Monday 26 September 2011

Mashable: Latest 11 News Updates - including “Mashable Weekend Recap: 22 Stories You May Have Missed”

Mashable: Latest 11 News Updates - including “Mashable Weekend Recap: 22 Stories You May Have Missed”


Mashable Weekend Recap: 22 Stories You May Have Missed

Posted: 26 Sep 2011 04:19 AM PDT


Facebook and its mind-boggling changes dominated the weekend, where we looked into the Timeline, expressed our opinions about the new features and reassured everyone that all that extra bling isn’t going to cost us a thing.

Running underneath all that Facebook newness was the anticipation of more revalations to come, where an undercurrent of anticipation surrounded the upcoming iPhone 5 announcements, accompanied by a few extra morsels of extra info about those upcoming handsets from Apple.

There was lots more news on a variety of topics, and as we always do, we saved it all in one place for you, right here:

News & Opinion Essentials

No, Facebook Will Not Make You Pay to Get the New Profiles

Why I Love Facebook Timeline [OPINION]

iPhone 5: Will You Upgrade? [INFOGRAPHIC]

Facebook's New Features Might Not Be as Private as You Think

iPhone 5 Event Will Be in Cupertino, Breaking Long-Standing Tradition [REPORT]

Google Improves iOS App for Google+

Why Colleges Need to Better Prepare IT Grads [OPINION]

Satellite Falls: Three Unconfirmed Videos [UPDATED]

World's Top Thinkers Weigh In on Social Good [VIDEO]

This Week in Politics & Digital: The Public Speaks

Helpful Resources

3 Ways to Find Top Talent for Your Startup

What Does It Take To Be a Social Strategist? [INFOGRAPHIC]

61 New Digital Media Resources You May Have Missed

Design Inspiration: 7 Galleries of Excellent Ecommerce Sites

3 Fun Apps That Amplify and Filter Your Social Connections

Run a User-Submitted Photo or Video Contest On Your Site With Olapic

Weekend Leisure

Facebook Changes in a Nutshell [COMIC]

10 Delicious Tumblr Blogs Serving Up Food Fun [PICS]

Etsy on Twitter: 13 Creative Handmade Backgrounds [PICS]

5 Offbeat iPhone Games [PICS]

Facebook Changes Getting Out of Hand [COMIC]

Jim Henson Honored With Interactive Muppets Google Doodle [VIDEO]

More About: Weekend recap

For more Social Media coverage:


Samsung Galaxy S II Channel Sales Reach 10 Million

Posted: 26 Sep 2011 01:32 AM PDT


Samsung has sold 10 million Galaxy S II smartphones globally, the company has announced.

Samsung Galaxy S II was launched in April. In July, Samsung announced it sold 5 million units. Reaching the 10 million milestone in such a short time span is quite an achievement, given the device only became available in the U.S. a couple of weeks ago.

However, one must take into account that Samsung is talking about channel sales, which is a bit different from end user sales. Still, hitting 10 million in only five months is a noteworthy achievement for any smartphone — except one, and that one starts with an “i“.

The specifications for the device differ slightly in the U.S., depending on the carrier, but it’s a very powerful smartphone regardless of the variety, with a dual-core 1.2 GHz Exynos CPU, Android 2.3 Gingerbread, 1 GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel camera and 16 GB of storage.

More About: Galaxy S 2, Galaxy S II, samsung, Samsung Galaxy S II, smartphone

For more Mobile coverage:


Facebook News: The Web Reacts

Posted: 25 Sep 2011 06:14 PM PDT


@Ayysian





In a post that got a lot of retweets, Ayysian compares Facebook to President Obama.


@Haleylbrooks




This user is just fine with Facebook's changes.


@RoamingBoomers




Apparently, you don't have to be under 30 to care about Facebook's latest update.


@IamSpectacular




Another user echoes a sentiment some others have noted about the nature of Facebook changes.


@SoulSavvyDesign




Some users just aren't feeling it this time around.


@NeatTweets




Another user puts it all in perspective.


@AssignGuy




Good point, I mean Facebook is, after all, free, despite the rumors.


Das_Got_It




Another user has upgrade fatigue.


@DevotedToSelly




I guess that explains why Facebook is spending so much time in its room of late.


Kevin Rose on Google+




Digg's creator went on Google's social network to express his excitement over Facebook's new profile design,which he tried out here.

Many people spent this weekend mulling Facebook‘s recent changes and, as usual, they did this in lots of places outside of Facebook.

Facebook users took to the blogosphere, Twitter and Facebook’s arch nemesis Google Plus to work out the implications of the news. Among the top concerns: That “frictionless sharing” actually means spying by Facebook and sharing that info with your friends unwittingly, that the changes now mean that advertising on the platform will now revolve around actions rather than terms and the cool stuff you can now do with the new page design. And yes, of course there’s already a “Hitler Reacts” video as well.

SEE ALSO: Facebook Changes in a Nutshell [COMIC]

Above is a roundup of some of the most interesting comments on Facebook’s changes. We want your comments, too. What do you think about them?

More About: Facebook, Google, timeline, Twitter


Facebook Changes in a Nutshell [COMIC]

Posted: 25 Sep 2011 03:44 PM PDT


Facebook’s profound changes, outlined last week, are leaving many users scrambling to catch up.

But, as the comic above points out, we’ve been through this before. Whatever the outcry this time, chances are things will settle down within a short time.

SEE ALSO: Facebook News: The Web Reacts

What do you think? Will we get used to the new Facebook in three weeks? Or has Mark Zuckerberg gone too far this time? Let us know in the comments.

Comic courtesy of Endless Origami

More About: comics, Facebook, mark zuckerberg


iPhone 5: Will You Upgrade? [INFOGRAPHIC]

Posted: 25 Sep 2011 03:05 PM PDT

The iPhone 5 is on the way, and millions of people are asking themselves, is it time to upgrade? This infographic will point you in the right direction.

Let’s take a look at the current state of the iPhone 4 and its predecessors, how many apps users have installed, how much they’re using the iPhone and what new features they’d like to see in the next one. That should give us a good idea about whether we should upgrade, and why.

This elaborate infographic is part 1 of a three-part series that will lead us up to the launch of the iPhone 5, which is likely to be announced on Oct. 4. Developed by AYTM (Ask Your Target Market) and research firm PaidViewpoint along with Mashable, the survey asked 1,000 U.S. iPhone owners aged 18 years and older an extensive series of questions.

The result? A comprehensive set of data that pointed to their intentions to upgrade early to the iPhone 5 and a whole lot more:


Infographic courtesy AYTM (Ask Your Target Market) and PaidViewpoint

More About: infographic, iPhone 5, upgrade


Why I Love Facebook Timeline [OPINION]

Posted: 25 Sep 2011 01:54 PM PDT


Facebook has announced big changes in the past few days, and one of them is Timeline, a new way of looking at your personal data that will change the way you use Facebook — and even the way you look at yourself. I love it, and here’s why.

When CEO Mark Zuckerberg demonstrated Facebook‘s new Timeline profiles at Thursday’s event, it all seemed abstract to me at first. But as his own personal timeline scrolled on the big screen behind him, racing from his birth to the present, I began to understand the significance of presenting personal data this way.

The next day, we found a way to enable the Facebook Timeline. It was only when I had activated the Timeline on my own Facebook account that I realized its full impact, as it loaded and displayed my personal photos, Facebook comments, posts and life events into its long-scrolling tableau. Only then did I realize why Zuckerberg seemed to become slightly choked up on stage when he was describing Timeline’s features as he showed off his own personal data.

Those of you who have already gone through the (slightly difficult) process of converting your Facebook profile into this new Timeline will understand what I mean: It’s an eerie feeling — some have even called it creepy — to go back in time and see all your data compiled as a chronological scrapbook, recounting how many friends you made during a particular year, steps you’ve taken in your career, personal victories and defeats, and myriad things lost and gained. It’s a time machine.

Digging deeper, I noticed you can go back and add events from the distant past to round out your timeline. You can tell the story of your entire life here — something you could do in a resume-like way before, but never with this sort of clarity. Therein lies the brilliance of Timeline: It takes advantage of something computers do well — they can instantly sort and group things, find patterns and visualize data in different ways that can take on entirely different meanings.

With Timeline, you can even add points in time when loved ones have died, and accompany those dates with pictures, text and video. To me, that further demonstrated how Timeline really is capable of profound emotional impact. I’m going to go back and add pics of my late mother and father, along with writings of my own personal remembrances. I’ll scan lots of pictures — finally Dad’s old shoeboxes full of photos will become useful — and show what life was like back then. I’ll make it private, just for me. And it’ll add something to my life that was missing before.

Think about it — perhaps this Timeline format will be an iconic beginning to a new way to remember people. Think of the long-term implications of careful Timeline curation. When you die, everyone will be able re-live your Timeline as if it’s the Book of Life, displaying what mattered to you, things you did, and things you experienced, right there for all to see. Who were you? Look at the Timeline.

Scrapbooks have been around for a long time; timelines have been here, too. Now the two are combined, and coupled with Facebook’s unprecedented reach and convenience, a new medium has been born. Just think of all that can be done with this blank slate. Even in its infancy, it’s already abundantly customizable. Extrapolate that to the future where it’s further refined, its privacy capabilities are more effective, airtight and transparent, making it possible to document entire lives with ease. This could be a format that lives on, telling your story when you no longer can, documenting lifetimes from the cradle to the grave, functioning as the electronic epitaphs of the future.

I foresee an entire cottage industry springing up around Timeline. Companies can display their long-standing traditions, illustrating their meager beginnings and their growth to their current state. A couple can chronicle its relationship from first meeting to marriage, exhibiting a Timeline at a wedding reception, just as videos are shown today. Political candidates can tell their life stories (or spin them just the way they want), and make them available for all to see. Like every new medium that came before it, people will create things we can’t even imagine with Timeline.

Timeline might seem like just an application on the web, but it goes beyond that — once you populate it with your own personal data. Try it before you pass judgment. Think long-term. If your experience is anything like mine, it will help you see yourself in a whole new way, and for me, that was profound. For some users, it might even serve as a personal demonstration of why life is worth living.

I love it. Bravo, Facebook.

This post reflects the opinions of the author and not necessarily those of Mashable as a publication.


The New Facebook Profile: Timeline




Timeline is a radical departure from previous versions of the Facebook user profile. The most prominent feature is the addition of a cover photo at the top of the page. Users can change this to whatever they'd like it to be.


1987




In 1987, my sister was born. Facebook knows these life events and includes them in your timeline.


Being Born




You can even add a picture and context to your birth, which starts the Timeline.


Timeline Interface




The Timeline is a two-column interface with top photos, status updates, friends and more.


Map




Facebook has added a feature that lets you see where you have visited. This is powered by Facebook Places.


Photos in the Timeline




Here's how photos are displayed in the Timeline.


Friends in the New Timeline




Here's what the Friends page looks like.


Changing Settings




Some of the new Timeline's customization features.


2009




More of the new Timeline


Getting Married




You can add life events, such as getting married, to your profile through the Publisher Bar. You can also announce that you broke a bone, got a new job, etc.

How to set up Timeline:

Step 1




1. When you get here, click "allow."


Step 2




2. Click "create new app"


Step 3




3. Name it whatever you want, and give it whatever namespace you'd like -- it doesn't matter. Click the checkbox "I agree to the platform privacy policy." And then click Continue, pass the security check by filling in the Captcha, and you'll be ready for the next step.


Step 4




4. After you've verified yourself as a human, you'll reach this screen, where you'll need to click "Open Graph" on the left side.


Step 5




5. You'll see the next screen, entitled "Get Started with Open Graph" -- fill in anything you want (it doesn't matter) in those fields under the heading "start by defining one action than one object for your app." Click Get Started.


Step 6




6. On this screen, do nothing except scroll to the bottom and click "Save Changes and Next." Do the same thing on the next screen.


Step 7




7. You'll be taken to this screen. Wait a few minutes, and then go to your Facebook homepage. That's where you'll be invited to enable Timeline. Be patient at this point -- sometimes it requires you to wait before the changes take effect.


Step 8




8. When you go back to your Facebook homepage, you'll see this. Success! Click Get It Now, and you're in!


You've Done It!




Here's where you fiddle with your timeline, set it up the way you like it, and when you click Publish Now, your Timeline goes live. Or, you can wait two to four weeks (there is no set date), and you can opt in without going through this process. If you want to get into your timeline from another computer, the address for this developer's version is located at this URL: http://www.facebook.com/[yourusername]?sk=timeline and of course [yourusername] is your own Facebook user name.


More F8 Coverage:


More About: Facebook, Opinion, timeline


10 Delicious Tumblr Blogs Serving Up Food Fun [PICS]

Posted: 25 Sep 2011 12:57 PM PDT

In a continued attempt to curate terrific Tumblr blogs, we present to you a feast of food-themed fun. While there’s plenty of Tumblr content looking at the more serious aspects of cuisine, we’re taking a look on the light side with some entertaining options.

From delicious daily dollops of food porn to candid fridge photos via dissected delicacies, we’re sure there’s something for everyone in this hand-picked selection, whatever your personal taste and appetite.

SEE ALSO: 10 Entertaining Tumblr Blogs About Your Parents

Take a look through the photo gallery below showcasing an image from each blog. Let us know in the comments which you will go back to for a second helping.


1. Funny Food Face





Anjulie and Paul offer up some food-themed whimsy as they make a habit of playing with their food on a regular basis.


2. Burgers and Nails




We're not entirely sure if this fetishist blog, obsessed with painted nails clutching burgers, is entirely savory -- but it's certainly fascinating.


3. Scandybars




This exercise in delicious dissection gives you a cross-section view of common candy bars from around the world.


4. Lunch Bag Art




This cool dad draws a picture on his kid's lunch bag everyday. Luckily for us, he also snaps them and posts them to Tumblr.


5. Fridgemania




A cool collection of "creative" fridge photos, as curated by Moncef Belyamani, make up this brilliant blog.


6. Scanwiches




Chances are you've already heard of the popular "Scanwiches" blog, but as a Tumblr must-follow, it more than deserves a place on this list.


7. Cupcake Junkie




Celebrating particularly creative cupcake design (such as the awesome rainbow-themed cakes pictured) Cupcake Junkie's stream is so sweet it might give you toothache.


8. It's All About the Bacon




The title says it all. If you're looking for a daily dose of bacon-flavored goodness in your digital life, look no further.


9. Art In My Coffee




Latte art is well-documented at "Art in My Coffee." Some of the submissions are incredible. Hit this blog up for an arty caffeine high.


10. Dogs Eating Pasta




Finally, you could argue "Dogs Eating Pasta" is as much about the canine as the flour-based foodstuff, but frankly we love this blog so much the flimsiest excuse to feature it will suffice. It's dogs -- eating pasta!

Thumbnail image courtesy of Dogs Eating Pasta

More About: features, Food And Drink, gallery, Lists, tumblr

For more Social Media coverage:


Facebook’s New Features Might Not Be as Private as You Think [UPDATED]

Posted: 25 Sep 2011 11:59 AM PDT


Apparently, Facebook has a lot of work to do on its privacy controls. In some cases, the new “frictionless sharing” features of Facebook can make it so that even when you’re logged out of Facebook, your browser is still tracking every page you visit, sending that data back to Facebook.

According to entrepreneur and self-described hacker Nik Cubrilovic, who shows the code involved with this alleged security issue on his website, “Even if you are logged out, Facebook still knows and can track every page you visit. The only solution is to delete every Facebook cookie in your browser, or to use a separate browser for Facebook interactions.”

Oddly enough, Cubrilovic says this data is not even hidden, adding that “You can test this for yourself using any browser with developer tools installed. It is all hidden in plain sight.”

SEE ALSO: Facebook Changes Again: Everything You Need To Know

Cubrilovic’s interest was piqued after he read a post by Dave Winer on Scripting News, pointing out the specter of Facebook announcing the websites you’re visiting and articles you’re reading without your explicit permission or knowledge. Such capabilities are written into Facebook’s new API, according to Winer. He says that Facebook scares him, writing, “I think there’s a good chance that by visiting a site you are now giving them access to lots more info about you. I could be mistaken about this.”

Winer’s post was a reaction to one written last week by ReadWriteWeb, pointing out that the new “social reader” apps Facebook plans to launch soon (and are now available if you enable your Facebook Timeline) will be able to display what you’re reading to your Facebook friends. However, we logged into one of those Facebook apps, The Guardian Social Reader, and noticed that it’s easy to opt out of these “features” when we first began using it.

Even though you can opt out of much of this sneaky kind of sharing, we’re thinking Facebook still has some work to do before everyone can feel perfectly secure with its apps and sharing capabilities. Perhaps it’s a matter of educating users about Facebook’s new capabilities. Meanwhile, it might be time for us to modify that old saying, “Don’t write anything that you wouldn’t want to have read in court.” For the time being, must we change that to “Don’t click on any website that you wouldn’t want to have revealed in court?”

Update: Facebook engineer Arturo Bejar responded to the following question I emailed to Facebook Sunday afternoon: “Will users be able to completely prevent their browsing data from being sent back to Facebook, or from displaying on their feeds?”:

“I am a Facebook engineer that works on these systems and I wanted to say that the logged out cookies are used for safety and protection including: identifying spammers and phishers, detecting when somebody unauthorized is trying to access your account, helping you get back into your account if you get hacked, disabling registration for a under-age users who try to re-register with a different birthdate, powering account security features such as 2nd factor login approvals and notification, and identifying shared computers to discourage the use of 'keep me logged in".

“Also please know that also when you're logged in (or out) we don't use our cookies to track you on social plugins to target ads or sell your information to third parties. I've heard from so many that what we do is to share or sell your data, and that is just not true. We use your logged in cookies to personalize (show you what your friends liked), to help maintain and improve what we do, or for safety and protection.”

You’re invited to respond to Arturo’s statement in the comments section below.


Photos: Facebook Timeline



The New Facebook Profile: Timeline




Timeline is a radical departure from previous versions of the Facebook user profile. The most prominent feature is the addition of a cover photo at the top of the page. Users can change this to whatever they'd like it to be.


1987




In 1987, my sister was born. Facebook knows these life events and includes them in your timeline.


Being Born




You can even add a picture and context to your birth, which starts the Timeline.


Timeline Interface




The Timeline is a two-column interface with top photos, status updates, friends and more.


Map




Facebook has added a feature that lets you see where you have visited. This is powered by Facebook Places.


Photos in the Timeline




Here's how photos are displayed in the Timeline.


Friends in the New Timeline




Here's what the Friends page looks like.


Changing Settings




Some of the new Timeline's customization features.


2009




More of the new Timeline


Getting Married




You can add life events, such as getting married, to your profile through the Publisher Bar. You can also announce that you broke a bone, got a new job, etc.


More F8 Coverage:


More About: Facebook, Frictionless sharing, new features, privacy

For more Dev & Design coverage:


No, Facebook Will Not Make You Pay to Get the New Profiles

Posted: 25 Sep 2011 10:46 AM PDT


A completely untrue rumor that Facebook will soon start charging users is making the rounds yet again.

Ever since Facebook introduced Timeline profiles, several Facebook status updates have been spreading on the world’s social network that claim Facebook users will have to pay for the new profile changes.

Here’s one of the messages currently spreading on Facebook:

“THIS IS OFFICIAL… IT WAS EVEN ON THE NEWS… FACEBOOK WILL START CHARGING DUE TO THE NEW PROFILE CHANGES… IF YOU COPY THIS ON YOUR WALL YOUR ICON WILL TURN BLUE AND FACEBOOK WILL BE FREE FOR YOU. PLEASE PASS THIS MESSAGE ON, IF NOT YOUR ACCOUNT WILL BE DELETED IF YOU DO NOT PAY!!”

And here’s yet another:

“FACEBOOK JUST RELEASED THEIR PRICE GRID FOR MEMBERSHIP. $9.99 PER MONTH FOR GOLD MEMBER SERVICES, $6.99 PER MONTH FOR SILVER MEMBER SERVICES, $3.99 PER MONTH FOR BRONZE MEMBER SERVICES, FREE IF YOU COPY AND PASTE THIS MESSAGE BEFORE MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. WHEN YOU SIGN ON TOMORROW MORNING YOU WILL BE PROMPTED FOR PAYMENT INFO…IT IS OFFICIAL IT WAS EVEN ON THE NEWS. FACEBOOK WILL START CHARGING DUE TO THE NEW PROFILE CHANGES”

These rumors are simply untrue. “It’s free and always will be” is still in giant font on the Facebook homepage. Besides, Facebook is already making billions in revenue.

Now check out the changes Facebook is making to profiles, free of charge, in the gallery below:


The New Facebook Profile: Timeline




Timeline is a radical departure from previous versions of the Facebook user profile. The most prominent feature is the addition of a cover photo at the top of the page. Users can change this to whatever they'd like it to be.


1987




In 1987, my sister was born. Facebook knows these life events and includes them in your timeline.


Being Born




You can even add a picture and context to your birth, which starts the Timeline.


Timeline Interface




The Timeline is a two-column interface with top photos, status updates, friends and more.


Map




Facebook has added a feature that lets you see where you have visited. This is powered by Facebook Places.


Photos in the Timeline




Here's how photos are displayed in the Timeline.


Friends in the New Timeline




Here's what the Friends page looks like.


Changing Settings




Some of the new Timeline's customization features.


2009




More of the new Timeline


Getting Married




You can add life events, such as getting married, to your profile through the Publisher Bar. You can also announce that you broke a bone, got a new job, etc.


More F8 Coverage:


More About: Facebook, facebook timeline, hoax


Etsy on Twitter: 13 Creative Handmade Backgrounds [PICS]

Posted: 25 Sep 2011 09:57 AM PDT


Anyone who has taken a tour of Etsy’s offices realizes that the company tries to promote handmade goods in every corner of its business. Heck, even the pipes are covered with colorful hand-knitted yarn.

About one year ago, it occurred to Etsy social media specialist Dave Brown that the company’s black-and-white Twitter background wasn’t quite making the handmade cut. Instead of a standard snapshot, why not use the opportunity to share a new artist each month with its 1.5 million Twitter followers?

In the beginning, Brown sought out artists himself to put on the site. Since then, Brown and other Etsy staff members have pulled from a Flickr account they set up for submissions. Some of the artists are Etsy sellers. Others, like James Victore, are well-known artists who set up Etsy stores after being asked to participate. Artists volunteer their work without pay, and the only requirement is that the design somehow incorporate the Etsy logo.

Here’s what the first year of contributors came up with:


September 2010: Leah Goren




Goren was recruited by Brown to kick off the series. Though not an Etsy seller at the time, she became one while working on the project and now considers her Etsy store a full-time job.


October 2010: Joy Charde




Charde, a librarian, sells printable and customizable paper products on Etsy.

"I'm inspired by anything kawaii and it was super close to Halloween, so I went with kawaii ghosts," she says.


November 2010: Dylan Ousley




San Diego artist Dylan Ousley is the co-founder of a branding studio called Home Ec.


December 2010: Gareth Geraty




Gareth Geraty is a designer, art director, illustrator and copywriter.

Though not an Etsy seller himself,

he told Brown that his design is "an abstraction based on the observation of Etsy as a robust, colorful and diverse network that connects people with similar style, taste and ideas."


January 2011: Marc Johns




When Brown contacted Marc Johns about creating a Twitter background, Johns worked in the theme of his current artwork.

"At the time I was making drawings about 'radness', and thought it would work for the Etsy mission of helping creative people connect and sell to happy buyers," he says.


February 2011: Nicola Rowlands




Nicola Rowlands's Etsy store is filled with greeting cards, tote bags, jewelery, prints and mugs, all with a witty tone and slightly cynical vibe.

"I was going through a rather obsessive phase at the time where all I was doing was looking at photos of white cats on the Internet and drawing white cats," she says. "I originally created a background which was all white cats all over the place, and Dave actually said, 'the cats are nice but what does it have to do with etsy?' Which was a good point. So I put my white cats aside and thought about what Etsy means to me, and the design is a result of that (there is still a white cat in there)."

"I was so flattered to participate in the artist series," she continues, "especially as the artist before me was Marc Johns who is an illustrator I completely admire - his work is rad."


March 2011: Anna Denise Van der Rejden




Dutch artist Van der Rejden is a visual arts program officer at a cultural institute in Brussels, and the author of blog The Yellow Umbrella.

"My illustrations are always personal and autobiographic," she says, "and at that point it was still winter in Brussels. I was longing for spring and drew a bunch of scenes on this theme. I then looked for a design that would be easy to tile and came up with the mosaic layout I ended up with. Deep. I know."


April 2011: Doug Solomon




"I wanted to do an Easter theme and thought it would be interesting to draw a parallel between the fertility of rabbits and the fecundity of the super-extended family of Etsians," Etsy seller and freelance illustrator Doug Solomon told Brown about his design.


May 2011: James Victore




"Oddly enough, I started out making images that I thought others would like, until I was able to relax (with a reminder from Chris [his assistant] and my wife) and make what I wanted to make," self-taught artist James Victore told Brown about his exclusive design for Etsy.


June 2011: Aubrey Stalnaker




If you look at designer Aubrey Stalnaker's background closely, it reads, "Let's have a ball."


July 2011: Erwin van Den Arend




French designer van Den Arend's Twitter background was the first to be displayed on all of Etsy's international Twitter accounts in addition to the main account.

"For Etsy's Twitter Artist series, I decided to use French bulldogs to represent France," he told Etsy's community manager in France. "I've never see a bulldog chewing gum, so I decided to create one, just for fun. Twitter is like a big family — that's why I created a whole family of bulldogs, each chewing bubblegum."


August 2011: Ben Hansen




Ben Hansen is a San Antonio-based graphic designer. "It's a celebration of the online flea market that is Etsy, the bazaar of style and ideas informing all the businesses Etsy has launched," Hansen told Brown. "We couldn't fit 400,000 on the page but the flags are analogous to saying, 'My Etsy shop is my identity.' Oh, and the black flag is pre-Rollins."


September: Catharina Bruns




Catharina Bruns, the creator of design studio workisnotajob, chose to bring the same concept to her Etsy Twitter background.

More About: art, Etsy, Twitter

For more Social Media coverage:


iPhone 5 Event Will Be in Cupertino, Breaking Long-Standing Tradition [REPORT]

Posted: 25 Sep 2011 08:34 AM PDT


Apple’s iPhone 5 event on Oct. 4 will take place at the company’s Cupertino campus, not in San Francisco where all the previous iPhones and iPads have been announced.

As is the custom with the secretive Cupertino company, Apple’s not saying anything about the upcoming unveiling of its latest iProducts, but according to All Things D’s “sources close to the company,” the world’s first look at the newest iPhones will be at Apple’s Town Hall Auditorium, rather than the customary Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) or as part of Macworld or WWDC at San Francisco’s Moscone Center.

Beyond that tidbit of information, the reasons for such a change in venue are merely speculative. All Things D speculates that perhaps the new Apple CEO Tim Cook doesn’t care for the cavernous YBCA, instead opting for a more familiar, smaller and intimate venue closer to home. Maybe the Wi-Fi or cellular data bandwidth is more reliable on the Cupertino campus, allowing Apple to better demonstrate its wares and us media types to more effectively broadcast our still photos and live blogs of the event. Perhaps the reality distortion field is more powerful there.

Beyond the location of the event, with the new leadership of CEO Cook, there are bound to be some changes in the Apple way of introducing products. For instance, we can fantasize about a live streaming video feed of the event, not superseding any of the live and sometimes entertaining comments from various bloggers, but enhancing them with a live visual record for all to see.

One thing’s for sure: Apple’s fabled secrecy remains intact, assuring billions of dollars’ worth of free publicity leading up to the event. Let us know in the comments why you think this venue has been changed after so many product introductions elsewhere.

[via All Things D]

More About: apple, iPhone 5, tim cook


5 Offbeat iPhone Games [PICS]

Posted: 25 Sep 2011 07:15 AM PDT

Do you like iPhone gaming, but find yourself bored with the big, bland franchises? We’ve dug around the deepest, darkest corners of the App Store to bring you some offbeat options.

Including atmospheric, gothic platformers and stark, physics-based puzzlers, these five games offer immersive, grown-up gameplay thanks to atmospheric soundtracks, unique artwork and quirky concepts.

SEE ALSO: 4 Frighteningly Fun Zombie iPhone Games

Take a look at our hand-picked selection below. Let us know in the comments about any more unusual iPhone games you enjoy playing.


1. Spooky Hoofs




This gothic running game offers fast side-scrolling action with atmospheric backgrounds and creepy characters.

Cost: $0.99


Spooky Hoofs Gameplay





With two virtual buttons you control a horse and coach as it careers through a series of gloomy, gothic landscapes.

The game keeps you on your toes as you have to avoid obstacles and enemies while trying to collect magic orbs that give your horses special powers.

With one slip-up meaning game over, the moonlit, menacing setting, eerie sound effects and up-tempo music adding a sense of urgency will see you gripped very quickly.


2. Contre Jour




A physics-based puzzler, Contre Jour lets you control a little creature called "Petit" through a weird and wonderful landscape.

Cost: $0.99


Contre Jour Gameplay




Chillingo claims Contre Jour "blurs the lines between games and interactive art." With its orchestrated soundtrack from composer David Ari Leon and shadowy looks it's certainly different, but retains a kind of dark whimsy.

Playing the game is similar to Cut the Rope, but certainly feels fresh enough to justify the $0.99 download.

The character you control -- "Petit" -- isn't cutesy, but manages to capture your empathy, just as the game captures your attention, especially if you play with headphones, as suggested.


3. DeathFall




With gothic-slash-steampunk graphics, DeathFall offers mesmerizing gravity-led casual gaming.


DeathFall Gameplay




This is an odd little game. Through the iPhone's accelerometer you control a skull on a freefall through a strange world habited by beautifully illustrated objects.

Gameplay is surprisingly hypnotic, although you may find yourself jarred to attention when you hit obstacles.

Easy to get into, but not so easy to master, DeathFall is strangely addictive and deliciously different.

Cost: $1.99


4. DEO




Unusual and surprisingly challenging, physics-based jumping is the crux of peculiar platformer DEO.

Cost: $0.99


DEO Gameplay




With scratchy graphics and a electronic soundtrack, DEO is a stark game with a very simple, but effective, main character.

The aim of the game is to jump to each hill of a rotating level to "capture" it in order to grow your planet.

So, the concept is simple, the tap controls are simple, but playing DEO is not. It's all about timing, and it's deceptively difficult.


5. Grimm




A dark Victorian world forms the backdrop of Grimm in which you control a (possibly possessed) baby carriage with the aim of returning a lost infant to its mother.

Cost: $0.99


Grimm Gameplay




An imaginative, creative iPhone game, Grimm gives you platforming and puzzles.

Grimm may feature a baby, but it's definitely not a baby-ish game. The Victorian world is inhabited with horrible characters who threaten the infant you need to get home via the vintage carriage.

As a platformer, it's a unique take with wonderful artwork, a filmic soundtrack and excellent sound effects.

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