Blazing Minds » Facebook

Star Wars In 3D – Got My 3D Pod Racing Glasses And My Preview Tickets!

Karen — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:00:38 +0000

Star Wars in 3D is the buzz racing around the internet at the moment, it was trending on Twitter only the other day and it also seems that lots and lots of people are getting excited about the release of The Phantom Menace on the 10th February, I’m getting excited myself

Ready for my Pod Race (Photo credit: Blazing Minds)

So the other day I popped in to @ApolloCinemas Rhyl and picked up my special Pod Racing 3D glasses, which @SlappyBear seams to have claimed for himself, cheeky little bear, I will probably have to fight him to get them back, now where did I leave my light sabre

Star Wars In 3D – Got My 3D Pod Racing Glasses And My Preview Tickets!

Today, I stopped in at Apollo Cinemas Rhyl to pick up my tickets for the preview showing of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace which is on the 9th February at 8:30 pm, suffice to say I really can’t wait, there are so many scenes that I’m hoping will really look really good in 3D, the trailer showing the Pod Race in 3D looked pretty awesome, so fingers crossed for the rest of the movie.

That’s two premier seats, yes the comfortable leather reclining seats, what can I say you’ve got to have the best

Now the question is! Who is going with me, now I’m not too sure to be honest, I was with my wonderful mum when I picked up the tickets and I said to her, “Are you sure you want to see Star Wars?”, “Yes” was her response, then after getting home she looked at me in a vacant way and said, “Star Wars! I hate Star Wars!”. Seriously mother, come on!!!!!

So now that I have the two tickets I may have to put a call out to my Facebook friends and see if anyone wants to join me for it, what will probably be THE 3D movie release of 2012 We will see, it all depends on what kind of generous mood I’m in

Star Wars: The Phantom Menace 3D Reviewed

Look out on the 10th February for my full-blown review and experience of the first in the series of the Star Wars films to get the 3D conversion treatment and also watch my twitter, @BlazingMinds, on the 9th for tweets of the event itself

But until then, may the force be with you……

‘Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace 3D’: The Darth Maul Glasses You’ve Been Waiting For (news.moviefone.com)
The Pod Racer 3D Glasses Are The Real Phantom Menace (gizmodo.com.au)
Phantom Menace 3-D Featurette Says “We Know You’re Coming Anyway, Fanboys” (screencrave.com)

Star Wars In 3D – Got My 3D Pod Racing Glasses And My Preview Tickets! is a post from Blazing Minds Copyright 2008-2011. Please link back when using this source material.

If you enjoy reading my blog, then please support me with a donation and Follow @BlazingMinds on Twitter

7 Reasons a Reconstructed Digital Afterlife Could be Cool

Guest Author — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 08:44:23 +0000

You would have heard many times before that with every update you leave on twitter, somebody is watching. Every time you post a message on Facebook, somebody is watching. Of course you hope your friends and followers are watching but somebody else is also looking over your online profiles. No doubt you don’t give it much thought but every time you make use of any social media networking site, you are leaving a digital trail that, if followed, can build another you. A digital you that will behave like you, like what you like, dislike what you dislike and travel to the same places you travel to. This copy of you would be able to talk with your friends and duplicate your moods and opinions. This new you, for all intents and purposes, could live on after you die. Thanks to the trail of personal information you are leaving online, you are now able to digitally live on forever.

Recent figures released in the United States by Entrustet, a digital asset planning organisation, have stated that 480,000 Facebook users in the US will die in 2011. The worldwide figure is over 1.78 million, or to be more precise, about one person every three minutes. These are the figures that are known, what is not known is how many Facebook or Twitter users are actually already dead but their digital selves are living on. The figures reveal that 150% of people aged 16 to 25 have a Facebook account in the USA. So how is this possible – sure this means there are more accounts than there are people? This is exactly the case as some people will have more than one account, for example teenagers who are required to keep their Facebook use transparent will often have a second account their parents don’t know about. In other cases people will create an account with a fake name to prey on other vulnerable users, while many of those accounts will also belong to people who have died, but live on online.

All this leads to the importance of making someone your digital executor should you die. Someone to go through all your online accounts, banking, social media, blogs, emails and websites and close them down on your passing. If this is not done, give a thought to what is happening to what you leave behind. Your digital life would continue. It might not be active in those accounts unless someone happened along and discovered your passwords but you are still there none-the-less. Although you have most likely accepted the need for a will that can be used to disperse your worldly belongings as you wished on your passing, not many give a thought to all the family albums, personal comments and your digital life generally. That doesn’t mean it’s not there, it is all there in cyberspace somewhere and that’s where it will all remain forever until deleted.

There is a person reported to have suicided a few years ago. Friends on Facebook left many messages of condolences. But the Facebook page was never taken down, it’s still there and even today it gets a message posted on his wall every so often. Will he live on digitally forever in this manner? Then again does it matter? Are we too hung up on getting rid of our pasts when we physically die? Maybe we are seeing the beginnings of a person’s digital life becoming more important than his or her actual life. Imagine the benefits to today’s society if we had Socrates’ whole life laid out before us on the internet. His thoughts, his friends, his values. This is just the beginning, as following are seven reasons why a reconstructed digital afterlife could be cool.

Just imagine for a moment if we could digitally reconstruct the lives of the following people:

Michael Jackson for instance could continue with his singing and dancing. You could still write on his wall and he could perform his entertaining antics for you on YouTube.

Elvis Presley. If it’s good enough for the younger generation to enjoy the ongoing digital life of Michael Jackson it would also be cool to digitally resurrect Elvis. Many still claim he’s not gone anyway so this would come with considerable acceptance.

Issac Newton. A reconstructed digital afterlife need not be an avenue to just keep top entertainers with us forever either. It could be extended to immortalise the lives of those with great brains. A great scientists like Issac Newton for instance. Besides his obvious scientific claims to fame, the digital progression of his job as Secretary of the British Treasury, where he set the foundation for how modern capitalism was going to work nationally, is lesser known. Perhaps if he was around now he could guide us through the never ending Global Financial Crisis he has indirectly got us into.

Confucius. Now here’s a digital afterlife that would be really cool. Confucius founded both philosophy and religion. He is credited with bringing reason and order to society. Since he has passed on his teachings have somehow gotten lost, but perhaps if he could be digitally brought back to life we could all have a bit of a re-think about what life is all about.

Mother Teresa. People like Mother Teresa shouldn’t be allowed to die. A digitally resurrected Mother Teresa could almost be made mandatory. Someone is needed to look after the lost people of India and if nobody else is prepared to move in perhaps a digital Mother Teresa could fill the gap.

Emily Davison is a person born into this world far too early. She never had the opportunity to engage Facebook or Twitter to help her with her fight for women’s rights. She did however see the advantage of martyrdom and took her own life by running in front of racing horses to make a point in favour of the suffragette movement. Had she had the means to live on through a digital afterlife she would have been the first to take advantage of its benefits to her cause.

Michael Jordan. The memories of Michael Jordan need not pass. His slam dunks could live forever digitally. People who are to take over in the future could still witness such sporting events. No more would history be history as it could remain a part of daily life through the marvels of a digital afterlife.

Makes you wonder doesn’t it? Your own great, great grandchildren could look you up on Facebook and write on your wall. They could get to know your thoughts, your likes and dislikes. You too can now live on into history albeit digitally.

Kristy Ramirez is a freelance technology and personal finance writer for Life Insurance Finder. Do you know what will happen online when you die? And have you considered death insurance? planning now can save your family a lot of pain in the future.

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7 Reasons a Reconstructed Digital Afterlife Could be Cool is a post from Blazing Minds Copyright 2008-2011. Please link back when using this source material.

If you enjoy reading my blog, then please support me with a donation and Follow @BlazingMinds on Twitter

How Mark Zuckerberg Ruined Christmas For Everyone Forever

BigDaddyCash — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 12:15:26 +0000

It was about six years ago now that that office Christmas party changed forever. For generations before 2000 the Christmas office party was an opportunity to get drunk with people you spend 200 days a year with yet rarely speak to, play out the finale of an office melodrama, kiss (or more, possibly involving a photocopier) the girl from accounts/guy from marketing and then wake up in the morning with a lingering sense of inexplicable regret which lasts not longer than twice the length of the hangover.

The Old School Christmas Party

There was a naïve joy in drinking too much free, or at least subsidised whisky and telling your colleagues exactly what you thought of them throughout the year, be that good or bad. You could dance badly to those awful Christmas records from the seventies and eighties which the re-release every single year, fall down, skin your knees and throw up out of a taxi window on the way home.

But those days are over. It used to be that by the time you actually remembered what you had done at the works do it was February and the bitter sting of regret had dissipated like some sort of alcohol induced sleeping therapy. And what brought these halcyon days to an abrupt end?

The Camera Phone and Facebook.

When your indiscretions couldn’t be discussed until the first week of January there was a week of exposure to the family to deal with. The memory faded and the impotent rage of spending ten days locked in a house with your immediate relatives forced all reverie of the party into a corner of your mind.

Today you’re expected to be Facebook Friends with everyone you work with, even if you don’t actually know who the hell they are. Who’s Pete Davis? He likes all your links and comments on your pictures of your dog chasing a Frisbee but you can’t quite place his face. You wrack your mind and finally uncover that he did work experience in the post room three years ago. You just never quite got around to removing him.

So, there you are at the party and the room has divided, not along the boy girl lines of elementary school but into tribes of “Those Who Do” and “Those Who Film Other People Doing.” It seems like a fun idea, catching the fun for posterity but in fact it ruins the atmosphere. Remember when we were told to ‘throw your hands in the air, and wave them like you just don’t care?’ Received wisdom tells us we should dance like no-one’s watching but that’s impossible while half your workforce is standing around the dancefloor, their joyless faces illuminated in the blue digitized glow of images of other people trying to have fun.

And then it all pitches up on Facebook. You’re tagged doing shots with the guy with the wandering hands, arguing volubly with that heifer from three desks over about her personal hygiene and that sound she makes when she eats at her desk. All of the very worst moments of your year compressed into one dazzling night of craptitude and it’s all captured on the cloud by people who never join in in the first place.

In the olden golden days before Facebook all you had to do was strong it out. Apologise where you had to, keep your head up and wait for people to forget all about the very worst excesses of your boozed up behaviour. Now it’s there forever, evidence for the world, your real friends and family to see for years and years to come. One day you’ll be sitting reminiscing with your grandchildren looking at all your old photos and you’ll find yourself saying “Look, that’s granny when she was young and pretty! Ah, I could barely stand, my tights are ripped to shreds and if you look closely, my boss is trying to cop a feel!”

Thanks Facebook. Thanks for everything!

@dancash is a features writer living by the sea. This article was supposed to be about fixed asset tracking and inventory management but I had to get it off my chest!

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Christmas Movies: Beyond The Traditional

How Mark Zuckerberg Ruined Christmas For Everyone Forever is a post from Blazing Minds Copyright 2008-2011. Please link back when using this source material.

If you enjoy reading my blog, then please support me with a donation and Follow @BlazingMinds on Twitter

Here We Go Again with a Twitter Redesign

Business.com — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 09:52:15 +0000

Remember the old adage “If it Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It?” that so many of us grew up with and carry to this day?

It seems social networking site Twitter, which has been on the social networking scene for around six years, is giving that saying a run for its money these days, having recently announced its second major change in less than a year.

According to a spokesperson with the company, “It’s not just a visual redesign but a conceptual redesign to make Twitter more accessible to the next billion users.”

With Twitter reportedly presently having anywhere from 100 million to 300 million users, plans are to continue growing the company, which still trails rival Facebook by a wide margin in terms of users and mass appeal.

Slated to be dispersed globally over the coming weeks, the changes will include a new section for everyone’s Twitter account known as “Stories,” allowing users access to Twitter content they may find useful.

Up to now, Twitter has been mainly viewed as a short chat platform for friends, individuals wanting to share their daily travails with others, and a place to go and obtain news updates.

What’s the Plan?

With the hashtag #letsfly, Twitter announced on its company blog some of the planned enhancements. They include:

A more simplified design;

An update to TweetDeck to be in tandem with the new Twitter version;

Updated versions of the enhancements on mobile.twitter.com, Twitter for iPhone and Twitter for Android.

As the blog noted, “What we’re announcing today is just the beginning. We now have a framework in place that we will quickly build and iterate upon to help users connect with whatever is meaningful to them.”

Maybe most importantly of all from a financial standpoint is the fact that Twitter will now permit advertisers to have much great access on the social site. Brand pages already noticeable on Facebook, and those recently showing up on Google+, are slated to become a regular feature on Twitter in the months ahead.

According to Twitter, those businesses seeking branded pages will have the ability to “control the message” visitors view when initially arriving on one’s profile page by promoting a Tweet to the top of one’s page timeline.

Twitter pointed out that the page and promoted tweet come at no charge and will be publicly accessible. Businesses will also have the option of customizing those pages, providing their own logo, colors and whatever message they look to provide to the service.

Lastly, developers will have the ability to embed tweets on various Web sites through copying and pasting a line of code.

Bridging Gap of Awareness and Engagement

According to Twitter’s CEO, Dick Costolo, the changes are in essence a move to “Bridge the gap between the awareness of Twitter and the engagement on Twitter.”

For those who visit Twitter but may have found it hard to use, perhaps these changes will in fact make things easier.

Then again, too much redesigning and doing it too often may lead some to look elsewhere for conversing with friends, family, co-workers, business associates and more.

In the words of Costolo, “We are going to offer simplicity in a world of complexity.”

Time will tell if those words are agreed upon by Twitter users worldwide.

Photo credit: blog.blogsthatfollow.com

No related posts.
Here We Go Again with a Twitter Redesign is a post from Blazing Minds Copyright 2008-2011. Please link back when using this source material.

If you enjoy reading my blog, then please support me with a donation and Follow @BlazingMinds on Twitter

Social Profiles – How to Maximize SEO Value

kimathic — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 08:00:43 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

Social media combined with SEO is vital for building a successful online brand. The following are some tips for maximizing SEO benefits from your social profiles.

Link between profiles

Linking between your social profiles encourages web users to interact extensively with your brand and your company. The more you engage them, the more likely it is for them to convert.

In addition, interlinking your social profiles offers you the opportunity of connecting with your audience on several platforms, thus enabling you to reach more people online. If someone follows you on Twitter, you could also invite them to connect on LinkedIn or to like your page on Facebook. Any of these profiles might have a greater impact on their online lives. Therefore, linking social profiles ensures that every message is spread in several platforms.

In social media marketing, you need to remember that the ultimate goal is to drive traffic from your social profiles to your site, and not the other way round. Your website needs to be aimed at converting visitors, not making them friends, followers or fans.

Promote your content

Content marketing is vital for SEO campaigns. It is not enough to just create good content. No matter how informative, unique, useful or inspiring your content is, it is useless if no one reads it. This is social networks are very important for marketing. Fresh content encourages people to engage more with your social profiles. Sharing content on social networks create links pointing to your website. Search engines use these links to establish the value of your content. When content is shared in different social networks, it gets more valuable and is likely to rank better.

However, you don’t have to display full posts on your social profiles. A small image and summary is adequate for grabbing your audience’s attention. If they are interested, they will have a reason to visit your site or blog to read the full post.

Optimize and customize profiles

Search engines rank social profiles just like they do other web pages. Therefore, you need make sure that your social profiles are well optimized and customized. Make sure you target relevant keywords for your profile titles. In addition, your info sessions and biography should target relevant keywords.

It is also vital to ensure that there is consistency in all your social profiles. All your company biographies and product descriptions need to send the same message. This will avoid confusion when people see your profiles in different social networks.

Author Bio

Charles Mburugu often writes about social media, technology and blogging tips. Currently, he is writing for Flash templates.

Related articles

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No related posts.
Social Profiles – How to Maximize SEO Value is a post from Blazing Minds Copyright 2008-2011. Please link back when using this source material.

If you enjoy reading my blog, then please support me with a donation and Follow @BlazingMinds on Twitter

Social Media Themed Party

AndreaB — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 09:59:09 +0000

All of you web wanderers who think you’ve seen it all, let me tell you about something completely different. Last month my oldest friend, Jacob, turned 25 so I decided to throw him a party to remember. Jacob is sweet and friendly, but he’s also super shy. Despite this shyness, he’s a real social media junkie. In an attempt to bring him out of the web world and assimilated more into real society, I decided to combine both elements and throw him the ultimate social media birthday bash.

The Guest List

I made a list of the friends we had in common and set about rounding up some invitations. I decided to go with quirky invites and scored a great deal by ordering from Storkie. I mailed those to the locals and turned to the Internet to contact people Jacob knew online. From his Facebook page, I sent a general invitation to everyone on his friend list. I knew most were unable to attend so I asked them to send a photo and a short birthday greeting of 25 words or less similar to what they might say to Jacob on Facebook or Twitter.

Décor and Favors

To keep the party relaxed and fun, I chose to go minimalist with the decorations and favors. Along with balloons and streamers, I downloaded images associated with social media sites and had them printed into banners and posters at a local print company. I also ordered an affordable bulk lot of various-sized t-shirts printed with a Facebook status update block containing the words “Happy Birthday” for each guest to wear. To make things even more social media oriented, I ordered a bunch of pin-back buttons that said “friend request” and had everyone wear those as well. The focal point was an enormous poster upon which I had pasted each message Jacob’s online friends had sent to me. Beside the messages, I pasted thumbnail-sized versions of the photos they sent and when I was finished, the whole thing looked like a wall full of Twitter updates

The Food

A caterer friend agreed to handle all the food for the party and when she arrived with a car full of goodies, I was truly impressed. She prepared delicious sandwiches with exotic ingredients and then cut them into rounded squares. With food safe paint, she airbrushed each one with a blue background and added a social media icon in white: A lower case “f” for Facebook, a lower case “t” for Twitter and even the MySpace icon with a three-figure shape. The food was awesome but the cake was a true masterpiece. It was a traditional rectangle with images of Jacob’s Facebook page complete with a profile photo and friend updates. Surrounding this were two dozen bright blue cupcakes with a Twitter bird fashioned from fondant.

The Gifts

I imagined coming up with appropriate gift ideas might be a challenge, but it was easier than I thought. I found several websites which sold Facebook and Twitter items and then I sent the links to everyone on the guest list. Some of the gifts Jacob received included one pair each of Twitter and Facebook sneakers; a few social media icon coffee mugs; several throw pillows featuring Facebook, MySpace and Twitter icons; and a Twitter keychain. One person got him a watch with social media icons in the number positions and another bought him a desk-top gumball machine that tweets.

All in all, it was a fun and successful party. And, in case anyone is wondering, Jacob did promise to try and broaden his social life to include activities outside of the Internet.

Andrea Boley is a writer and blogger. She is always happy to share her passion for life and experiences through her writing.

No related posts.
Social Media Themed Party is a post from Blazing Minds Copyright 2008-2011. Please link back when using this source material.

If you enjoy reading my blog, then please support me with a donation and Follow @BlazingMinds on Twitter

Time for a Facebook Contest?

Deborah Anderson — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 08:06:38 +0000

So, is it time to run a Facebook Contest? I thought I would try one out on my brand new Facebook Fan page at facebook.com/socialwebcafe. Now, I don’t want to make a complete fool of myself in the process, but, at some point, we have to jump in and get our feet wet, right? And, besides, if this contest thing works out well, it would be a win-win with promotion opportunities for me and goodies for the winners.

I have used (or at least, reviewed) contest platforms in the past. I set up a wildfireapp.com contest, but didn’t really know what I was doing at the time and I realize that I could have enhanced it even more. I have also used involver.com free apps and I really like what involver does, but I wasn’t ready for the $99/mo (or higher) price tag. So, back burner is where my contest plans landed.

You see, my to-have-a-contest-or-not-have-a-contest dilemma was really quite simple. I didn’t want to have to pay for a contest until I knew what I was doing. Enter binkd.com. Here was an opportunity to have a wildfireapp.com like contest platform for free! Now, granted, wildfireapp.com is very reasonable with the $5 base price and an ala carte system on top, but again, I wanted to try-before-I-buy, “pet the puppy,” first. Believe me, if the contest platform works well for me and for my Facebook “fans,” I will happily return and pay the upgraded cost, in this case, that Binkd.com offers. Or, I may find myself returning to wildfireApp.com or involver.com if they suit my purposes, now that I have figured out how to maximize the contest.

If you do decide, like me, to venture down the road of a Facebook Contest, keep this in mind:
Make sure you follow the Facebook promotion guidelines. Read these very carefully. The one that really caught me was the one about NOT notifying the winner through Facebook. The last thing you want is to have your Facebook page removed for breaking these rules!

If you do decide to use Binkd.com, be prepared for the following, for starters:

The WordPress integration with Binkd.com does not work smoothly. You may want to skip it, instead of getting frustrated over the process if it doesn’t work for you.

Currently, you will need to know the UTC time for your contest start and end times. There is no time zone adjustment in the interface. Visit WorldTimeServer.comto find out what time it is and calculate your contest start and end times.

The interface is not as user-friendly as wildfireapp.com and involver.com. I even offered to put docs together for them so that it is easier for users to set up the contest. Maybe in upcoming blog posts.

So, I am off to try my first Binkd.com contest and see how it works. It is the freebie version, so what do I have to lose?

No related posts.
Time for a Facebook Contest? is a post from Blazing Minds Copyright 2008-2011. Please link back when using this source material.

If you enjoy reading my blog, then please support me with a donation and Follow @BlazingMinds on Twitter

Special Treat For This Blogger At The Apollo Cinema Rhyl Relaunch

Karen — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 07:30:37 +0000

Bigger, Bolder & Better Apollo Cinema Rhyl

So a couple of weeks a go, I received a special invite from Alison Hogarth to attend a special evening at The Apollo Cinema Rhyl, how could I say no!

Last night was the night and arriving at the cinema at just gone 6PM and checking my name was down on the exclusive guest list, I was given a goody bag and went straight to the bar

Greeted With A Tasty Beverage

Entering the bar everyone was drinking champagne, so grabbed my flute and sat down to ponder what was happening for the evening, I must say I did feel a little under dressed for the occasion, but hey, I’m an almost famous blogger not a big shot business person

Oh Hello Alison

Now after a while I was joined by Alison Hogarth, who I have spoken to on Facebook but never met, so it was finally nice to get to meet her in person and to have a little chat, now if I’d been more prepared I would have had questions written down for an interview, DOH! Maybe another time

The Taste Of Things To Come

So after some tasty hors d’oeuvres it was time to get a chance to pop in and out of all the screens to get a taste of what is and will be on offer in the cinema, including a taste of 3D with The Smurfs, highlights of Wimbledon in 3D and news of possible coming soon the Olympics 2012 and more sport.

It didn’t stop there though, highlights of concerts in 3D, operas including Faust LIVE, Phantom of the Opera. Tosca and more. Even ballet such as Romeo and Juliet, Sleeping Beauty and an all time classic Swan Lake.

Good grief all in a cinema, my how those days of just watching a film in your local cinema have changed.

Speeches!

Now I do have to say that these were a little hard to here in the foyer (so if anyone has a transcript of these let me know) But they were obviously about the cinema and it’s growth and its superb refurbishment.

An Exclusive Screening For Guests Only!

At 8PM it was time to end the evening with a movie and what a movie we were privileged to see Real Steel before it’s release, so a world premiere if you like, suffice to say it was brilliant, but, you’ll have to wait for a review in a week or so, as I don’t want to spoil it for anyone.

Real Steel isn’t released here in the UK until the 14th October and the 7th October in USA, so my review will be between those dates

The Night Just Had To End

So the end of the night came upon us, I would have stayed for another movie if I’d had the chance, those of you who follow my Tweets and on Facebook will know I frequent the Apollo a lot and I can’t praise it enough.

Brilliant friendly and helpful staff, superb picture quality, outstanding 7.1 surround sound, stunning 3D, comfy seats and a wicked Costa coffee bar

So a big thanks to Alison Hogarth for the invitation to the evening and to all the staff I talked to and that have met me beyond my Tweets, Facebook and Avatar

No related posts.
Special Treat For This Blogger At The Apollo Cinema Rhyl Relaunch is a post from Blazing Minds Copyright 2008-2011. Please link back when using this source material.

If you enjoy reading my blog, then please support me with a donation and Follow @BlazingMinds on Twitter

What is the probability of Google or Facebook buying Twitter?

Guest Author — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 10:10:28 +0000

Facebook and Google, both are trying very hard to pin down the popular micro blogging site Twitter. Twitter currently holds 300 million users and is still not match for Facebook’s 750 million users. In spite of the fact; both Google and Facebook are leaving no stone unturned to actually buy it.

The Twitter story

Twitter is an online social networking and micro blogging service. It allows its users to send and read text based tweets of up to 140 characters. Twitter was officially released in the July of 2006. Even after six years of its launch, all three of its founders, Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone and Evan Williams, are still involved with the site’s development.
This has helped twitter to stay focused without losing sight of its original goals or without coming under the pressure of commercialization. But due to its astounding success others have definitely come under the pressure.

Why Google wants Twitter?

Google is the reigning king of internet based searches. Whether it is text based search through its search engine or video based search through YouTube. And now Google wants complete access to twitter’s data. Google argument goes that it needs data from twitter to upgrade its real time information offering. As a part of the strategy, Google has been indexing tweets to add a real time element in its search experience since 2009.
But the fact of the matter is that Google can’t live with its universal information disseminator tag when people are using twitter to make real time updates. Millions of users rather prefer to check their twitter account rather than Google news to check for latest updates, that too right from the horse’s mouth.

Why Facebook wants Twitter?

Evan Williams, Twitter’s co founder and former chief executive, once said that Twitter is an information network and Facebook is a social network. Facebook refuses to accept this simple difference; in its stubbornness to accept change, it has taken things to the hilt. It was rumored two years ago that Facebook was interested in buying Twitter. Facebook is still not the medium of choice when it comes to making update in real time and that pinches it lot. To counter that, it even introduced a twitter style update box but the realities are still the same.

The tweet from Twitter

Twitter executives have refused to comment on these recent takeover rumors and buying bids. But in the past the creators of Twitter have made it clear that it is not up for grabs.
Experts believe that Web is currently divided between two sections. One is the information web that is run by Google. The other is the social web, which is still heavily dominated by Facebook. Twitter makes up the mid ground between both these universes. Both the Giants believe that to truly capture the market; they have to takeover twitter or come up with something even better.
The other big player Microsoft is also keeping its cards close to its chest. In this storm of bids, which are now running into billions of dollars? It would be difficult for twitter to resist. Facebook and Google are eagerly waiting to make an offer that Twitter can’t refuse.

About the author: Rebecca is a blogger by profession. She loves writing on technology, gizmos and lifestyle. Beside this she loves cooking and travelling. These days she is busy with her new article on adapting to green architecture lifestyle.

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Facebook, Twitter, Orange and Texting!

The Google, The Buzz and The Ugly!

What is the probability of Google or Facebook buying Twitter? is a post from Blazing Minds Copyright 2008-2011. Please link back when using this source material.

If you enjoy reading my blog, then please support me with a donation and Follow @BlazingMinds on Twitter

Winners Of The Blazing Minds Birthday Bash Contest Are

Karen — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 07:45:41 +0000

As promised folks today is the day that I announce the winners of the Blazing Minds Birthday Bash Contest which has been running lately in celebration of the blogs third birthday yesterday, so now it’s time to see who has one and what they have one.

Choosing The Winners

Over the time that the contest was running I took all the entrants and added their details and entries in to a database to keep a record of them, each entry was given a unique number and it’s this number that was used to pick the winners.

Then it was over to random.org to generate the numbers for the winners and their prizes this way the numbers were indeed chosen at random.

And The Winners Are

One Months Advertising Here On Blazing Minds:

@rickychewdotcom

One Months Business Membership to BlogEngage

@kayeshayne21

100 USD From @Bbrian017 from BlogEngage

@mani0993

50USD From Ileane from Basic Blog Tips

@DragonBlogger

25USD From Metallman

@DrRus

Congratulations To The Winners

So congratulations too all the winners and thank you to everyone taking part in the competition, I will be contacting the winners over the next couple of days with regards to your prizes.

No related posts.
Winners Of The Blazing Minds Birthday Bash Contest Are is a post from Blazing Minds Copyright 2008-2011. Please link back when using this source material.

If you enjoy reading my blog, then please support me with a donation and Follow @BlazingMinds on Twitter

Happy Birthday To Us, As Blazing Minds Is 3 Years Old

Karen — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 16:45:21 +0000

Yes folks, today is the day that the Blazing Minds blog celebrates its third birthday today and with that we would like to thank everyone that has read, commented and shared not only my posts, but also the posts of some of the amazing guest bloggers that have written for the blog over the last three years.

Celebrating With A Birthday Contest

As a lot of you will have seen, some time back I started a competition to celebrate the blogs third birthday and now that the Birthday Bash Contest has come to an end I will be announcing the winners of the prizes tomorrow right here on Blazing Minds, but until then let’s just reminisce on the last three years.

Blazing Minds 3 Years In The Making

Now when I originally started the blog, I wasn’t overly sure what it was going to turn in to and blogging from the heart was my main aim, over time the Blazing Minds blog has become a collection of information, humor and a mixed bag of posts that have found their way in to the hearts and minds of its readers.

Promoting the blog over the collection of social networks became ever more popular and those that have known the blog and myself from the very start will tell you that my Avatar is probably one that so many bloggers recognize on the many sites around the world, not only on social networks, but also in the comment section on several blogs.

Now when a blogger usually sees the flaming red hair of my avatar (created with Meez) then they usually think of me, though my hair has grown out the fiery red and now it’s a bit shorter

Working With Bloggers, Tweeters And Friends

Over the years the blog has grown and has been helped along by some truly amazing Guest Bloggers and Tweeters that have taken the time to RT those informative and sometimes humorous blog posts to their followers and this in turn has help Blazing Minds grow in its popularity.

I’ve been helped by friends I’ve met via the many social networks etc such as BlogEngage, Twitter and Facebook, where they have all given their knowledge in helping the blog run smoother and even getting the blog post out to people who would probably not see them.

A Big Thank You

So all I can say is a big thank you to everyone that is following me and the blog on its journey through the blogasphere and here’s to the next three years of guest posts, comments and complete madness that we call affectionately call ”blogging”

Related posts:

Blazing Minds Is Going To Be Three Years Old! Join The Birthday Bash Contest

Happy Birthday! Blazing Minds is Two Today

Winners Of The Blazing Minds Birthday Bash Contest Are

Happy Birthday To Us, As Blazing Minds Is 3 Years Old is a post from Blazing Minds Copyright 2008-2011. Please link back when using this source material.

If you enjoy reading my blog, then please support me with a donation and Follow @BlazingMinds on Twitter

One Man’s Quest to the Facebook Fortune

Business.com — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 09:24:11 +0000

As Paul Ceglia sees it, the social media empire that is Facebook pretty much belongs to him.

For those who are not aware, Ceglia has been waging a legal war against the man most people recognize as the head of Facebook, Mark Zuckenberg. According to Ceglia, he, in fact, owns 85 percent of the company.

Now, several media sources are reporting that Ceglia has uprooted his family and himself from their New York home and moved to Galway, Ireland (Ceglia lived in Ireland for six years), citing too much attention and pressure living in the States. The move comes despite a scheduled court appearance from the man who claims to have been slandered by Zuckenberg.

So, is Ceglia’s U.S. departure really in the best interests of him and his family, or is to run away from a somewhat checkered past that has been receiving more scrutiny as of late?

As a little research of Ceglia shows, his past includes pleading guilty to possessing 400 grams of a controlled substance, and being charged (with his wife) on one count first-degree scheme to defraud and 12 counts of fourth-degree grand larceny in November 2009, as owners of Allegany Pellets LLC.

The Claim to Facebook

According to Ceglia, he met Zuckerberg in 2003, after posting a Craigslist ad looking for assistance with his Web site, StreetFax.

Ceglia proceeded to file a lawsuit against Zuckenberg, who oversees the social media leader and is reportedly worth $13.5 billion, claiming he and Zuckerberg came to an agreement in April of 2003 with a fee of $1,000 that entitled Ceglia half of the Web site’s revenue, along with an additional 1 percent interest in the business per day after Jan. 1, 2004 (if Zuckerberg was slow to unveil the site), until Web site completion.

Ceglia’s lawsuit efforts have proven a rollercoaster ride; with the law firm representing him withdrawing from the case in June of this year (Ceglia retained new legal representation, with Edelson McGuire, withdrawing a month later).

In making this case seem like something out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie, Ceglia claims that Zuckenberg has tried on numerous attempts to slander him, along with playing tricks with his family.

In an email to Ceglia’s hometown publication the Wellsville (N.Y.) Daily Reporter, he wrote he’s had to deal with “Waking up to discover people hiding in a back field with binoculars, to being followed day-in and day-out by these guys, to coming home and finding a back window open that I know I personally locked causes what I can only say borders on paranoia and I refuse to let the bad guys win through intimidation tactics.”

Facebook Fights Back

For its part, Facebook’s legal team has claimed that Ceglia’s contract was forged and that he is nothing more than an “inveterate scam artist.”

Facebook noted recently in a court filing that it had discovered a “smoking gun,” providing evidence that Ceglia’s claim to part ownership in Facebook is a scam.

Additional motions in the case are slated for Aug. 17 in Buffalo.

Meantime, is it safe to assume Ceglia will not be jetting back across the pond for the next court date?

If he doesn’t, maybe he will share his next move on Facebook?

No related posts.
One Man’s Quest to the Facebook Fortune is a post from Blazing Minds Copyright 2008-2011. Please link back when using this source material.

If you enjoy reading my blog, then please support me with a donation and Follow @BlazingMinds on Twitter

Double Rainbow Guy Has Presidential Aspirations, Do You?

Business.com — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 06:55:02 +0000

Can an individual actually win the White House by running a campaign that gets its kick-start from Facebook?

In this social media age that we live in, spreading the word about one’s aspirations is not as difficult as it seems. The question begs, however, can one man become the 45^th President of the United States by using social media from a mobile home in a national par, spending his free time doing organic farming?

For those not aware, the man who shed tears when witnessing the sight of a double rainbow, Paul “Bear” Vasquez, is running to be the next occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Vasquez, running on the primary platform of “Emergency! Alternative Energy!” has about as much chance of winning the election as O.J. Simpson if he were in the race.

For one, Vasquez needs to be a little more photogenic, especially given the fact he appears in his latest video looking like his head and a comb have never met. Living in a mobile home may also cost him some votes, although he may be able to carry some parts of Arkansas.

Vasquez, who is no stranger to some 29 million viewers who watched his Double Rainbow video, started his bid for the nation’s highest office using a Facebook app known as Votocracy. The goal behind this is to have one Facebook-chosen candidate on the ballot. Assuming he is not our next Commander-in-Chief, he at least wants to get his views on the environment heard, something not many of us will complain about.

According to a statement from Votocracy founder and CEO Bryan Lee, “The packaging that we’re accustomed to in politics – it’s really difficult for that to survive in social media. As Lee sees it, social media tools like Facebook are “more connected, more human, more raw” than traditional campaigning.

For individuals not familiar with Votocracy, the platform debuted on June 1 and the sign-up fee is $99. To date, some 370 people have announced their plans to run for president using it. Candidates can begin the process by putting as little as $1 towards this fee and gather the remaining money from their supporters.

The goal by next year is to have one official Votocracy candidate, with online primaries being held in each state and the District of Columbia to determine a winner from each. Finally, the 51 candidates would compete in a televised race to determine the chosen candidate.

While Vasquez or any other individual using Votocracy stands little or no chance of being elected anytime soon, I like the grass roots spirit of this platform.

As Lee added, “With Votocracy, anyone with the passion to run for president – including you – can get involved, get heard, and attract supporters from all across the country… without political experience or big financial backers.”

With the debt ceiling talks in Washington, D.C. going nowhere, the economy teetering on the brink of another dive, 9.2 percent unemployment, and a country stilled mired in several wars, heck, Votocracy might be on to something here.

Will we eventually have the first social media president in our lifetime? Think it can’t happen?

Ask the people who said we would never see an African-American president.

Photo credit: 3news.co.nz

Related articles

Double Rainbow Guy Ponders Presidential Run (newsfeed.time.com)

‘Double Rainbow guy’ running for president (cnn.com)

Double Rainbow Guy For President 2012, All The Way! (laist.com)

No related posts.
Double Rainbow Guy Has Presidential Aspirations, Do You? is a post from Blazing Minds Copyright 2008-2011. Please link back when using this source material.

If you enjoy reading my blog, then please support me with a donation and Follow @BlazingMinds on Twitter

5 Ways Facebook Has Changed Things (That You’ve Probably Never Thought About)

Guest Author — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 14:40:59 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

Facebook has no doubt changed the way you do things. It’s certainly changed the way I procrastinate but thinking about it, it’s also had an effect on lots of other things like politics, travel and business.

Business Models:
Facebook games are either perceived as a fun and interactive way to relax, or as a source of procrastination and spam. There is no doubt however that businesses behind them have boomed. Letting users play a certain amount for free, but then charging for extra levels and features has been an enormously successful way to draw users in, yet it is contrary to any type of sales strategy to have been used in the past. This model has now been adapted for smart phone games to the same great effect. Of course, there are limits to which it can be applied; it would be hard to get a trial version of a pair of jeans free before buying the full package.

Relationship Complication:
If you think the traditional awkward relationship conversations are bad enough, then beware of those Facebook throws into the mix! There are already all kinds of conventions in dating; how many dates before staying the night, how often it’s ok to call, how long until you introduce your overbearing mother, etc. Now there is also how long to wait until changing your Facebook status, if a couple profile picture is cute or tacky, if romantic messages on your wall are sweet or sickly.

Political Briefing:
Facebook and Twitter offer a snappy digest of what is going on, and for a topic like politics which leaves many people reaching for the tv remote with a big yawn, this is the perfect way to get the message across. Dying are the days of long speeches by greying gents in suits, as politics becomes all about pithy, toned one or two line statements. Regularity is also key, and most US political figures update their social media streams at least once a week.

Attracting Candidates:
Big companies are striving to appear more personal and desirable on Facebook by using fun recruitment competitions. Saatchi and Saatchi used Facebook for their recruitment drive last year, and gave applicants a simple instruction: set up a Facebook group, and those with the top member numbers will go on to the next round. The campaign turned out to be incredibly popular, with one group – Secret London – still operating with over 200,000 members.

Travel Searches:
As Facebook use by businesses is all about building up a solid base of customers who come back time and time again, provided a genuinely useful service is essential. In the travel industry there has been a move onto mobile with all kinds of apps, but its important not to forget about Facebook. Skyscanner is an example of one company that hasn’t.

Suppose you were travelling to India, and had a date in mind, say August 13th. You could visit the India flights page on the Skyscanner website, but that involves leaving Facebook. Or you could simply post on the wall of the Skyscanner Flight Search Page with something like ‘UK to India August 13th’ and the App will immediately reply with the cheapest flight prices for that date. Or if you know the airport you’re travelling from – or even if you’re not travelling from the UK – you can be more specific. Play around with it, it’s good fun.

So although you might just be using Facebook for stalking and slacking off at work, businesses around the world are starting to take advantage of it to drive traffic to their websites, Apps and political campaigns.

A tech lover and Facebook addict, James writes about social media and blogging. When not in front of the computer, which is rare these days, he can usually be found travelling and explor

Related posts:

Facebook move away from FBML for apps delivery

FaceBook Compromises Your Information, Again

One Man’s Quest to the Facebook Fortune

5 Ways Facebook Has Changed Things (That You’ve Probably Never Thought About) is a post from Blazing Minds Copyright 2008-2011. Please link back when using this source material.

If you enjoy reading my blog, then please support me with a donation and Follow @BlazingMinds on Twitter

JML 25th Anniversary Competition – And The Winners Are

Karen — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 14:45:03 +0000

A little while back you may remember the JML 25th Anniversary competition that was being run here on Blazing Minds with those wonderful people at JML, well the competition is now over and the winners have been chosen and contacted and their prizes should be on the way to them very shortly.

So today I’m letting all the readers know who the lucky winners of the competition are and the prizes that they have won.

All entrants and prizes were chosen using random.org.

A quick note and thanks

One of the competition winners, Gera @sweetsfoods, was unable to receive his prize due to Uruguayan customs, so he kindly allowed me to re-enter his prize in to another draw to see who got his prize, so thank you Gera for your generosity

The winners and their prizes

Nile – Sit Right

Ileane – Ped Egg

Dan – Doctor Power (Thanks to Gera for allowing this prize to be re-drawn)

MetallmanX – Ironing Board Cover

So a big thanks to everyone that entered the competition and hopefully there will be some more cometitions coming your very shortly with even more brilliant prizes, but until then, congratulations to the winners and I do hope you enjoy your prizes and don’t forget to drop me a picture of you and your prize

No related posts.
JML 25th Anniversary Competition – And The Winners Are is a post from Blazing Minds Copyright 2008-2011. Please link back when using this source material.

If you enjoy reading my blog, then please support me with a donation and Follow @BlazingMinds on Twitter