Monday 4 July 2011

Mashable: Latest 12 News Updates - including “Apple the Latest Target of Hackers”

Mashable: Latest 12 News Updates - including “Apple the Latest Target of Hackers”


Apple the Latest Target of Hackers

Posted: 04 Jul 2011 04:31 AM PDT


Hacker group Anonymous claims it has hacked one of Apple’s servers and posted usernames and passwords to prove it on their Twitter account, together with a warning that Apple could be a target of one of their attacks.

“Not being so serious, but well (…) #Apple could be target, too. But don’t worry, we are busy elsewhere”, tweeted @AnonymousIRC, together with a link that leads to a text file on Pastebin which apparently contains the user names and passwords from an SQL database table on one of Apple’s servers.

The site in question (currently offline) is an Apple Business Intelligence website, and the database is related to a survey on the site.

While it’s unlikely that this hack will cause much damage to Apple (the passwords are encrypted), it’s a warning to Apple that, as a high-profile corporation, is not safe from the recent onslaught of hacking attacks from Anonymous members and affiliated groups.

Roughly at the same time of Anonymous’ tweet, a Lebanese hacker named Idahc claimed via Twitter he had found an SQL vulnerability in Apple’s servers. The hacker, who says he is not affiliated with either LulzSec or Anonymous, claims he had successfully used the attack on the Apple Consultants Network server, but he did not publicly release user names, emails or passwords from the hack.

An Apple spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

[via PCWorld]

More About: anonymous, antisec, apple, hack, hacker, hackers, security

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Hackers Break Into Fox News Account, Tweet Fake Obama Assassination News

Posted: 04 Jul 2011 01:48 AM PDT


A hacker group calling themselves Scriptkiddies has broken into one of Fox News’ Twitter accounts and used it to disseminate fake news about the assassination of president Obama.

The group gained control of @foxnewspolitics, bragging about it on several Twitter accounts (now suspended).

They didn’t stop there, though; after tweeting a suspicious message on the Fox News Politics account claiming the company had regained the control over that account, they started tweeting messages about a shooting in which President Obama was fatally wounded.

“BREAKING NEWS: President @BarackObama assassinated, 2 gunshot wounds have proved too much. It’s a sad 4th for #america. #obamadead RIP,” said one of the tweets.

The news is obviously fake: the main Fox News account says nothing about the shooting, and no other agencies or media outlets are reporting anything of the sort.

This is another one in a long string of hacking incidents which have grown increasingly common in the last couple of months. The group that hacked Fox News’ Twitter account doesn’t seem to be directly related to the two hacker groups that were in the spotlight lately — Anonymous and the recently disbanded LulzSec.

We’ve contacted Fox News for a comment, but haven’t yet heard from them.

More About: barack obama, fake assassination, fox news, hack, hacker, hackers, trending

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Seagull Camcorder Owner Surfaces, Says His Viral Video Was Real [VIDEO]

Posted: 03 Jul 2011 10:11 PM PDT


(Click the “CC” icon for English captions)

Remember that camcorder-stealing seagull video we showed you last week? On Sunday, a tipster led us to Lukas Karasek, the owner of that camera, who says the remarkable video was not faked.

We had our doubts about whether this was an actual occurrence, or a setup intended to be a viral video on behalf of camcorder maker GoPro. It is possible that Karasek did set down his tiny camera, which you can see in this video, in front of the seagull, which promptly flew away with it and into viral video history.

SEE ALSO: Seagull Snatches Camcorder, Flies Into Viral Video History [VIDEO]

By the way, that video had viewership in the tens of thousands when we first posted it, and now it’s been viewed more than 1.6 million times.

Crazier things have happened. Listen to his plausible explanation, and then let us know if you think this guy is leveling with us or not. Do you think that video was faked?

Thanks for the tip, Lubomir!

More About: camcorder, follow-up, gopro, Seagull, viral video

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Spam Decreased 82.22% Over The Past Year

Posted: 03 Jul 2011 09:24 PM PDT


We have some great news for you: There was a whole lot less spam sent today than there was a year ago. A look at the graphic above puts it in visual terms for you, illustrating how there were more than 225 billion spam emails sent per day in July, 2010, and in June, 2011, that number has dropped to approximately 40 billion. That’s an 82.22% decrease in spam over a year.

What heroes relieved us of much of this scourge? Security journalist and former Washington Post reporter Brian Krebs attributes some of the credit to cops and security experts with a lot of help from Internet service providers. The graph (provided by Symantec Intelligence) shows significant drops in spam levels occurred when investigators coordinated their efforts and brought down numerous major spam networks such as “Rustock,” said to be responsible for 40% of all junk email.

That was the good news. Now here’s the bad news: In the place of all those spam networks, there’s a new superbug emerging called TDL-4, and it’s smart enough to remove all the other malware from PCs as it takes over, replacing dozens of viruses with itself. It’s said to have already infected 4.5 million PCs, and according to Krebs, “it uses a custom encryption scheme that makes it difficult for security experts to analyze.”

What’s being done to stop this? In addition to their concerted efforts to stop the spammers, the good guys are following the money. Spammers are stealing hoards of money with click fraud, scareware and credential theft, so law enforcement agencies are going after the financial institutions that are handling the cash for these criminals. Good luck with that.

Meanwhile, we’ll stick with using Gmail, which uses crowdsourcing to do a highly effective job of filtering out spam. As a result, I haven’t seen a piece of email spam in months. While there are many other ways to encounter those creepy crawlies, using Gmail is the least we can do to protect ourselves.

What do you do to protect yourself from spam and malware?

More About: Brian Krebs, spam, Symantec, TDL-4, virus

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7 Great JavaScript Resources

Posted: 03 Jul 2011 07:41 PM PDT


As browsers and server-side platforms advance, and libraries new and old grow and mature, JavaScript evolves as well. Staying at the top of your game is important. As a JavaScript developer, you’ll need to keep up with the latest news and learn new skills.

We’ve put together a list of seven of our favorite JavaScript resources to help save you time and energy along the way. Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned pro, we think you’ll find the sites below both informative and beneficial. If you know of other great resources, feel free to share them in the comments.


1. Mozilla Developer Network




The MDN has become the de facto resource for JavaScript documentation, and is an excellent resource for beginners and seasoned developers alike. Here you'll find the official and complete JavaScript reference, as well as useful guides, tutorials and articles covering everything from the basics of how JavaScript works to its best practices and design patterns. The MDN also has a thorough DOM reference, which we highly recommend checking out as well.


2. JQAPI




JQAPI is an alternative to the official jQuery.com API documentation. If you're a client-side JavaScript developer, chances are you probably have used, or at some point will use, jQuery in at least one of your projects. Whether your use is occasional or daily, you'll want to keep up with the latest development and new features in JavaScript's most popular library. Each new release improves security and performance via a slick, responsive and intuitive interface for quick browsing and searching of jQuery documentation. The UI here really is top-notch, and as a bonus, there's an offline version available for download.


3. JS Fiddle




JS Fiddle is a JavaScript pastebin on steroids. Create, share, execute and test your JavaScript right in the browser. This is a great tool for collaborative debugging or for sharing code snippets. It's also a fun way to perform quick experiments and test out new ideas. Simply combine your JavaScript, HTML and CSS, then click the "Run" button to see the results. You can also validate your JavaScript code against JSLint and save your Fiddle for use later, or share with others. JS Fiddle provides a number of useful features, like the ability to load up common frameworks automatically (to test your jQuery or MooTools code, for example) and as-you-type syntax highlighting, just like you'd get by writing code in your favorite IDE.


4. Eloquent JavaScript




This free ebook is an introduction to programming and the JavaScript language, written by developer and tech writer Marjin Haverbeke. The book reads much like a tutorial, and introduces a number of concepts and real-world applications in a clean, concise style. Interactive examples are also available, which means you can read about various techniques. You'll also get a chance to see them in action, and tinker with the code yourself. We found a lot of positive reviews for this book, so if you're new to JavaScript, this is definitely a book worth checking out.


5. Douglas Crockford's JavaScript Videos




An undisputed expert in JavaScript, Douglas Crockford is Yahoo's JavaScript architect and is one of the individuals instrumental in the planning, development and future growth of the language. The videos and transcripts on the YUI blog derive from a series of talks given by Mr. Crockford about the history of JavaScript, its future and its use today. Though the series is now about a year and a half old, we still think you'll find the videos informative. We certainly recommend watching them for a better understanding of the language, where it's been, how it works and where it's going.


6. How To Node




Not all JavaScript development takes place in the browser. NodeJS is one of the web's most popular server-side JavaScript frameworks. Whether you're a seasoned Node developer or someone who's looking to add server-side JavaScript to his repertoire, How To Node offers a great collection of articles on NodeJS development. This community-driven site offers an excellent repository of Node tutorials that's proven itself useful on a number of occasions. No Node developer toolkit would be complete without it.


7. DailyJS




We've looked at some great tools and reference material, covered tutorials from our favorite libraries and frameworks and touched on both client and server-side JavaScript development. However, we're always searching for something new. DailyJS is a popular JavaScript-focused blog that brings you the latest and greatest JavaScript news, offers tips and techniques, and reviews libraries, plug-ins and services for JavaScript developers. If you're just itching for your daily dose of JavaScript goodness, DailyJS has you covered.

More About: design, dev, features, javascript, List, Lists, web design, Web Development

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Cutest Kids in the World Will Make You Smile [VIRAL VIDEO]

Posted: 03 Jul 2011 06:34 PM PDT

Has there ever been a cuter pair of kids anywhere? Understandably, this video is quickly going viral all over the planet.

What the heck are they putting in that water? To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln when he heard about General Grant‘s enormous thirst for alcohol: “Tell me the brand of water they’re using. I would like to send a barrel of it to all the other children.” In this case, applied with only the most delicate mist from a spray bottle, though.

Do I detect a hint of disappointment at the end when mom says “all done?” All together now: Aww.

[via Ray William Johnson]

More About: cute kids, trending, viral video, web video

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Review: Two Blood Pressure Monitors for iPhone & iPad [VIDEO]

Posted: 03 Jul 2011 05:19 PM PDT




Now you can check your blood pressure using your iPhone or iPad with two products that make it easy — download an app onto your iOS device, put on a blood pressure cuff, tap the touchscreen, and soon you have a blood pressure reading that you can track every day. They’re quick and reasonably priced, but are they accurate?

For my tests, I pitted the iHealth BP3 for iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad against the Withings Blood Pressure Monitor, which also works with the iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad. Our family doctor’s been taking blood pressure readings for 30 years, so I figured he’d be a good one to give me his opinion about these devices. So I took both units to his office and comparing their readings with that of an old-fashioned manual blood pressure cuff in his skilled hands.


iHealth BP3




Like a conventional BP cuff, it's secured to the arm with Velcro.


With an iPad 2




In addition to the iPhone app, there's a free iPad app available.


Rear View




iPad and iPad 2 both fit.


Works with iPhone




Press Start to begin.


iHealth BP3




It's a charging station.


Rear View




That's a USB connector to charge the dock and your iOS device, too


Side View




There's the port for the air hose.


iHealth iPhone app




Clean interface, great graphing features, and you can share your results on Twitter and Facebook, as well as email.

This $99.95 iHealth BP3 blood pressure monitor also functions as a charging dock. I tested it with an iPad, iPad 2 and an iPhone 4, all of which fit easily into this attractive desktop unit. You plug the air hose into the side of the dock, and the other end is permanently attached to the blood pressure cuff.

The doctor showed me the proper way to use a blood pressure cuff, placing it about an inch above the elbow, and after touching the start button, the iHealth was doing its work, making a subdued whirring sound. Take a look at the video below that compares the two test units, and you’ll get an idea of how they work — they feel just like any other blood pressure cuff, and for this iHealth unit, the whole process took only 31 seconds for each test.

The free iHealth app looks great on the iPad and iPhone. It displays systolic and diastolic blood pressure readings as well as pulse rate. I especially like its graphing feature, which works in both portrait and landscape mode, showing you the history of blood pressure readings over time. I also like the way it can share blood pressure readings via email, but I’m not sure I’d want to opt for its other capabilities: sharing on Facebook or Twitter.

After two tests on each arm (with a bit of waiting in between for blood vessels to go back to their normal state), the blood pressure readings were all in the same range of around 120/80. While none of the readings were exactly alike, all were within the margin of error of the traditional blood pressure cuff used by the doctor.

The doctor says: “iHealth is accurate,” and especially liked the way the dock held the iPhone at an easily viewed angle. He also liked the iHealth’s blood pressure cuff, commenting that he thought it was more comfortable than the other one we tested from Withings. Here’s a video of both units in action:



An added advantage of the iHealth BP3 is its ability to function as a dock even when you’re not using it to measure blood pressure. Plug its included cable into the AC adapter included with iOS devices, and you have yourself a sleek-looking charging station. The dock itself also needs to be charged, so it can perform its blood pressure measurement duties without the necessity of being near a power outlet. The upside of that? It runs on its own power, and doesn’t use power from the iPhone or iPad. (Update: to be clear, the Withings unit also runs on battery power, not draining any power from the iPad or iPhone, either.) The makers of iHealth say it’ll run for 100 tests on a charge. Neat.


Withings Blood Pressure Monitor




It's secured to the arm with Velcro.


Other Side




It's a self-contained unit (Update: It has a battery compartment inside, with 4 AAA batteries that power the cuff's compressor).


Side View




Plug in the dock connector, and it's ready to go.


Top View




The flexible cuff is more rigid and not quite as comfortable as the iHealth's cuff.


Ready for Testing





Displaying Results




Here it is with an iPhone 4.


Secure Fit




It's easy to place on the arm and well designed.


Withings iPhone App




Here's the readout after a test. I like the way you can combine blood pressure readings with weight and body fat measurements from the Withings Wi-Fi scale

This $129 Withings Blood Pressure Monitor is a self-contained unit, connected via the universal dock connector that plugs into an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. Its blood pressure cuff is more rigid, making it slightly less comfortable than the iHealth, but a little easier to manage when you’re placing it on your arm.

When you first connect the unit to your iOS device, you’re prompted to download the free Withings app. Because I already use a Withings Wi-Fi scale, I already had the app on my iPhone and iPad, and I immediately realized the advantage Withings has here: On a single graph, you can see daily measurements of your weight and body fat percentage delivered by Wi-Fi, along with your blood pressure readings from this blood pressure device. You can email all that data to your doctor or caretaker, too. This e-medicine routine gives you an idea of what the remote health care of the future might be like.

As I did with the iHealth BP3, the doctor and I performed three separate blood pressure readings on each arm (each test taking 35 seconds to complete, 4 seconds slower than the iHealth), and compared those to the readings taken by the doctor using the traditional blood pressure cuff. All the readings from the Withings unit were within the same range as the conventional blood pressure cuff and the iHealth BP3.

The doctor says: “It’s equally accurate,” but he thought the Withings self-contained blood pressure cuff was bulkier and less comfortable than the iHealth’s, and noticed that the way the connector plugged into the iPhone and iPad (without that dock used in the iHealth) made the screen less convenient to operate and view.

As you saw in the video above, the Withings system offers its results on a nicely designed app that shows the systolic and diastolic blood pressure readings as well as heart rate. The Withings app also allows its readings to be shared on Facebook and Twitter, and has the added advantage of connecting with Microsoft HealthVault and GoogleHealth, allowing you to keep all of your health records in one place.

Which is best? Both units are easy to use, accurate, and work well. If you don’t already have a charging dock for your iPad or iPhone, the iHealth would be a more practical choice, and at $99.95, it’s a better overall value. If you already have a Withings Wi-Fi scale, you might want to choose the Withings blood pressure monitor (even though it costs $29.05 more than the iHealth BP3), so you can coordinate your weight and body fat measurements with your blood pressure readings and see them all on one graph together.

Best of all, neither of these units require a stethoscope and medical training to use and are reasonably priced (especially if you already have an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch), giving you daily readings of your blood pressure that might make you aware of a previously unknown condition, and perhaps even save your life.

More About: blood pressure monitors, hands-on, iHealth, iHealth BP3, ipad, iphone, iPod Touch, reviews, Withings

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How Do I Reactivate My Facebook Account?

Posted: 03 Jul 2011 03:05 PM PDT


Has your Facebook account suddenly been disabled? Don’t worry, it can happen to anyone (even celebrities like Roger Ebert), and it can usually be fixed with a little effort and a careful approach.

First, you should get acquainted with Facebook’s Statement of Rights & Responsibilities. We know, it’s a long document but it contains important guidelines on what you should and shouldn’t do on the world’s biggest social network.


Why Was My Account Disabled?


Often, the reason your account was disabled is an inappropriate photo you’ve posted — nudity of any sort is a big no-no on Facebook. Hateful comments are also frowned upon, as is impersonating others, using fake names and unsolicited contact with other users for the purpose of “harassment, advertising, promoting, dating, or other inappropriate conduct.”

Your account may also have been blocked. This means it hasn’t been completely disabled but you cannot use certain features, such as sending friend requests or messages. The block is temporary, but Facebook will not lift it for any reason, so you should just wait it out and try to inform yourself about what you may have done to cause the block and try not to repeat the offense again.

Also be aware that your account simply may have been hacked or compromised by a third party, causing Facebook to disable or block your account if they posted inappropriate content.


Fixing The Problem


If your account has been disabled in error, it’s time to take action. The first thing you should do is fill out this form, which is available even if you’re not logged into Facebook.

You can also try sending an email to [disabled@facebook.com] to ask why your account was disabled, as well as explaining that you are willing to remove any offending content in order to get your account reinstated.

Facebook’s help section is also available even if you cannot log into Facebook. This section looks into various warnings and reasons why your account may have been disabled.


Securing Your Account


You might want to secure your account even if it hasn’t been disabled by using this wizard.

WARNING: starting the wizard will IMMEDIATELY lock out your Facebook account and you will be forced to change your password and go through several additional security measures, such as confirming that you’ve changed your email passwords.

We also advise regularly backing up your Facebook profile (we explain how in this guide). That way, even if disaster happens, at least you have a backup of all your data on your home computer.

For a detailed description of the steps you can take to make your Facebook account more safe and your information more private, check out our guide here.


More About: account, facebook, reactivate, social media, social networking

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HOW TO: Land a Job at Airbnb

Posted: 03 Jul 2011 01:18 PM PDT


There’s a curious phenomenon happening, and home owners, renters, travels and vagabonds alike are starting to feel it. It’s the shift away from traditional hotel stays to temporary vacation rentals, booked by way of Airbnb.

Airbnb is the scrappy 3-year-old startup inventing an entirely new online travel marketplace. It’s seeking to make unconventional couch, bedroom, apartment, home and even entire country rentals as ordinary as booking a stay at a Holiday Inn.

And, it’s doing so rather successfully; Airbnb grew 800% from January 2010 to January 2011.

Airbnb now has more than 130,000 listings in over 15,000 cities in 184 countries, with renters having booked more than 1.9 million nights via the service to date. It sees more than 3 million unique visitors per month, and 40% month-over-month growth on average. Plus, the Airbnb iPhone app has been downloaded more than 330,000 times.

Once just three guys working out of a living room, the company now has 110 employees, working in offices around the globe. It’s even rumored to have raised a $100 million in a financing round valuing it at more than $1 billion.

The no-longer-under-the-radar company is fielding a smattering of inbound interest from job seekers who believe an early position at the company could be as valuable a lottery ticket as an early seat at Google or Facebook.

“Ever wonder what it was like to work at Facebook when it was just fifty people?,” Airbnb teases its job candidates. “Imagine building a website that sparked a movement. That’s the kind of opportunity we’re offering you at Airbnb.”

Mashable spoke with Joe Gebbia, Airbnb’s co-founder and chief product officer, to learn more about the up-and-coming company’s culture and what it’s looking for in new hires.


Culture Comes First


“Culture is incredibly important to us,” Gebbia says. “It took us three months to hire our first employee,” he adds.

Gebbia and his fellow co-founders Brian Chesky and Nathan Blecharczyk were instructed early on to pay careful attention to hiring as the first 50 to 100 employees will define the DNA of the company. “We took it upon ourselves to get it right the first time,” Gebbia says of heeding that advice. “We set a definite culture right from the beginning.”

How does Airbnb define its culture? “Inventive,” says Gebbia.

“We’ve invented a new marketplace. There was no easy way to rent a person’s bedroom over the Internet, or book a vacation rental over the Internet,” Gebbia says. “There was no guidebook for us to turn to as we defined this new marketplace … we had to invent all along the way, and that permeates our culture today.”

If you want to work at Airbnb — the company has more than 75 openings and plans to hire aggressively — you too should be highly inventive.


Must Haves: Passion, Design Sensibility & Raw Intelligence


Airbnb has a laundry list of qualities it’s looking for when interviewing candidates. Atop that list is a tangible passion for changing the travel industry.

“We want those who align with our noble cause. It’s about more than making money; it’s about connecting people in countries all around the world,” says Gebbia. “Our social mission is to get people meeting each other, and we need people who align with that purpose.”

The ideal Airbnb candidate is a resourceful self-starter who will need limited guidance. He or she must possess strong design sensibility — a quality stressed by Gebbia as second only to passion for the company. “You must have the ability to recognize good design and good user experience,” says Gebbia. “These are core things at Airbnb. It doesn’t matter which department you’re in. We’re ultimately a service and a product that lives or dies by user experience.”

But, you’ll only get so far in the interview process with passion and design sensibility, because the startup is serious about selecting only the best and brightest talent. “We hire people who are smarter than us,” Gebbia says.

You should also be a strong at teamwork, be trustworthy, possess integrity and have good character, Gebbia says.


The Airbnb Interview


Interviewing for a job at Airbnb is a straightforward process. The company breaks down rolls into five pillars: product, community, customer support, finance and marketing.

You’ll first meet with the hiring lead of a department. Next, you’ll meet with every team member in the department.

Those who continue on in the process will meet with a cross section of the company, with someone representing each of the five pillars. If all goes well, you’ll end up face-to-face with two of Airbnb’s three co-founders for the final test.

The interview process is formal in function only. Airbnb cares not what you wear — even flip flops or jeans are considered acceptable interview attire. Ultimately, the startup concerns itself most with the qualities mentioned above.


Quirks That Worked


A company that defines itself as inventive is looking for candidates who stand out — people who actually embody the word “inventive,” not just use it.

Case in point, Christopher Lukezic, Airbnb’s director of marketing, commanded everyone’s attention — Gebbia and Chesky especially — when he applied with a comic book in lieu of a resume in the summer of 2009.

At the time, Airbnb was getting hundreds of resumes (now it’s seeing thousands), all of which looked the same. “Christopher had illustrated a two-page comic book about why he wanted to work at Airbnb and who he was,” Gebbia recalls.

Lukezic was hired in days. But Airbnb’s fastest hire was a front-end developer who redesigned the entire homepage of Airbnb.com. The developer emailed a link to his design, along with detailed explanation of why he wanted to work for the company. The link quickly made its way through the entire company.

Two hours after receipt, Gebbia phoned that developer. By that night, the prospect was on a plane to San Francisco, and by the next day everyone had agreed to bring him on board.

Inventiveness works at Airbnb.


An Inside Look at Airbnb’s Lavish HQ


Airbnb set up its new headquarters in a lavish 20,000 square foot space in the Design District of San Francisco in late May. Here’s a look inside:


Airbnb Headquarters




Photo courtesy of Marc Olivier Le Blanc


Airbnb Headquarters




Photo courtesy of Marc Olivier Le Blanc


Airbnb Headquarters




Photo courtesy of Marc Olivier Le Blanc


Airbnb Headquarters




Photo courtesy of Marc Olivier Le Blanc


Airbnb Headquarters




Photo courtesy of Marc Olivier Le Blanc


Airbnb Headquarters




Photo courtesy of Marc Olivier Le Blanc


Airbnb Headquarters




Photo courtesy of Marc Olivier Le Blanc


Airbnb Headquarters




Photo courtesy of Marc Olivier Le Blanc


Airbnb Headquarters




Photo courtesy of Marc Olivier Le Blanc


Airbnb Headquarters




Photo courtesy of Marc Olivier Le Blanc


Airbnb Headquarters




Photo courtesy of Marc Olivier Le Blanc


Airbnb Headquarters




Photo courtesy of Marc Olivier Le Blanc


Airbnb Headquarters




Photo courtesy of Marc Olivier Le Blanc


Airbnb Headquarters




Photo courtesy of Marc Olivier Le Blanc


Airbnb Headquarters




Photo courtesy of Marc Olivier Le Blanc


Airbnb Headquarters




Photo courtesy of Marc Olivier Le Blanc


Airbnb Headquarters




Photo courtesy of Marc Olivier Le Blanc


Airbnb Headquarters




Photo courtesy of Marc Olivier Le Blanc


Airbnb Headquarters




Photo courtesy of Marc Olivier Le Blanc


Airbnb Headquarters




Photo courtesy of Marc Olivier Le Blanc


Airbnb Headquarters




Photo courtesy of Marc Olivier Le Blanc


Airbnb Headquarters




Photo courtesy of Marc Olivier Le Blanc


Airbnb Headquarters




Photo courtesy of Marc Olivier Le Blanc


Airbnb Headquarters




Photo courtesy of Marc Olivier Le Blanc


Airbnb Headquarters




Photo courtesy of Marc Olivier Le Blanc


Airbnb Headquarters




Photo courtesy of Marc Olivier Le Blanc


Airbnb Headquarters




Photo courtesy of Marc Olivier Le Blanc


Airbnb Headquarters




Photo courtesy of Marc Olivier Le Blanc


Airbnb Headquarters




Photo courtesy of Marc Olivier Le Blanc


Airbnb Headquarters




Photo courtesy of Marc Olivier Le Blanc


Airbnb Headquarters




Photo courtesy of Marc Olivier Le Blanc


Airbnb Headquarters




Photo courtesy of Marc Olivier Le Blanc


Airbnb Headquarters




Photo courtesy of Marc Olivier Le Blanc


Social Media Job Listings


Every week we put out a list of social media and web job opportunities. While we post a huge range of job listings, we’ve selected some of the top social media job opportunities from the past two weeks to get you started. Happy hunting!


More Job Search Resources From Mashable:


- HOW TO: Land a Job at LinkedIn
- 5 Clever Ways to Get a Job Using Social Media
- HOW TO: Land a Job at Google
- HOW TO: Set Up an Online Resume
- HOW TO: Score a Job at a Creative Agency

More About: AirBNB, job search series, jobs, Joe Gebbia, startup, travel

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Stealthy Trick Makes Facebook Look Like an Excel Spreadsheet

Posted: 03 Jul 2011 11:47 AM PDT


Now you can get away with cruising around Facebook at work, even when your boss is peering over your shoulder. Well, as long as the boss doesn’t look too closely.

Even the laziest slacker can look busy in a jiffy with this interactive adaptation of many of Facebook’s functions. Simply go to HardlyWork.in, click “Gimme Dem Spreadsheets,” enter your Facebook credentials, and there’s your Facebook newsfeed, all done up to look exactly like an Excel spreadsheet.

It’s not just a static graphic, either — HardlyWork.in lets you search for Facebook friends by entering names into the formula bar, load more items, check your newsfeed, wall, or tag photos, hover to see who liked a post, and there’s even a boss switch (the spacebar) that immediately changes everything into a vast sea of spreadsheet numbers all nestled within their legitimate-looking cells.


The only thing missing? Full-sized pics. But links are clickable, and you can see thumbnails when you hover your cursor over their descriptions. Besides, big pics would be a giveaway to the fact that you, uh, aren’t working.

Don’t be surprised if there’s a lot of spreadsheet “work” going on when you report back to the office on Tuesday. Just be sure the boss hasn’t caught up with Mashable yet — or Lifehacker, where we found this clever idea.

More About: boss switch, Excel, facebook, HardlyWork.in, slackers, spreadsheet, stealth, trending, workplace

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5 DIY Ecommerce Solutions for Small Business

Posted: 03 Jul 2011 10:28 AM PDT

money image

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

Small business often have small budgets, and many times having a custom ecommerce solution developed simply isn’t feasible or practical (or, let’s be honest, necessary). Fortunately, for the small retailer who wants to get online and start selling quickly, there are several great options available in the form of hosted services and subscription-based web applications.

Below, we’ll take a look at five of those options, their average cost, basic requirements and what sets them apart. Our list is by no means exhaustive. There are many great services available, and we urge you to consider them all to find the one that’s just right for your business. Let us know which one you use in the comments.


1. Big Cartel




Big Cartel, in its own words, "provides you with your own independent store to sell your stuff online." Prices range from $9.99 per month for 25 products, to $29.99 per month for up to 300 products, with varying levels of customization with each plan. Big Cartel has a few nice things going for it -- it only charges a monthly fee and doesn't take a percentage of your sales revenues, and it can link in directly with any PayPal or bank account, meaning you won't need an expensive merchant account or have to deal with gateway fees. For individuals and small vendors who sell a limited product inventory, this is a great option.


2. Shopify




Shopify was one of the first hosted ecommerce SAAS applications and a popular solution among merchants who may be selling a larger variety of products. Prices range all the way from $29 per month all the way to $699 per month, depending largely on the number of products in your inventory (100 for the smallest plan, 50,000 for the largest, with disk space and bandwidth scaling accordingly). Shopify charges a transaction fee between 0.5 and 2% in addition to the monthly rates for all but its largest plan. You'll need a merchant account to use Shopify, and it supports a large number of gateway services.

Though the cost of a Shopify store can be a bit expensive, you'll get a lot of bang for your buck from a proven, reliable service provider who's been around a bit longer than many of its competitors.


3. Big Commerce




Big Commerce is another option for high-volume, large inventory online sales that's slightly less expensive than Shopify, with plans that range form $49.95 per month to $299.95 per month. The top two plans give you unlimited products, and the bottom three allow 100, 500 and 1000, respectively. Big Commerce also includes tools for selling on eBay and Facebook, a returns system, and it can even assist with marketing and drop-shipping. There's also a whole host of reporting tools, SEO services and inventory and content management capabilities, as well as a few other handy features.


4. Volusion




Volusion is an all-in-one hosted ecommerce provider that will have you up and running in no time. Plans range from $25 per month to $149 per month and scale similarly to Big Commerce's options. All Volusion merchants receive 24/7/365 customer support and access to free design templates for customizing your storefront. There is an additional application process to allow you to accept credit card payments online, for a processing fee of 2.17% per transaction, with payments deposited directly into your bank account by Volusion, bypassing any additional gateway fees.

In addition to providing great software, the Volusion team also offers design and marketing services for an additional fee, so if you're looking to get your feet wet with ecommerce but would like a bit of help from skilled professionals, the Volusion staff has you covered.


5. Vendder




Vendder lets you set up a storefront and start selling products online in just minutes. Unlike many of its competitors, Vendder even offers a free plan that allows you to sell up to 15 products (customization and theme options are of course limited). Vendder's two other plans, Plus and Pro, cost $24 per month (for 150 products) and $49 per month (for 500 products). Vendder offers a nice set of customization tools and both premium and basic templates are available. Despite the low monthly fees and free plans, according to the Vendder support staff, there are no additional transaction fees. This makes the service a great option for small businesses on a tight budget. Custom plans are also available.

Image courtesy of Flickr, Dave-F

More About: ecommerce, shopify, trending

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Zuckerberg vs. Google [COMIC]

Posted: 03 Jul 2011 09:15 AM PDT

Will Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg be welcoming Google into direct competition with Facebook? Find out in this comic from The Joy of Tech.




Should Facebook be worried about the new Google+ social network? Let us know in the comments.

SEE ALSO: REVIEW | PHOTOS | VIDEOS | POLL: What do you think of Google+?

Comic courtesy GeekCulture, used with permission.

More About: comic, facebook, Google, Joy of Tech, trending, Zuckerberg

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Mashable Picks: Our 11 Favorite Tumblr Themes

Posted: 03 Jul 2011 08:08 AM PDT


We all love Tumblr for its ease of use and unique social blogging features. But we really love Tumblr because the right theme can turn your humble cat musings into sophisticated works of web literature. Just click that “install” button and, “Look Ma, I’m a web designer!” (Our judges would have also accepted, “Mmm, I loves me some gradients.”)

Tumblr’s theme garden grows bigger by the day thanks to the contributions of some premier developers. Whether you’re looking to pimp your existing blog or arrive on the Tumblr scene in style, we thought it helpful to highlight a few of the themes we find beautiful, compelling and feature-rich.

See below for staff-picked Mashable favorites, and let us know which theme(s) you’re using in the comments.


1. Savory




Josh Catone: One of the things that makes Savory so nice is that it clearly defines different Tumblr post types while still cohesively tying them together. It also has a massive amount of customization options and built in support for Disqus and Typekit.

Preview it: here.

Install it: here.

Price: $49


2. Field Notes




Lauren Rubin: Field Notes FTW. Not only do I love the products, I love how they've kept the branding consistent in the digital space.

Preview it: here.

Install it: here.

Price: Free


3. Plaid




Brenna Ehrlich: The theme that started my hipster media empire.

Preview it: here.

Install it: here.

Price: Free


4. Brutal Simplicity




Christina Warren: Brutal Simplicity, as the name implies is simple. It's also elegant and easy to customize.

Preview it: here.

Install it: here.

Price: Free


5. Chunky




Lauren Drell: I love Chunky, which I use for my typo blog (#nerdalert). For a lot of Tumblrs, you have to keep scroooooolling down to see older posts. For my purposes (flaunting people's careless spelling on signage), Chunky provides a collage aesthetic that makes the images super easy to consume -- barely any scrolling necessary! Plus, I love bright colors, and this theme is "slabby, colorful, fun."

Preview it: here.

Install it: here.

Price: Free


6. Solaris




Matt Silverman: Few Tumblr themes make good use of white space while keeping posts organized. Solaris is modern, super clean, and instantly digestable. Well worth nine bucks.

Preview it: here.

Install it: here.

Price: $9


7. Effector




Christina Warren: Lots of options, color styles and built-in social tools make Effector a great theme to use and tweak.

Preview it: here.

Install it: here.

Price: Free


8. Chalkdust




Stephanie Buck: I've always wanted to paint my apartment walls with that chalkboard paint. The "Chalkdust" Tumblr theme allows me to virtually paint - without inciting the wrath of my landlord.

Preview it: here.

Install it: here.

Price: Free


9. Rubber Cement




Stacy Green: I love the Rubber Cement theme from SleepoverSF, because thats what I use -- in purple of course. ;)

Preview it: here.

Install it: here.

Price: Free


10. Storybook




Christina Warren: This illustrated Tumblr theme is just beautiful to look at.

Preview it: here.

Install it: here.

Price: $49


11. Blank Slate




Christina Warren: Blank Slate indeed! I love the fixed sidebar and the textured background.

Preview it: here.

Install it: here.

Price: $49

More About: blogging, List, Lists, social media, tumblr, tumblr themes, web design, Web Development

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