| « | August 2010 | » | ||||
 |
||||||
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| 29 | 30 | 31 | ||||
Tags: News |
Flashy Army recruitment center in Pa. mall closing
PHILADELPHIA — The Army is shutting down a flashy, high-tech information and recruiting center inside a mall, calling it a successful marketing experiment even as it attracted protesters and video-game enthusiasts as much as potential soldiers.
The Army Experience Center will close July 31 after nearly two years at Philadelphia's Franklin Mills Mall, military officials said Thursday.
"It's been a great success," Army spokesman Brian Lepley said. "Basically it's mission accomplished."
The $12 million center opened in August 2008 with interactive video exhibits, nearly 80 video-gaming stations, a replica command-and-control center, conference rooms, and Black Hawk helicopter and Humvee combat simulators.
Since then, the center has hosted about 40,000 visitors and enlisted 236 recruits, Lepley said.
It was also repeatedly targeted for protests by those who said the Army's use of first-person-shooter video games desensitized visitors to violence and enticed teens into the military. Incase CL59156B Slider Case iPhone 3GS White. Anyone over 13 could play games, though the most graphic ones were restricted to those 18 and older.
Lepley said the demonstrations had nothing to do with the decision to close the center, but activist Elaine Brower, of Staten Island, N.Y., said she was thrilled. She had been particularly galled by the center's mall location, between a skateboard park and an arcade.
"We really consider this a major victory for us," Brower said. "We are happy that they are not going to be in the mall."
Billed as more than a recruiting station, the center was designed to teach any curious mall shopper about the Army.
Officials initially said it might be replicated in other parts of the country. But as the recession set in and unemployment rose, enlistments increased and the Army began spending less on marketing.
Yet the Army Experience Center provided valuable information on how to connect with a generation used to getting information from computers and mobile devices, Lepley said.
Touch-screen kiosks showing the location of global Army posts and a "career navigator" displaying the service's jobs and salaries proved popular and will likely be used at recruiting stations and ROTC schools, Lepley said.
"We can't just print brochures anymore," he said.
The Army had closed five traditional recruiting stations when it opened the center. It's now planning to open a pair of more modern recruiting offices in nearby Levittown and northeast Philadelphia, Lt. Col. Chris Belcher said.
The offices will have some elements found at the Experience Center, including gaming stations and a more casual atmosphere with informal seating, as opposed to the old-fashioned desk with chairs on either side, Belcher said.
Online:
www.thearmyexperience.com
LONDON - An office worker in Britain has become an Internet sensation after she flashed her bra at a Street View camera car.
The busty woman, who lifted her top as the car drove past her workplace, escaped being disciplined by her bosses at the Doma Farm Nursery in Uckfield, East Sussex.. Sony Ericsson DCU 60 USB Data Cable Retail Packaging
"It made me laugh," the Sun quoted web user LAP, who spotted her, as stating.
Another called Bernard Stotesbury added: "One presumes that she did not have enough time to remove the bra?"
Street View is said to cover 96 percent of Britain's roads. (ANI)
Dell lowers 1Q profit to build $100M legal reserve
ROUND ROCK, Texas — Dell Inc. said Thursday that it lowered its first-quarter results by $100 million, or 5 cents per share, to set aside a $100 million reserve it may need to pay out as part of a settlement related to an ongoing SEC accounting probe into the computer maker's accounting and financial reporting practices.. Moshi 99MO034412 Muse for iPad Purple
The company also said its CEO, Michael Dell, is talking with the Securities and Exchange Commission about a possible settlement.
Dell first disclosed an internal investigation into its accounting in 2006, saying it was notified in August of that year of an SEC inquiry related to its revenue recognition and financial reporting.
In 2007, it said it would restate more than four years of financial results with lower earnings after the probe found that its employees had misled auditors and manipulated results to meet performance targets.
Dell said Thursday that a settlement would include negligence-based fraud charges and non-fraud based charges connected to disclosures and alleged omissions that occurred before fiscal 2008 as part of its relationship with chip maker Intel Corp.
Dell said in a statement that its CEO and the SEC have begun talking about a "settlement framework" to resolve the allegations against it.
In the statement, Dell said that a settlement would not prevent Dell from working as an officer or director of a public company, and "would be made without admitting or denying the SEC's allegations."
In May, the company had reported a profit of $441 million, or 22 cents per share, for the Feburary-through-April quarter. The company says its profit for that period is now $341 million, or 17 cents per share. Its adjusted earnings remain the same at 30 cents per share.
Dell's shares dropped 30 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $12.77 in after-hours trading following its news release. It ended the regular session up 29 cents at $13.07.
Twitter to use own Web link shrinker this summer
SAN FRANCISCO — Twitter plans to start using its own Web link shortener on addresses that users include in tweets.
Starting this summer, Twitter will use its new "t.co" domain name to shorten links that users post directly on Twitter.com or through applications such as TweetDeck. That will help the posts stay within the service's 140-character limit. The company is currently testing its linking technology with some employee accounts.
Users won't always see their links displayed as "t.co" addresses, though. If you get Twitter updates sent to your phone via text messaging, a link might show up as a "t.co" address. But you might see the full address or the Web page's title when looking at that same post on Twitter.com.
"Ultimately, we want to display links in a way that removes the obscurity of (a) shortened link and lets you know where a link will take you," Twitter spokesman Sean Garrett wrote on Twitter's blog Tuesday.
Garrett said that this method of packaging links is meant to improve user safety and will help Twitter gather data for its "promoted tweets," which are Twitter posts paid for by advertisers to appear in search results on the site.
He also noted that in March, Twitter started using its own "twt.tl" address to automatically channel links that users sent in messages directed specifically at another user. Motorola EQ5 Bluetooth Car Speakerphone. That was a way for Twitter to spot and cut down on the spread of malware and other unsavory content that links can lead to; Twitter can simply disable a "twt.tl" address if it led to a questionable site.
Twitter used to automatically shrink links on tweets as well — first using TinyURL, later using bit.ly — but the site doesn't currently do so. So if you want to share a long link with friends, you'd have to go to TinyURL, bit.ly or another service to shorten the link first.
Even after Twitter implements "t.co," Garrett said that users will still be able to use link shorteners of their choosing. This means you should still be able to take advantage of traffic analysis and other features that come with those services. But those shortened links will be converted into a "t.co" address.
The effect of Twitter's move on existing link shorteners is likely to be small. After all, they are also commonly used in e-mails, Facebook posts and other settings.
We live in an increasingly mobile world and the decision to extend brand communication to the mobile channel seems inevitable. Â On the other hand, making this decision in a way that will pay off in the long-run is a less apparent process.
Mobile data measurement brings with it challenges that are very different from fixed web measurement. For example carrier restrictions, platform variations and mobile browser limitations are such that mobile product applications don’t easily lend themselves to uniform measurement across devices. In order to be able to use data as a strategic asset, measurement standards must be such that they can be applied to a wide range if devices.
Taia Postalati
Interactive Ontario recently hosted an AMA webinar featured Greg Dowling, Vice President of Mobile Strategy & Measurement at Semphonic and former Head of Analysis for Nokia. Dowling was leading Nokia’s recent initiative to implement first worldwide mobile analytics measurement standard, and his insights can be applied to mobile marketing.
Looking at mobile phone penetration by manufacturers, Nokia leads the way with over a third of the worldwide handset market. In the smartphone category, Nokia’s Symbian operating system makes up just over half of the smartphones used globally, followed by RIM at 20 per cent and iPhone at 15 per cent. (Gartner)  However iPhone owners use their devices much more than the owners of any of its competitors do.
Nokia’s approach to mobile product extension for its clients begins by aligning brand objectives with mobile strategy.Â
 Lack of a definitive mobile strategy is the biggest challenge to generating a positive return on investment in mobile products. Often times, the decision to create a mobile product is tactical rather than strategic. At this early stage in mobile marketing adoption, this may very well be a viable approach. However without relevant functionality and broad handset reach, a mobile product is simply a branding exercise designed to attract consumer’s attention instead of focusing on conversion.. Plantronics Discovery 975
Determining a brand’s mobile suitability means asking what it is about a brand that is compelling to a mobile audience. Moving an entire website to the mobile web or building an application is not always the best way to communicate with consumers.Â
In many cases a simple but well executed text messaging campaign is more fitting. For example, a brand that handles perishable inventory, like a restaurant, will likely have a customer base that is interested in being notified about promotions. Another company that has several locations in an urban centre, like a retailer, will likely have customers who want to be able to find a nearest location on their cell phone.
When you’re thinking about how to structure your mobile product offering you have to be mindful of the range of devices in the hands of your consumers and also have clearly articulated brand objectives.  If you want to get into mobile you should begin the strategy process now.
Happy Quit Facebook Day.Â
Think of the endless invitation to Mafia Wars or pleas to search for a missing cow on Farmville, not the constant updates from friends who just have to tell the world that they “just can’t wait for Friday†or that a “Sausage, eggs and mee goreng and a cup of Nescafe Gold†really perked them up today. All that could come to an end.. Motorola A1200 Speaker with flip
Nestor Arellano
Â
Last time I checked the Quit Facebook Day movement, which officially starts today has only signed up 26,977 committed Facebook quitters out of the social networking site’s 400 million members. So good luck with that.
However, writer Steven Vaughan-Nichols has come up with a list of seven alternative sites that you might what to check out. We have his list here but you can also read the whole story on ITBusiness.ca
WikiHow also has this step-by-step advice on Facebook-weary on how to kick the habbit – How to Quit Facebook.
Â
Here’s Steve’s list:
While this open-source project is still in beta, it’s an interesting take on social networking. Instead of being under the control of one company and one set of administrators, Appleseed works via a distributed server software package tied together with the ASN (Appleseed Social Network).
That means that as a user, you select and log into an Appleseed site. Once there, you connect with friends, send messages, share photos and videos, join discussions and participate in all the usual social networking stuff. Don’t like the specific Appleseed site you’re on? Then sign up for a different one and, according to the site, “immediately reconnect with everyone in your network.”
Diaspora, for all the headlines it’s gotten, is still not much more than an idea.
Technically, Diaspora sounds a lot like Appleseed. It’s also going to be built from open-source software, and it’s going to be a distributed network server application. The first Diaspora code release is slated for September.
Rather than being a social network, Elgg is designed for companies and groups to run their own social networks.
You can either run your own Elgg installation — according to the Web site, the developers will be happy to help you — or you can host your site with a provider that specializes in Elgg sites. Starting later this summer, you’ll also be able to host it on Elgg.com itself.
While businesses and social groups may find Elgg interesting, it’s not really a Facebook competitor in and of itself.
Lorea describes itself as “a project to create secure social cybernetic systems, in which human networks will become simultaneously represented on a virtual shared world.” It’s an experimental social network that combines some aspects of social networking, such as communities and real-time updating a la Twitter, with blogging.
Lorea may be less a Facebook competitor than a site for programmers who want to explore the fundamental concepts of how social networks should work.
Unlike Appleseed and Diaspora, the Vodafone Group’s OneSocialWeb is not only hoping to become a social network itself, but also to be the focal point for all the other social networks you may belong to.
For example, if OneSocialWeb works as planned, it will provide the common infrastructure from which you can access all your friends’ information, photos, comments, etc., from Twitter, Facebook and other networks.
Of course, for this to work, the other social networks would have to agree to play by OneSocialWeb’s rules — and I suspect they won’t want to make it easy for users to jump from their own network to another.
Look for a public OneSocialWeb beta later this summer.
Like Elgg, Pligg is an open-source platform for building social networks. The key difference between the two is that Pligg is also a content management system.
Specifically, Pligg is a CMS that enables users to submit and vote on news articles, like Digg. Besides the usual up-or-down voting system, Pligg offers a chance to rate the articles using a five-star scale. While more than good enough for this kind of story-sharing, Pligg really isn’t going to be the basis of a Facebook-type network.
Here’s the good news: Pip.io is already up and running, and it is a real would-be Facebook competitor. Here’s the bad news: It is still very rough.
For instance, when Steve  asked it to find members of Pip.io whom he already knew by using his Gmail contact list, it instead offered to let him invite everyone on his thousand-plus address book to join him on Pip.io.
The interface, which owes more to Twitter than to Facebook, is easy to use. It also enables you to use other social networks such as Facebook and Twitter from Pip.io. In short, Pip.io is trying to be both a social network and a social network client.
It may, eventually, do quite well at all these jobs. But for now, it’s a work in progress.
by J.J. on Jun.11, 2010, under iPad News
So if you’re wondering why it’s taking sooooooo long for any movement on health care reform or DADT it’s because the entire White House staff is obsessed with Scrabble on their iPad’s. Just kidding. Sort of.
According to the Washington Post everywhere you look in the White House these days you see an iPad. Specifically, almost  everyone in the West Wing office of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has an iPad or an iPad on order. I guess White House security clearance doesn’t get you an iPad any faster than anyone else when there are shortages.
The Post reports “Emanuel just got his, as did senior adviser David Axelrod and deputy press secretary Bill Burton. Both communications director Dan Pfeiffer and press wrangler Ben Finkenbinder have one on order. Economic adviser Larry Summers takes his to staff meetings.”
So of course, the Post wanted to know what apps everyone was using. I mean isn’t that the first thing you ask your friends when you’re talking about your iPads? “Summers has the Bloomberg app for financial information, says adviser Matt Vogel. Also Scrabble. And the first book he downloaded was a free copy of “The Federalist Papers.” Burton, who has been a bit of an iPad evangelist at the White House, has the app for Vanity Fair magazine, Scrabble, a news app and the entire last season of ABC’s “Lost.” Emanuel has “all the newspaper apps,” says a top aide, and has installed the iBooks app so he can read books on the device. Axelrod has only downloaded a couple of apps so far, his assistant, Eric Lesser, said. Incase CL59165B Snap Case iPhone 3GS Clear. They include the Major League Baseball app and the National Public Radio one.
There’s no word on whether or not Mr. President himself has adopted an iPad, but we do know in the past his allegiance was to the Blackberry. Â But he’s got to be a bit jealous when he sees Joe Biden on his.
The big interface helps productivity... except when it omits a feature.
Known as one of the premier organizational to-do apps on Mac and iPhone, Things sits in iPad limbo. Is it a stand-alone task-management tool with features that fully match the strong Things for Mac? No. Is it just an extension of Things for Mac, designed to mostly sync data for mobile use? Not really. Things for iPad gives lip service to both audiences without fully serving either. It omits features--crucial to some--that you'd need in a stand-alone tool, and at $20, it's far too pricey to just be a way to bring the desktop data outside. At least the core to-do list functionality shines through; even in this waffling 1.0.1 version, Things for iPad can help boost your productivity.
Loosely related to the Getting Things Done methodology, Things is flexible enough to fit most workflows. You'll create to-do entries, projects with multiple steps, and schedule items. Complete a step, and cross it off; it's good organization at its simplest. You can shuffle items between key areas, such as putting some in today's view to focus on just a few at a time. Scheduled items can even hide in an upcoming area and automatically appear on a specific date.
Different list views help corral to-do entries.
If you have the Mac version of the software, Things for iPad syncs the data over, keeping both editions current with your life. It worked well in our tests. With the desktop software open, every time we launched Things for iPad, the two found each other on the local network.
But you can only access several important features on Things for Mac and then sync them over. For example, recurring events--"take out the garbage each Wednesday"--require the Mac software. Ditto that for customized folder headings that essentially group aliases of to-dos.
Things for iPad misses other key interface features. You can't simply drag single (or multiple) items into new areas; you have to tap them and select a new destination. Worse, there's no search functionality, and bizarrely, you can't create lists that aren't Projects, a restriction that will seriously irk users of Things on other platforms. Motorola D500 Original LCD with frame. Cultured Code says it will address most (or all) of these in an update, but it's been almost two months since the app was released, and the company was unable to confirm a timeframe for an update that is absolutely essential for rounding out this half-baked, under-featured, and significantly overpriced app. We know this developer can do great things, and we're hoping the 1.1 update of this iPad app will realize its full potential.
