share

Our Latest Launch - Giveyourword.org

This week we launched our latest site for The Children's Hospital of Denver. Giveyourword.org encourages every one to take a personal stand against Shaken Baby Syndrome. Check it out.

Share

May the Fourth Be With You

If anyone didn't know, May 4th is Star Wars day... May the Fourth be with you all! Haha

Source

Share

Windows 7 Sells 100 Million; Fastest Selling MS OS

Microsoft has officially announced that Windows 7 has sold 100 million copies in just 6 months, making it the fastest selling MS operating system. As Engadget points out, that means Windows 7 is already installed on one out of every ten computers in the world! That is only counting legitimate sales and not pirated copies, so it's more than likely to be a higher number. Wrap your head around that!

Along those lines, SRG will be embracing the new Windows 7 with our 20 new laptops coming in soon. Four of us have been testing it out and we think everyone will really enjoy what it has to offer.

Soon... ;)

Source

Share

Outlook Sucks

As the guy who is tasked with making sure all of our digital work looks good across a variety of platforms whether it be email, web browsers, or mobile, I have my share of gripes with a many cross-platform incompatibilities. As the old saying goes misery loves company, and I'm not alone in my frustration. Of particular concern is Microsoft Outlook 2007. For whatever reason, Microsoft decided to use Word to render HTML in Outlook 2007 rather than the ubiquitous Internet Explorer. There is a good reason we don't use Work to browse the web. It makes HTML look like crap and does not support current web design standard. The good new is the people are speaking, and Microsoft knows about it. Check out http://fixoutlook.org/

Share

Kiss Those Floppy Disks Goodbye

"Whats a floppy disk?" *begins to tear up* "Son, a long time ago we didn't have things like USB Flash drives or... the internet. We stored data on things called floppy disks." "I don't like your story dad, I am going to go watch a 3D Blu-Ray." Ugg, kids these days!!

Let us all lower our heads and give a moment of silence for the 3.5" floppy disk. RIP friend. I never told you this, but I erased your original AOL/Random other junk files/etc by putting a piece of tape over your little square hole. I am so sorry!

Finally the day has come that the 3.5" floppy disk has been marked as dead. Sony has announced that as of 2011, they will no longer be producing floppy disks.

Back in the day it was incredibly easy to copy floppy disks, so the anti-piracy association made this little educational flick; one of the first anti-piracy shorts: Don't Copy That Floppy!

Share

What in the World

The What in the World contest returns this week! The first person to post in the comments what the attached picture is of will win a Belkin Retractable Travel Mouse. Good luck!

Share

Facebook Open Graph API

As you may know, Facebook announced yesterday some key advancements around their Open Graph API. Essentially these are new features that extend more FB functions outside the FB walled garden. For example, this will allow developers to add the 'like' function to a site and that is automatically fed back into the user's FB stream. I encourage you to read about these new capabilities and consider ways they can benefit our clients. Check it out!

Share

Adobe Stops All Flash & Air Dev for iPhone OS

Recently, Apple changed their policy for Apps to only be written in certain code. This was to supposedly boost the quality of Apps available, but one downfall of this is that Adobe's Flash and Air dev department has had to stop supporting iPhone App development, which also means iPad development (since it runs on a similar OS to the iPhone & iTouch).

Mike Chambers of Adobe is losing trust in Apple and says that Adobe can no longer promote the closed system that Apple is trying to create. The future is open platform development and Apple is instead trying to close off their system. Creating a closed system hurts not only developers, but the consumers as well.

What happens next? Adobe will be beefing up it's Android support, which is quickly becoming the future's "superphone." -- I am still not too sure about that, but it's on the right track and is getting help without really asking for any.

To me, it seems pretty obvious that Apple wants to boost the rep of their apps. They want to get rid of the shovel-ware Apps on their network that are equally rampant on the Nintendo Wii. Honestly though, more than anything, I just like seeing these two big companies throw punches at each other. Haha.

Source

Share

McAfee Anti-Virus Company Goes to Court

My oh my, how times have changed. When I was a wee bit younger, I remember McAfee being one of the best Anti-Virus programs around! It didn't take up too much of your computer's resources, always protected well, and was a pretty much nag-free piece of software.

Jump ahead to 2010 and McAfee is going to court because of misleading pop-up advertisements and unwanted purchases. It's sad to see a company that was once so high, crumble to the ground. Companies get desperate and really just dig themselves in deeper.

I had the pleasure of fixing a computer a few weeks back that was "infected by viruses." To my surprise, one of the most annoying viruses on the machine was actually McAfee AV, which was spamming the user with messages about viruses and needing to purchase McAfee to resolve them. It was spamming so much the computer was pretty much unusable - no joke!

Not only was it a pain in the rear to close the constant pop-ing up windows, but they made uninstalling the software a real treat too. The attack required me to use all sorts of ninja skills that I've acquired over the years, some I didn't even realize I had. In the end, I defeated the beast that is McAfee AV.

What should you use instead? I highly recommend Microsoft Security Essentials, which is completely free. http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/

Source

Share

iPad Printing is Possible Right Now!

The geniuses over at Theformgroup have found a way to print from your iPad. No need to buy any $10-$15 app for this baby*!

It's beautiful! Haha ;)

Apple - 0

Consumers - +1

*I have no idea if this would damage your iPad in any way, so I would not recommend doing this.

Source

Share

Twitter 101 For Businesses

I'm in the process of setting up several Twitter accounts for various tasks and projects. Visiting twitter.com today I noticed a dedicated section they have created specifically for businesses, including the ubiquitous Twitter 101 training. I've seen many flavors of this over the past few years, but most are not specific to businesses, and none came straight from Twitter. Check it out!

Share

Boxing Goes Social - And Gets Personal

Earlier this week Russian boxer Wladimir Klitschko challenged David Haye, Britain's World Boxing Association Heavyweight Champion, to a throwdown - on Facebook. His pointed an personal challenge to Haye is not the first of it's kind, and probably not the first via Social Media either, but I'm fascinated by the way Social Media has permeated all aspects of our culture, even professional boxing. The notion of a professional boxer creating the video, then posting it to Facebook is somewhat amusing, but that's what publicists are for. I plan to throw down my next digital gauntlet via the SRG InfoTech Blog, which will of course be published via Facebook and Twitter. Let the social smack talk begin!

Share

The Original Spammers

I came across this wired article this morning about the first email spammers. Apparently the the first UCE (unsolicited commercial email) was sent on April 12, 1994. I'm very proud to say that I had an email address through the University of Florida about 2 years prior to that. My use of email pre-dates the existence of SPAM. If that's not an impressive pickup line, I don't know what is! Read more.

Share

FCC's Broadband Plan Posted

Our nation is going to get a whole lot faster this year. The FCC's national broadband plan has been posted and shows a lot of nice little goodies. This broadband plan will promote jobs and boost our countries tech standards.

Check out the posted plan over at Arstechnica to see what's in store for this year, here.

Share

iPhone OS 4.0 - Coming to an iPhone Near You

The next big news from Apple today was regarding the upcoming release of iPhone OS 4.0. Run multiple applications simultaneously. Organize your apps in folders. Keep your corporate data more secure. The most important new feature for Sterling-Rice Group has to be iAd. From apple.com "iAd is a breakthrough mobile advertising platform from Apple. With it, apps can feature rich media ads that combine the emotion of TV with the interactivity of the web. For developers, it means a new, easy-to-implement source of revenue. For advertisers, it creates a new media outlet that offers consumers highly targeted information." Bring it!

Share