"Mr Murdoch,Tear Down This Wall" Infers Biz Stone

Ron Callari — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:57:47 -0800

President Reagan's "tear down this wall" address may well have been the 'Great Communicators's' most remembered words. Perhaps not as historic, but noteworthy nonetheless was a BBC interview with Biz Stone this past week where he criticized news mogul Rupert Murdoch similarly for lacking foresight in today's Web 2.0 business climate.

Top Ten Must-Have Toys For Christmas!

Ron Callari — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 04:49:23 -0800

From Cabbage Patch Dolls to Tickle-Me Elmos, each holiday season introduces us to a series of new innovative toys for children of all ages. And this year is no different. From mind-powered games to adopting a Pet Lawyers, there's a lot of creative toys and gadgetry flying off the online and offline shelves. But with the clock slowly ticking away, some of the items on this TOP TEN list are quickly dwindling in inventory. If you must have them, you best act fast!

Social Media Putting The "Black" Back In Black Friday?

Ron Callari — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 10:29:09 -0800

Black Friday is the term used to mark the start of the traditional Christmas shopping season in which retailers transition from being in the red (posting losses) to black (turning profits). The difference this year might get an extra boost as merchandise in stores online and off utilize social networks, Web sites and mobile applications. Will having access to the new social media tools available be enough to turn that red ink black? Check out ten enterprises that are banking on it!

Sarah Palin Trades In Twitter Tweets For Facebook Powder!

Ron Callari — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 04:51:14 -0800

How can anyone forget the now infamous 'lipstick on a pig' reference during the last political campaign and the hockey Mom from the Tundra that turned "going rogue" into a mantra. Well now that same lady is using the "powder" of social media to sell books and position herself for a run at the highest post in the land.

Top Ten Holiday Stores For Social Media Gifts

Ron Callari — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:29:37 -0800

Gifting your favorite social networking netizen this year doesn't have to cost you an arm and a leg. A lot of entrepreneurial and social networking online store sites are selling some very unique social media-oriented gifts this holiday season. And with just a few mouse clicks, you can purchase that special gift that demonstrates just how social you are.

Kindle vs Nook & Sony e-Reader For The Holidays!

Ron Callari — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 05:48:57 -0800

Sony, in its latest attempt to compete head-on with Amazon's Kindle's and Barnes & Noble's Nook success is attempting to open a storefront online of its own. Despite its previous failure at a similar venture back in 2005, is Sony ready for a comeback?And if not, does Amazon's Kindle or Barnes & Noble's Nook win in this year's Holiday Sweepstakes?

SnazL & Flip.to, Social Media Tools For Sharing Content

Ron Callari — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:45:32 -0800

SnazL and Flip.to are two of the first open source tools to bridge the gap between content and community. By allowing users to create and share their videos, photos and content from one central location, the user become the center of his or her own sphere of influence cross social media platforms.

First Exclusive Green Marketplace For Hotels Launches

Ron Callari — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:45:24 -0800

On November 9, EcoGreenHotel announced the official launch of it’s new online store, EcoGreenHotelStore.com. It's virtually a green marketplace for hotels and a one-stop marketplace of over 1000 products and services for the green hospitality industry. As more and more hotels become green-certified and more guests request "green" accommodations, the EcoGreenHotel Store is satisfying the needs of both the hotelier and the traveler.

Top Ten Best Visualization Tools for Social Media, Blogosphere, Internet & News

Ron Callari — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 09:16:41 -0800

Art, maps,imagery and graphs add context and a visual component to numbers, locations, and information. With as much influx of data we contend with on a daily basis, visualization tools allows our brains to take a rest while perceiving content in a different light. In essence, visualization allows us to stop and smell the pixels, in spite of the fact we might learn a few things along the way.

"Pirate" Murdoch Claims Search Engines Arrrhhh Stealing His Material

Ron Callari — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 14:18:57 -0800

What do you get when you cross legacy newspapers with an arch conservative right-wing publisher? Rupert Murdoch, that's who! In a new twist as how to not play nice with Google and the other top search engines, Murdoch's controversial approach might either become a new business model for other newspapers to emulate, or a crash and burn scenario that sees the rise and fall of his own Phoenix!

Flip.to, Social Media Tool Creates Evangelists, Buzz & Sales

Ron Callari — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 08:35:46 -0700

To promote a brand in today's Web 2.0 milieu, one no longer needs the excessive advertising and promotional budgets that have been previously required in the past. In today's business climate, its important to select social media tools that are cost-efficient, create evangelists,generate a viral buzz and produce sales. With the recent launch and beta test of Flip.to, brands and social media specialists now have access to a tool that can accomplish all those goals.

SNL & Social Media Christen Largest Cruise Ship In The World

Ron Callari — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 08:21:39 -0800

Cruise Ships are not usually the butt of a joke, or comedy-rich fodder for comedians. However, in the case of the largest cruise ship in the world, Seth Meyers has set his lampooning sites on Royal Caribbean's "Oasis of the Seas." Celebrating its global stage 'coming-out' party, Royal Caribbean knows they've made it when SNL takes their cruise ship out for a spin and the social media airwaves hype their maiden voyage.

Falcon's Faux-Flight Of Fancy, the Reality Show?

Ron Callari — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 12:02:34 -0700

It started with a helium aircraft hovering over Fort Collins, Colorado and the belief that a 6-year-old boy climbed in and floated away Thursday, October 15, forcing officials to come up with a rescue plan to save him. Update at 3:35 p.m. ET:The balloon slowly spun to a crash-landing, surrounded by rescuers. Mystery widens, no one was inside balloon? It was at this time we learned that the father was a stormchaser, thus the balloon, and the family was involved in ABC's "Wife Swap," thus the reason for part of the craziness that unfolded. But the story didn't end there. The rest is only something that could make up a real-time Reality Show! Was it Truth or Hot Air? Or Balloonacy?

One Is The Loneliest Number, Unless You Attend Sex Ed Classes in Spain!

Ron Callari — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:31:19 -0800

You've got to "hand it to" the Spaniards. Differing markedly from our puritanical society, they're taking a very touchy subject matter and handing it off to their students...literally! While some feel that pleasuring one's self should be taught behind closed doors or picked up in the streets, the country's Extremadura region has chosen to address it front and center in their classrooms.

"Geotagged Tweets" Coming To A City Near You!

Ron Callari — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:39:34 -0800

Since the "location-based social network" train has left the station, Twitter has not only jumped on board, it appears to be the locomotive engineer. And now with 3rd party apps purchasing tickets on the "Twitter Local Express" the microblogging network is expanding its coordinates to offer up the longitude and latitude of all your tweets.

Cyberchondria & The Art Of Googling Oneself Silly!

Ron Callari — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:43:01 -0800

An actual research study titled "Cyberchondria: Studies of the Escalation of Medical Concerns in Web Search" was recently conducted by Microsoft researchers Ryen W. White and Eric Horvitz to analyze how the Web enables those obsessed in researching illnesses. A survey of 515 Microsoft employees determined that Internet surfing regarding health issues is on the rise. Inquiring minds want to know what's ailing them and why they are obsessed with tracking down health symptoms online from the common cold to cancer.

Retweeting In The Wild - Project Retweet Launches

Ron Callari — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:08:42 -0800

November 5: Twitter rolls out Project Retweet to a limited audience. According to their recent blog post, the Twitter echelon wants to see how it will "work in the wild," before offering it up to the Twitterverse.

LinkedIn & Twitter - Like Peanut Butter & Chocolate!

Ron Callari — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:44:57 -0800

In the days of yore (3 years ago), when social networks were first making their mark on the digital landscape, there was a divide between those networks you chose for business and those selected for fun. Today, those worlds collide, as LinkedIn and Twitter formally get "linked" to each other. And the combination is sweeter than PB&J.

Ten Social Media Methods To Fight Hurricane Season

Ron Callari — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 09:13:07 -0700

Katrina's devastation of New Orleans was BSM (before social media). It's hard to think that we lived during a period of time without social networking, but only 4 years ago Facebook was barely one year old, and Twitter was yet to be inked out on a restaurant napkin.

NC-17 Rating For Xbox 360 Users Restricts Tweets

Ron Callari — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:49:58 -0800

Not only are teenagers 17 and younger allowed to watch certain movies, Xbox 360 just banished them from accessing social networks. Strange that the teen demographic that is the target market for Xbox systems are restricted from from the Xbox Live's new integration of Facebook, Twitter and Last.fm. And with Christmas right around the corner!

Junaio Adds 3D & AR To Location-Based Social Network

Ron Callari — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 17:29:21 -0800

When Rod Serling first uttered, "there is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity...this is the dimension of imagination," he might have been giving us a prescient glimpse into the future of Junaio.

The Droid "Cash For Clunkers" Deal For iPhones

Ron Callari — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 07:05:14 -0800

With the heightened buying frenzy surrounding the launch of Google's new smartphone, the Droid, it was no surprise that someone would piggyback off of the hype! While Google conducts its first-time TV advertising, Flipswap, a trade-in service aggressively jumped into the foray with a unique offer to swap cash for your old 'clunky' iPhones. ( Where was the Administration on this one?)

"Social Awareness" To Replace Social Networking

Ron Callari — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:12:38 -0800

The Internet of Things is fast approaching and with it comes Web 3.0, where "social awareness" will replace "social networking." Soon tweets and status updates will become fully automated and generated by the world around us versus us ever having to touch a keyboard again.

ScamVille? A New Online Game? Who's Up For The Challenge?

Ron Callari — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:08:50 -0800

Michael Arrington from Techcrunch wrote a very insightful article titled "Scamville: The Social Gaming Ecosystem of Hell," exposing Zynga and its scam-laden lead gen-type offers devised for their ever-popular Facebook games of Farmville and Mafia Wars. I challenge one of the more ethical game developers to actually use Arrington's expose to develop the real thing - an actual Facebook game called "ScamVille!"

Is Leapfish, Search's Missing Link?

Ron Callari — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:23:04 -0800

Many have tried, but it's been over a decade and none have succeeded in out-Googlin' Google. Yet here we go again, with yet another search engine entering stage right trying to capture our "attention-deficit" attention. Repackaging online search as something new infers the Web has evolved. And while real-time and social search have certainly changed the alchemy of search, what does Leapfish know that has eluded Google et al?

How "Mickey Mouse" Is Re-Branding?

Ron Callari — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:03:26 -0800

While branding oneself takes time and effort to spin out a new product, re-branding can take several washes to redefine that same brand. Take for example the work United Airlines had to accomplish after breaking someone's guitar. Let alone the number of Twitter apologies issued forth by Chris Brown and Kanye West. But when others do it in reverse and run their good-guy image through a darkside wash cycle, the task might be a little easier. Such is the case with the re-engineering of one Mickey Mouse.

"Party Of No" Amplify Their Message With New Social Media Tool

Ron Callari — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:01:06 -0800

The health care reform debate this current legislative season has been more about who could shout the loudest versus who really had something to say. Earning their label as the "Party of No" the GOP's push back on health care has been perceived as protest-for-protest sake.

Fictionaut Utilizes Social Media For New Self-Publishing Platform

Ron Callari — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:22:52 -0800

For wordsmiths the world over, a rejection notice is the common denominator shared by the entire literary community whether you are the next Hemingway or a weekend poet. However unwelcoming, those "we regret to inform you" letters have become a right of passage for writers. On the flip side, all an author really wants to see is his or her words in print. To that end Fictionaut, an online social network for fiction writers addresses that need.

Even The Taliban Are Social Networking

Ron Callari — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:31:40 -0800

Did the "voice of jihad" just get a little louder? Afghan tribalism has origins that date back 1400 years to the early Muslim and Islamic civilizations. With a lifestyle based on jihad and an economy that thrives on opium trade, who would have thought that these warring factions in Afghanistan and Pakistan would ever embrace social media as a means to communicate.

Twitter Lists Inspired By Tweetdeck, Google Wave & Enterprise Microblogs

Ron Callari — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 09:38:38 -0700

With the Holiday Season fast approaching, you might want to consider "making your list and checking it twice."Lists are the new order of business in Twitterville. Some say it will take the place of "Follow Fridays." Others think its jumping on the the Google Wave and Enterprise Microblogs' bandwagon.