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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!"

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.

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.

This year in addition to influences from the movie industry's horror flicks, the financial decline in the US appears to be just as scary, if not more horrifying than "Paranormal Activity" and "Saw 2,3,4,5,etc." Let's take a look at how our current financial crisis might be affecting "All Hallows Eve" this year!

For those familiar with the TV Show "Survivor," one knows you have to "outwit, outplay and outlast." And while that same philosophy is sometimes jokingly applied to failing marriages, LousySpouse.com's slogan of "endure, survive and prevail" plays it a little closer to the vest. Yes, there is a social network for those in the thralls of divorce, whether it be pre-, post or during.

Ubiquitous Google is out there once again speeding past anything it finds in its way on what we use to call the Superhighway! This time its taken to the gadget world by transforming their Android phones into mobile GPS navigation systems - and its free!

You may have already packed up your pet's necessities for the possibility of an evacuation. But have you centralized all the information you will need if your pet gets lost or stolen? I can tell you from more than one experience, it's hard to think straight when your pet disappears. Here are two more resources I would add to your list now: Amber Pet Alert™ and Find Toto.

What is so hot about the Volvo's XC60 coupe? Described on their Web site as a cross-over "with a big attitude," one would expect a car of this type to be owned by soccer moms driving their kids to practice. With a couple of well-placed product placements in a hit teens' & 20-somethings' movie, that same car is going to be on a lot of Christmas wish-lists this holiday season.

The catch-phrase that transformed Las Vegas' failed attempt at becoming a 'family destination' back into its original 'Sin City' image is now taking another turn. "What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas," was not only a brilliant ad campaign slogan, it also became a pop culture mantra used every time someone wanted to alert someone else about keeping things on the DL.

Like Mahalo, ChaCha, Eurekster and a few other social search engines before them, adding humans to the search function seems to be having a resurgence in popularity. After all when Google jumps into the fray, people do stop and listen.

While the Fail Whale comes and goes. - sometimes its absence is missed as much as its presence. Ever wonder why the ubiquitous Fail Whale cannot disappear forever? Here's the rationale of some of the top thinkers on the subject.

You hear about jewellery stores lending out expensive designer necklaces, rings and broaches to celebrities for major events, but with their name and pocketbook on the line, this is an option that's available only to the rich and famous. Now, one jewellery company is offering the same luxury services to women on one of the most important days of their lives.

Odd that Foursquare, the Location-Based Social Network with it roots in Manhattan should strike its first transit deal with the Bay Area Rapid Transit in San Francisco versus the New York Subway system. Is the new location-based social network attracting a narrow demographic of West Coast clique-ish gamers?

When Bing filed for a trademark earlier this year, it appeared that 'local search' was in its cross-hairs. Now it has set it sights on 'real-time search' as well. And not to be outdone, the ubiquitous Google followed suit. Rocking real-time, baby is something both of these search engines needed to stay relevant in today's search engine arena.

Coca Cola will access the power of social media to create some international buzz for the brand around the globe commencing January 1, 2010 and lasting for a full year. As part of their "Open Happiness" campaign, the year-long quest to find out what makes people happy will go under the code name, "Expedition 206," and will take a team of Happiness Ambassadors from Aruba to Zimbabwe.

If impersonation is the sincerest form of flattery, parodies have to be its kissing cousin. When it comes to Mad Men, one of the most intelligent and entertaining dramas on the tube today, everyone seems to want a piece of Dan Draper and Peggy Olsen...and making fun of them is...well... the icing on the cake!

It's becoming more and more difficult for traditional gatekeepers like the government to control the flow of information to the people. In years past when the authorities issued a "gag order" against the media, they could easily enforce it. Not the case in today's social media world!

Holiday Shopping habits are going through a transition states OneUpWeb.com. The recession has changed consumer habits and according to their report on shopping trends, "social" search engines will be used more than traditional search for data regarding holiday purchases. And beyond Twitter Search, the social networking niche gaining the most traction in this area is social shopping network sites.

Can Twitter become a game-changer in Japan, where it just recently launched a new mobile platform? Or will cultural differences and native social networks like Mixi and Poupeegirl thwart its efforts?

On October 12th, with just a few hours of tweeting under the new Twilight Twitter account's belt, it had already tallied 22,000 followers. Three days later and as of the time of this posting, it has more than tripled its fan base to reach 78,000. Can it reach a million and will it shift the age demographic on Twitter? Take our POLLS and find out.