Gary Vaynerchuk, Thank You For Ignoring My Calls

Gary Vaynerchuk is a busy guy. I don’t expect him to pick up the phone every time I call. After all, he’s on a book tour or something, and busy tweeting, and drinking wine. But then I saw the picture above. Yup, that’s Gary V on his cell phone in front of a poster advertising his new book, The Thank You Economy. The poster lists a phone number, (646) 401-0368, and asks prospective readers to:

Call now and the author Gary Vaynerchuk will answer this or any other question about The Thank You Economy.*

*Unless he’s in a plane or meeting

I thought I’d prank call him and ask him some questions about the book, like, “What the hell is the Thank You Economy?” His last book, Crush It!, needed no such explanation. The title says it all, and it’s fun to say (Crush It!”). The Thank You Economy sounds too polite and vague. I have no idea what it means. I guess I should read the book. But the poster promised me that Gary would answer these questions himself. All I can say is: False Advertising!* (*Unless he was in a meeting or something).

The outdoor advertising is kind of clever, though. Vaynerchuk bought the ads through ADstruc, which let him target them on 20 pay telephone kiosks in Manhattan around Grand Central, Union Square, the East Village, and near his publisher, Harper Collins. The whole thing cost only about $20,000. There’s even one near my subway stop. It’s as though he was daring me to call.

So I did. Several times. And, like a teenage girl, I was even a little bit excited. But then he didn’t answer. It went to voicemail. From what I hear, he’s only answered about 50 calls so far. Maybe you’ll have better luck. Go ahead, give him a call at (646) 401-0368. If he answers, he can explain what the book is all about. I tried.

Update: Gary was in a meeting, he finally called me back and he’s been answering a lot of calls since this post. He was a very good sport about the whole thing. Here is his video response.

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Sony’s Virtual Cherry Blossoms Raise Relief Funds

Combining game-playing and philanthropy, Sony Online Entertainment has created in-game virtual items that players can buy to support those affected by Japan’s recent earthquake and tsunami.

Players for some SOE games can buy a cherry blossom through an in-game marketplace designed to raise awareness for the tragedy. SOE will donate $10 for each cherry blossom purchased between March 25 and March 28 to the American Red Cross to help the relief effort. In addition to the cherry bossoms, alternative items will be available in Magic: The Gathering-Tactics, Star Wars Galaxies and PoxNora. More information about the program can be found here.

SOE’s is the latest relief effort by Sony Corp., which has donated $3.6 million to relief efforts in its native country so far. Meanwhile, the idea of melding social media and charity has proved to be effective in raising funds after various tragedies in recent years. Last year’s earthquake in Haiti, for instance, prompted the Red Cross to experiment with a text-to-donate initiative, something the organization has repeated this year for Japan. Meanwhile, PayPal, Jiwire, Tumblr and others have offered other alternative ways to give to Japan victims this year. Zynga, maker of FarmVille and other Facebook-based games, has also offered ways for consumers to donate to the crisis by purchasing virtual goods in its games.

SOE’s use of the cherry blossom as a symbol for the tragedy, meanwhile, comes as the New Yorker introduced a poignant cover this week featuring nuclear symbols standing in for the blossoms.

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Microsoft asks state lawmakers to make domestic companies pay for foreign firms' software piracy

Microsoft's pirated software police have been going after companies abroad for years, but getting those far-away folks into US courtrooms isn't easy. What is easy, however, is suing the folks in your own back yard -- which is why Microsoft is lobbying to get laws passed in several states that'll put US businesses on the hook for the pirating ways of their foreign suppliers. For example, if a manufacturer uses pirated software in the "manufacture, distribution, marketing, or sales" of products sold in Washington, Microsoft could sue the vendor of those products and get an injunction to stop the goods from being sold. So Washington widget retailers would be liable for the piracy of their foreign widget manufacturers, even if the illicit act was merely creating the sales invoice on a counterfeit copy of Word.

The Washington state Senate and House have already approved different versions of the bill, and the legislature is in the process of merging the two together for final approval. Louisiana passed a similar law last year, and analogous bills have been proposed in Oregon and several other states as well. Numerous companies -- including Dell, IBM, Intel, and HP -- oppose the laws, as they see them giving Microsoft the power to not only drag them into court, but also futz with their supply chains. (There's bound to be some counterfeit software being used in Shenzhen, right?) As Microsoft's latest anti-piracy scheme unfolds, there should be plenty more legislative action to come. Evidently the crew in Redmond doesn't see piracy as a problem to be fixed by lowering prices.

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Gaga & Bieber Together At Last: “Songs for Japan” Charity Album Hits iTunes

To help raise money for disaster relief efforts in Japan, Universal Music Group has assembled a who’s who of the music world for a benefit album called Songs for Japan, which hit iTunes Friday. It includes an exclusive remix of Lady Gaga’s latest chart-topping single, “Born This Way.”

The 38-track album [iTunes link] costs $9.99 and features popular tunes in original, remastered, live or acoustic formats from Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Justin Bieber, Eminem, Katy Perry and other superstars (see full list below).

Worldwide proceeds from album downloads will go to the Japanese Red Cross Society to provide immediate assistance to people affected by the March 11 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The participating artists, their labels and music publishers waived their royalties, meaning every cent from each album download helps survivors.

This global initiative — one of the many new ways people can help Japan — is akin to the star-studded fundraising efforts following the destructive 2010 earthquake in Haiti when celebrities joined forces for a telethon and a new “We Are The World” charity single.

What do you think of the Songs for Japan lineup? Let us know in the comments.

John Lennon — “Imagine” (Remastered)U2 — “Walk On”Bob Dylan — “Shelter From The Storm”Red Hot Chili Peppers — “Around The World” (Live)Lady Gaga — “Born This Way” (Starsmith remix)Beyonce — “Irreplaceable”Bruno Mars — “Talking To The Moon” (Acoustic piano version)Katy Perry — “Firework”Rihanna — “Only Girl (In The World)”Justin Timberlake — “Like I Love You”Madonna — “Miles Away” (Live)David Guetta featuring Kelly Rowland — “When Love Takes Over”Eminem featuring Rihanna — “Love The Way You Lie” (Clean version)Bruce Springsteen — “Human Touch”Josh Groban — “Awake” (Live)Keith Urban — “Better Life”Black Eyed Peas — “One Tribe”Pink — “Sober”Cee Lo Green — “It’s Ok”Lady Antebellum — “I Run To You”Bon Jovi — “What Do You Got?”Foo Fighters — “My Hero”R.E.M. — “Man On The Moon” (Live)Nicki Minaj — “Save Me” (Clean version)Sade — “By Your Side”Michael Buble — “Hold On”Justin Bieber — “Pray” (Acoustic)Adele — “Make You Feel My Love”Enya — “If I Could Be Where You Are”Elton John — “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me”John Mayer — “Waiting On The World To Change”Queen — “Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)” (Remastered)Kings Of Leon — “Use Somebody”Sting — “Fragile” (Live)Leona Lewis — “Better In Time”Ne-Yo — “One In A Million”Shakira — “Whenever, Wherever”Norah Jones — “Sunrise”

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Richard Simmons + Air New Zealand = Best In-Flight Safety Video Ever

Never have we been so excited about putting our tray tables in the full upright and locked position.

In this brand-new spot produced for Air New Zealand, you’ll see the usual suspects: There are the attractive, diverse, impeccably groomed flight attendants; the mild-anxiety-inducing notifications about life vests and air masks; the admonitions to search for the nearest exit.

But those warnings and instructions do seem to come off a lot less mild-anxiety-inducing when set to thumping techno, bathed in multi-colored lights, and chirped out by the ever-perky Richard Simmons, health and fitness guru extraordinaire, who stars in the video and is accompanied by dancing extras à la the Sweatin’ to the Oldies series.

You’ll want to keep an eye out for 2:38, where Simmons, after chiding a gadget geek about his use of electronics, plants a smooch on said geek’s cheek. Too cute.

Air New Zealand is calling the vid a “RichRoll” and positioning itself as the kind of “high-energy airline” that can stand up to a video of this caliber. The spot was produced by by .99, Air New Zealand’s chief creative agency.

We’ve been relieved and excited by the trend toward less boring, less traditional in-flight videos since Delta’s slightly tongue-in-cheek vid popped up on planes in the spring of 2008. We’ve also been digging Virgin’s amusing in-flight-safety video. How do you think the Simmons spot measures up?

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Mobile Messaging March Madness

Editor’s note: Guest author Semil Shah is an entrepreneur interested in digital media, consumer Internet, and social networks.  He is based in Palo Alto and you can follow him on twitter @semilshah.

On Thursday, I used Yobongo all day, which helped me find a new lunch spot, run into an old friend, and meet a Yobongo co-founder. That afternoon, I thought it would be a good time to write about the new group and mobile messaging wars for TechCrunch. A few hours later, Color Labs launched, to put it mildly. And, as I was editing this post on Friday night, Disco appeared, the new group messaging client from Google. Along with SxSW and the NCAA basketball tournament, this is surely March Madness.

What does this explosion in mobile social apps mean. We’re witnessing an entirely new class of companies that are being built primarily for the mobile phone and tablet experience, not PCs or laptops. These companies are using basic social activities and leveraging smartphone capabilities to provide consumers with cooler features in exchange for the chance to construct more intimate networks. Just within the last year, larger forces like Facebook and Foursquare have released new mobile features to allow users to combine check-ins with location-based picture-sharing. Perhaps messaging, broadly defined, is converging toward more context-specific communications that leverage and combine bits of information our mobile devices already are aware of.

Only within the last year have things started to really gather steam. The first wave of these apps leveraged the mobile device’s camera, which produced apps like Instagram, PicPlz, and Path, services that combined the basic social activity of snapping and sharing pictures to build a different kind of pyramid and, perhaps, a different kind of network. Location services have done the same with GPS sensors. Videosharing has proved tougher, though companies like uStream and SocialCam show promise. SoundCloud enables users to capture and share sounds from their daily lives, and IntoNow recognizes audio waves from television shows and movies (and maybe commercials?), like Shazam, to connect users around favorites shows. The accelerometer has been leveraged by Bump Technologies’ sharing service, and Apple, which has already entered living rooms with Apple TV and designs for convergence, may turn the phone into a joystick.

Simultaneously, others began building mobile messaging applications, some with social ambitions in mind. These new tools enable more intimate communication platforms, as users continue to fight for Inbox Zero and doggy-paddle within the huge Facebook ocean.  As Dave McClure argues, Facebook doesn’t “get intimacy.” Today’s dominant social networks are established enough to provide authentication, but are too big to offer granularity. In the mobile messaging world, these are the short text messages we send to our companions, buddies, classmates, kids, and our parents that never reach the level of a status update or tweet. No company better captured the mood around this intimacy tension than Beluga, whose users were anthropomorphically transformed into “pods” of whales, dancing across oceans in search of new waters. Of course, Beluga was then harpooned by Facebook.

It’s early days for this new class of mobile messaging upstarts. Currently, the space is organized around four types of activity: group chat, SMS replacements, randomized/localized discovery, and relays. In the “group chat” category, there’s GroupMe (SMS group messaging with push), Fast Society (geared to young, ephemeral groups), Rabbly (anchored through Facebook connect), Whatsapp (free SMS with multimedia), among others. Those designed to supplant SMS with group functionality are Kik, textPlus, and the aforementioned Beluga. A new Y Combinator company Convore recently launched a new take on real-time Internet relay chatting around interests. There are also international successes, most notably SMSGupShup from India. These companies acquire network effects through people that users already know.

On the other side, there are services built around the notion of acquiring new networks through more random connections. Perhaps the most controversial applications are those that enable discovery and chat with new people, or strangers (the “Chatroullete Derivatives”) such as MessageParty (YC alum), Matt Hunter’s company TextSlide (featured in the The New York Times), Yobongo, and of course, Color Labs. Most of us have already either connected or reconnected with all the folks we know online, and the next evolution is for services to help us discover new connections. This element of discovery drives these services to help us build smaller networks around our core groups of friends and family, or to build newer networks with folks we don’t know yet but who have similar interests or location patterns. While using Yobongo for an entire day during slack time between meetings, there was something primal and immediate about the experience, filling the niche for hyper-local communication that Twitter is too big to cater to. This isn’t to say Yobongo or others will succeed, but they are pushing the boundaries in this arena, and I suspect we’ll see more incarnations of this concept for some time to come.

Mobile and group messaging is attractive to investors, entrepreneurs, and users alike. If designed well, they could leverage network effects to amplify participation and enable the application of proven revenue models. This is a new class of social company, built entirely with mobility in mind from Day One. They are designed within a post-PC/laptop mindset. These companies will begin by drafting behind the lead cars in the social networking race. The most recent entrant into this red ocean — Color Labs — may have just made the waters a bit more red. We oftentimes take for granted that all of the established social networks will persist over time and satisfy most of our needs. Some realize building seamless, easy-to-use systems will create significant value for larger players because they weren’t originally built with mobility in mind. And some will perhaps break through and create their own lasting social experience.

Photo credit: Flickr/kidperez

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Film recreation of Soviet cosmonaut Gagarin's historic spaceflight to be shown off next month

By Laura June posted Mar 26th 2011 7:08AM If you know anything about the history of spaceflight, you're probably already familiar with the historic journey of USSR cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who flew around the Earth in 1961, making him the first person to ever travel beyond our planet's atmosphere. While audio recordings of Gagarin's observations exist, there are no video recordings except for those recently shot at the ISS following a similar plot of his trip, directed by Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli, who currently lives on the space station. This video has now been matched up with Gagarin's audio, and made into a film to commemorate the 50th anniversary of his flight, which is on April 12th. The movie will be made available on that date for free download on YouTube.

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HOW TO: Get the Most Out of Google AdWords

This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.

Google AdWords (those sponsored links that appear alongside search results and web content) can be one of the most cost-effective ways to advertise on the web. Your ads are highly targeted based on keywords, and you don’t pay for anything unless they are clicked.

But often, small businesses set up a campaign and load it with relevant phrases, only to see little traction. Or worse, they get clicks (which cost money) but aren’t converting them into sales.

If you’re struggling to hit pay dirt with Google ads, or you’re interested in signing up but not sure where to start, take some cues from these small business success stories.

Before you get started, “know that AdWords is a real commitment, and is likely to be a time drain,” says Chris Conn, founder of MightyNest.com, purveyors of organic and naturally made home wares and accessories. His company uses AdWords to drive potential customers to the online store. “It will take from other activities, so make sure that fits with your priorities.”

In that regard, start small, says Timothy Thomas, a small business consultant who cultivates successful AdWords campaigns for his clients.

“Focus on one campaign, lock your budget and use the tools provided by AdWords to learn how Google does its magic,” Thomas adds. He recommends that companies continue their standard SEO efforts in order to rank high in organic search for free (more on this in a bit), and then optimize an AdWords campaign accordingly. “Don’t buy ads in areas where you are getting a top-five link already. Think about terms that are unique to your offering and try to make the most of those keywords by standing alone in paid search.”

If you’re trying to get the maximum value out of a small AdWords budget, don’t worry about appearing at the top of every search. “Keep your bids as low as you can and edge them up — you do not need to be the number one paid search term, however being in the top three is valuable,” says Thomas. “Being number one in the wrong search will only cost you money.”

When you settle into an AdWords campaign that works for your budget and time, think about using the platform to glean a bit more insight into what your potential customers want.

Conn uses AdWords as a real-time testing and intelligence tool. “If we want to know what messaging works, we launch a quick AdWords campaign to see how customers respond.” Making fine adjustments based on small messaging changes can really hone your ads and give you the most bang for your pay-per-click buck.

A theme that held true for all the small businesses we spoke with was the importance of traditional SEO as it relates to AdWords campaigns.

“We find that paid search lifts other traffic channels,” says Conn. “When we increase our paid search, our direct traffic and organic traffic also rise.”

And the tides flow in both directions. Jordan Schaffel, co-founder of Say It Visually, a company that produces animated instructional and demo videos, explained that their existing SEO efforts were crucial to the success of their AdWords campaign.

“When we re-did our site recently, we had AdWords in mind, so we did our homework prior to re-launching,” Schaffel says. “Without the foundational efforts, we would’ve struck out, or at the very least, been behind the eight ball on getting clicks through our AdWords campaigns.”

Schaffels’ strategy included titling and tagging all of their videos to tie in closely with the AdWords campaigns. “If you fail to do one or more of the pieces of the SEO puzzle, you’re hurting yourself exponentially.”

One of those puzzle pieces is knowing when not to pay for search terms that you already own for free. “If Google can match your ad to a search, they are happy to sell a click whether it’s a good one or not. The only valid strategy is to narrow Google’s ability to present your ad,” explains Thomas. Make sure your AdWords keywords are embedded in the HTML of your website, and if you’re already dominating a search term organically, don’t buy it from Google. “You only want to pay for eyeballs that you can’t get in front of organically.”

Even if you have a good AdWords campaign that’s producing quality leads, there’s always room for improvement. In some cases, it can be a complicated matter. Thomas says he worked with an engineering company that specializes in LED lighting and testing. Its customers are technically trained engineers, but its ads were being surfaced by consumers looking for Christmas lights, Xbox controllers and LED TVs. In short, the company was spending money on lots of useless impressions and clicks.

“The solution was eliminating ‘broad matching’ criteria,” says Thomas. “We put our keywords into either Phrase Match or Exact Match. Each day we would look at what the company had paid for on the previous day and just started [adding] negative keywords. Words like ‘Christmas,’ ‘automobile,’ ‘rope light,’ ‘Playstation,’ and all the variants for ‘television’ were identified and blocked from matching.”

Thomas adds that “the daily review and elimination of inappropriate search matches is the secret sauce of mastering AdWords. You have to tune AdWords for about 15 minutes every day or it can eat you alive, financially.”

Like any good lead-generation tool, it’s how you turn an interested click into a repeat customer that really counts.

“It is important that you build a relationship with the customers you find through AdWords and that a meaningful amount of those relationships are sustainable in the long run,” says Conn. “If not, AdWords can turn into a treadmill.”

In the case of Thomas’ engineering client, most of the potential customers know what they’re looking for by the time they reach the company’s website. Once they’ve clicked through, “we encourage them to approach us by phone so we can really help them find the service or product they need.”

Schaffel’s company takes it a step further by monitoring real-time analytics. “We use Woopra to track people coming to our site from AdWords (and other links), and we see patterns emerge when people are truly interested in creating explanation videos.” Paying attention to traffic patterns like this can help you fine-tune your campaigns and figure out what customers are expecting when they arrive. A sale may hinge on the context of the ad that sent them there, or the appeal of the site itself.

Do you have your own tips for new AdWords users? Share them in the comments.

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Image courtesy of iStockphoto, kycstudio

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Barnes & Noble’s Nook Color Adds Flash, Email, App Store [VIDEO]

Barnes & Noble will open up a new chapter in the development of its Nook Color next month with a firmware update that includes Adobe Flash playback support and email plus an App Store, features displayed exclusively on a Home Shopping Network segment this morning.

The segment, recorded by a fan and posted on YouTube, outlines those additions. (See grab below.) In a press release, Barnes & Noble acknowledged adding email, but didn’t mention Flash.

Though the Nook was introduced as a pure play e-reader, the new functionality puts it more in the direction of a tablet, a market dominated by Apple’s iPad and iPad 2, which don’t support Flash. Other Android-based tablets are beginning to support the platform though, including Samsung’s redesigned 10.1-inch Galaxy Tab, which is due in June, and Motorola’s Xoom, which will get full Flash support “in a matter of weeks,” according to a recent report.

On HSN, the updated Nook was listed at $299 with $11.95 for shipping and handling. On the segment, the device boasts a $504 retail value and a normally listed price of $379.95 on HSN. HSN plans to offer other sneak peeks at 5 PM and 9 PM today.

The upgrade comes after Barnes & Noble offered a “minor” tweak in January that added better Wi-Fi connectivity, improved performance and the ability to pinch and zoom the text.

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Kodak and Apple win early victories at International Trade Commission, big bucks hang in the balance

Looks like the US International Trade Commission's had a busy week in tech, as Bloomberg reports the organization has ruled on two longstanding patent wars involving Apple, Nokia, RIM and Kodak. While neither is out of the woods quite yet, two companies have reason to be pleased: Apple and Kodak. ITC Judge E. James Gildea ruled that five Nokia patents don't apply to Apple products, making a ban on iDevice importation unlikely in the United States, and the commission has also agreed to reconsider Kodak's case against Apple and RIM (regarding camera image previews) with its full six members present. Since nobody likes having their products seized at customs, even such preliminary verdicts can lead to large cash sums being paid out, and Kodak thinks it's found a whopper here -- Bloomberg reports that Kodak received a total of $964 million in licensing fees from Samsung and LG, and the company thinks it can suck $1 billion out of its latest pair of defendants. We'll let you know how it goes down.

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Nokia continues reinvention, details new fonts and branding

Nokia's current typeface -- Nokia Sans -- feels like one of the great constants in the consumer electronics industry, a design that instantly screams "Nokia" the moment you see it (for better or worse). That kind of strong, tight brand recognition from something as basic and simple as a character on a screen really isn't something that you can buy -- it needs to be built and cultivated over many, many years -- so we're sure that Espoo's decision to chuck it and start fresh wasn't taken lightly. In fact, we're sure it wasn't taken lightly because the company has published an 800-plus word explanation and defense of its decision to kill off Nokia Sans and replace it with Nokia Pure, a font it describes as the embodiment of "beauty in supreme usability."

Of course, it's no coincidence that the font change comes just as Nokia's trying to go back to the drawing board, both with its hiring of outsider Stephen Elop and its decision to phase out Symbian and add Windows Phone into the mix; sure enough, the company says that it plans to use Pure on its devices and that "it has been designed specially for mobile and digital environments." What do you think?

[Thanks, Esko]

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AT&T says Atrix 4G, Inspire 4G will have HSUPA enabled in April

By Donald Melanson posted Mar 25th 2011 8:35PM We've already seen some hints that something was coming soon courtesy of the FCC, and now AT&T has confirmed to CNET that both the HTC Inspire 4G and Motorola Atrix 4G will have their HSUPA capabilities enabled sometime in April via a software update. That should dramatically increase upload speeds on the phones (up to 5.76 Mbps), and make them more "4G" than ever before, but still not quite as "4G" as some other "4G." Incidentally, the Samsung Infuse 4G has also been confirmed to be shipping with HSUPA enabled, although it's still not clear exactly when it will ship.

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Survey Shows We’re Too Lazy About Mobile Phone Security

A new survey shows U.S. consumers are shockingly lax about basic security on their mobile phones.

Most of us have no qualms about making purchases via mobile, and the vast majority of us use the same phone for business and personal use — two common vulnerabilities in web security.

Yet in spite of these yellow flags, few of us use phone-locking passwords and duplicate the same passwords for mobile apps that we use on our desktops.

The survey [PDF] in question comes from security firm AVG and research and consulting firm The Ponemon Institute.

One key finding we mentioned was the crossover between business and personal use of the same device. Around 84% of consumers use the same smartphone for both professional and personal tasks. In those cases, if the user’s phone ever becomes lost or compromised, the amount of risk is automatically doubled, since both kinds of private and confidential data could be accessed.

When it comes to the kind of data that puts consumers at further risk, 66% of respondents said they kept personal and personally identifiable data (such as an email address, name, contact lists, photos, videos, anniversary and personal dates, etc.) on their phones. And 23% of respondents also said they stored passwords on their phones.

And we’re not as wary as we should be about mobile viruses, either. In fact, more consumers are bothered by mobile ads than by malware. Roughly 67% of consumers surveyed said they were concerned about receiving marketing ads and promotions, but just 44% said they were worried about the possibility of a mobile virus attack.

According to the survey, 66% of respondents have made at least one purchase on their phone, 38% make payments on their phones and 14% do mobile banking. A full 12% have been the target of attempted mobile payment fraud. Yet a mere 6% do a monthly check of their cell phone bill, and only 8% check their phone statement when it’s unusually high.

And in spite of all these security risks, less than half of consumers in this survey used keypad locks or passwords to secure their mobile devices, and only 29% said they have thought about using a mobile anti-virus application.

Take a look at the man-or-woman-on-the-street clips below, and in the comments, let us know what you’re doing about your own mobile security.

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Groupon’s “Real” U.S. Revenue Numbers For February

Two days ago, I published the chart below with monthly estimates of Groupon’s U.S. revenues. The chart shows a startling 30 percent falloff in February from the month before. As I noted in the post:

Again, these are just estimates based on the equivalent of scraping Groupon’s site, and thus could be missing something.

Well, at least for February, it looks like those numbers are way off. The post obviously caused some ripple effects to the extent that Groupon had to start addressing the issue with potential hires. As a result, it knocked loose the real revenue numbers for February and January. Groupon wouldn’t comment on the revenue numbers when I asked them about it, but according to a source, Groupon is now privately countering the numbers in my post: instead of $62 million in U.S. revenues, the company did $103 million in February. And that is up from $92 million in January (compared to the $89 million in the original data below).

I did some checking around, and I’ve been able to confirm that these two numbers (the $103 million and the $92 million) are right. I was also able to confirm that the 60/40 mix between U.S. and international revenues is about right.

But getting back to the cause of the drop. My original source on the data cautioned that there is a lag time between when the data is published and collected, and it is “definitely possible” that could account for the drop in February. Note that both January numbers are pretty close. The real discrepancy is with February. Also, if Groupon changed the way it published the pages in February, that too could have changed the numbers.

Other external guesstimates such as Yipit’s also point to a drop, but again, the more I learn about how this data is collected, the clearer it is that these are all imperfect methods. Groupon, of course, brings this speculation upon itself by being so tightlipped about its financials. That will change only if and when it files for an IPO.

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Arguing the Case Against the Libya Attack, Xtranormal Style [VIDEO]

Perhaps the most cogent argument yet against the U.S.’s recent airstrikes on Libya comes from a cartoon character.

This Xtranormal video, with a decidedly right-leaning point of view, compares President Obama’s decision to bomb Libya with President Bush’s invasion of Iraq in 2003. With close to 100,000 views since it was loaded four days ago, the argument seems to have struck a chord.

Of course, it’s a fairly lopsided debate. The Bush defender here is presented as rational and well-informed while his liberal coworker is pretty dim, brushing aside his objections by noting, “I don’t care. Obama is cool and awesome. His bracket picks were outstanding too,” and declaring that she gets all her news from Saturday Night Live, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert.

The cartoon animation and the robotic delivery typical of Xtranormal has a distancing effect, but it also prevents the discussion from becoming too strident. Perhaps this is the way the country will argue amongst itself going forward. Good thing we now have an easy way to do so.

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Panasonic Lumix GH2 review roundup: impressive video recording, murky still images

By Richard Lai posted Mar 27th 2011 4:18PM In case you're still wondering if Panasonic's mirrorless Lumix GH2 is worth your $900, we've rounded up a handful of reviews to provide a pointer for your next big purchase. While most reviewers agree that this Micro Four Thirds camera appears to be very similar to its predecessor, they universally praise the subtly improved ergonomics, speedy liveview autofocusing, and refined image quality, especially with its 1080p AVCHD video recording (although Digital Camera Resource Page did notice some artifacting in its clips). Noise is also a non-issue up to about ISO 800 or 1600, though it's apparent that the 16 megapixel stills are comparatively dull and, like those from many other MFTs, aren't quite on par with DSLRs -- expect plenty of manual processing work here, as demoed by the good folks over at Digital Photography Review. All in all, the GH2 is a great kit for high quality video capturing, bundled with a pretty good still performance that requires some extra TLC afterwards -- kinda ironic in a way, but hey, this isn't a problem for lovers of video bokeh. Head over to the links below for some in-depth analysis and walk-through before you leave a small dent on your bank account.

Read - Digital Photography Review
Read - Photography Blog
Read - Let's Go Digital
Read - Digital Camera Resource Page

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Comcast's Xfinity TV app for iOS updated with more streaming and customization

By Richard Lawler posted Mar 25th 2011 2:34PM Comcast is back with what it's calling the third major release of its Xfinity TV app for iOS, and while the product team says it's added streaming content from IFC, Adult Swim, BBC and more the key upgrade is in customizations. It features a new favorites list that is most improved by its ability to sync with the XfinityTV website, a new channel keypad for quick changes when used as a remote and the ability to jump to specific dates in the TV listings. The iPhone version has also gotten a tweak, with the addition of a "flip through previous channels" feature previously restricted to the iPad version. Of course the next question is when we can expect these enhancements to filter over to the recently launched Android version, and also when Comcast is planning to follow Time Warner through the live channel streaming door, despite the loud protests of some of the TV networks against it.

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London Underground to get 120 WiFi hotspots in advance of the 2012 Olympics

By Laura June posted Mar 26th 2011 9:12AM A big announcement arrived today if you live in or around London: to prepare to the onslaught of data-hungry visitors for the 2012 Olympic games that the city is hosting, 120 WiFi hotspots are being added to various locations along the Underground subway system's stations and platforms, in addition to other measures being taken to beef up tech. No WiFi will be in the actual tunnels, mind you, but it should definitely come in handy for all those tourists trying to find their way around the city. British Telecom has already tolled out a trial run at the Charing Cross station, with further installations expected in the lead up to the games.

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HOW TO: Get the Most Out of Advanced Social Media Search

Ann Smarty is a search marketer and full-time web entrepreneur. Ann blogs on search and social media tools. Her newest project, My Blog Guest, is a free platform for guest bloggers and blog owners. Follow Ann on Twitter at @seosmarty.

Social media search — the ability to tap into thousands of real-time updates — has long been a hot topic. It opens up endless opportunities for market and competitor research, content inspiration and, obviously, network building.

In this post, we’ll aim to tackle some more advanced social search functionality so that you can make the most out of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Twitter search can be accessed from your Twitter home page, as well as from a separate subdomain. Twitter search focuses on real-time results; however, Twitter has introduced important algorithm changes that push particularly hot and “promoted” tweets above the real-time results.

The official Twitter search is a powerful tool. From there (as well as by using search operators) you can:

Adjust your query (exclude any word/force any word/force the exact match, etc.). Set the language of search results.Filter search results by user name (to see tweets from a user or mentioning some user).Set the local filter (to see tweets near a location).Play with emotional coloring (using the smile emoticons) as well as search for tweeted questions.Include or exclude retweets.Restrict results to those containing links.

While the above options are certainly effective, the most useful one is hidden.

Both Twitter Advanced Search and twitter.com/search offer easy ways to only show tweets that contain links. However, because most tweets already contain links, in many cases the searchers are most likely to look for the opposite: a way to see tweets that have no links in order to filter out numerous updates around the same popular URL. This option is invaluable for real Twitter conversations.

To filter out all tweets containing links, you need to use -filter:links operator within your search query. The minus sign is crucial:

As you can see, it can be a handy way to find great quotes, sincere opinions, reviews and discussions.

Before we get into detail, let’s make it clear what exactly we are talking about here. Facebook has three huge search platforms. We are interested in two of them:

The only way you can filter results is by type: People, Pages, Groups, Apps, Events, Web Results (powered by Bing), updates from friends or any update made public.

Limitations

It’s important to remember some things about Facebook search:

It is unpredictable. Facebook search relies heavily on your friends and friends of your friends, so you never know what other users see for your search query. It’s like Google personalized search, but with a stronger reliance on social connections over any other ranking factors.It relies on exact match and lacks advanced operators (and thus flexibility). Unlike Twitter search, Facebook gives you no freedom with your query. You can’t exclude one word while including another one. You can’t filter results by location and so forth.

Facebook search relies too much on exact matches. For any two words, you will only see results that contain both of your terms. But what if I want to see combined results for two words used in the query? Luckily, there’s a hidden operator. For example, twitter | facebook search will trigger results containing either “twitter” or “facebook” (or both):

Twitter tips | facebook tips will list either “twitter tips” or “facebook tips” (or both):

The same operator works for the auto-complete drop-down, which means you can see much more varied results there as well:

This supported operator gives at least some freedom in controlling your search results’ proximity and variety. Let’s hope Facebook will eventually come up with more.

LinkedIn has a well-developed search platform that is broken into six independent sections: People, Updates, Jobs, Companies, Answers and Groups. All of these sections offer mixed suggestions (possible results from several sections) as you type.

Each of the above sections has a huge range of advanced search options, listed below:

People: Filter results by location, relationship, (past) industry and school. More options are available for premium members.Updates: Filter results by your connection level, see updates from your immediate network, from friends of your friends or your third-level network, as well as set the time range, location, etc.Jobs: Filter results by how fresh they are, experience required, industry, etc.Companies: Filter results by location, industry, relation, company size, fortune, etc.Answers: Filter by categories. You can add multiple categories.Groups: Filter by category and language.

With such a variety of options, you are unlikely to ever need any more of them. However, there are some really handy Boolean operators, which can make search even more efficient.

Exclude any term while staying within your topic. For example: blogging -coach. Compare the results below:

Combine two search terms within one search if you, for example, want to find people who mention both “blogging” and “marketing” in their profiles:

Choose to see at least one of your terms within search results. This one is similar to Facebook’s operator mentioned above. For instance, search for blogger OR freelance writer:

I hope these “hidden” social search operators will open up new exciting opportunities for you and will inspire you to get more creative with searching Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Please share your own secret search tricks in the comments below.

Interested in more Social Media resources? Check out Mashable Explore, a new way to discover information on your favorite Mashable topics.

Image courtesy of Flickr, andercismo

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51 New Digital Media Resources You May Have Missed

Spring is definitely in the air despite the frigid weather here on the East coast. If you’ve been out enjoying the sun, we seriously can’t blame you. Mashable is here, however, to help you get up to speed on any social media resources or tools you might have missed.

Below you can find stories on how to hack the summer startup accelerator programs, tips for better business blogging, why the current tech scene is different from the 90s bubble, and why Rebecca Black may not be great for our culture. The situation in Japan is also slowly improving but much help is still needed. Check below for some new ways you can help the relief effort online.

Looking for even more social media resources? This guide appears every weekend, and you can check out all the lists-gone-by here any time.

Why AT&T Bought T-Mobile
AT&T, maligned for its inability to keep up with growing mobile data usage, thinks it has found the solution to its network woes.The Age of Mediocrity: Why Rebecca Black Is Everyone’s Fault [OPINION]
In a world where everyone’s a publisher, musician and video star, what happens to our culture?The Fundamentals & Best Practices of Logo Design
From brand new companies staking their identity to big players looking for a refresh, the complexities of logo design should not be underestimated. We spoke with industry pros about the process.How Tribeca Is Changing the Way We Think About Online Film Festivals
The Tribeca (Online) Film Festival aims to bring features and short films to audiences around the world and hopes to help redefine how we think about online film festivals.Why Xbox Kinect Technology Will Be the Next Frontier for Marketers
If you’re among the many marketers trying to grasp the game-changing impact of Xbox’s motion-controlled add-on Kinect, you’re not alone. Here’s why your brand needs a strategy now.Sword & Sworcery: The Most Anticipated iPad Game You’ve Never Heard Of
Mix old school adventuring, tactile controls, a dynamic musical score and Twitter integration, and you’ve got Sword & Sworcery, a unique new game coming to the iPad.

For more social media news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s social media channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

Review: Phosphor Reveal Watch Rotates Tiny Crystals to Tell Time [VIDEO & PICS]
You’ve probably never seen a mechanical digital watch before, and certainly nothing like this: It’s the Phosphor Reveal, using an array of rotating Swarovski plastic crystals to display the time.Wired Fashion: 10 Items of Connected Clothing for Gadget Lovers
Whether you want built-in headphones, pockets perfect for your iPod or even clothing capable of making calls, there are solutions available.16 Rad Retro Gaming Accessories for Your Home or Office [PICS]
We’ve got 16 items that will bring a little retro gaming chic to your home or office with familiar characters from arcade and console classics decorating all manner of items including doormats, lampshades and even an ice cube tray.4 Free Apps For Discovering Great Content On the Go
With so much content on the web, it can be hard to cut through the noise. Here are four free mobile apps that show you the good stuff.Are Cross-Platform Mobile App Frameworks Right for Your Business?
There are a few tools out there that will automatically port your mobile app code across platforms, but they’re not perfect. Here are a few things to consider before you jump in.4 Reasons Today’s Tech Scene Differs From the ’90s Bubble
There’s been a lot of worry over the valuation of tech and social media startups. Are we due for another crash? Some industry analysts don’t think so.Why The AT&T & T-Mobile Deal Won’t Change the Industry
Much has been made of the massive mobile deal but here’s why it won’t actually change the industry.5 Mobile App Trends You Can’t Ignore
Mobile apps are constantly evolving. From localized content to cloud-based storage, here are the mobile app features we expect to explode this year.New Tablet: Is the Revised Galaxy Tab 10.1 an iPad 2 Killer? [GALLERY]
Samsung’s redesigned 10.1-inch Galaxy Tab is thinner and lighter than an iPad 2. But can it compete against the Apple juggernaut?10 Key Considerations for Your Mobile Web Design Strategy
Before you embark on your mobile web design project, stop and think about your goals, and what you want users to get out of their mobile experience.HOW TO: Sign, Seal, Deliver Docs Without A Printer Or Scanner
HelloFax removes the need to print out, sign, scan-in and send documents by digitizing the process.6 Deliciously Designed iPhone Apps for Better Baking
Whether you crave cupcakes, fancy a fruit flan or are desirous of a delicious dessert, we’ve found six apps that offer some scrumptious recipes for you to have a crack at.How AI Advances Are Making Virtual Service Reps Smarter
Frustrated with that computer voice on the other end of the customer service line? Advances in natural language processing will offer better results in the near future.10 Security Gadgets to Keep Your Stuff Safe on the Go
Whether you want a laptop lock, a portable safe or even a privacy screen solution, we’ve found 10 top security and anti-theft products that will help you keep your kit secure when out and about.10 Key Considerations for Your Mobile Web Design Strategy
Before you embark on your mobile web design project, stop and think about your goals, and what you want users to get out of their mobile experience.7 Tips for Launching a Successful Podcast
Focusing your topic, investing in the right equipment, and brand building are all part the recipe for podcasting success.

For more tech news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s tech channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

5 Online Communities to Help With Your Career
There are several online communities where you can network and find leads to help you further your career. Here are our top five.4 Innovative Ways to Use Web Video for Small Business
How does a small business compete with a whole Internet of viral videos? Click through for five ways that small businesses can take advantage of web video without blowing their budgetsThe Pros and Cons Of Tumblr For Small Business
If you’re a small business owner with your finger hovering over the “Start posting!” button, consider some of these pressing questions.Why Sales Is Still Missing From Social CRM
Why have sales departments been so slow to fully utilize social media, and how can they get involved? Here’s a closer look at the trend, and some tips for making the leap.5 Tips for Maintaining Brand Consistency Across Social Media
Experts provide 5 tips for maintaining brand consistency across Twitter, Facebook and other forms of social media.Top 5 Mistakes to Avoid on Your Company Blog
Don’t make these common blogging blunders.5 Ways Retailers Are Winning Big With Facebook Commerce
Turning “Likes” into sales can be a challenge, but some brands have had strong results. Here’s a look at a few Facebook commerce success stories.10 Tips for Posting on Your Brand’s Facebook Page
What kind of voice should your Page have, and how often should you share? These 10 Dos and Don’ts will set you in the right direction.HOW TO: Keep Prying Eyes Off Your Sensitive Online Tax Documents
If you’re filing your taxes online, it’s worth it to take a few extra precautions.Why Custom Menswear Brand J. Hilburn Waited 3 Years To Add Ecommerce
J. Hilburn, a thriving three-year-old brand that focuses on made-to-measure dress shirts and other men’s apparel, has launched an ecommerce site.5 Challenges for Human Resources in a Digital World
As organizations and business leaders position themselves for the future, the following five workplace challenges will continue to change human resources.How One Group of Startups and Investors Traded the Elevator Pitch for the Ski Lift
Only in startup fundraising does a ski lift make an ideal work environment.7 Common Mistakes Startups Make on Accelerator Program Applications
Thinking of throwing your startup into the ring for a summer mentorship and funding program? These 7 common mistakes are easy to avoid when you’re looking out for them.11 Pro Tips for Better Business Blogging
We asked a panel of successful young entrepreneurs how to ensure that your blogging efforts remain on point, effective and primed for success.How Groupon Uses the Cloud to Scale Its Business
We had a chance to talk to Ryan Miller and Chris Bland from Groupon about how the company has so quickly scaled its business.How LinkedIn Is Taking Care of Business [INFOGRAPHIC]
A look at LinkedIn’s stats as the company surpasses 100 million users and readies an IPO.Ecommerce Around the World [INFOGRAPHIC]
Ecommerce is a booming business in the U.S. and across the globe — and it’s not slowing down anytime soon.5 Tips for Creating Your Own Group Buying Deals
Why go through Groupon or LivingSocial when you can reap the benefits of your own group buying deals? Here are 5 things to consider before diving in.

For more business news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s business channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

Image courtesy of Webtreats Etc.

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Verizon's Samsung 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot launches March 31st

By Chris Ziegler posted Mar 27th 2011 1:33PM Though it won't be the first Verizon LTE device to share its white-hot connection over WiFi (that honor goes to the recently-launched Thunderbolt), Samsung's SCH-LC11 -- announced back at CES -- is shaping up to be the network's first dedicated hotspot to hit retail. We've just been dropped the carrier's internal equipment guide showing a launch date in all channels (stores, telesales, and online) this coming Thursday, March 31st; pricing is an open question, but carriers tend to price these modems pretty aggressively on contract since they know they're going to eat you alive with the data plan for the next two years. Of course, in this case, we're more than willing to get eaten alive if it means we've got a 20Mbps WiFi connection in our pocket at all times.

[Thanks, anonymous tipster]

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iPad, iPad 2 get unofficial CF card compatibility (video)

Given the impressive knockoffs and official camera kits we've seen, we'd say the iPad's definitely got the stuff to help out most shutterbugs, but up until now, uploading content from a CF card wasn't exactly easy. Well, our friends over at MIC Gadget recently showed off an iPad / iPad 2-compatible card reader that fixes that on the cheap. Simply called the CF card reader for iPad and iPad 2, the thing slips right into the slate's dock connector port and, as you can see from the video below, it transfers HD video and high-res images in a snap -- it also sports USB connectivity. Like its predecessor, the reader's available from MIC for $29.90, but you'll have to wait at least a month to get your hands on one. Oh, and a word of warning, you might want to make sure the iPad supports your camera's video format before shelling out the dough, as MIC found the slab couldn't playback video from a Canon EOS 5D Mark II.

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iPad 2 international launch causes people to line up in line all over again (updated)

Glasgow, UK

Carrousel du Louvre, Paris, France

Covent Garden, London

Ontario, Canada

Paris, France

Berlin, Germany (!)

Manchester, England

Milan, Italy

Sweden

Zurich

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Vancouver, BC, Canada

Montreal, Canada

Dublin, Ireland

Leeds, England

Hamburg, Germany

Bristol, England

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