Delay Line Memory: How Computers Remembered Before RAM [Memoryforvever]
Gizmodo 21 Mar 2010, 3:15 am CET
Made.com Secures $3.75m To Assault Designer Furniture Industry
TechCrunch 21 Mar 2010, 2:41 am CET
Made.com, a web-based furniture company, has raised £2.5million from investors to launch its service which connects buyers directly with manufacturers thus cutting out middle men.
The backing comes from Lastminute.com cofounder Brent Hoberman now of mydeco.com, PROfounders Capital (whose investors include Michael Birch ex of Bebo), investor John Hunt and Marc Simoncini through his investment vehicle, Jaïna Capital.
Made.com was created by 28 year-old serial entrepreneur Ning Li, who was a cofounder of Paris based MyFab.com which has proved the feasibility of connecting furniture buyers with makers.
Week in review: Web pioneer bashes Apple, SXSW attendees slam Twitter keynote
VentureBeat 21 Mar 2010, 2:22 am CET
Here’s our summary of the week’s business and tech news. First, the most popular stories we published in the last seven days:
Google pays web pioneer to bash Apple — Tim Bray isn’t as well-known as Sir Tim Berners-Lee, but the guy has had a leading role in defining the Internet. When he announced this week that he’s joining Google as an evangelist for the Android platform, he published a blog post that was pretty critical of competitor Apple, and which VentureBeat’s Paul Boutin found “off-putting.”
Fastest site on the web: The IRS? — Performance monitoring service Gomez has released its annual list of major websites with the best overall responsiveness as measured by Gomez over the entire year 2009. Surprise winner: IRS.gov, a site that uses images sparingly and pushes off large documents to PDF format for downloading, rather than trying to serve them as Web pages.
Facebook ousts Google as most popular U.S. site — Facebook is now the most popular site in the U.S., according to analytics firm Hitwise. In the week ending March 13, 2010, Facebook surpassed the previous most popular site, Google, in terms of overall traffic for the week.
Google admits Buzz mistakes, tries again at SXSW — A product manager from Google told attendees at the South by Southwest Interactive conference in Austin, Texas that Google had misstepped by launching its social network, Google Buzz, too broadly and too promiscuously. In the future, said Google’s Todd Jackson, the company will pre-test new features rather than roll them out to all customers at once.
Twitter launches “At Anywhere” platform, integrates tweets, profiles across the web — Twitter CEO Ev Williams demonstrated a new platform this week that will spread the microblogging network’s profiles, tweets, and possibly advertising across the web.
And here are five more stories we think are important, thought-provoking, or fun:
Evan Williams tries to do-over SXSW interview via Twitter — Although Twitter co-founder and and chief executive Evan Williams made a couple of interesting points during his keynote interview (and announced the ‘At Anywhere’ platform mentioned above), the consensus was that it did not go well. Following the tradition of journalist Sarah Lacy’s similarly-criticized interview with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg at SXSW in 2008, where Zuckerberg staged a second interview where he engaged more directly with the audience, Williams offered to answer more questions over Twitter.
Sony shows what an epic game really is with God of War III — Sony’s role in video games seems to be to remind us every now and then what an epic game is all about. It did so again with the launch of God of War III for the PlayStation 3.
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek vague on US launch, company has 320,000 paid subscribers — European music streaming service Spotify now has 320,000 paid subscribers, said chief executive Daniel Ek, speaking at the South by Southwest Interactive conference in Austin. But he couldn’t give a firm date on when the service would come to the United States.
FCC announces National Broadband Plan — The FCC finally unveiled the National Broadband Plan following months of speculation. The plan — for how to extend internet access to all American citizens — marks the first time that broadband access, and internet access in general, have been given considerable government attention in America.
EPA, Energy Dept. sharpen Energy Star’s teeth — The Energy Star program has successfully broken into the mainstream consciousness. But before last year, it seems like the label didn’t mean much. Now government agencies are making good on their promise to be tougher about who gets certified and who doesn’t, and they’re kicking the effort up another notch.
Tags: Energy Star, FCC, God of War III, Google Buzz, National Broadband Plan
Companies: Facebook, Gomez, Google, Sony, spotify, Twitter
People: daniel ek, Evan Williams, Tim Bray
Idapt i4 Charges 4000 Gadgets, Four At a Time [Chargers]
Gizmodo 21 Mar 2010, 2:02 am CET
Mozilla Engineer Writes Steve Ballmer; Promptly Takes Foot Out Of Mouth
TechCrunch 21 Mar 2010, 12:47 am CET
Mozilla platform engineer Rob Sayre has probably had better ideas.
Hoping Microsoft might allow Firefox on their new Windows Phone 7 Series, Sayre wrote an open letter this morning to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. “Hola, amigo. I know it’s been a long time since I rapped at ya,” is how it starts.
He then proceeds to make fun of Windows Phone 7 Series, the iPhone, Cocoa Touch, and Unix — all in three concise paragraphs. He notes that Windows Phone 7 Series has a “busted” UI, calls the iPhone’s UI “ugly jelly beans,” and mocks the “allegedly cool” Cocoa Touch “stuff.”
Once he’s done with all of that, he asks Ballmer to consider making an NDK for Windows Phone. An NDK is a companion tool for an SDK that allows you to build parts of apps in native code. For example, it’s the Android NDK that allows Mozilla to make Firefox for Android.
There’s currently no plans to make an NDK for Windows Phone 7 phones — hence Sayre’s post. Without it, a version of Firefox for the OS is probably unlikely. And that’s may be a good bet anyway, considering Microsoft seems to be pivoting its new phones closer to the iPhone’s closed model rather than Android’s open one.
Sayre’s approach to the post apparently didn’t go over too well — he quickly followed up with an apology post, “Things I’ve Learned.” “Blog posts that sound like Jim Anchower really irritate people for some reason. I won’t do it again, I promise,” he writes.
America Doesn't Care About Cell Phone Radiation (But the Rest of the World Does) [Health]
Gizmodo 21 Mar 2010, 12:46 am CET
Civ5 preview signals return to good old-fashioned war games
VentureBeat 21 Mar 2010, 12:29 am CET
Civilization IV was one of the most immersive strategy games ever made. When it debuted in 2005, it was an elaborate triumph in the strategy game genre, with a combination of action, graphics, and addictive game play. But Civilization V just might top it, even as it returns gamers to the nostalgic days of old war games.
The game is coming out this fall from developer Firaxis Games and publisher Take-Two Interactive. In a preview of the game at the Game Developers Conference, Firaxis showed that the look and play of the game will be very different from the fourth version.
The world of Civ5 will look more organic, with a birds-eye view of big mountains, rivers that flow, vasts forests, and terrain that matches different regions of the world. When you design your maps at the beginning of the game, you can choose whether the terrain will look like the savannahs of Africa or Asian jungles.
But the map will also be divided into hexagons, a throw back to the good old days of war games played on boards in the 1970s. I used to get a thrill out of these games that came on cardboard with the latest issue of Strategy and Tactics magazine. Hexagon-based games made their way into the computer age with games like Panzer General, a 1995 game which was graphically beautiful and served as an inspiration to the Civ5 team. But then hexagons largely disappeared.
With DirectX 11 and multiprocessing support, Civ5 will run on everything from laptops to high-end gaming computers. Even if you overlay a grid of hexagons on the map, it still looks pretty. The hexagons solve a problem that the previous games had with things like islands. Ships would apparently pass right through solid blocks of land when they were moving from one direction to another.
The hexagons also set up a much better combat system. As in earlier games, you can build settlers and position them around the map to build cities. You’re the king or queen. With a city in place, you can build your combat units. Over time, you can build more and more stuff. Your combat units are no longer stacked into hexagons, but spread out. Each unit has 16 soldier icons, representing how strong the army is. As the unit takes combat losses, those soldiers start to disappear.
With the hexagon system, armies move across multiple hexes, closing in on cities or smaller armies. Archers and other units with ranged weapons can shoot across two hexes. In a battle, your foot soldiers can shield your archers from attack. The archers can soften up the enemy before the foot soldiers close in. Defenders get a bonus from the terrain they occupy. A unit guarding a mountain pass can actually hold off a lot of attackers.
This kind of combat is a lot more elaborate, but also simpler and more predictable than in past Civilization games, where the combat was always a weakness compared to the old Call to Power strategy games. The animations of country leaders are also more elaborate and visual. The rivals will hold animated conversations with you and look really disturbed if you act aggressively toward them, or friendly if you behave as an ally. They will also behave as the historical leaders did; Queen Elizabeth of England will therefore try to set up a sea empire.
One of the nice random elements thrown into the mix is the city state. These are computer-controlled cities that are sprinkled across the map. They are neutral, but you can try to attack them and take them over without launching a full-blown war against another country. You can also aid them in helping to fend off barbarians or help them battle another city state.
As your city grows, you can expand the borders around it, claiming new land. The city can grow through its cultural influence, or you can buy the land around you. You also have options for peaceful growth as well as combat.
The game ships this fall, and it looks pretty darn addictive. I wholeheartedly agree with the direction this game is taking and am delighted to see that Firaxis has found a way to please old-fashioned hardcore war-game fans like me. At the same time, they will introduce a new generation of gamers to the right way to make strategy games.
Companies: Firaxis Games, Take Two Interactive
The Movie Tracker joins crowded movie recommendation space
VentureBeat 21 Mar 2010, 12:16 am CET
Movie-recommendation startup The Movie Tracker launched recently, adding to a crowded recommendation and social media space that includes TasteKid, The Auteurs, Trusted Opinion, Jinni, Flixster, and of course Netflix, among others. The site is still working out some of its bugs, but here’s how it works: You sign in and select at least 5 movies you’ve watched — the more you select, the more the service’s algorithm will have more to work with — and it will give you recommendations based on that information.
Upon signing up, I received a “Newbie Badge,” although I’m not really sure what I do with it. The site enables Facebook Connect functionality and helps you fill in the title of the movie. After I selected the 5 movies to add to “My Movie Log” — most of them recent releases — I received a selection of 20 movies, most of them fairly older. Maybe it thought I should be exposed to more than movies released in the last 6 months? Within the recommended movies, you have the option to add them to the list of movies you’ve seen, to a list you’ve created, or to one of those provided by The Movie Tracker, such as “Best Movies” or “Worst Movies.” Each movie the engine suggests also has a short description when you click on it. Most of these plot summaries have been manually created from Wikipedia or another online source. The Movie Tracker has cataloged 15,000 movies thus far.
The company was founded in October 2009 by husband and wife team Brian Hoffman and Shirin Aminifar. After not being able to find a deep enough experience on Netflix, they decided to create their own site and make it more social, with ratings and suggestions. And they eventually added geolocation information such as whether a user has watched a movie online or at a movie theater. All of this information is then used to create additional recommendations. Each movie is tagged with up to 150 tags, including genre, rating, and plot themes, and user profiles are filtered based on when they watched movies, how long ago they watched a movie, the timing between watching movies, and the number of times they watched a certain movie, amongst other things. Of course, users have to enter most of this data manually, and I decided to skip that part, not sure that the additional data would enrich my recommendations much.
As it’s still early, The Movie Watcher’s user numbers are only in the hundreds, and Hoffman and Aminifar haven’t paid much attention to marketing the site. The goal, according to Hoffman, is to get a critical mass using the tools on the site and get them completing activities on the site, rather than focusing on purely growing audience size. They would like to have 100,000-150,000 tracked movies (those users are recording in their logs), said Hoffman. Users are able to rate movies as well as see discussions around those movies that are happening on Twitter. The company has partnered with AMC, Regal, and National Amusements to sell discounted theater passes on the site and are looking at additional partnerships around content discounts.
At this point, the site is not developed enough for it to break out of the pack. It’s more of a catalog of movies a user has watched or would like to watch. I’m not convinced there needs to be a whole site around this functionality. In addition, sites, such as The Auteurs, which is focused on independent films, and Jinni let you watch movies directly from the site or connect to Netflix or other services to watch a movie. That immediacy makes those services more robust than one simply suggesting more movies to watch, which you then have to find somewhere else.
Hoffman believes The Movie Watcher’s differentiator is a greater level of interactivity and the automated suggestions it offers, but this is nothing new. And without additional features, I don’t see reason for users to choose The Movie Watcher over another service. The site does have a Virtual Badge system, which lets users collect badges based on the number of movies they enter (in addition to the Newbie Badge, there are badges for watching 10, 25, and 50 movies) or the frequency of movie watching (for example, watching a movie three nights in a row or watching the same movie 10 times). Badges are the hot new thing, but just having a badge in and of itself doesn’t make the experience more engaging. The badges do earn users points, though, and The Movie Watcher plans to launch a leaderboard, the winner of which would win free movie tickets, said Hoffman, which may make users more likely to compete. Still, I’m not sure the prize would be worth the effort.
The Movie Tracker is headquartered in Fairfax, VA and is currently self-funded.
Companies: The Movie Tracker
Pierre Omidyar on eBay and Pez Dispensers, Leaving the Valley and the Most Important Thing He’s Ever Done
TechCrunch 21 Mar 2010, 12:04 am CET
It’s almost a cliché that great Silicon Valley entrepreneurs don’t go sit on a beach when they make a lot of money, they get back to work building another company or at least investing in other people’s companies. But what did eBay founder Pierre Omidyar do? Moved to Honolulu where he can be found sitting on beaches.
But don’t let the top line narrative fool you, Omidyar hasn’t just been looking at sunsets all these years. He’s been busy making good on his commitment to give away some 99% of his multi-billion dollar fortune and lately has been launching Peer News, a new kind of online news service that won’t have reporters or articles in the classic sense, nor will it allow anonymous comments or make money off advertising. He’s definitely got at least the media world captivated once again.
eBay, philanthropy and now a local Hawaiian news site may seem like wildly disparate ventures for the same man to take, but as Omidyar explains in the video below they’re all connected by the ideas of platform and community—two words that have also underlined much of the Web 2.0 movement.
Just like eBay was a platform that gave people everywhere the opportunity to build out a business and change their economic reality, so too does the Omidyar Network seek to give passionate, would-be entrepreneurs an opportunity to change their world and their reality. As Omidyar puts it, he doesn’t have a “cause;” he gets excited about other people’s causes. Similarly at eBay he wasn’t a collector, but he loved hearing about other people’s collections.
On community, eBay was one of the first places that pioneered trust online through its reputation and feedback systems. Omidyar is hoping to bring that same kind of trust and fair-dealing to the local news world with Peer News—which is the reason anonymous commenters will not be welcome.
Omidyar talks about all of this and more in the video below, shot in his office in Honolulu. I started out by asking him about that great founders myth that he started eBay so his wife could trade Pez dispensers. (The one people claimed years later was just a good pitch for reporters.)
Take a Peek Inside the Windows Phone 7 Series Emulator [Windowsphone7]
Gizmodo 20 Mar 2010, 11:50 pm CET
Hunch’s Twitter Predictor Game Is Awesomely Accurate
TechCrunch 20 Mar 2010, 11:29 pm CET
When I first read about Hunch’s Twitter Predictor game, I was pretty skeptical. The game asks you to put in your Twitter user name and based on who you follow and who you are followed by, it predicts how you will answer questions on Hunch. Then I used it. It’s awesome. Well, pretty awesome.
Out of 35 questions I answer, Hunch correctly predicted by my answer to 32 of them and was only wrong with 3, 91% correct. And these aren’t just “yes” or “no” question, some have several possible answers. In fact, the game got so many right that at first I was sure it was all fake and they were just saying they were going to pick what I eventually did. Then I noticed the “take a peek” link, which tells you before you answer the question how you’re going to answer it.
I also wondered if Hunch was simply predicting how I’d answer based on other Hunch questions I had answered on my account. But actually, the game works even if you’re logged out of your Hunch account.
So yes, the predictor made by new Hunch employee Ben Gleitzman (a former Googler) is very accurate. But then I noticed something. As I played it again in another browser, the game asked the exact same questions. And the first question is always about my age range. So this is likely one of the keys to how the predictor works. Another friend had a series of questions that made it clear she was a woman — likely another key predictor.
I would bet the game is quickly scanning your Twitter followers and getting some obvious topical data, such as age range and sex. Then it uses the aggregate Hunch data that the service has collected over the past several months.
Still, it’s a pretty cool idea. And a great way to show off the data Hunch is collecting. The team answers more about the game here.
5 Brilliant iPhone Apps for Baseball Fans
Mashable! 20 Mar 2010, 11:11 pm CET
Attention baseball fans, the date that is no doubt etched in your brain — the start of the 2010 Major League Baseball Season — is fast approaching. To get you ready for April 4 (when the Boston Red Sox will take on the reigning World Series champion New York Yankees at Fenway Park) we’re pitching you five handpicked iPhone apps that will hit a home run with baseball fans.
If you are partial to America’s national sport — and let’s face it, it’s almost unpatriotic not to be — then these apps are an absolute must for your iPhone or iPod touch. However, in case we’ve struck out and missed any of your faves, then do let us know in the comments below.
1. MLB at Bat 2010
Although criticized for its $15 price tag, MLB’s official iPhone app is a great all-rounder for fans, and an even better option for fans that have a paid-up for MLB.TV because, with portable access to your MLB.TV account, you can watch live streaming games on the go. As with last season’s offering, anyone can use the app to listen live to games, as well as get a virtual idea of what’s happening at the park with MLB’s blow-by-blow Gameday updates.
The app also offers scores and stats, as well as some in-game highlights and a video library that’s searchable by both player and team. If you really can’t stretch to that $15, then a free “lite” version (MLB.com At Bat Lite) offers real-time MLB scores, schedules, news and standings — but no audio or video — that will keep you informed through to the end of 2010 World Series.
Cost: $14.99
2. FanGraphs Baseball
If you’re the type of fan that can rattle off ground ball to fly ball ratios and stolen base percentages like Rain Man reciting phone numbers, then quite simply you will love this app. Claiming to offer the most detailed player statistics available on an iPhone app, FanGraphs will let you look back and analyze every major player in baseball history, as well as look forward with live win probability graphs based on game data for the 2010 season.
Favorite players can be tracked with full, live box scores that link through to past stats, every play can be analyzed to see how it impacts the game, and there’s even up-to-date advanced fielding metrics via FanGraph’s “Ultimate Zone Ratings.”
Cost: $2.99
3. Ballpark Envi
It could be argued that the stadium is as much a character in baseball as the opposing teams or the crowd. A celebration of the nation’s ballparks is offered in one neat little app — Ballpark Envi — spanning baseball’s geography as well as its history from Shibe Park to the new Yankee Stadium. Browsable by team, or by American and National League, every current Major League baseball stadium is detailed with stadium pics and slide shows, seating charts (super useful for booking tickets) as well as the ability to see the park’s location on a map.
Whether you want to glimpse Dodger Stadium’s wavy roofs on the outfield pavilions or the orange foul poles of the Mets’ new Citi Field this app will give you an insider glimpse of America’s amazing ballparks with all their quirks and characteristics.
Cost: $0.99
4. iScore Baseball Scorekeeper
If you consider a baseball scorebook will set you back $5 at the absolute minimum (and more if you buy it at the park) then the $10 price tag for this app does not seem quite so steep. There are a dearth of 99 cent alternatives available in the App Store, but for looks and an intuitive interface (the app works on an “interview” premise asking you for all the data it needs to build a complete picture of the game) the iScore Baseball Scorekeeper is the champ.
As well as appealing to those hardcore fans that like to sit and score every game, this is also a good option for those new to baseball scorekeeping – you don’t have to learn all the abbreviations and symbols and iScore offers a full set of tutorial videos to get you using the app like a pro.
Cost: $9.99
5. Baseball FanMisery.com Index Apps
If you want to keep your favorite Major League Baseball team in your pocket then FanMisery.com offers an Index App for each and every MLB team. Working on the basis that being a fan is in fact misery (the agony of defeat and all that jazz) the apps make sure you are kept as absolutely up-to-date as possible with a comprehensive set of stats, opinions and news drawn from national and local papers, broadcast media and blogs.
One nice touch is that if a blog or news source you follow isn’t currently included in the indexing, the developer (Discover Motion) will add it in for you on request — just the kind of helpful option that warms the cockles of an iPhone owner’s heart.
Cost: $2.99 each
More iPhone resources from Mashable:
- 10 Essential iPhone Apps for Runners
- 10 Best iPhone Apps for Dog Lovers
- Top 10 iPhone Apps as Judged by Mashable Readers
- 10 Fun iPhone Apps for Beer Lovers
- Mashable’s New iPhone App: Download Today!
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, spxChrome
Tags: Baseball, iphone, iphone apps, Lists, sports
When You're Convinced Your Loved Ones Are Imposters [Memoryforever]
Gizmodo 20 Mar 2010, 11:00 pm CET
Sprint Makes Your iPhone 4G [VIDEO]
Mashable! 20 Mar 2010, 10:12 pm CET
The iPhone 4G (next generation iPhone) is yet to be released, but Sprint is cleverly advertising “4G speeds” on your iPhone thanks to its Sierra Wireless Overdrive 4G WiFi hotspot.
The nifty device lets you browse the web “up to 10 times faster” by providing a WiFi hotspot that uses Sprint’s 4G network. The downside: it’s another device to carry with you.
What do you think: is it worth getting yet another device for super-fast speeds?
[via BGR]
Tags: iphone, iphone 4g, sprint
Evolution in the Balloon Animal Kingdom [Squeakyscience]
Gizmodo 20 Mar 2010, 10:00 pm CET
In the Balloon Animal Kingdom, Dogs Evolve Into Bioluminescent Zooids [Squeakyscience]
Gizmodo 20 Mar 2010, 10:00 pm CET
Yelp for Business: 4 Steps for Success
Mashable! 20 Mar 2010, 9:14 pm CET
This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.
For local small businesses, Yelp isn’t just an option — it’s a necessity. People in urban centers use it to choose where to go to dinner, where to buy clothes, and where to be entertained. Users decide where and how to spend their money using Yelp, so if your business is local, you need to curate your Yelp page.
If your business has been around long, you probably already have a page; you’re just not holding the reins yet. You’ll want to step in and take control of it as soon as possible, because using it correctly can bring you new business and prevent any negative word of mouth from hindering your growth and success.
Claiming or creating your Yelp business page is easy; just fill out a couple of online forms and answer a quick, automated phone call. It takes less than five minutes. Once you’re signed up, you’ll have access to tools that will help you engage your customers and spread the word about what you’re offering to the community. Here are a few basic tips for successfully leveraging the tools Yelp offers you for the benefit of your local business.
1. Fill Out Your Business Info Completely
Customers refer to Yelp business pages to learn about a business before going out to visit in person. If the information on the Yelp page is incomplete, they’re likely to move on to a competitor that provides more details simply because they’ll better know what to expect and are less likely to be surprised, be disappointed or have their time wasted.
The administration page for business owners offers a slew of fields and choices for sharing information to make it easy for users to know exactly what to expect. If you provide the information they’re looking for, they’re more likely to become reliable, paying customers. So fill out as much information as you can, and keep it up to date.
2. Respond Constructively to Customer Reviews
Last Spring, Yelp gave business owners the ability to respond to negative reviews, either to privately make apologies to reviewers or publicly correct misinformation. Don’t skimp on using this feature because you’re afraid of making things worse; it can turn a bad situation around. Dissatisfied customers will often give you a second look if you communicate to them that you value their input and are making changes to improve your business.
Yelp published an easy-to-use guide to constructive user review responses on its website. It includes examples of how not to respond to user reviews and how best to. Some of the tips are obvious, but some of them aren’t. They’re worth a look, as is my colleague Josh Catone’s recent post, “How to Deal with Negative Feedback in Social Media.”
3. Make Offers and Announcements Regularly
Yelp allows you to share special offers and announcements not just with the people who visit your page, but with members of the larger community who might not even know about your business. When you create an offer or announcement on Yelp, it appears in the offers and announcements directory for your city. People who have never heard of your business will see them there. They’ll even find you in search results.
The more of these offers and announcements you make, the more likely it will be that Yelp users will discover your business, so come up with creative ways to draw people in, then share the news.
4. Display Yelp Badges on Your Website or Blog
Yelp provides badges that you can embed on your business’s website or blog that show that you’re on Yelp and engaged with your community. They’ll even tell visitors how many positive reviews you’ve had.
These badges give potential customers the impression that you have existing satisfied customers vouching for you, so they’ll be more likely to trust you with their business. The badges also act as links between your Yelp page and your other online outreach efforts. People can click a badge to read reviews or get more information. If a satisfied customer visits your site or blog, the badge might lead that person to leave his or her own positive review.
Is Advertising on Yelp Worth it?
You may also choose to advertise on Yelp. It costs between $300 and $1,000 per month — it’s kind of like a premium account — but there’s a chance that you’ll increase your exposure if you opt in, because you’ll appear at the top of the list when users perform a search related to your business.
There are a few other benefits as well. For example, you’ll be able to feature one good review of your choosing at the top of the list on your business page. You still can’t edit, move or delete other reviews, though.
It’s difficult to measure exactly how much these premium benefits will help you; it depends on a number of factors unique to your business and your city.
More business resources from Mashable:
- HOW TO: Make Your Small Business Geolocation-Ready
- Web Entrepreneurship: Does the City You Live in Matter?
- Google Buzz: 5 Opportunities for Small Businesses
- 4 Elements of a Successful Business Web Presence
- HOW TO: Implement a Social Media Business Strategy
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, LisaInGlasses
Tags: business, geo-location, List, Lists, MARKETING, small business, social media, social networks, yelp
Computer Error Makes 82-Year-Old Woman the Most Dangerous Criminal in Brooklyn [Crimewatch]
Gizmodo 20 Mar 2010, 9:00 pm CET
NYPD's Computers Are Certain That This 82-Year-Old Woman Is a Dangerous Criminal [Crimewatch]
Gizmodo 20 Mar 2010, 9:00 pm CET
Top 10 Twitter Trends This Week [CHART]
Mashable! 20 Mar 2010, 8:36 pm CET
Justin Bieber remains an immutable force of Twitter trend power, taking the top slot again for the third week in a row. Tweeters also showed their love (and/or disdain) for a number of other pop singers, and celebrated a few holidays this past week.
Thanks to our friends at What The Trend, we have yet another interesting stats-eye-view of the Twitterverse. Because this is a topical list, hashtag memes and games have been omitted from the chart below.
Beyond Justin Bieber, Follow Friday, and Music Monday — the reigning trend champs — St. Patrick’s Day made an appearance as people tweeted their revelry, and Lady Gaga crept up on the list with the premiere of her new video on Vevo and a tour in New Zealand.
The Jonas Brothers hung tight near the middle, while circle enthusiasts everywhere tweeted vigorously about Pi Day on March 14th, spurred on no doubt by the charming Google doodle that commemorated the occasion.
If you own a TV or computer, you probably know that March Madness is upon us, and bracket-related tweets have been flying around the web all week, landing the term at number seven.
Rounding out the chart are two more singers who made some news this week. Demi Lovato, the 17 year old actress/singer, stirred some buzz with her admission that she’s dating a Jonas Brother, and Chris Brown, the career-stunted R&B singer, reached out to his fans on the web for some help on making a comeback.
Strangely, tweets about the ongoing South By Southwest (SXSW) conference — one of the most talked about topics in tech and a favorite of the Twitter community — did not reach critical mass to make this week’s list. This is likely due to the lack of big announcements or product launches from the conference this year.
You can check past Twitter trends in our Top Twitter Topics section as well as read more about this past week’s trends on What The Trend.
Top Twitter Trends This Week 3/13 – 3/19
Rank | Topic | Top Index This Week | Change | Description |
#1 | Justin Bieber | 1 | Justin Bieber’s new album My World 2.0 comes out on March 23rd & his fans are excited. He also appeared on Z100.com, QVC, and GMTV in the UK. | |
#2 | Follow Friday | 1 | Follow Friday is a tradition where people tweet people they believe are fun/interesting to follow (on Fridays). | |
#3 | St. Patrick’s Day | 2 | NEW | People are tweeting "Happy St. Patrick’s Day" and showing their Irish spirit. |
#4 | Lady GaGa | 2 | 2 | Lady GaGa is currently touring in New Zealand. |
#5 | Music Monday | 2 | Music Monday is a tradition where users recommend music they appreciate every Monday. | |
#6 | Jonas Brothers | 7 | Mentions of the Jonas Brothers. | |
#7 | March Madness | 1 | The National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Division 1 Men’s Basketball tournament started this week. | |
#8 | Happy Pi Day | 2 | NEW | March 14th is Happy Pi Day! Pi is, roughly, 3.14. And today is 3/14. And March 14 is also the birthday of Albert Einstein |
#9 | Demi Lovato | 3 | March 13 2010, "Jemi" is confirmed. Demi Lovato admitted to dating Joe Jonas in an interview by Billy Bush. Many people are tweeting their opinions about this new couple. Joe Jonas and Demi also recently released a new song, "Make a Wave." | |
#10 | Chris Brown | 1 | NEW | Singer Chris Brown asked his fans to help revive his career. They have been obliging with a variety of trends. |
Tags: justin bieber, Top Twitter Topics, trends, twitter, twitter trends, What The Trend
| More |
A collection by dberkowitz:
Full name:
David BerkowitzBio:
Senior Director of Emerging Media & InnovationLocation:
New York, NYWeb:
www.marketersstudio.comCollected from:
All Facebook
Gizmodo
Mashable!
Mobile Marketer Homepage Feed
mocoNews
TechCrunch
VentureBeat
Webware.com
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