Cobbett: eBay’s Skype Purchase Failure
My Clippings October 8th, 2009 by System
Automatically pulled from Google Starred
Was Ebay’s historic $2billion Skype acquisition the worst deal in the history of the PC industry? Maybe not, but it’s got to be on the shortlist. Dr Faustus negotiated himself a better contract. First, let’s consider the price. $2.6billion (in cash and shares) is a lot for any company to shell out, even for something as then-exciting as Skype and a share in the fledgling VoIP revolution.
Next, factor in the fact that if Ebay ever had a clue why it wanted Skype in the first place, we never saw it. PayPal for $1.5billion? Sure. It’s now the standard method of buying and selling on Ebay proper – that one makes sense. Skype? We didn’t even see the much-mocked idea of buyers calling sellers to ask questions come to fruition, never mind anything that justified the exorbitant price.
No wonder Ebay has been trying to sell it on, but what exactly does it have to sell? In a twist of fate that must have led to at least one former contract lawyer filling in a fast food job application form, we found out that Ebay had bought Skype, but not the key peer-to-peer technology behind it, which was still owned by the software’s original developers. To put this situation into some sort of context, it’s the equivalent of Ebay having one wish and spending it on a lifetime’s supply of tuna, but failing to persuade the genie to hand over a can opener.
But wait, that’s not all! Just in case there wasn’t quite enough salt poured into its already gaping wound, the moment Ebay finally managed to wash its hands of the whole messy business by finding a buyer for the service, Skype’s original owners popped back up and hit the online auction house with a lawsuit, finally squirting actual blood from the emaciated cash cow’s poor, withered udders. Right into Ebay’s sobbing face.
What I’m trying to say here is that, firstly, I think this deal could probably have gone a little better. Secondly, if there are still any giant corporations out there that disagree with me, and which honestly believe that urinating away billions of dollars on something as obviously foolish as the initial Skype purchase could be seen as a good investment, well, you’re in luck.
iPhone Maps app now showing “sponsored links”
My Clippings October 6th, 2009 by System
Automatically pulled from Google Starred
Filed under: Business, Apple, Google
It’s no secret that Google’s in the ad business, but it looks like they’ve snuck ads into an unexpected place: the Maps app on the iPhone. Maps is powered by Google – for now, anyway, because Apple has purchased its own map company, PlaceBase – and so Google has the ability to drop “Sponsored Links” into the system. You might not see them everywhere, but you can test for yourself by searching for things like food, sushi, and diners in NYC. You’ll see some automatically highlighted results pop up, marked as sponsored.
None of the sources writing about this development seem to know whether Apple is getting a cut of the profit from these advertising placements, but Apple and Google have a complicated relationship. Although it’s tempting to think that Google is trying to be pesky to Apple on the iPhone because Apple rejected the iPhone version Google Voice, I suspect there’s something more going on. For now, though, we’ll have to wait for one of the companies to comment, and see what Apple does with PlaceBase.
[via The Apple Blog]
iPhone Maps app now showing “sponsored links” originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 05 Oct 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics:
iPhone – Google – Apple – Download Squad – Google Maps
Tags: advertising, Apple, cli, email, Food, Google, Inc., IO, ma, man, php, way, XP
Showcase of Designs Optimized for iPhone
My Clippings September 27th, 2009 by System
Automatically pulled from Google Starred
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Over the last couple of years, mobile devices have managed to gain mainstream popularity. With iPhone, making mobile Web applications finally usable by broad masses, web design can now be applied to mobile applications as well. In this post we are focusing on designs that are specifically optimized for mobile devices, in particular iPhone.
Though iPhone’s Safari browser is able to render any website just like you would see it on a desktop browser, the available screen area is much smaller than in common “classic” displays. This poses a new challenge for designers and developers who now can reach millions of users that use mobile Web. Websites that are specifically optimized for the iPhone utilize the screen to the fullest extent, and use less bandwidth (which is necessary, because the connectivity is not always optimal).
The iPhone browsing experience is quite different than the regular browsing experience. The buttons and hyperlinks have to be bigger because our fingers are not as sharp as the mouse pointer. Optimizing a website for iPhone is not rocket science. It’s the same HTML, CSS and JavaScript that you already know. The only major difference is the screen size.
In the showcase below we present some of the interesting, interactive and beautiful designs that are optimized for the iPhone. You will also learn about some handy tools that will help you optimize your website for the iPhone.
Also consider our previous articles:
- How to Create Your First iPhone Application
- iPhone Apps Design Mistakes: Over-Blown Visuals
- 100 (Really) Beautiful iPhone Wallpapers
1. News / Entertainment
Sevnth Sin
The unique navigation makes this site very interactive. Nice concept, nice colors.
Blip.tv
Perfectly suits the theme: video entertainment! Clean and clear typography.
NBC
The YouTube-style design makes it very easy to navigate and find shows.
Zinio
That’s a kit of magazines, all one-touch away!
Spin The Bottle
A simple bottle spinning game. Good use of graphics.
Daily Wallpaper
Similar to Zinio, but 2 thumbnails in a row make it more easy to navigate around.
AOL Horoscopes
Very well designed for a horoscope site. Matching color scheme throughout.
Tags: Apple, Build, css, Food, Google, Guideline, Information, IO, ISO, Javascript, ma, man, Photo, php, quick, script, Shopping, video, Wallpaper, way, WordPress, XP
Website of the Day: TownMe
My Clippings September 25th, 2009 by System
Automatically pulled from Google Starred
Just moved to a new city or town? Or perhaps you’re taking a business trip to a place you’ve never visited and you’re trying to locate some decent restaurants and shopping areas. A recently launched site called TownMe will help you get acquainted with your new surroundings by showing you the best restaurants, bars, and businesses thanks to the “What’s Near Me” search tool. I met with the founders yesterday (who food for thought, are two former Google employees) and learned all about this site and its useful features.
Umm hello?! It even has a section under tools where you can check out birthday deals in your city (free food and more!). Aside from discovering where the sugar daddies are located in your city, checking out what other people are tweeting about in your community, or where the best yoga studio is in your neighborhood, TownMe allows you to create your own info page or edit someone else’s so you can list out all of your local faves to share with the community as well.
Have an interesting website you want to share? To learn how to post your favorite websites to our Website of the Day group, read more.
- First of all, join the Website of the Day group.
- Click “New Post” under the website of the day tab at the top of the page.
- Give your story a “Title.”
- Fill in the “Body” with a link to your favorite website and the reasons why you love it.
- Type “Technology and Gadgets” in the Categories box
- Add keyword(s) in the tag field with relevant tags (for example mine for this story was “Website of the Day”).
- Choose whether you want the post to be private or public.
- Click “Create Post” to submit content.
So join the Website of the Day group and share information about all your favorite sites! Yours just might end up on the GeekSugar homepage!
Tags: Food, Google, Information, IO, Shopping
Twittonary is a Dictionary for Twitter Phrases
My Clippings September 14th, 2009 by System
Automatically pulled from My Clippings on NewsGator Online
Twitter is huge, there’s no doubt about that. Like many popular services, over time the service has grown a language of its own and there are enough words that only avid Twitter users know and use that it can be a bit confusing to people who are just getting started with the service.
That’s where Twittonary, a dictionary of Twitter-related words and phrases, comes in. The service allows you to search for a specific word or browse by first letter, so if you see someone announce they’re going to host a twaffle next week, you know that they’re not talking about food.
From “tweetstalking” to “tweeple,” Twitter has spawned a world of phrases that I can’t keep up with. I manage to figure them out from context often enough, but part of that is because I’ve been using Twitter long enough to understand some of the common colloquialisms. Someone who’s new to Twitter on the other hand would never understand what makes a post “twabulous” or why “twoopin” is a faux pas.
Thankfully, Twittonary can explain. If you’re a new Twitter user who’s not familiar with the lingo, you can quickly search the site by using the keyword search box at the top of the main page, or by clicking any of the letters under the keyword search to find the word you’re looking for. Twittonary is still new, so the dictionary is anything but complete. Users can submit words and phrases that they see on Twitter and their definitions to Twittonary and it will be added to the site’s database.
Additionally, the site uses the same voting method that Urban Dictionary uses to make sure that the most popular definitions float to the top of the page and the inaccurate ones drop to the bottom. Users an vote up or down a definition that they like or dislike, and people looking for an accurate definition can use the votes to decide whether a definition is accurate or just a joke.
Twittonary is a completely crowd-sourced service, so it requires user participation to grow and flourish. There are already more words in the database than I’ve ever seen used on Twitter, so just browsing through some of the phrases that have been submitted was entertaining. Thanks to Twittonary, I’ll know it’s a compliment when someone calls me a “twottie,” and that if they call me a “twanker” it’s probably a “tweetsult.”
The Quick 10: 10 Secret Menu Items
My Clippings September 7th, 2009 by System
Automatically pulled from My Clippings on NewsGator Online
_Flossers: Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to seek out covert items at fast food chains around the country. Be warned, this mission includes very real dangers such as hardening arteries and skyrocketing cholesterol. But we know you won’t let us down. We’ve compiled a list to get you started.
1. In-N-Out Burger’s “secret menu” isn’t so secret these days – in fact, they’ve posted it on their website. But in case you’re not in the habit of surfing fast food sites, here’s the skinny on the rather un-skinny items: ordering something “Animal Style” at In-N-Out means you’re going to get it with lettuce, tomato, a mustard-cooked beef patty, pickles, extra spread (it’s sort of Thousand-Islandy) and grilled onions. You can even get your fries Animal Style. “Protein Style” is a burger wrapped in a lettuce leaf instead of a bun. A Grilled Cheese is two slices of American cheese, lettuce, tomato and spread on a bun (grilled onions if you so choose). And you can get just about any combo of meat and cheese that you want if you order it like you’re ordering lumber: 3×3 gets you three beef patties and three slices of cheese, 4×4 gets you four of each, and so on. It doesn’t stop there – one gluttonous patron requested a 100×100 at an Las Vegas store a couple of years ago. One item not listed on the website secret menu: the Flying Dutchman, which is two slices of cheese sandwiched between two patties, hold the bun.
2. If you’re at Starbucks and in need of just a little caffeine, don’t worry – there’s a tiny option for you. It’s the Short size, and they don’t advertise it. It’s like a little baby cup of coffee. It also comes in handy when you’re scrounging for change and don’t have enough for a tall… not that that has ever happened to me.
3. It’s a good thing we don’t have Jamba Juice here in Iowa, because I would be all over candy-based smoothies. Because it’s considered a health-food chain, Jamba Juice doesn’t officially list these on their in-store menus, but Mighty Foods assures us that the secret flavors exist. The ones they confirmed with the company’s headquarters include Strawberry Shortcake, White Gummy Bear, PB&J, Various flavors of Starbursts, Fruity Pebbles, Push-Up Pops, and Skittles. Other tantalizing flavors that are rumored to exist: Chocolate Gummi Bear, Apple Pie, Sourpatch Kid, Tootsie Roll, Chocolate-covered strawberries, and Now and Later.
Tags: Advent, Apple, blockquote, Food, IO, Photo, php, video, way, XP
Order Secret Menu Items at Fast Food Chains [Fast Food Hacks]
My Clippings September 7th, 2009 by System
Automatically pulled from My Clippings on NewsGator Online
Is Starbucks’ “tall” is actually too large for you, and Chipotle’s minimalist menu too constraining? These chains and many more have secret menus, or at least margins for creativity, that can awesomely expand your cheap-eats repertoire.
Some chains have actual secret items for devoted customers, as the mental_floss blog proves with its revealing of McDonald’s Neapolitan milkshake (just what it sounds like) and Taco Bell’s green chile sauce. In other cases, it’s just a simple request for the staff to do something creative with materials they already have on hand:
If you’re at Starbucks and in need of just a little caffeine, don’t worry – there’s a tiny option for you. It’s the Short size, and they don’t advertise it. It’s like a little baby cup of coffee. It also comes in handy when you’re scrounging for change and don’t have enough for a tall… not that that has ever happened to me.
Personally, I’m intrigued by the “store policy” that lets you order any combination of ingredients at Chipotle—hello, tomatillo-salsa-smothered enchiladas.
Have you found your own secret menus at chains, regional or national? Can you dream up your own great menu remix item? Make us hungry in the comments.
Tags: blockquote, Food, IO, Photo, XP
Turn a Radish into a Power-Up Mushroom in Seconds [Food Hacks]
My Clippings September 7th, 2009 by System
Automatically pulled from My Clippings on NewsGator Online
Why not amuse and charm your party guests by garnishing a few dishes with these easy-to-make Mario-style Power-Up Mushrooms made of radishes? You might not get any extra lives, but there’s some serious geek cred in this food hack.
This project is fairly simple. What you’ll do is:
- Make a shallow cut around the circumference of the radish
- Make four cuts from the stem end to the line made by the first cut to create a square base
- Trim the base until it is cylindrical
- Make some very shallow, circular slices into the “head” portion of the mushroom to create the white spots
- Grab some dark food coloring and add eyes to your creation (Or use seaweed as the original creator does!)
Confused? Check out Anna the Red’s Bento Factory, a wonderful meal-themed blog for more detailed pictures and instructions, but before you go, tell us: Do you have any geeky or video game themed food hacks? Or perhaps some clever creations to amuse and entertain visitors? Share your tricks and include pictures if you can. Thanks, Jesus!
How to Make a Radish Mushroom [Anna the Red's Bento Factory via GameOvr via BuzzFeed]
Vital Tips For Effective Logo Design
My Clippings August 27th, 2009 by System
Automatically pulled from My Clippings on NewsGator Online
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There have been numerous creative logo design showcases, logo design resources and logo design tutorials posted across the Web. While these help you to create a powerful toolbox for your logo designs, first you need to gain a solid understanding of what makes a logo design good and what you need to consider before starting using this toobox.
In this article, we’ll get down to the nitty gritty of what makes an effective logo design and we’ll also guide you through the principles and best practices of how to create an iconic brand identity.
You may be interested in the following related posts:
- 10 Common Mistakes In Logo Design
- Do You Want Fries With That Logo?
- 60 Logo Design Tutorials and Resources
- Drawing Inspiration From Creative Logos
What Is A Logo?
To understand what a logo is, we first must understand what the main purpose of logos is. The design process must aim to make the logo immediately recognizable, inspiring trust, admiration, loyalty and an implied superiority. The logo is one aspect of a company’s commercial brand or economic entity, and its shapes, colors, fonts, and images usually are strikingly different from other logo in the same market niche. Logos are used to identify.
Paul Rand, one of the world’s greatest designers states that “a logo is a flag, a signature, an escutcheon, a street sign. A logo does not sell (directly), it identifies. A logo is rarely a description of a business. A logo derives meaning from the quality of the thing it symbolizes, not the other way around. A logo is less important than the product it signifies; what it represents is more important than what it looks like. The subject matter of a logo can be almost anything.”
For more on Paul Rand, consider reading the book Design, Form & Chaos.
What Makes A Good Logo?
A good logo is distinctive, appropriate, practical, graphic and simple in form, and it conveys the owner’s intended message. A concept or “meaning” is usually behind an effective logo, and it communicates the intended message. A logo should be able to be printed at any size and, in most cases, be effective without color. A great logo essentially boils down to two things: great concept and great execution.
Tags: advertising, amazon, Apple, blockquote, Build, email, Food, Google, IO, ISO, Photo, php, Printing, script, way, XP
CloneDVD 2.9.2.5 Beta & 2.9.2.2 Multilingual
My Clippings August 14th, 2009 by System
Automatically pulled from My Clippings on NewsGator Online
CloneDVD makes perfect backup copies of your unprotected movie DVDs, with just 3 clicks and in less than 20 minutes! without installation.
Download Portable CloneDVD2 Beta on RapidShare (4.2 MB)
Download Portable CloneDVD2 on WHFF (4.2 MB)
Extract and run CloneDVD2Portable.
Settings of installed CloneDVD2 should be preserved.
