There’s no two ways about it: if you use a lot of Google services, then Google knows a lot about you. Google has received a solid amount of criticismbecause of this, and they’ve decided to alleviate the issueby launching Privacy Dashboard; a one-stop-shop with all the information that Google knows about you and your online habits collected in one place. Dashboard covers more than 20 products and services, including Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Web History, Orkut, YouTube, Picasa, Talk, Reader, Alerts, Latitude and others. It’s quite a scary list; personally, I’m using all of these, and I was quite interested to see what exactly I’ve told Google about myself without even knowing. Google calls the “scale and level of detail of the Dashboard unprecedented,” but I was a bit disappointed. The dashboard is nothing more than a selected list of privacy-related settings from the services listed above. You can find some interesting tidbits of info about your various Google account that you may have forgotten. For example, you can see which calendars you’ve shared with other people. But all of this info was already available in the Calendar settings.Sure, it’s nice to have all these in one place, should you ever want to review all your private information stored at Google at once, but there’s nothing really new about this list; you could even call it a privacy-related compilation. Unfortunately, it’s also an unpleasant reminder of just how much data you’re giving out to Google (and other online services). You can find the dashboard over at google.com/dashboard, or by login into your Google account, clicking on Settings, choosing “Google Account Settings” from the dropdown, and then clicking on the link next to “Dashboard”. Check out an introductory video for Google Dashboard below. Do you think Google is doing enough to protect your privacy? Please share your thoughts in the comments. Reviews: Gmail, Google, Orkut, Picasa, YouTubeTags: Google, Google Dashboard, privacy
Imagine this: once a happy child with a lot of friends, little Jack has started spending many hours per day on social networking sites such as Facebook, which has turned him into a pale asocial freak. Oh, if only he’d never touched that cursed box we call the computer, he’d be a healthy young man now!This is the picture we’ve been fed a lot by the media (did you see the movie Gamer? I rest my case), but according to a studyconducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, it’s simply not true. Quite the contrary: online activities such as social networking, sending e-mails and blogging can lead to larger, and (perhaps even more importantly) more diverse social networks. From the study:“Social media activities are associated with several beneficial social activities, including having discussion networks that are more likely to contain people from different backgrounds. For instance, frequent internet users, and those who maintain a blog are much more likely to confide in someone who is of another race. Those who share photos online are more likely to report that they discuss important matters with someone who is a member of another political party.”Yes, social isolation is still a problem for some 6 percent of the population, but it’s simply not related to the Internet, and hasn’t changed much since 1985. For the most part, the study conducted on 2,512 adults simply confirms what most of us know already: people use all this new technology to get in touch with their family and friends; for example, people call each person in their circle of closes friends on 195 days in a year, but they also see each of them face to face 210 days in a year. Same goes for Facebook and MySpace, as 71% of users have listed at least one member of their core network of friends as a friend on one of these services. Here’s the fun part: internet users are far more likely (45%) to visit a café or a coffee shop than people who don’t use the internet. And not only that; the myth that frequent internet users hang out mostly at home is also busted, as people have started using it many public spaces, such as libraries, bars, coffee shops, restaurants and the like. The full report is a very interesting read; you can find it here. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, webphotographeerReviews: Facebook, MySpace, iStockphotoTags: internet, isolation, social networking
While Google may have its Google Checkout payment platform, it’s not really a player in the ecommerce space. Considering the billions of dollars being exchanged on thousands of retail websites every year, that’s a big market that Google isn’t monetizing. Perhaps that’s why we’re surprised that it took them this long to launch Google Commerce Search, a new search engine that online retailers can install on their websites to provide Google-style speed and efficiency for customers when they search for products.The product is straightforward: it is meant to help consumers search and sort through the items a retailer is selling online. The interface can be customized, searches can be filtered, and results can be tracked via Google Analytics. It’s hosted on the Google cloud, which means that holiday traffic spikes won’t take it down, but that retailers have to give up some control over search.While the features are great, the key to whether Commerce Search gains adoption is its conversion rate. If (as we suspect) more users buy products through Google Commerce search than the custom interfaces many retailers have, those companies will switch. Just a 1% conversion upgrade on $1 million in sales is significant, though the exact cost of using the search engine isn’t clear yet.If you’re interested in learning more, Google as usual has created a useful YouTube video that explains the basics. Let us know what you think in the comments:Reviews: Google, Google Analytics, YouTubeTags: Google
You may remember earlier this year when William Shatner went on The Tonight Show to offer up a poetic reading of Sarah Palin’s tweets. Not surprisingly, the result was a hilarious viral hit — so much so that Shatner actually made a second appearance on Conan O’Brien’s show to do it again.After a bit of a hiatus, Shatner is back, this time to do a poetic reading of another Wasilla, Alaska based character who has taken to Twitter – Levi Johnston. Once again, the outcome is comedic gold. Check it out in the video below:Who would you like to see Shatner take on next? Share your picks in the comments.Reviews: TwitterTags: conan o'brien, levi johnston, tonight show, video, William Shatner
This post is part of Mashable’s Spark of Genius series, which highlights a unique feature of startups. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here. The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark.Name: KwanzooQuick Pitch: Create something interesting that will be talked about online – and then shared amongst peers on social networks: That’s Kwanzoo’s proposition to marketers who want to tap social networks for friendly referrals amongst peersGenius Idea: Kwanzoo, currently in private beta, offers marketers, advertisers, and small businesses a potentially powerful and viral way to leverage social media channels for quick and easy campaigns.Say you want to try and engage your fans on Facebook, followers on Twitter, blog readers, or customers in an email newsletter with a quiz or poll. You could use various tools and widgets made for each service, but Kwanzoo’s all-in-one, plug-and-play solution makes it faster to create and brand your poll, easier to make the content shareable, and simpler to measure campaign results.The three step process lets you select a quiz or poll template, customize it, and then publish it as a landing page to your site that you can then promote via social media channels like Facebook and Twitter. You can also embed it in blog posts, use them in lieu of banner ads, or share the polls and quizzes in email newsletters. When respondents engage with the content, they can also share the results on Twitter or Facebook, and you can capture lead information and measure the social results with campaign metrics.The service is not yet available to the general public, but you can try it free using one of the 500 free beta test accounts that Kwanzoo is offering to Mashable readers. Head over to their site, click the button to request an invitation, and then enter “Mashable” in the “Where did you hear about us?” box. The first 500 people will be notified via email with account information starting tomorrow early afternoon.Sponsored by Microsoft BizSparkBizSpark is a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.Entrepreneurs can take advantage of the Azure Services platformfor their website hosting and storage needs. Microsoft recently announced the “new CloudApp()” contest– use the Azure Services Platform for hosting your .NET or PHP app, and you could be the lucky winner of a USD 5000* (please see website for official rules and guidelines).”Reviews: Facebook, Mashable, PHP, TwitterTags: kwanzoo, social media marketing
A select group of Twitter users have been granted a new feature that’s been a long time coming.Twitter is testing “tweet notifications” that will automatically call out new tweets since your last refresh, from the people you follow, on your Twitter.com homepage. Think of it as the next best thing to the auto-refresh.Although we haven’t been gifted with the new feature, we can see it in the wild courtesy of Twitter user @stephromanski, who noticed the change and posted a very clear TwitPic of the tweet notification update.Here’s what Twitter’s Status bloghas to say about the new addition to the Twitter experience:“We’re starting a limited test of notifications on twitter.com for when you have new tweets. So if one of the folks you follow has tweeted since you loaded your homepage, you’ll get a little notice saying “1 new tweet” that, when clicked, will display the new content.We think it improves the tweet consumption experience and hope to roll it out to everyone as soon as we can.”Reviews: Twitpic, TwitterTags: twitter
Two still mythical tablet devices, the Microsoft Courierand the Apple Tablet, are probably the hottest and most coveted devices that do not yet officially exist. To further fuel the anticipatory gadget lust, Gizmodo has scored an in-depth lookat the former’s user interface and overall design.As we were clued into by earlier leaks, the Infinite Journal is the key metaphor for Courier. It’s like an enormous notebook for collecting pretty much any kind of content: clippings from the web, your own notes, diagrams and drawings, photos from the on-board camera, etc. Each item gets a timestamp and geotag, and you can add more tags for better searchability as well.Several key “views” into your Journal are detailed in the leaked document, including a Smart Agenda that acts as a sort of a Cliff Notes representation of your entire journal, making important items visible at a glance. The Journal Overview is another style of at-a-glance window into the journal contents, with an integrated search interface. The Library is the main file browser metaphor that organizes everything by type. The left screen acts as a “favorites” tray where you can sticky your most important apps and projects in one place.Also detailed is the Browser (pictured below), allowing you to easily clip content from the web into your journal. You can also flip through your history with a vertical Cover Flow-like index card system. Another handy organization metaphor is the ability to “tuck” items into the device’s spine to temporarily store something and move it from one section of your journal to another.The included Pen is not simply a plain old stylus. It comes with two buttons, an eraser, and different drawing modes activated by a twist mechanism. The rear button is an Undo action, while the front button is a quick-select that is tailored to the drawing mode you’re in. You can also use several finger gestures to interact with the device as well.Courier has a dedicated hardware button to call up the camera mode. Point the front of the device at a scene and tap the left screen to take a photo. You can drag the viewfinder handle to adjust the size and position of the image, and browse your photo library in the right pane of the device.Lastly, some more details emerge about the “Cloud” which, like its name suggests, is how the Courier is able to provide web-based access to your Journal. You can share portions of your Journal online and allow collaborators to comment. They show up instantly in your Infinite Journal, with notifications showing up in your Smart Agenda. Plus, you can access your own Journal from any web browser to view items or make changes.Armed with all that information, we have to admit being more than a little bit hot and bothered over the Courier. If and when this and Apple’s device are officially unleashed, it could be a seriously juicy competition for our hearts and wallets, and perhaps yours — are you tempted by the Courier? We know it’s all still speculation at this point, but what are your thoughts on the device?[Images courtesy of Gizmodo]Tags: Apple Tablet, courier, journal, microsoft, microsoft courier, tablet pc, UI, user interface
Google News is already a handy resource for staying informed on breaking news stories, but they’ve just become a news source that’s more dialed into your specific needs. Google News custom sections, launched today, empowers you to build your own section in their online newspaper rack. Now if you want to filter the news stories you see on the homepage, you can simply identify a few keywords, with assistance from Google, label it, and create a custom view of news. You can also optionally publish your Google News section to a public custom news sections directly.We think Google is on to something here. The new feature reminds us of Twitter’s new Lists, because user’s can now define what’s important to them and share their personalized sections with the larger community.In the directory you can even view how many Google users are using each of custom created sections, see section ratings, and sort by type, category, rating, or users. The only downside is that right now the feature is only available in the English language, though it is accessible to outside the United States to Google News users in Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.If you’re looking for inspiration, check out a few of these Google created news section that pull in topic-based news: Space, Hollywood, and Solar Power. Try the feature out for yourself, and make sure to share your sections in the comments.Reviews: Australia, GoogleTags: custom sections, google news
One of the top Internet memesof 2009 is likely going to get a shot of new life this weekend as Taylor Swift hosts Saturday Night Live. Of course, we’re talking about Kanye West’s interruptionof the singer at the MTV Video Music Awards that spawned countless “I’ma let you finish” parodies, Halloween costumes, and even the use of the word “jackass”by the President.NBC has just released the first preview for the show, which, you guessed it, alludes to one of the greatest viral video moments of all-time. We won’t ruin the punch line for you, but you can probably guess what it is. Here’s the video:Tags: kanye west, snl, taylor swift, video
If you’re determined to shake down some deals during the mother of all U.S. shopping days, then forgive the cliche when we tell you there’s an app for that. Powered by dealnews, the just-released version 2 of their Black Friday app(iTunes link) adds a number of new features for bargain hunters.For one, the app now shows both “leaked” and confirmed Black Friday ads so you can get the jump on sales that haven’t even been announced yet publicly. When you find items you might consider picking up, you can click the list icon in the lower right to save them to your own easily-accessible Shopping List.You can toggle between individual deals and sales organized by retailer from the buttons at the bottom of the interface, and drill down into retailer sales by category. To look at details more closely or make a purchase, there’s a button with each offer to take you to that specific ad in Safari.The app has a lifespan beyond Black Friday as well, with Cyber Monday and After-Christmas sales rotating in after November 27 along with dealnews-worthy bargains going on year-round. The Black Friday app is garnering some negative reviews in the App Store for being essentially a mobile version of the regular dealnews site — but if you’re out shopping or otherwise on-the-go that’s not necessarily a bad thing. And at the going price of free, bargain hunters might consider the app itself a deal worth trying out.Have you used the Black Friday app? What’s your impression, and what would you add or change? If you know of other good bargain-hunting apps, let us know in the comments as well.Reviews: App Store, SafariTags: black friday, dealnews, iphone, iphone apps, shopping
Throughout our extensive coverage of Google Wave, we’ve discussed potential applications for the real-time communication platform, both for personal use and enterprise. Yet while Wave has had momentum as a consumer tool (people are still clamoring for Google Wave invites), its viability as a business tool has been questioned. Will businesses really adopt Wave as a way to communicate collaboratively and share business docs?Well, we’re about to find out in a big way. Novell, the maker of enterprise software for businesses and servers, has unveiled Novell Pulse, a new enterprise-level communication platform deeply integrated with Google Wave. This could be Wave’s first major test as a platform for conducting business.The new Novell product, launching sometime mid-2010, is being billed as a “real-time communication platform for the enterprise.” Its selling point is that it enhances productivity and innovation by making it easier to share information, documents, and conversations. It also offers information and people filtering, enterprise-level security, and social messaging.However, the feature that will get the most attention is its integration with Google Wave. Novell Pulse is one of the first products to utilize Google Wave federation, meaning that its code and features are not being hosted on Google’s servers, but by Novell (later on, Novell will offer Pulse as a localized product on a company’s servers). It’s a high-profile enterprise integration for Wave, and the reaction of organizations to the product could be a strong indicator as to how deep Wave adoption will end up becoming.Still, Pulse seems like a push in the right direction. Utilizing Wave for business communication, as the Mashable team can attest, can be very efficient. We’re excited to try out Pulse for ourselves, and we will be sure to write a review once we do.Reviews: Google, Google Wave, MashableTags: Google, Google Wave, Novell
Two of the hottest trends right now are Augmented Reality and iPhone apps. Some iPhone apps like Yelp, Urbanspoonand Wikitudehave utilized AR for the ultimate “ooh, that’s neat” type of effect.Building on this trend, one clever marketer, That Bald Guy (AKA Michael Krivicka) decided to create a video demo for the ultimate AR iPhone app: NUDE IT. Think of NUDE IT as those X-Ray glasses from the back of old comic books.Check out the video:Very funny stuff (and very good production values)! But what started off as a marketing tool has exploded into something far beyond Krivicka’s imagination. He wrote us saying that he “created the video as a marketing tool for my blog but got a lot more than I bargained for: hundreds of daily email requests for this very special iPhone app.”Indeed, the NUDE IT video has been viewed more than 500,000 times since October 11. That’s a pretty successful marketing campaign! Hilariously, not everyone seems to understand that the video is just a joke (look at the App’s homepage) and are clamoring for a real release date for the app.We love it. If this is the future of viral marketing (and even Augmented Reality), we say bring it on!Tags: Augmented Reality, humor, iphone, nude it
Sarah Evansis a public relations and new media consultant and speaker at Sevans Strategy. She also authors a PR and social media blogand is the founder of #journchat.Twitter’s new Lists feature is all the rage right now. There are probably already millions of lists, and that number is growing by the minute (or second). So what are people using all these lists for? Are people creating lists just for the sake of creating lists? Savvy individuals are looking for ways to use lists to further their personal/professional agendas, and while we are all still learning how to harness the power of this new feature, here are a few ideas to get the creative juices flowing. Let us know in the comments what other ways you’re using Twitter Lists.1. Industry Peers and Professionals ListsOne way to use Twitter Lists is to keep your finger on the pulse of your industry. Tim O’Reilly(@timoreilly), founder and CEO of O’Reilly Media, for example, created the Gov 2.0list to accomplish this goal for government tweeters. Once you create your “experts” list, share the link with your peers. (If you’re in a generous mood.) If you have a Twitternetwork largely made up of industry peers, you’ll save them from reinventing the wheel by creating a public list that everyone can use. Lists are still new enough that you can be the first to develop an “it” list. In other words, for many industries and topics you could create the de facto list of peers that others follow and reference. A list that garners a large followership means more attention for you and may increase your Twitter followers. Once you create the list, you’ll need to promote it. Add it to a list directory like Listoriousfor additional opportunities for people to view and follow.2. Experts ListsIf you’re an expert, recognize other experts. Technology blogger Robert Scoble(@scobleizer) did this with his recent lists like, “most influential in tech,” and “web innovators,” for example. It’s a win both for Robert and for those he recommends. He continues to establish his credibility as a technology thought leader and others benefit from the recognition and online visibility. Many of his lists already have hundreds of followers. You can also use Twitter Lists to highlight individuals that routinely offer insight, tips, tools, etc. about a particular topic. Do you have certain peopleyou keep on mobile alerts or have a special column for in Tweetdeck? It’s most likely a list in the making. If nothing else, lists like these let people you admire and/or listen to know that you appreciate the content they’re putting out.3. Recognize and Reward Customers ListsLists can be used to promote your clients and/or customers. Depending on your industry, it’s an opportunity for your customers to connect with other like-minded people. You may decide sharing all of your customers on Twitter isn’t right for your business, but you can still take advantage of Twitter Lists to recognize your customers. You could, perhaps, implement a “valued clients of the week” list or run a contest that rewards a certain number of customers with a spot on a special list.Another way to reward customers is to create a list of your company’s Twitter accounts that offer special deals, discounts, or exclusive announcements.4. Niche ListsThe New York Times’ City Roomcrew created the “NYC Street Food Trucks” list for all things street food in New York City. Creating niche category lists can be very helpful for others, so think outside the box. Maybe there’s an audience who would love a list of all celebrities who have graced the cover of Vogue and tweet. Or, perhaps, a list of viral video stars (e.g., @daviddentist) would be useful for some. What niche can you identify that needs a list? Lists can also be humorous. @daphnebegonia, who happens to be a dog, curates a list of “people I have licked.” It’s a funny idea that offers potential, and a concept that can work for other animal-related entities. I’m hoping for a Sea World, “I met Shamu,” list. 5. Employee Directory ListsYou might have a link to your Twitter account on your website, but don’t forget to make an official employee Twitter List. You should include all official company accounts, along with employees who tweet on behalf of the organization (or if you have a more open culture, you could include any employee that tweets). Mashable has an employee list, as does Twitter.Share the list internally, too. Not only is this a way to aggregate accounts, it also makes monitoring easier. Think about creative ways you can promote your company’s Twitter list (for example, from the signature line of emails, or on your business cards). 6. Political Campaign ListsRunning for office? Aggregate your supporters or “friends of” the campaign for increased visibility. It’s important to stay connected to constituents, especially during election time (every vote counts!). In fact, go beyond campaign supporters and create an “official” party list, or a list of all the newspapers that have endorsed a candidate. If you’re a political reporter or blogger, create a private list of all candidates you’re tracking to keep tabs on their tweets more easily. (This same principal could be applied by journalists or bloggers to any beat, not just politics.)7. Location-Based ListsCreate a list of everyone in your city/town who tweets. Or create a list of city and/or state employees who tweet. If your mayor, village manager, school district board members and others are on Twitter, group them together to create a resource for others in your area. This idea can work in an official capacity as well. If you’re in charge of a municipality’s website, aggregate the feeds from these lists for your official website to offer real-time updates to your citizens. 8. Event Attendees and Live-Tweeters ListsHosting an upcoming event? Encourage people to submit their Twitter IDs when they register. Share the list pre-conference and encourage people to connect. Don’t forget to update the list during the conference. You could also create a list of all speakers or sponsors for a conference to share with attendees, who can then familiarize themselves with the conference lineup and supporters before they get there.Creating a special list of those live-tweeting events can make it easier for people not able to attend to follow the action without worrying about the noise created by extraneous hashtag conversations or spammers. 9. Self-Serving ListsLists can help you out, too. If you’re out of work, for example, you could create a list of company or recruiter accounts to monitor for job postings. Or if you need to stay current on a topic for work, you could create a list of companies or bloggers active on that subject. Just the act of taking the time to research a comprehensive (and accurate) list will help you as much as the information that will come through from tweets. And if you decide to share your list, it could have the potential to garner a large following, which can boost your online credibility. 10. Promote Your Affiliation ListsTwitter Lists may also be good for promoting or listing your affiliations. Collegiate alumni associations, for example, are constantly looking for ways to keep people engaged, enter the “University XYZ Alumni List.” This concept works for any group, organization, association, etc.Journalists, bloggers, promoters, and others could also create a list of affiliations as a way to disclose potential conflicts of interest. A public relations professional, for example, could create a list of their clients as a way to let followers know which of their tweets may exhibit a conflict of interest. How do you creatively harness the power of public Twitter Lists? Please share in the comments.More Twitter Lists resources from Mashable:- HOW TO: Use Twitter Lists- Twitter Lists: Frequently Asked Questions and Strategies- 4 Ways News Organizations are Using Twitter Lists- Twitter Lists: Journalism Becomes a Real-Time JobReviews: Mashable, TweetDeck, TwitterTags: List, Lists, trending, twitter, Twitter Lists
With all of the excitement surrounding the Motorola Droid— which comes to Verizon on Friday— T-Mobile wants to remind customers that they are also dedicated to the Androidplatform.At the Open Mobile Summit in San Francisco, T-Mobile’s Cole Brodman gave a keynote highlighting the company’s history with the platform and plans for the future (what, you thought he was going to talk about the network outagesfrom yesterday?).T-Mobile was the first carrier to launch an Android-based device (the G1) in October of 2008. The company now offers three Android phones (the G1, the myTouch 3G and the Motorola CLIQ), with a fourth, the Samsung Behold II coming soon.Additionally, T-Mobile is planning on launching a T-Mobile Channel in the Android Market that will be live by Thanksgiving. T-Mobile customers will be able to purchase apps using carrier billing, which might make buying them easier and more streamlined. T-Mobile also has a developer program available at developer.tmobile.comthat lets developers “pitch” Android apps for possible featured placement on T-Mobile’s site or the upcoming T-Mobile Channel.What do you think of T-Mobile’s commitment to Android? Let us know!Reviews: Android, Android MarketTags: android, Android Market, motorola cliq, T-Mobile
