Sunday 29 April 2012

Mashable: Latest 12 News Updates - including “Pokémon Art Tumblr Reimagines 151 Original Characters [PICS]”

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Mashable: Latest 12 News Updates - including “Pokémon Art Tumblr Reimagines 151 Original Characters [PICS]”

Pokémon Art Tumblr Reimagines 151 Original Characters [PICS]

Posted: 28 Apr 2012 04:06 PM PDT


Charmeleon





By Michael Myers

Click here to view this gallery.

“Gotta catch ‘em all!” Well, in a real-life game of Pokémon, Alyssa Nassner and Bryan Ische did just that.

The Minnesota illustrators recently brought together the talents of 151 artists to reimagine the video game series’ 151 original characters. The first Pokémon games came out in 1996.

Their work, which appeared in a curated art show in April, now lives in the Pokémon Battle Royale Tumblr.

"We had no way to anticipate the amazing amount of support from art and gaming communities around the world.”

“We were totally surprised with the outcome of this project,” Nassner told Mashable. “We had no way to anticipate the amazing amount of support from art and gaming communities around the world.”

The artists’ specialties were wide-ranging — illustration, fine art, design, comic art and printmaking, among other genres. Nassner and Ische launched the project in January and quickly filled their roster.

“We had received hundreds of submissions from Poké fans all over the world eager to participate,” says Nassner, who grew up playing the Pokémon games, collecting the cards and watching the TV show. “We took on a lot of great artists and had to turn away just as many.”

The art is for sale for $40 on Light Grey Art Lab‘s website. Light Grey in Minneapolis, Minn., hosted the show.

“We had die-hard fans lined up down the block by the time we opened our doors,” Nassner recalls. “Light Grey was packed from open to close, and it was fun to see everyone show up in their Pokémon gear. We even had a few people dress up.”

SEE ALSO: Major Video Game Villains to Appear in a Disney Movie [VIDEO]

A handful of other artists created art for the human characters from Pokémon such as Ash, Misty, Brock, Professor Oak, Nurse Joy and Team Rocket. Those cost $65.

Flip through the gallery above to see 30 of the 151 Pokémon art pieces.

More About: art, Entertainment, Gaming, pokemon, tumblr, video games

For more Entertainment coverage:

8 New Apps You Don’t Want To Miss

Posted: 28 Apr 2012 03:51 PM PDT


Avengers AR





The Avengers are headed to theaters soon, but a new mobile game has already hit iTunes and Google Play. Marvel and Walmart partnered up on the Super Hero AR which is both a game and in-store experience. To unlock different levels of the game, you have to visit your local Walmart and point your phone at different placards throughout the store.

Click here to view this gallery.


Keeping up with all the new apps to hit the scene is a tough job. But you're in luck: You don't have to, because each week we round up our favorite apps and app updates from the week in this handy roundup.

This week was a big one for some of our favorite services on the web, with big names such as LinkedIn, Skype, Klout, and Twitter launching new apps or updating their current offerings.

iPhone owners with face-unlock envy will love a new app that brings facial recognition technology similar to Android’s Ice Cream Sandwich feature to iOS.

If you’ve always wanted to be a superhero, a new augmented reality app lets you start your crime-fighting career. If you want to be a superhero for nature, another app takes a look at how the earth is changing over time. The app shows dramatic before-and-after shots of places affected by changes in climate, urbanization or just the power of nature.

Once you’re done fighting crime, a updated last-minute hotel app will make sure you find the perfect place to nap before you’re off to your next adventure.

Check out our favorite picks from the week in the world of apps in the gallery above. Have your own favorites from the week? Let us know in the comments.

Miss out on last week’s picks? Check out what made the list last week for more great apps worth checking out.

More About: android, iphone, klout, linkedin, Skype, trending, Twitter

Researchers Create Glare-Free Self-Cleaning Glass [VIDEO]

Posted: 28 Apr 2012 03:24 PM PDT



Researchers have discovered a way to make glass that is not only glare-free, but is also anti-fogging and can clean itself.

The glass is created by depositing thin layers of material on the surface of the glass and then selectively etching that material away. The end result creates tiny cones on the glass taller than they are wide that allow the glass to prevent reflections and also repel water.

The technology was developed by researchers at MIT, who hope the technology will eventually be used in things like your smartphone or television, or possibly even the windows of your car or office building.

They also hope to use the technology in solar panels. Solar panels lose much of their efficiency as they start to become dirty. The glass would work better because it is self-cleaning and wouldn’t accumulate dust and dirt like other alternatives. The glass would also offer an advantage for its anti-glare properties, allowing more light to be transferred through its surface rather than being reflected away. The glass also repels water better than glass currently used to build solar panels.

This special glass would be exceptionally useful in other devices such as cellphones, allowing you to see the screen even in bright conditions and resisting contamination by sweat while you’re chatting or using your phone’s touchscreen.

What do you think of this new type of glass? Can you think of any other devices that could benefit from a self-cleaning, anti-glare and anti-fog glass? Let us know in the comments.

[via MIT News]

More About: glass, mit

For more Dev & Design coverage:

51 Digital Media Resources You May Have Missed

Posted: 28 Apr 2012 03:15 PM PDT

Touchscreen Icons

Have you spent the past week studying the nuts and bolts of the new Gmail interface? Or have you been preoccupied with the space shuttle Enterprise‘s final flight to New York City (and the absurd memes that came along with it)? For whichever reasons you missed our latest digital media resources, use our weekly features roundup to catch up in a flash.

This week, we’ve covered ways your business can use video on Pinterest, digital tools to help you reduce junk mail and tips on how to curate and share great content. We also have a list of the sassiest brands on social media, a rundown of essential tools for marketers and a gallery of iPhone cases that look good enough to eat. We even have video interviews with entrepreneurial trailblazers like Brian Solis and Mark Cuban.

Go ahead and take advantage of these valuable resources!

Editor’s Picks

Social Media

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

Business & Marketing

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

Tech & Mobile

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

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, akinbostanci.

More About: Business, COMMUNICATIONS, Features Week In Review, Social Media, Tech

Winklevoss Twins Start Up a Venture Capital Firm [VIDEO]

Posted: 28 Apr 2012 02:11 PM PDT


Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the twins who claimed to have played a big part in starting up Facebook and sued CEO Mark Zuckerberg for their share, have now become venture capitalists, announcing their new firm Friday morning on the CNBC show Squawk Box.

They’re off to a good start, considering that Winklevoss Capital is presumably financed by the equity they drew from the settlement with Facebook CEO Zuckerberg.

Apparently the Winklevoss twins have polished up their Silicon Valley-esque lingo, uttering such chestnuts as “We focus on early-stage, disruptive startups.” Armed with that sort of jargon, what could go wrong?

Could the timing of the launch of Winklevoss Capital have anything to do with the upcoming Facebook IPO, which might happen on May 17? Perhaps the Winklevi are anticipating a big payout for their 1.2 million shares, with which to fund the various ventures they plan to take under their collective wings.

More About: Facebook, facebook ipo, Winklevoss twins

For more Business coverage:

Top 10 Twitter Pics of the Week

Posted: 28 Apr 2012 01:49 PM PDT


1. 9GAG Tweets





This popular image was posted to Twitter by @9gagtweets (52.000+ followers) under the hashtag #9gagtweets. Do you feel this way when others are singing "Happy Birthday" to you? Leave your answer in the comments.

Click here to view this gallery.

Even though there was no shortage of notable events going on this week, the top 10 Twitter pics were more eclectic than ever. The tremendous volume of photos posted on Twitter continued unabated, with another 53 million pictures passing through our custom algorithm during the past seven days.

Subtle humor and obvious beauty ruled the week on Twitter, highlighted by gorgeous pictures of Hong Kong, a lovely Coachella sunset and an Empire State building impressively lit up in honor of Earth Day, looking like you may have never seen it.


SEE MORE: Top 10 Twitter Pics of the Week

Our friends and partners at Skylines have a clever way of narrowing down the multitudes of photos to this compact group of 10, and we can’t dole out enough thanks to Skylines analyst and writer Julie Donders (@IkbenJulie) for her keen insight and snappy captions for each pic in our gallery.

Take a look at the fascinating variety of pictures we selected as this week’s top 10, giving you a good taste of the imagery that dominated Twitter over the past few days.

In case you missed them, here are last week's Top 10 Twitter Pics.

More About: Coachella, harry potter, Top 10 Twitter Pics, trending, Twitter

The iPhone Almost Had a Physical Keyboard [REPORT]

Posted: 28 Apr 2012 01:04 PM PDT


Apple’s iconic iPhone was almost released with a physical keyboard. Apple reportedly considered the phone design before finally deciding on the handset’s touchscreen-only form factor.

Tony Fadell, who was previously Senior Vice President of the iPod division of Apple, talked about the early days of the iPhone during a recording of On The Verge Friday. Fadell worked with the company for 18 generations of the iPod and the first 3 generations of the iPhone. In 2010, he started his own company, Nest, which makes smart thermostats.

According to Fadell there were three versions of the iPhone in the works: an "iPod + iPhone, a device called the iPhone, and then finally the iPhone we know and love that was released in 2007. Fadell, who worked on the iPhone through the iPhone 3GS said he was personally in favor of the touchscreen-only design.

While Apple was a pioneer in iPhone’s original design, it’s a design that many smartphone makers have decided to follow. The vast majority of smartphones made today are also touchscreen-centric, offering only a few buttons and a virtual keyboard rather than a physical one.

During its initial launch, many people were upset that Apple had chosen to not include a physical keyboard on the iPhone, paving the way for a few accessory makers to even make cases that added a keyboard the phone.

What do you think about the possibility of an iPhone with a physical keyboard? Would a physical keyboard have changed your decision to buy or not buy the handset?

More About: apple, iphone, ipod, Tony Fadell, trending

For more Mobile coverage:

The Hobbit’s 48 FPS Format Ruins Film’s Artistry, Previewers Complain

Posted: 28 Apr 2012 12:17 PM PDT


Cinematography has advanced considerably in the decade since Peter Jackson ceased filming The Lord of the Rings, a three-part epic based on the novels of J.R.R. Tolkien, at the standard film rate of 24 frames per second.

In keeping with technological advances, Jackson shot the adaption of the prequel to the trilogy, The Hobbit, at 48 fps — but not everyone is happy about the change.

Exhibitioners and press, who were treated to a 10-minute preview of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in Las Vegas earlier this week, complained that the new frame rate makes the film look jarringly realistic — more like ESPN broadcasts, which run as high as 60 fps in HD, or a daytime TV program.

“It reminds me of when I first saw Blu-ray, in that it takes away that warm feeling of film,” one exhibitor told Variety. “It looked to me like a behind-the-scenes featurette.”

Jackson defended his decision to shoot in 48 fps in a lengthy note posted to his Facebook page in April 2011. Shooting at the higher rate “hugely enhance[s] clarity and smoothness… Looks much more like life, and it is much easier to watch, especially in 3D,” he wrote.

“I see it as a way of future-proofing The Hobbit,” he added.

The Hobbit, which chronicles the journey of a hobbit (played by Martin Freeman) swept into an epic quest to reclaim treasure taken by a dragon, will be released in theaters in two parts. The first part, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, is scheduled to arrive Dec. 14. The film’s other stars include many who appeared in The Lord of the Rings, including Elijah Wood, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom and Ian McKellen.

The first trailer for the film was released on Facebook last December.

More About: the lord of the rings, the-hobbit

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How to Leverage Applicant Tracking Systems To Land a Job

Posted: 28 Apr 2012 11:22 AM PDT


Sharlyn Lauby, SPHR, CPLP, is the HR Bartender, whose blog is a friendly place to discuss workplace issues. When not “bartending,” Sharlyn is president of Internal Talent Management, which specializes in leadership training and human resources consulting.

Since paper applications are going the way of the dinosaur in favor of digital job postings, it only seems logical to have more automated recruitment processes. Along with increased technology in the hiring process, there can also be some challenges for the average jobseeker.

One frustration is the electronic application submission process, commonly known as Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS). Applicants regularly complain about the proverbial "black hole" their resumes are sent off to when they hit the submit button, never to be seen by anyone again.

It's doubtful that we will return to old school recruitment, so it's time to demystify Applicant Tracking Systems. Let’s take a look behind the curtain to find out how to make an ATS work for you.

ATS Defined

SilkRoad Technology provides a full suite of cloud-based social talent management software that encompasses all employee milestones from pre-hire to retire. Their ATS is called OpenHire, which is used as an enterprise solution for companies all over the country. Thomas Boyle, the director of product strategy, explains how Applicant Tracking Systems work:

"Applicant tracking systems provide a software interface for companies to manage their hiring process. At a base level, this consists of opening new positions and advertising them online — either on a corporate home page or job boards. Once recruiters open the position and advertise it, the ATS provides an interface for candidates to apply online and for managers and recruiters to view and search though those candidate submissions before moving them through the hiring processing — typically from screening to interview to offer and, of course, hire."

Why Companies use an ATS

We can't forget there's a clear business reason why companies utilize an ATS. Colin Day, CEO and president of talent acquisition software company iCIMS, Inc., says an ATS is becoming a must-have in today's recruitment world because it allows companies of all sizes to streamline and automate HR responsibilities.

"Recruiters are adopting them for a number of reasons, including social media outreach capabilities, the need to more effectively manage candidate data, and the desire to achieve significant cost and time savings,” Day explains. “With an ATS, HR can automate and store hiring documents online so HR professionals never have to worry about sifting through stacks of paperwork or hundreds of emails to find what they need."

Advantages for Job Seekers

It's clear to see the efficiency advantage for a company using an ATS, but what are the advantages to the job seeker? Lisa Sterling, director of people engagement at cloud and software provider Ultimate Software, says speed is the answer.

"With an ATS, especially one that can give hiring managers — not just recruiters — control of the hiring process, job applicants can get their resumes, cover letters and data in front of the appropriate hiring authority quicker for faster review of qualifications, making the application-submission process much more efficient for applicants," Sterling says.

The other benefit is better information. "Applicants can better position their resumes with job-related keywords to take advantage of a solution's automated screening tools that index and crawl submissions,” Sterling explains. “This might bring an applicant's resume to the forefront, where otherwise it might have been overlooked through manual submission and review."

How to Use the ATS for Success

As with any kind of technology, ATS software can only work with what it's given. If you submit garbage … well, you know the rest. Applicants need to know how to position themselves for success.

Day recommends getting a clear understanding of the position before applying. "Do not become a serial candidate — one who skims through job descriptions and applies to every position a company has available. Read descriptions more than once and get an understanding of what a company wants from you."

Sterling notes the unique features of Ultimate Software's solution have carefully considered the candidate experience: "We take a different approach to applicant tracking with our talent acquisition solution, because traditional systems aren't designed with the candidate in mind.”

Nonetheless, some tips to help candidates optimize submissions for a typical ATS include:

  • Tailoring your resume and job application to the specific job requirements referenced in the posting — emphasize your relevant experience and skills in the areas that are critical to that position, rather than submitting your standard resume.
  • Adding specific keywords into the application that are referenced in the job posting, so that applicant screening tools that index and crawl submissions for certain key terms and phrases will pick them up.
  • Adding additional instances of keywords from the job posting to your resume in white font. The additional instances of the keywords won't be visible when recruiters read the resume, but they increase the likelihood that the resume will be tagged as a good fit by search tools.
  • Including your Twitter handle and LinkedIn profile to give recruiters a way to access more information about you.

The Importance of Keywords

Jason Buss, founder of the talent site Talent HQ, echoes the comments about the importance of keywords.

"The biggest thing most recruiting professionals will highlight is the effective use of keywords on your resume when applying using an applicant tracking system,” Buss explains. “Leverage sites like LinkedIn to see what connections you have within an organization when you are applying."

However, Buss does caution that keywords are important when applying: They aren't a silver bullet when it comes to getting a job. "Keywords play an important role in an ATS, given that recruiting professionals primarily use keyword searches to find candidates that most closely match the requirements of a position. However, the best written resume isn't as valuable as having contacts, a network and connections within a company."

Leverage the System

Day reminds us that the goal of an ATS is to free up a recruiter’s time to spend with candidates. "Recruiters should focus on building a quality workforce. Applicant tracking systems allow HR professionals to focus on that and not the administration often associated with the hiring process." Optimizing your resume, focusing on keywords in the ATS interface and still getting out to network are the steps to finding a new opportunity.

Social Media Job Listings

Every week we post a list of social media and web job opportunities. While we publish 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!

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, tumpikuja, kroach, eyeidea

More About: features, human resources, job applications, job search, job search series, mashable, Recruiting, resume, trending

Google Maps Adds More 3D Goodness with Parallax Views [VIDEO]

Posted: 28 Apr 2012 11:02 AM PDT


Google Maps lovers, the object of your affection has just been further improved. Take a look at this video that shows you how Google has applied way-cool graphics magic to Google Maps, making landmarks and buildings look a whole lot more 3D.

Google‘s new parallax view, seen in the Google Maps rendered map view, brings landmarks to life, giving them a perspective they didn’t have before.

So as you wander around Google Maps on your virtual tourism adventures, take a look at famous landmarks and even buildings in your neighborhood from a variety of heretofore-unseen angles. To experience this coolness, on the Google Maps page click Map view and be sure to enable “Maps GL” on the left to get the full effect.

[via Google Lat Long Blog]

More About: Google, Google Maps, Video

Top 6 Mashable Comments This Week

Posted: 28 Apr 2012 10:36 AM PDT


One of the hottest stories on Mashable this week was the news that a Marine had been discharged criticizing President Obama on Facebook.

Sgt. Gary Stein, a 9-year veteran of the Marines, received a less-than-honorable discharge for indicating on Facebook that he would not follow orders from President Obama. While many commenters, including Michael Carter, thought the punishment was too severe, others thought his apparent willingness to disobey his president warranted a discharge.

Other stories prompting a strong reaction included the rumor that Apple will nix the 17-inch MacBook Pro and and an article about drawing the line between your personal and professional identities on social media.

Todd Wasserman wrote a story about Poo Wi-Fi, a program in Mexico City that’s offering free Wi-Fi for conscientious dog owners who clean up after their pup at the dog park. Charles Gedeon pointed out that maybe the effort is missing the point: “I just think that if you're at the dog park, you should be playing with your dog.”

At Mashable, we’re always on the lookout for thoughtful, insightful comments that add to our story or further the discussion. Take a look at this week’s top comments and let us know what you think.


Drawing the Line Between Personal and Professional




Annette Fix gives her take on the line between personal and professional, and sees no gray area.

Comment originally seen on Facebook: Should You Combine Your Personal and Business Social Media Identities?

Click here to view this gallery.

If you haven’t commented on a Mashable article before, check out Mashable Follow, our content curation and social tool, as well as our comment guidelines to learn more. We’d love for you to join the conversation.

Image courtesy of Flickr user Marc Wathieu

More About: top comments

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Apple Flirting with Epix for Streaming Video From 3 Major Studios [VIDEO]

Posted: 28 Apr 2012 09:37 AM PDT



As rumors continue to run rampant about the alleged Apple HDTV set, now there’s a tantalizing clue about programming Apple might use to entice people to buy and watch such a device.

Reuters found out Apple is currently in negotiations with Epix, a studio-backed company that streams relatively new content from major studios Lionsgate, MGM and Paramount.

Hey, isn’t this how Netflix gets a lot of its best and newest movies and such for streaming? It sure is, and it’s costing that company $200 million to do so, in an agreement that expires as soon as September of this year. Maybe Apple figures to get in on this action, perhaps even wresting exclusivity away from Netflix. There’s talk of an Epix app for all iOS devices that will do just that.

One thing’s certain: Apple’s success with music on iTunes hinged on agreements with record companies, and its success with an Apple TV set likewise depends on favorable deals with movie studios.

If Apple wins streaming exclusivity for the latest movies, perhaps even beating to market those residing in its own iTunes video stable, the company could prove to be a juggernaunt in the HDTV world as well. Stay tuned.

More About: apple, Apple TV, movie studios, streaming video

At the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Tech is in the House

Posted: 28 Apr 2012 08:01 AM PDT


Rachel Sklar is a writer and social entrepreneur based in New York. She is the founder of Change The Ratio, which increases visibility and opportunity for women in tech and new media. Follow her on Twitter @rachelsklar.

This weekend kicks off one of Washington D.C.’s biggest events: the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Think of it as the equivalent of SXSW for political-media-wonk types.

Denizens of D.C. have jokingly referred to it as “prom” for years now, and with the advent of Twitter, the hashtag #NerdProm quickly stuck. Traditionally, apart from providing celebrity photos and viral videos of the President doing stand-up and comedians zinging Donald Trump, the White House Correspondents’ Dinner (aka WHCD) is an excuse for a weekend-long bender. Of the tasteful variety, of course.

Cocktail parties on rooftop terraces, tented garden brunches bedecked with lush flower arrangements — this is the standard fare, along with after-parties of varying degrees of exclusivity, depending on the number of Hollywood stars and clout-wielding politicos in attendance. That’s “clout,” not “Klout.” This is an old-school weekend, after all. And by “old” I mean media, institutions, traditions, and people. Yes, everyone is still tethered to their smartphones, but in D.C., that means mostly Blackberries.

So why should anyone outside of D.C., the tech community in particular, care? It’s no surprise that the tech community does not typically revere anything preceded by the word “old." In many ways, that point of view is one of tech’s biggest weaknesses, because with age comes wisdom, experience, and a larger sense of context, essential for dealing with the world beyond an early-stage startup. If you doubt, look no further than Eric Schmidt at Google, Sheryl Sandberg at Facebook, and John Maloney at Tumblr. There’s no shame in hearing from the grownups. Quite the opposite.

This is where WHCD’s true value lies. Yes, with one swivel of the head you can take in Bradley Cooper, Kim Kardashian, Madeleine Albright, and Donatella Versace, but that is just the bait. Its real function is to serve as a place where the groundwork for long-term relationships is laid. Where a cub reporter can hit up the world-weary editor she chatted up at the Bloomberg after-party.

What makes this year different is that it’s tech, politics, and the media that link them that are doing most of the relationship building. This is reflected in the tech types who have descended upon the capitol. It’s not just Dick Costolo and Katie Stanton from Twitter, which is on the very front lines of the 2012 election, but Foursquare’s Dennis Crowley, Zynga’s Mark Pincus, Groupon’s Brad Keywell, and Tumblr’s Liba Rubenstein. These tech giants and their companies are having an impact on every part of the Washington system, whether they’ve meant to or not.

Twitter and Tumblr have already had a disruptive effect, spreading memes like wildfire. We can also expect voters to act and react collectively, thanks to platforms like NationBuilder, ElectNext, and Votizen.

The tech and Hollywood connection is also tight, with investors like Ashton Kutcher fueling innovation and growth, and comedians going straight to the audience through vehicles like Funny or Die (an amazing outlet for sardonic political commentary, by the way). In this way, the upstarts and renegades have a thing or two to teach the olds, too.

And of course, there are the presidential candidates, both armed to the teeth with tech tools and teams. President Barack Obama has dominated digital thus far (obliterating Gov. Mitt Romney on Instagram 588,793 to 8,122) and has an incredibly well-oiled machine. But it’s April. At this time in the last election cycle, Hillary Clinton was still in the race and no one would know who Sarah Palin was for four long months. This time last year, President Obama and Seth Meyers spent the night yukking it up over Trump jokes. Some 24 hours later, everything would change, because we’d learn that Osama bin Laden was dead.

Game changers happen like that all the time in politics. It just so happens that this year’s game changers are tech titans, with deep pockets. And money is something any politician can appreciate.

So, for those and many other reasons, the 2012 White House Correspondents’ Dinner weekend is important. I’ll be on the scene for Mashable, sending dispatches back with the essential and the totally frivolous, because we will probably want to know who Kim Kardashian is wearing (especially if it’s Kanye). I, of course, will be wearing a startup — that is to say, Rent The Runway — and FourSquaring, Instagramming, and Tweeting as I go.

It’s WHCD 2012, and tech is in the house…yeah, that house.

Disclosures: Rachel Sklar serves as an advisor to Votizen.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, Vacclav

More About: 2012 election, Google, politicians, technology, trending, White House correspondents dinner

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