History

Social Media's Dark Side Casts Long Shadow Beyond Tucson Shopping Mall

Social Media's Dark Side Casts Long Shadows Beyond Tucson Shopping Mall

by Ron Callari

Much has been written in an attempt to make some sense out of the shootings involving U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson, Arizona and the subsequent deaths of her aid, a judge and four others. Suspected shooter Jared Lee Loughner's social media footprints are being examined for clues as to his motives. But perhaps we are following the wrong trail of evidence. Political extremists who are effective in radicalizing certain segments of society are also using social networks to rally support for their causes.

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Social Media Under The Gavel When WikiLeaks' Twitter DMs Were Demanded

Social Media Under The Gavel When WikiLeaks' Twitter DMs Are Demanded

by Ron Callari

Once again the popular microblogging site of Twitter is caught at the vortex of a political maelstrom where human rights are at issue. Differing from the Iranian election protests of 2009, this time the U.S. is appearing to be the heavy-handed oppressor. On December 14, the government's Department of Justice issued a court order to Twitter to the attention of its "Trust & Safety" department.

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Social Media IPOs: Facebook Not To Steal LinkedIn's Thunder?

by Ron Callari

With Facebook's valuation scaling to $50 billion and Goldman Sachs anteing up $450 million for a private IPO with the social network, things are heating up as social media start testing the "Wall Street" waters. Book runners with the financial heft of Morgan Stanley, Bank of America and JP Morgan are rumored to be squiring LinkedIn in an attempt to beat Facebook to the public offering punch.

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'Social Media First' When Facebook Goes Live With Congressional Changing Of The Guard

by Ron Callari

Incoming House Speaker John Boehner wants his swearing in to catch Facebook fever. Not content to be picked up by just the traditional mediums of TV and radio, Boehner wants to earn some techie cred by being the first Speaker of the House to go "live" on the popular social media Web site covering his first day's floor proceedings and his initial speech as Speaker.

Social Media Traffic Shows StumbleUpon With Early 2011 Lead Over Facebook?

Social Media Traffic Shows StummbleUpon Taking Early 2011 Lead Over Facebook?

by Ron Callari

With Goldman Sachs obtaining a $450 million 'Private IPO' from Facebook this week, could things getting any rosier for the world's largest social network? But it seems that not even an award-winning movie, a graphic novel and Time's 'Person of the Year' can buy everything. Statistics are indicating that discovery engine StumbleUpon appears to be whooping FB's behind in generating more US social media traffic between December and January.

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Archeology Find Indicates Original Cretans May Have Been Shipped In

by Doug Bonderud

In an “old gadget” find of the day, US and Greek archeologists have found evidence that humanity may have been tooling around the ocean earlier than imagined.

Skype To Join China's Internet Graveyard Of Facebook, Flickr, YouTube & Google?

by Ron Callari

The Great Firewall of China is alive and well as companies like Google have been forced to relocate its operations to Hong Kong, and movers and shakers like Mark Zuckerberg while allowed to tour the country - is saddled with his social network being sequestered in "404 Not Found Territory" on China's Internet. But what about Skype - the Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) provider? Surely, China's Big Brother doesn't want to censor phone calls, as well?

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China To Green Western Deserts With Seawater

by China.new

A radical water-moving project seeks to green the sandy expanses of Western China using seawater piped in from the Bohai Sea, more than 2,200 kilometers (1,360 miles) to the east.

2010's Disruptive Technologies At Odds: Ipad vs WikiLeaks

by Ron Callari

The game-changing technology of the iPad and WikiLeaks fast became part of the world zeitgeist this year. Under normal circumstances disruptive technology is a stand-alone innovation setting a new path for technology that went before. If iPad disrupted the laptop and eReader industries, and WikiLeaks was a political game-changer in the world of journalism - how did they cross paths to motivate one to reject the other?

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Google Digests Travel Software To Fatten Its Travel Search Portal

by Ron Callari

Back in April, I speculated that Google would acquire ITA Software, the meta-search technology that drives online travel agents (OTAs) in addition to Bing Travel, and could throw a monkey-wrench into how online search would function going forward. In my post, titled, "Google & ITA Software Could Be Game Changers for OTAs. . ." I noted industry sources that predicted the buying price could go as high as US $1 billion.

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Social Media's Person Of The Year Networks In '404 Not Found' Territory

by Ron Callari

Chinese netizens poke fun at the spectacle of Mark Zuckerberg being greeted in a country that bans his Web site. The government's welcoming banner auspiciously reads: Warm welcome to China - the founder of the website '404 Not found.' For a man lauded recently by Time Magazine and whose life is portrayed in an award-winning movie, what motivated the CEO of Facebook to visit the land of the dragon?

It's Been Leaked Social Media Acronyms Are Being Re-Defined

by Ron Callari

Our world was full of acronyms even before social media came onto the scene. In business, someone could be SOL because he was in deep water with his boss. Or a member of the military might be AWOL for taking too much time off for R&R and didn't CYA. But today, acronyms of all sorts have popped into our lexicon as the result of smartphones and Twitter - where it became even more important to find quicker ways to communicate with a limited number of characters for a tweet or text message.

The First Ever 'Royal Engagement' Coin! But Who Is That Couple?

by Toby

The Royal Mint has revealed its new limited-edition £5 coin with the supposed likeness of Prince William and his bride-to-be, Kate Middleton. You can pay from £10 ($16.30) for a cupro-nickel coin up to and between £1,550 ($2480) for the solid gold coin. Will future value of these coins be affected by the likeness of the images to the Prince and his betrothed?

Social Media Search Targets Quality Followers Similar To Quality Links

by Ron Callari

"Garbage in, Garbage Out" is an old saw used in the last century that implied inputting faulty data would only produce a output of flawed results. Google countered this paradigm in the early days when developing one its signals for its search algorithm - namely link building - and those that chose to game the system by amassing large number of links to achieve higher search rankings.

A Social Media Retelling Of The First Christmas

by Ron Callari

What if Mary and Joseph gave birth to their baby Jesus in the Digital Age? How would they have used the social media tools available to a world where one out of every 13 people have a Facebook account, and one tweet or YouTube video can catch the attention of thousands or millions if it goes viral. The Portuguese digital marketing company, Excentric not only explores that possibility but has produced a video titled, "The Digital Story of the Nativity" to explain to the world how they see that story playing out in the year 2010.

MTV Music Meter Tracks Social Media To Return To Roots

by Ron Callari

Who ever remembers the launch of MTV in the early 80s may wax nostalgic in learning that the network is returning to its roots. The slogan "I want my MTV" accompanied the latest Michael Jackson and Madonna music videos and certainly aided in the meteoric rise of these artists. This week with the release of the MTV Music Meter and its interface with social media, the parent company Viacom will showcase up-and-coming artists and bands that are most buzzed about on social networks.

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Social Media Hackers, Heroes Or Villains?

Social Media Hackers, Heroes or Villans?

by Ron Callari

Anyone who has seen the movie, The Social Network is familiar with how in the early years, Mark Zuckerberg pitted young students against each other in a heated competition as to who could "code" the fastest. The most savvy cognoscenti won a chance to join Facebook's start-up team back in 2004. On a recent installment of 60 Minutes, Lesley Stahl noted that "Hacker" posters papered the walls of FB's HDQ. Which begs the question - what determines whether hackers are heroes or villains?

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iPad Graphic Novels Feature Buddha & Social Media

iPad Graphic Novels Feature Deepak Chopra, Buddha & Social Media For Holiday Shoppers

by Ron Callari

Graphic novels on iPads make for great gifts as they are the perfect format for reading a genre presented in illustrative color. Kindles which continue to be one of the most popular eBook Readers fall short for graphic novel fans by only offering black and white text. This holiday season, two exciting iPad books hit digital shelves and can be purchased for as low as $4.99 a download.

Social Media Twins Seek Greater Fortunes From Facebook Coffers Graphically

by Ron Callari

The Ivy League twins who accused Mark Zuckerberg of stealing the idea for Facebook at Harvard back in 2004 have reengaged their legal battle with him on the heels of an award-winning movie, an unauthorized biopic and a graphic novel that have brought greater focus to a social network that has already attracted a half billion-plus followers.

Ten 2011 Wall Calendars To Count You Into The Next Decade

by Toby

Some of us are very sentimental about our wall calendars and end up keeping them for years. Perhaps that's why we spend a bit of time searching for a special one that "clicks." Whether you are buying a calendar for yourself or someone else (hint: great Christmas gift), I've hand-picked 10 that express the various ways some may like to start the next decade.