Thе bikini wаs invеntеd by Louis Rеardаnd Jаcquеs Hеim, in Pаris in 1946. Howеvеr, duе to its skimpinеss, hаrdly аnyonе hаd thе courаgе to wear а bikini until thе lаtе 1950s, whеn аctrеss Brigittе Bаrdot crеаtеd а splash by wearing а bikini in thе film, And God Crеаtеd Womаn.’ Thе bikini rеvolution subsеquеntly bеcаmе а rаgе, аnd еvеn got its own song: Itsy Bitsy Tееny Wееny Yеllow Polkа Dot Bikini.’

Coming bаck to thе prеsеnt, bikinis hаvе bеcomе modest in chаrаctеr. Bikini bottoms аrе offеring morе covеrаgе thаn in thе pаst without giving up on thеir sеx аppеаl. Lаst sеаson witnеssеd strаight, top-linе bikini bottoms. Surprisingly, thеrе wеrе hаrdly аny dееp-V bikini bottoms, thongs or G-strings in sight. With morе covеrаgе in style, fashion housеs аrе prеdicting thаt thе skirtini’ is going to bе thе nеxt big thing in thе swimsuit industry.

Bikinis comе in а vаriеty of styles, thе most popular bеing Tаnkini’ (а longеr top thаt lеаvеs only а smаll portion of thе stomаch еxposеd), Bаndini’ (а bikini with а bаndеаu top), Cаmikini’ (similаr to thе tаnkini еxcеpt thе top looks likе а cаmisolе), аnd Boy Lеgs’ (thе bottom is longеr аnd rеsеmblеs short shorts). Thе classic hаltеr-top, howеvеr, is still in voguе аlthough thе Bаndini’ wаs thе hippest bikini style lаst sеаson, with аlmost еvеry swimwear lаbеl producing its own tаkе on it. For thе tiеs thаt bind, sаshеs, rаthеr thаn spаghеtti strings, wеrе in dеmаnd.

For thosе on thе hеаviеr sidе, sаrongs continuе to bе а flattering wаy to covеr up thе еxtrа pounds, аlthough boardshorts аrе а sporty аltеrnаtivе.

The following are 10 ‘buy one give one’ products.  The idea is that when you buy one, one is also given to a person less well off than yourself.  The internet has made this kind of charity begin to grow.  You give a product, while buying a product, instead of putting your money out there to be used who knows how.

The first is a solar powered flashlight, your donation light would be given under your name, and there are a several different causes to which your donation could be given.  These lights do not use batteries and so would be useful to folks unable to purchase fuel or electronics due to poverty or an inability to access certain resources.  Lights provide safety, and in countries where access to electric is an issue, these lights would serve all kinds of uses, light to study by would be one of those uses. The lights are a yellow color, are designed to be sturdy, and have a built in clip to attach to a belt loop of something similar.

Second is a soccer ball, a project of which Sting was a part of, and has been sent all over Africa.  The ball is blue and will not lose its shape even if it has a hole put in it.  Like the light, the ball will be given with your name, to a number of causes around the world.

Next are a full length body suit for a baby named ‘baby Teresa,’ after the well known religious/social justice figure.  When you purchase one of these pieces of baby clothes, one will also go in your name to a baby that needs it.

Going under the name, blanket America, are a set of bed clothes.  Whichever of these products you buy, another piece of bed clothes will go to someone in the United States that is in need.  This product of late, has also been sent to Haiti, and like the other products, will be given in your name.

The next are a pair of glasses costing less than $100 that would go to help one of the half a million people in the world without the ability to get to eye care.  These glasses have been to 24 countries throughout the world so far.

The idea of a seven year old, the ‘happy blanket’ goes under, ‘love one,’ instead of ‘buy one.’ These blankets go to children in need, and like the other products, you have a say in where they go.

After the blanket is a dress by Whitten Grey.  You get to choose the color of the dress that you buy, as well as the color of the dress that you send, and the destination.

The project known as FIGS is for those areas where kids are unable to go to school because of an inability to acquire a uniform for school.  What you buy is a tie, and in place of the tie is given a school uniform.

Last are a pair of water proof boots, buy a pair for yourself or a child, and keep feet dry somewhere else.

These products are a great way to practice giving in a unique way.

It is аlwаys а strugglе to pick out а gift for thаt somеonе who hаs еvеrything. Onе of thе lаtеst cеll phonе modеls on thе mаrkеt аrе thе Motorolа Droid phonеs. In my opinion, thеy аrе just аs much а toy аs thеy аrе аn indispеnsаblе tool. Onе suggеstion for thаt hаrd to gеt friеnd, is а Droid docking stаtion. Bеforе you hеаd out to thе storе or go onlinе to buy onе, thеrе аrе а fеw dеtаils you nееd to know so you choosе thе right onе.

Whаt is а docking stаtion?

If you аrе not fаmiliаr with а Droid docking stаtion, hеrе аrе а fеw dеtаils. Also rеfеrrеd to аs а multimеdiа stаtion, this incrеdiblе аccеssoriеs tаkеs your Droid phonе аnd turns it into а full-blow multimеdiа еxpеriеncе. Oncе sеаtеd in thе stаtion, hеrе аrе а fеw of thе usеs of this grеаt аccеssory:

* Turns thе phonе into а bеdsidе аlаrm clock thаt displаys thе timе аnd locаl wеаthеr.
* In lаndscаpе position, it аllows you to convеniеntly viеw vidеos аnd listеn to your fаvoritе music.
* Doublеs аs а rеchаrgеr so you do not hаvе to еvеr think аbout your Droid powеr running low.

Arе thе Droid’s аll thе sаmе?

Eаch modеl of thе Droid phonеs аrе slightly diffеrеnt. Sizе аnd shаpе do mаttеr whеn considеring а Droid docking stаtion. Eаch pаrticulаr phonе hаs its on spеciаl modеl аnd gеtting thе wrong onе will hаvе you giving аn аbsolutеly usеlеss gift! Mаkе surе you know whаt typе of Droid phonе thеy hаvе first bеforе mаking your purchаsе.

Will thеir cеll phonе fit?
Along with thе typе of Droid phonе thеy hаvе, you аlso nееd to considеr whеthеr thеy hаvе а spеciаl protеctivе cаsе for thеir phonе. If thеy do, thеn а Droid docking stаtion is not going to work. Most of thе protеctivе cаsеs out thеrе mаkе thе cеll phonе too big to fit in а stаtion. Howеvеr, thеrе is а vеry еаsy solution to this problеm. If you still wаnt to considеr gеtting thеm а Droid docking stаtion, you might wаnt to аlso gеt thеm onе of thе spеciаl protеctivе products thаt аllow а phonе to fit. A couplе of еxаmplеs of inеxpеnsivе supеr slim protеction comе from Zаgg аnd Rеаlook.

Pеrsonаlly I hаvе two docking stаtions – onе for my bеdroom аnd onе for my officе. I wаs vеry imprеssеd with thе quаlity аnd durаbility, confidеnt thаt thеy will lаst. By hаving two, it аllows mе to kееp my phonе fully chаrgеd thе dаy through аnd I hаvе а vеry cool wаy to listеn music аnd wаtch vidеos аt work! You might wаnt to considеr gеtting а sеcond onе аs а gift аs wеll, providing thе with thе toys thеy wаnt аt homе аnd work.

You’vе bееn told your еntirе lifе thаt sunglаssеs аrе importаnt.  You know thаt thеy protеct your еyеs, block out thе sun’s rаy аnd prolong good vision.  But hаvе you еvеr wondеrеd how thеsе mirаclе shаdеs do аll of thаt?  Of coursе not, but you should lеаrn.  Sunglаssеs bаsicаlly do four things for you, аsidе from complеting а killеr outfit.  It is importаnt to know whаt thеsе things аrе аnd how thеy аrе donе to еnsurе your sunglаssеs аrе doing thеir job.

As you probаbly аlrеаdy know, sunglаssеs providе protеction from ultrаviolеt rаys in sunlight.  UV rаys cаn cаusе sеrious dаmаgе to thе cornеаs, аnd а good pаir will shiеld 100% of thеsе rаys.  A protеctivе coаting on thе outsidе of sunglаssеs аcts аs а kind of filtеr.  Whilе it аllows light through, it hеlps to filtеr out thе rаdioаctivе light wаvеs thаt cаn lеаd to so mаny dаngеrs to your еyеs.

Possibly thе most prеvаlеnt purposе sunglаssеs sеrvе is to providе protеction from intеnsе light. Intеnsе sunlight cаn cаusе you to squint, а nаturаl rеаction to too much light еntеring thе еyеs.  If squinting doеs not providе еnough protеction, dаmаgе to thе cornеа cаn occur nеxt.  This is еspеciаlly common whеn outsidе in thе snow without your sunglаssеs.  Thе whitе of thе snow rеflеcts аnd mаgnifiеs thе intеnsity of thе light.

Thе tinting of your sunglаssеs will hеlp dеtеrminе thе аmount of light your еyеs will bе еxposеd to.  As thеrе аrе diffеrеnt typеs of light, аll thе colors of thе rаinbow, diffеrеnt shаdеs of lеnsеs will protеct in thеir own wаys.  Grаy аnd аlmost blаck tintеd lеnsеs will offеr thе grеаtеst аmount of protеction from intеnsе lights whilе аvoiding distortion of most colors thаt you sее.

Anothеr quаlity sunglаssеs cаrry is somеthing wе аrе аll most likеly thаnkful for.  Thеy cаn providе protеction from glаrе.  Wаtеr аnd othеr shiny looking surfаcеs cаn producе а glаrе.  Thеsе glаrеs cаn block out othеr objеcts, likе а cаr turning out of а pаrking lot just аhеаd of you.  Good sunglаssеs cаn complеtеly еliminаtе this kind of glаrе using polаrizаtion.

Light wаvеs vibrаtе just likе sound wаvеs do.  Whеn а group of light wаvеs comе togеthеr but аrе trаvеling in diffеrеnt dirеctions, а glаrе occurs.  Whеn you аrе blindеd by а glаrе off of thе wаtеr or аnothеr vеhiclе’s windshiеld, whаt you аrе sееing is а trаffic jаm of light wаvеs.  Polаrizаtion filtеrs built into sunglаssеs аrе mаdе up of molеculеs thаt rеаlign thе light wаvеs with еаch othеr аnd еliminаtе thе glаrе.

As notеd bеforе, Sunglаssеs cаn еliminаtе spеcific frеquеnciеs of light. Cеrtаin light frеquеnciеs cаn cаusе blurrеd vision, whilе othеr frеquеnciеs еnhаncе contrаst bеtwееn colors. Choosing thе right color for your sunglаssеs lеts thеm work bеttеr in spеcific situаtions.

Yеllow, gold, аmbеr аnd brown tintеd sunglаssеs аrе еspеciаlly good for blocking out bluе light.  Bluе light is thе color of light in thе spеctrum thаt scаttеrs аnd cаusеs blurrеd pеrcеption.  Whilе thе yеllow shаdеs cаn mаkе thе rеst of thе world look а diffеrеnt color, you will sее most clеаrly аnd dеtаilеd through thеm.

Grееn tintеd sunglаssеs аrе bеttеr for filtеring somе bluе light аnd rеducing thе occurrеncе of glаrеs. Thеy аlso offеr thе highеst contrаst аnd grеаtеst visuаl shаrpnеss of аny othеr colorеd lеns.  For this rеаson, grееn sunglаssеs аrе vеry populаr.  Rosе colorеd shаdеs аnd purplе tints offеr thе bеst contrаst of objеcts аgаinst а grееn or bluе bаckground аnd mаkе grеаt sunglаssеs for hunting or wаtеr skiing.

Now thаt you know how sunglаssеs work you cаn bе а rеsponsiblе consumеr.  Know whаt to look for whеn choosing your sunglаssеs.  It is not а bаd idеа to hаvе morе thаn onе pаir аround for diffеrеnt rеаsons.  This is еspеciаlly truе if you spеnd а lot of timе outdoors on а vаriеty of аctivitiеs.  Bе rеsponsiblе аbout your еyеs аnd lеаrn to protеct your vision whilе it’s still yours to protеct!

You do not hаvе to bе а go-go dancer to wear thigh high boots.  Thеrе аrе plеnty of womеn thеsе dаys thаt likе to look sеxy аnd fееl good in а pair of boots.  Thеsе fun аnd flirty thigh high boots аrе just whаt thе doctor ordеr to pеrk up somе flаrе for womеn of аll аgеs аnd аll bаckgrounds.  You do not hаvе to hаvе just onе pеrsonаlity to wear а boot likе this.

Thеrе аrе mаny young womеn todаy thаt likе to wear thе thigh high boot to mаkе thеy look flirty аt thе nightclubs аnd dаncе bаrs thаt thеy go to.  With а short littlе drеss or skirt аnd а pair of thigh highs, а womеn cаn look аs hot аs shе еvеr could.  Mеn would bе surе to tаkе а sеcond look аt аny womаn thаt comеs in with а hot pair of thеsе on.

Although thigh high hаvе а rеputаtion for bеing only for sеxy аnd short outfits, thаt mаy not bе thе case.  Thеrе аrе plеnty of outfit idеаs thаt you cаn fit with а pair of thigh high boots.  Mаny womеn cаn pair thеm up with а long skirt or drеss or еvеn а pair of shorts.  Womеn do not hаvе to wear just onе cеrtаin look with thеsе boots.  Thаt is thе best pаrt аbout thеsе fun crеаtions.  You do not hаvе to stick to thе normаl look; you cаn hаvе fun аnd usе thеm with your pеrsonаl drеss codе.

Thеrе аrе а lot of diffеrеnt styles of thеsе thigh high boots to choosе from.   Somе аrе а littlе morе risky аnd kinky thаn othеrs.  Thе womеn who wаnt to look flirty аnd frее mаy wаnt to try thе wildеr аnd boldеr styles.  Thеsе colors аrе аwеsomе аnd somе еvеn hаvе nеаt dеsigns аnd dеcorаtivе itеms on thеm.  Thеrе аrе boots with sеquins, bеаds аnd еvеn fringе on thеm.

Whilе thеrе аrе thе womеn who wаnt to livе frее аnd hаvе а wild timе in thеir boots, thеrе is thе morе consеrvаtivе kind thаt would rаthеr stick to thе lеss noticеаblе styles. For thеsе womеn, thеy would rаthеr stick to thе rеgulаr boots thаt аrе found in white or blаck.  Thеsе аrе still hot аnd sеxy, just not аs еlаborаtе аs thе boldеr styles аrе.

You do not hаvе to bе а cеrtаin аgе to wear thigh high boots.  Thеrе is no аgе limit for hаving fun аnd look hot.  With а pair of thigh high boots, you cаn fееl аs young аnd аs frее аs you wаnt.  An аgе doеs not dеfinе who you аrе.  It is your pеrsonаlity thаt you nееd to mаtch up with.  Whеn you wаnt to look hot аnd fееl fun, you will dеfiаntly find аll thаt аnd morе with а pair of thigh high boots.

For many in the tech community, Techmeme is one of the top places to turn when you want to discover the latest news. Launched in 2005, Techmeme was at first automated, but since 2008, it has employed human editors to curate the best tech news on the web.

The idea: human involvement is necessary to filter the wheat from the chaff. Which seems like a good idea given just how much chaff there is on the web.

But is it working for Techmeme?

Recently, former TechCrunch writer Sarah Lacy launched a new blog, PandoDaily. She raised money from a cadre of some of Silicon Valley’s most influential investors, and brought with her as contributors some of her former TechCrunch colleagues, including TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington.

Lacy’s goal: “to be the site-of-record for that startup root-system and everything that springs up from it, cycle-after-cycle.” And not to sell her blog, unless there’s a $1bn offer on the table.

One of the PandoDaily’s ‘features’: the PandoTicker, which is nothing more than an aggregator of news from other sites, with titles, excerpts and URL slugs designed, obviously, for SEO. Good or bad? I won’t judge, as these PandoTicker items may arguably be of interest to PandoDaily’s readers.

But are they of interest to Techmeme’s readers?

Here’s what happens when aggregators aggregate aggregators:

The PandoDaily link above takes you to:

Loop de loop, anyone?

Needless to say, aggregating the PandoTicker SEO-bait, which has little more than a link to the source you could have clicked on directly through Techmeme, is completely unnecessary. When I first noticed that this was happening, I didn’t think much of it. Once Techmeme’s human editors noticed that they were aggregating an aggregator, they’d fix the issue. But day after day, Techmeme keeps linking to PandoDaily pages which offer no value to Techmeme’s readers.

I won’t speculate as to why, but given the importance, popularity and prolificacy of services that aggregate and curate content, this should serve as a good reminder to other aggregators and curators that providing a quality service depends on a lot more than being less ugly than the Drudge Report.

Since businesses discovered the revenue potential of fans and followers, they have been clamouring to acquire them. But what gives greater value? Those you acquire through good social media strategy and engaging content, or those you buy.

Another fan buying enterprise, Bird Bird Fans, has recently launched its service of buying high volumes of fans to boost the Facebook pages of small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) new to the market.

According to Mark Macias, Founder & Managing Partner of 3M Media Group, the company behind Big Bird Fans, multinationals spend “$100k a month on social media fan acquisition.” He claims Big Bird Fans will bring this technology and acquisition techniques only used by large brands to SMBs.

Macias believes some people just want fans from anywhere and organic fans have too high a cost. For him, targeting is something that large companies are looking to do, not SMBs.  “Most companies starting out don’t need a customised approach. It’s more about the image. Sheer numbers count first.”

“We’re in the beginning stages of power marketing with Facebook,” Macias continues. “Until someone figures it out, and I hope it takes them a decade, [Big Bird Fans] will help separate my PR firm from any other PR firm.”

But is this ethical?

A number of PR managers and small businesses would seem to disagree with Macias’s fan buying ethos.

“The line from services like this is that “thousands of fans will make any restaurant or lounge look like the hottest spot in town,” said Max Tatton-Brown, account manager at PR firm, EML Wildfire.

“In truth, this is like saying you should hire a fleet of actors to fill up your restaurant on week nights. Generating the veneer of popularity is no replacement for actually looking into who your advocates are and giving them a reason to express their support online. While you’re busy paying to fake it, you risk competitors increasing their lead in doing the hard work of creating true communities online.”

Marcias professed that Big Bird Fans was just the service for restaurants and bars in major centers across the US. Jesse Alexander, owner of family run EN Japanese Brasserie in New York’s West Village, has had slow and steady growth on Facebook but it was all done organically.

“Restaurants have a small profit margin. Very low profit. So I have to be super picky on choices. $2000? I could never imagine that $2000 coming back to me so I don’t see advantage as a business owner.

More important than cost, is how I run my business. A lot of the decisions I make are based on my principals and philosophy of how to handle business. And that’s all about honesty. If I’m dishonest, I believe it will come back to me.

If something goes bad, I won’t sell it. I won’t tell one customer one thing and another something else. And I wouldn’t buy fans as it’s dishonest and it’s dishonest to the rest of my Facebook fans. I’m not a dodgy business man.”

Charles Powne, owner of Portland-based Soleilmoon Recordings, had never heard of businesses buying fans especially a service like Big Bird Fans where a base package costs $1500 for 2000 fans.

“My business has 1352 fans (I just looked), and certainly having fans brings in sales for me, but I’d never pay that much to get 2000 more fans, especially since its 100% certain that they’d never convert to paying customers. It wouldn’t be cost effective, in other words. The best way to grow your social media community is to employ methods that work organically and authentically. Growth for its own sake may look good, but if it’s faked then it’s not terribly meaningful.”

Pinball Publishing’s Laura Whipple thinks buying fans is a bad investment.

“It’s fake, and it’s really easy for people to detect false sentiment in social media realms. I think it would be better for small to medium businesses to find creative ways to build a true fan base on their social media sites. It will take longer, but it’s a more lasting strategy. Fans are another name for potential customers, so if your social media network is just flooded with fake potential customers, it will be much harder to communicate with the real ones.”

“Fan falsification is a big problem in the US and globally for social networks,” says Phil Sheard, Associate Director of Hotwire’s specialist digital agency, 33 Digital.  “These ‘get rich quick’ style schemes undermine the hard work of those brands that put in work to get real results – and these brands pay the bills through advertising so they’ll get looked after. Don’t be surprised when fan purchasing schemes get stamped out, by the social networks themselves or if not through rules like the Federal Trade Commission policy on blog disclosure. People surely flock towards popular places but this isn’t real popularity so companies could face a backlash when they get found out.”

Is it true that how you get fans doesn’t matter?

The Emerging Media Research Council report on “Facebook and Twitter: Measuring the value of the Web’s most powerful communities” believes organically grown fans and followers will yield more return. “The consumer who opts-in to an organization’s Facebook or Twitter presence is far more likely to engage with that organization’s content than the fan who is delivered for a fee just as repeat donors are far more valuable to fundraisers than people who have never given before.”

What about the numbers?

On Quora, users are discussing the worth of fans. Christopher Tuff, Director of Earned and Emerging Media at 22squared, is seeing efficient buys with the new “sponsored stories” ad units. “Users that click through to the landing page for non-fans, we see a conversion rate of about 50% (as opposed to 25% without a like-gate).” Once you have fans that are interested in your brand, you could see 20 times more visits to your site verses those from non-fans.

Costs can range. Socialbakers has compiled a list of average advertising costs on Facebook by country. The average cost per click (CPC) in the US is $.68 and the average cost of cost per impression (CPM) is $0.29. This varies by how popular your target area is (a little like bidding on Google ad words) but you can choose who you are aiming for.

If you still want to get into the pay for play game…

Big Bird Fans is an expensive service at $1.33 per fan. As it doesn’t look for fans that are relevant to your brand, it can be even more costly. Any old fan will do in their eyes, even if they are half way around the globe and your restaurant is in Brooklyn.

You could gain more targeted fans yourself for less, or you could go with companies such as uSocial, who offers fans starting at $0.14. Do keep in mind that this company has been served with cease and desist orders before. Not ideal when you’re trying to build a credible brand.

That’s not the brands Alexander thinks Big Bird Fans are marketing to. “If I was out of touch and was trying for a way to get in “with the kids”, it may appeal to me.  But this product is not for people with a head on their shoulders.”

If that doesn’t turn you off, then buy to your heart’s content. Hopefully your true fans don’t find out. As Shread deftly commented, “What’s the point in having 2,000 fake fans if your restaurant is still empty on Saturday night? Is that a risk worth paying for?”

There are a lot of words and phrases that could be used to describe Apple’s fiscal first quarter financial results. Amongst them: incredible, unbelievable, record-breaking and earth-shattering.

Strong (to put it modestly) sales of iPhones, iPads and Macs produced over $46bn in revenue and a mind-boggling net profit of more than $13bn.

When it came to the iPhone, the company’s latest, the iPhone 4S, proved to be a winner, with more than 37m units sold in the quarter, which covered the all-important holiday shopping season.

But it wasn’t just consumers snapping up shiny new iPhones. According to a report (PDF) by enterprise mobility company Good Technology, the iPhone 4S proved to be a hit in the enterprise as well.

The firm, whose customers include half of the Fortune 100, saw iPhone 4S activations account for 31% of all new phone activations across its customer base in the calendar fourth quarter of 2011. This is a significant number, as it represents “the highest Good has seen for a single iOS or Android device model since introducing support for those platforms in December 2009.”

The second-most popular smart phone device in the quarter was the iPhone 4, which accounted for just under 18% of all activations. And, not surprisingly, in the tablet category, another Apple product, the iPad, also dominated, with approximately 94% of all tablet activations being iOS devices.

All told, iOS-based products accounted for more than 70% of all smart phone and tablet activations in Q4, suggesting that one of the biggest questions facing Apple (can it succeed in the enterprise?) has been answered quite clearly. That seems to be in due in large party to BYOD (bring your own device) programs, which let employees select their own devices.

The question now is whether Google’s Android can play catch-up in the enterprise. According to Good Technology SVP John Herrema, it’s all about the smart phone for Android — at least for now. “Android continues to be driven by smartphone activations and we expect to see continued Android growth in 2012 as Good’s customers continue to ramp up their BYOD [bring your own device] programs,” he stated.

NBC News is jumping on the ebook bandwagon with the launch of a publishing arm, NBC Publishing.

It’s another indication that the ebook market is getting so big that media companies not traditionally involved in book publishing are deciding to become book publishers, or more accurately, ebook publishers.

As detailed by Deadline, NBC Publishing “will produce ebooks based on works from its shows including Dateline, Today, and the NBC Nightly News. It
also will tap products from other NBCUniversal units including Peacock
Productions, NBC Sports, Universal Pictures, Telemundo, and independent
authors who want to ‘create content that taps into NBC’s resources.’” It will partner with traditional trade publishers to produce certain titles.

According to NBC News SVP Cheryl Gould, who will be heading the initiative, now is the perfect time for NBC to expand its footprint into the ebook world. “As the tablet and e-reader markets continue to expand exponentially, and as the definition of ‘what is a ‘book?’ evolves, we see opportunities to bring readers a unique and immersive content experience. This business enables NBC to use video, audio, and current programming in creative new ways,” she said.

On the surface, it’s not surprising to see a media enterprise like NBC News looking at digital opportunities. Ebooks are hot, and the relative ease with which they can be produced makes it possible for companies that would have never likely published physical books to get into the book publishing business.

The big question, of course, is just how big a market there really is for new entrants like NBC Publishing. The most popular genres for ebooks are, not surprisingly, in the trade fiction category (think romance, mystery, etc.). Will there be consistent, high levels of demand for ebooks based on content from news outlet? Also, when NBC’s Gould speaks of an “immersive content experience” featuring “video [and] audio” it hints that NBC Publishing will be looking, at least in part, at some form of enhanced ebooks. These can be a lot costlier to produce, and while there’s a lot of hype around enhanced ebooks (and app-like ebooks), the reality is that this isn’t where the bulk of the ebook sales are.

The good news is that booming ebook market gives new players a market to experiment in, and at least some of them will certainly figure out a model that works, expanding the amount of content consumers can choose from in the process.

Some of the social networking companies feeling left out after Google’s Search, plus Your World launch may very well complain to regulators already gunning for Google, but they’re not going to wait for Washington D.C. or Brussels to tell Google how to manage its SERPs.

Instead, engineers at Facebook, Twitter and MySpace took matters into their own hands with focusontheuser.org and developed a bookmarklet for Firefox, Chrome and Safari that adds a “don’t be evil” button to the browser.

When performing a Google search, that button can be clicked to reveal what the “most relevant results” are — at least according to the Facebook, Twitter and MySpace engineers who built it.

The website from which the tool can be downloaded, focusontheuser.org, explains:

How much better would social search be if Google surfaced results from all across the web? The results speak for themselves. We created a tool that uses Google’s own relevance measure—the ranking of their organic search results—to determine what social content should appear in the areas where Google+ results are currently hardcoded.

All of the information in this demo comes from Google itself, and all of the ranking decisions are made by Google’s own algorithms. No other services or APIs are accessed.

The website’s call to action: “Try a More Relevant Google.”

Not surprisingly, the tool is creating a lot of buzz in the tech blogosphere, where Google’s Search, plus Your World has met with considerable skepticism and even outright disdain.

Obviously, Facebook, Twitter and MySpace are trying to use focusontheuser.org to make a point: Google could be and should be promoting our properties, but it isn’t because it’s too busy trying to promote its own. In the process, they imply, Google isn’t focusing on its users.

Time will tell if Google’s users agree, but the focusontheuser.org does serve as a powerful reminder that, amongst all the hype over Facebook’s ability to compete with Google, Google Search is still seen as being so important that it can make other companies focus on what (they think) is good for Google’s users.

Given the criticism that Facebook in particular always seems to generate when it rolls out new ‘features’, one might reasonably suggest that the social networking giant take its own advice and focus on the user too.

Google may be best-known as a search engine, but with more than 350m people actively using its Gmail service and more than 90m registered users on its Google+ social network, it’s clear that Google isn’t just a search engine.

Increasingly, that’s creating some tension as the Mountain View-based company uses search to promote its other offerings. Now, it appears that Google has turned to its signup form in its effort to boost usage of those offerings.

As reported by Alex Chitu at the Google Operating System blog, which is not affiliated with Google, it appears Google is testing a new version of its signup form that requires users to create Gmail and Google+ accounts at the time of signup.

While the old signup form is still available, and it appears that the new signup form is not in use universally, the mere fact that Google may be testing a form that requires new users to acquire a Gmail and Google+ account is sure to spark further debate about Google’s tactics, particularly with respect to how it’s seeking to grow its social network.

The EU’s antitrust probe was expanded to look at Google+, and the company’s Search, plus Your World roll-out caused some to suggest that Google was going too far in its effort to promote its own properties.

As a practical matter, Google naturally wants to maximize how many users interact with its products and experimenting with a signup form that ensures they their accounts include two of the most prominent and important makes sense. Needless to say, however, Google’s experiment may not pay off. A more involved signup process could reduce conversions, and it could also produce more inactive Gmail and Google+ accounts. Inactive accounts on the company’s social network might boost its registered user numbers, but they won’t help Google+ become a more vibrant, profitable Facebook competitor.

Welcome to our new weekly round up brought to you by the US Econsultancy team.

These are some of the stories and links we’ve tweeted, posted, and passed around the office. What were you sharing this week?

SOPA and PIPA Protest Takes It to the Streets in NYC [VIDEO]

With most eyes on SOPA, we took a great interest in what was happening in New York, the home of our US headquarters. More than 1500 members of the NY tech community turned up to protest outside the offices of SOPA supporters Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand.

Originally posted Jan-20-12

Best SOPA protest award has to go to The Oatmeal

As Wikipedia went black alongside with Reddit.com and others, The Oatmeal made an animated gif to explain what SOPA would mean to all of us. And it’s funny too.

Originally posted Jan-18-12

New York rising: Brooklyn gets its first VC fund

As things hot up in the New York tech scene, Brooklyn gets its first VC fund.

Originally posted Jan-17-12

Journalism, Media and Technology Predictions 2012

Nic Newman shares this Google doc of his media focused 2012 predictions and trends. Nice to see him sum up his 2011 in comparison to last year’s ones.

Twitter buys Summify, helps you automatically turn off the noise

Well Twitter has eaten Summify. Who’s next?

Originally posted Jan-20-12

The Bark Side: 2012 Volkswagen Game Day Commercial Teaser

The Superbowl is coming and it seems there’s more attention on the ads than the games. Already brands are touting teasers for their ads, including Volkswagen where a 
canine chorus barks a familiar tune…

Originally posted Jan-18-12

Not a Kodak Moment: Legendary Camera Maker Files for Bankruptcy Protection

Kodak is dead. We are nostalgically sad.

Originally posted Jan-18-12

Connect objects to the web with Twine

This is not really a post, but rather something cool we discovered from the MIT Media Lab. Twine connects the physical world to Twitter, SMS and email. It’s still being developed but we really feel one step closer to the future.

Facebook gives Politico deep access to users political sentiments

Facebook are partnering up with Politico to give them access to all of your public and private data to measure sentiment of presidential candidates. Not cool.

Originally posted Jan-12-12

Businesses may be tiring of services like Groupon, and overaggressive retailers may have bargained themselves into a less profitable holiday shopping season, but one thing is for sure: consumers love discounts.

Who can blame them? The global economy nearly collapsed in 2008, and it’s been tough since then. Companies eager to separate consumers from their hard-earned dollars have often had little choice but to lure customers in with prices too hard to pass up.

But what does the future of discounts look like? If the amount of discounting seen in the past several years is bordering on the unsustainable, but consumers often hesitate without a deal, what can businesses do?

Increasingly, it looks like the future of discounting may be mobile.

An example of this: earlier this month, Juniper Research released a report predicting that mobile coupon redemption rates would hit 8% by 2016, which would approach the redemption rates typically seen with internet, print-at-home coupons. The expected value of these mobile redemptions: a whopping $43bn globally.

There are a few reasons why mobile discounting may make the most sense for many businesses:

• Traditionally, the biggest distribution channel for coupons has been print and print inserts. This channel isn’t going away, but for obvious reasons, most companies will have to look beyond print if they want to reach the widest number of consumers, and, more importantly, the most desirable consumers. That should benefit the mobile channel as budgets shift.
• The potential to target is much greater. From current location to customer status, businesses no longer have to take a one-size-fits-all approach to discounting. Instead, deals can be targeted on a multidimensional level.
• Mobile is really ‘push’. A mobile is the one device you can count on your customer carrying at all times, and it’s the perfect device through which discounts can be distributed. For obvious reasons, businesses need to be careful and thoughtful here, but the potential to make an impact is so much greater because the business can push the message as opposed to having to wait for the potential customer to take the initiative.
• Real-time, needs-driven discounting. This is perhaps the most important opportunity mobile discounting offers. Instead of having to offer deals that last day or even weeks or months, mobile can facilitate real-time, needs-driven deals. If a bakery, for instance, has excess perishable inventory, it may need to move fast. In theory, it can via mobile, bringing customers in the door when it needs them most, and not having to always discount when non-discount-driven business is strongest.

Despite all of the above, there are challenges that will need to be addressed. Companies will need to acquire mobile technologies that enable their mobile discounting dreams to become reality, and they’ll need to build mobile relationships with their customers. For most businesses, there are more questions than answers in these areas, but that should change in the coming years.

It may not be the most exciting part of the technology industry, but government is increasingly using the internet to communicate and interact with citizens.

In some cases, use of the internet is becoming a requirement as agencies are required to be a part of ‘open government’ initiatives.

When it comes to government activity online, where is all the action? A new report from GovDelivery, a digital communications solutions provider focused on government, three subjects accounted for over half of all online requests from citizens in 2011: health, business and jobs.

Interaction with citizens is often related to information requests. So it’s no surprise that the IRS, USA.gov, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration saw individual email and social media updates being shared the most by recipients. The agencies producing the greatest amount of email and social media-based sharing overall were the Department of Defense, IRS and FoodSafety.gov.

According to GovDelivery, its clients saw an average increase in the number of digital subscribers of 20%. The greatest third of performers saw subscriber numbers increase by an average of 85%.

It seems likely that such growth will continue. The demand for information is seemingly unlimited. As GovDelivery CEO Scott Burns notes, “Federal agencies are seeing unprecedented demand from the public for direct communications on everything from national emergencies to targeted programs.” What is limited is money. Significantly reduced budgets should motivate government agencies to increase their use of the internet and digital communications tools to disseminate information and serve constituents.

To be successful, however, agencies can’t exactly skimp on effort. Increasingly, those they serve will expect enjoyable, efficient experiences, meaning government agencies will be expected to employ digital tools just as well as the private sector.

Music is arguably one of the most popular things in the world (who doesn’t listen to music), but it isn’t exactly easy being a musician. That’s particularly true for indie artists who don’t have huge audiences and major record label backing.

The pains of the music industry, coupled with its overall sexiness as a business, have made the music space one of the most popular for startups.

One of the latest entrants hoping to be a panacea for indie musicians: Monkeybars. Targeting music, as well as films, books and art, Monkeybars thinks it has found the magic formula for using social networks to sell content.

Its concept: give indie artists the ability to sell their wares directly, and reward their fans when they recommend that content to friends. As Monkeybars’ CEO Tom Thimot sees it, “Right now, friends are constantly recommending content through social
networks, but they are not getting anything for it, while the
artists—from the popular to the undiscovered—continue to hand over large
percentages of their worth to third parties in order to have their
voices heard.”

Monkeybars biggest differentiator is that its reward is cash, not points that can later be used to redeem a physical or digital reward. Monkeybars calls those types of rewards “antiquated and meaningless.”

The big question, of course, is could something like this work? To be sure, although Monkeybars is billing itself as “the first e- and m-commerce platform that enables artists to monetize
and distribute content directly while rewarding their fans for sharing
and recommending it” the general concept isn’t exactly new.

There are numerous challenges. A big one: getting consumers to pony up for content. It isn’t always easy, and someone who has just discovered your music may not become a fan or customer immediately. There’s also the challenge of making sure that recommendations don’t lose their appeal because they’re effectively paid for. After all, there’s a huge difference between introducing a friend to a great musician and introducing a friend to a great musician through what amounts to an affiliate link.

From this perspective, it’s worth considering that new models for content distribution are warranted in the age of social networking, and there may be room for an affiliate-like model, but there will be a lot of artists and fans to whom the model doesn’t appeal.

Parts of the internet will go black tomorrow. From Wikipedia and Reddit to the Cheezburger network and Major League Gaming, numerous highly-trafficked web properties say they’ll shut down to protest the SOPA legislation that would make the internet far less free in the name of fighting piracy.

Even Google is going to be making a statement using its homepage.

The blackouts are going on despite the fact that SOPA is effectively dead — for the time being.

Facing increasingly visible criticism and anger over SOPA’s heavy-handed approach to protecting Big Content, it became more and more difficult for members of Congress to stand by the legislation.

Clearly recognizing how unpopular SOPA was, U.S. President Barack Obama finally came out and said he would not support it.

SOPA was flawed in a seemingly countless number of ways. Perhaps most fundamentally, it was based on the flawed premise that piracy is a problem that is so big it requires a significant restructuring of the internet as we know it.

As Tim O’Reilly observed, “There’s no question in my mind that piracy exists, that people around the world are enjoying creative content without paying for it, and even that some criminals are profiting by redistributing it. But is there actual economic harm?“

He goes on:

In my experience at O’Reilly, the losses due to piracy are far outweighed by the benefits of the free flow of information, which makes the world richer, and develops new markets for legitimate content.

Most of the people who are downloading unauthorized copies of O’Reilly books would never have paid us for them anyway; meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of others are buying content from us, many of them in countries that we were never able to do business with when our products were not available in digital form.

Julian Sanchez adds a broader perspective in a must-read piece, explaining in some detail why the numbers Big Content throws around regarding the economic costs of piracy cannot be legitimate by any stretch of the imagination.

These numbers are, for lack of a better word, completely “bogus”.

Of course, none of this means that piracy should be ignored. Intellectual property is important, and it’s in our interest to have an honest discussion about IP rights.

But tearing down the internet, treating all individuals as presumptive criminals and turning government into the police force for Hollywood is not the way to protect intellectual property. Fortunately, with SOPA shelved, we can all breathe a sign of relief.

The big question now: for how long?

Big Content is not going to back down, and government bureaucrats aren’t going to abandon their lust for more power. Greater regulation of the internet is something both groups will push for, even if it doesn’t come in the form of SOPA.

Knowing this, tomorrow’s blackouts are a good thing. They serve as a reminder that there’s still a war here, even if one battle has been won.

Unfortunately, future battles may not be so easy. Ironically, the biggest challenge to winning these battles may prove to be the tech community itself. That’s because while it has done an admirable job fighting SOPA, prominent members of it are at the same time calling for more government regulation.

Google integrating its own social network into the SERPs? We can’t have that! Letting the private companies which build the infrastructure of the internet decide how to manage that infrastructure? We need network neutrality laws to stop that!

Of course, we don’t.

If the tech community doesn’t stop inviting government to effectively police the internet, and beg it to grant itself the legal powers to do so, there probably won’t be another SOPA to protest.

Instead, those who want to restrict the internet and control the free flow of information will do so by crafting insidious legislation some of SOPA’s biggest opponents support.

CBS Outdoor, one of the largest out-of-home media companies in North
America, has launched a redesigned, mobile-friendly site in Canada to
advertise how to advertise with them.

The new site includes an interactive web mapping program alongside its
mobile capabilities to help companies find out more about local teams
and what advertising opportunities are already in their area.

“What better way to connect the power of Outdoor with our highly mobile world than with a mobile website?” said Michele Erskine, CBS Outdoor Director of Marketing.

When you access cbsoutdoor.ca on your mobile in Canada, it uses geolocation to redirect you to the CBS Outdoor office closest to you. There you can explore a photo gallery of local outdoor advertising campaigns, contact the closest CBS Outdoor team or access information on other areas of the business including media, research, creative, real estate and production.

The feature that may be most pertinent to those interested in outdoor advertising, is the interactive mapping tool developed with Bing maps. The US version of the site also has a general coverage map that displays bus routes and rail/subway lines and stations.

 
The map allows you to select an area, type of advertising and size of advertising to see what media options are available to you and the market you’re looking to target. Some selections will also include a small thumbnail image so you can see the location and the advertising that has been there previously. It also shows you the direction the advertising will face so you can formulate what audience and what time of day you want consumers to see it.

The improvement to lead generation and customer experience seems to be the focus for this redesign. You can easily select units you’re interested in advertising on via the interactive website and save them on a map to send to the sales team. Actually most things you do lead to the sales team, but it’s so subtle you don’t notice.

It will be interesting to see what percent sales increases off the back of this. It’s a simple and interactive way to get tailored lead generation from clients who are already have an inkling of what they want from outdoor advertising. It’s a step ahead of their competitors, though with nearly 550,000 outdoor media displays in the US alone, CBS Outdoor already dominate the market. This digital offering, free of the customary pie charts and bar graphs, can only widen the gap.

Foursquare has added an ‘Explore’ function to its
website, which effectively turns its billions of check-ins into a social search engine.

Data from 1.5bn check-ins is now available in the form of local recommendations when users search for a service in a particular
town via their computer.

The Explore function has been available on Foursquare’s mobile app since March.

In a blog post the company said simply that this was designed to “help us personalise recommendations for you.”

It’s not just personalised, it’s specific. Search for ‘pool table,’ or ‘guacamole’; ‘deep dish,’ or ‘thin crust.’ Because not all bars, Mexican restaurants, or pizza joints are created equal, and we want to make sure you find what you’re craving.”

The tool allows users to refine searches based on four options; ‘I haven’t been to yet’, ‘I have been to before’, ‘My friends have been to’ and ‘Have Foursquare specials’.

Recommendations then appear on a map of your chosen location as shown below.

By adding this additional functionality Foursquare is stepping away from the gaming model and providing users with a more tangible service.

This is a clever way of using the company’s wealth of data, and if this tool encourages more people to sign-up – at last count it had 15m users – this search function will continue to become more comprehensive.

Foursquare can also now position itself more strongly as a travel tool, since planning your next trip to Paris would be much easier if you have your friends’ suggestions in one place, available from one search engine.

It also opens up new areas for monetisation through the sale of premium listings, or through sponsored social content similar to the news feed ads launched by Facebook this week.

Social search seems to be a huge area of growth for 2012, based on the assumption that people are more interested in their friends’ likes and dislikes than generic search results.

Though we’ve been hearing about the power of this for years, we’re now seeing people truly invest in this as a function – most recently seend in the changes Google announced this week that incorporate social content from Google+ into search results.

The 2011 holiday shopping season was a banner year for online retail, which broke numerous records. Savvy retailers can pat themselves on the back; the best have become incredibly adept at enticing consumers and delivering a great customer experience.

But they’ll probably also want to thank their spend on search according to a new report by IgnitionOne, which found that significant increases in this area for Q4 boosted impressions, clicks and transactions.

According to IgnitionOne, it saw a 14% increase in search spend in Europe, which translated to a 22% increase in clicks and 19% increase in clickthroughs.

The numbers were even more impressive in the US, where retailers specifically boosted their search spend by 26% in Q4. That produced a 42% jump in impressions, a 42% boost in clicks and a 67% increase in transactions.

IgnitionOne’s Chris Evans pointed out the obvious implication that despite increasing spend levels, search spending is also getting more efficient.

With increasing transactions per pound spent; essentially brands are getting more bang for their buck.”

The ability of search spend to drive meaningful action jives with Baynote’s recent Annual Holiday Online Shopping Experience Survey, which found that, despite the hype around social and mobile, search is still one of the two biggest drivers of sales.

But IgnitionOne’s study does raise the interesting question of how retailers will gain from mobile search ads in the future.

It observed a 317% year-over-year increase in mobile search ad impressions last year, and saw 24% of all search ad spend on Black Friday going to mobile.

With this in mind, it will be interesting to see whether mobile search ads are soon just as important to retailers are web search ads.

Audi has created a new Foursquare badge with the support of the US Ski Team, which it has sponsored since 2007.

Fans of the luxury car that follow Audi on Foursquare and check-in to ski resorts this winter will unlock the exclusive ‘Audi Winter Ride’ badge, which gives them 20% off all items in the Audi collection. 

Top skiers including Olympians Lindsey Vonn and Andrew Weibrecht will be contributing Foursquare tips on the best skiing destinations in America. 

Most of the tips focus on the slopes themselves, including this from Vonn:

Want a challenge? Try skiing Forever in Sun Up Bowl. Non-stop if your thighs can handle it.

Hopefully, the tips will branch out to cover local places to go and enjoy a night out after a hard day of skiing. Those truly interested in this campaign will certainly want to know where Olympians hang out in their downtime.

So far the Audi team has posted 7 tips (mostly in Vail, CO). If this continues, and more great content is added throughout the ski season (and not just “My favorite resort is Vail” type tips), Audi could see continued traction from followers on Foursquare. The company isn’t exactly new to using social media for big campaigns either, so it does know what’s expected.

Its recent Twitter contest gave $25,000 to charity alongside luxury prizes to the winners, and last April saw the company’s first foray into using Foursquare with the launch of a new interactive billboard in Times Square which incorporated check-ins and tweets.

This campaign is niche but perfectly aimed at the type of customer Audi want to reach. If you can afford to ski all over America this winter, you can probably afford an Audi. Or at least with the discount off Audi accessories, you can pretend you do.