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

At an early stage company, there are many unknowns when it comes to doing business deals intended to drive adoption or revenue. Is the product ready for distribution? Will this deal live up to expectations? What if the partner does something that delays a launch? How much should we charge? Should we charge? What is the right thing to do right now?

Often, the deals that you do not do are as important as the deals you do. A bad deal can consume and distract important resources, waste valuable time, cost money and in some cases take a company completely off the rails. Here are some tips on deciding what deals you should do and what deals you shouldn't do. Read more...

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In an interview with CBS' 60 minutes, Microsoft founder and chairman Bill Gates answered several questions about his long time rival Steve Jobs. Reminiscing their last meeting — in May 2011, when Jobs was already very seriously ill — Gates remembers Apple's co-founder fondly, highlighting his design ideas and the fact that he was still very enthusiastic about the future despite his illness

"What did he have that you wish you had," Charlie Rose asked Gates during the interview

"Oh, his sense of design. That everything had to fit a certain aesthetic. The fact that he, with as little engineering background as he had, it shows that design can lead you in a good direction...and so, phenomenal products came out," answered Gates Read more...

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Spotify is one of the leading music streaming services available, with more than 24 million active users and countless songs, albums, playlists and radio stations. Like with any popular web service, Spotify users are constantly looking for new ways to discover and share new content within the program, which can be a little daunting to navigate at times.

To make it easier, we've compiled 11 tips and tricks to help you become a Spotify power user, including how to discover new music effectively, interact with friends and followers, and add a bevy of useful apps that you may not have known even existed. Read more...

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So, you've decided it's time to take your job to the next level. Maybe you want a management position, or you're trying to reach director-level in your field. Or maybe you've gained some new skills or earned a graduate degree and have a whole new range of options open to you.

That's where Amanda Augustine comes in. As a career coach and job search expert for TheLadders, she specializes in helping professionals take the next step in their careers.

We caught up with Amanda this week to chat about landing that next big thing — including gaining management experience, working with recruiters, and being strategic about your career goals. If you're trying to reach the next rung on your career ladder, read on for her smart advice. Read more...

Sony's new Android smartphone, the Sony Xperia ZR, has a trait not often seen in today's high-range smartphones: it can be submerged 5 feet deep under water

Its level of water resistance — IP55 and IP58 — is a bit better than Sony's current Android flagship, Sony Xperia Z, which is IP55 and IP57 compliant, meaning it can be submerged into 3.3 feet of water

Bear in mind that, for both devices, this specifically means "fresh water," meaning you probably shouldn't take it with you for that ocean dive, but it's still a very nice feature to have, especially with the summer approaching

As for the rest of the Xperia ZR's specs, they're the same as the Xperia Z: a 4.6-inch screen, 1.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 13-megapixel camera and 2GB of RAM Read more...

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Twitter has the capacity to ignite revolutions and enable small acts of kindness, but there's also a darker side to the microblogging network

Floating Sheep, a group of geography academics, created the "Geography of Hate," which maps racist, homophobic and ableist tweets in the U.S. After searching for all geotagged tweets in North America between June 2012 and April 2013, students at Humboldt State University manually read and coded the sentiment of each tweet to determine if a specific word was used in a positive, negative or neutral wayIn a blog post, Floating Sheep cited "dyke" as an example: While the word is a homophobic slur against lesbian people, it can also be used positively (e.g. "dykes on bikes #SFPride). Read more...

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What if we could send functioning human brains directly into space, using them as intelligent storage devices capable of beaming images and data — in dream form — back to Earth? That's the premise of this unusual sci-fi short, which fakes being a documentary about humanity's first steps into interstellar travel

The short, directed by special effects artist Hasraf "HaZ" Dulull, alternates documentary-style interviews with scientists with space footage. The result is a 14-minute space film that feels a lot like the Robert Zemeckis 1997 classic Contact. In other words, don't expect explosions and alien wars. But with a budget of just $4,000, the visuals of the film are definitely impressive Read more...

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After a seven-year hiatus, Arrested Development is back — and now, a trailer for the sitcom's fourth season has debuted online.

Posted to YouTube on Sunday, it shows the quirky Bluth family — including Michael (played by Jason Bateman), Lindsay (Portia de Rossi), Gob (Will Arnett), George-Michael (Michael Cera) and other members — reuniting onscreen.

Fox aired the first three seasons of Arrested Development from 2003 to 2006. Although the show gained a cult following, it was eventually canceled due to low ratings and viewership. Following years of fan anticipation for a series revival or feature film, Netflix announced last year that Arrested Development would be making a comeback under its wing. Read more...

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The ABC network is going to start live-streaming network content to all ABC-owned TV stations.

The new service, dubbed Watch ABC, will debut on May 14 during ABC's upfront presentation in New York City. The service will initially only be available in New York City (via WABC-TV) and Philadelphia (via WPVI), but it will extend to all other ABC-owned networks by the end of the summer, as well as on Hearst-owned ABC networks. ABC aims to reach agreements with more affiliates in advance of the fall TV season.

Using the service, authenticated users will have full access to live content from the local ABC network, including primetime programming and local news and syndicated content. Read more...

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The first promo for Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the ABC television show about the comic-book universe's espionage and law-enforcement agency, has surfaced online.

The 30-second spot highlights Clark Gregg reprising his role as Agent Phil Coulson from Marvel's feature films, including Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor and The Avengers (in which he dies)According to the show's official site, Coulson assembles a small, highly trained team of agents to "tackle the cases that haven't been classified yet — the new strange and the unknown."

Members of S.H.I.E.LD., or Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division, include: Agent Grant Ward (Brett Dalton), Agent Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen), Agent Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) and Agent Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge). Read more...

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It's natural to want to post pics of impressive meals on Instagram, but after a while, your followers might start getting annoyed.

In this comic, we can see that it doesn't just apply to humans — clichéd Instagrams are a problem throughout the animal kingdom.

Comic written by Larry Lambert; illustrated by Jerry King. Read more...

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Combine the Nintendo Wii and Microsoft Kinect, add incredible precision and a controller you can separate into two parts, and you get Mad Genius, a motion-controlling gamepad that could change the gaming world.

How precise is it? Try 1/100 of an inch. Watch the video demonstrating the technology with an Xbox 360 version of Skyrim, and you'll see how it gives you full 3D control, sensing your jumps, moves and ministrations with astonishing accuracy.

So far, you'll see a tangle of wires connected to this prototype, but this is just the beginning. Soon to land on crowdfunding site Kickstarter, the company says the final shipping product will be completely wireless. Read more...

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This Mother's Day we're celebrating in our favorite way — through the medium of cats. We have found 10 mom 'n kittens pics that will melt even the hardest heart

Get your cute on and take a look through our adorable gallery above. Share your sweetest cat snaps in the comments below.

Homepage image courtesy of Flickr, Abby B. Read more...

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On Mother's Day you can spoil your mom with a meal out, surprise her with a big bunch of flowers or treat her to a box of chocolates

You can also celebrate her with a song. We have picked our top 10 mom songs from all genres of music

Embrace the cheese and take a look through our soppy selection in the video gallery above. In the comments section below, feel free to dedicate a song to your mom.

Homepage image courtesy of Flickr, Lyssa Erickson Read more...

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"You're stranded on a deserted island, and you can only take three books/songs/movies with you off the boat. Which ones do you choose?"

We've all heard and answered some variation of that question, but how has it changed with the ubiquity of tablets and smartphones?

In this Sunday Comic by Maria Scrivan, we see that, for one thing, you can bring a lot more books, music and movies off the boat with you. Unfortunately, you might run into a few other problems.

Comic written and illustrated by Maria Scrivan. Published with permission; all rights reserved. Read more...

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Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield is scheduled to make his return trip to Earth late Monday after five months aboard the International Space Station, and he decided to commemorate his final hours in space with a spectacular music video.

Hadfield covers David Bowie's classic (and incredibly appropriate) song "Space Oddity." In the video, he sings a "revised version" of the song and plays the guitar solo while floating through the hulls of the ship. Not only is Hadfield brilliant and fearless, he's also a great singer.

With deference to the genius of David Bowie, here's Space Oddity, recorded on Station. A last glimpse of the Worldyoutube.com/watch?v=KaOC9d…

— Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) May 12, 2013 Read more...

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Facebook Home has finally hit 1 million downloads exactly one month after being released for Android, according to install numbers in the Google Play store

At a press event on Thursday, Facebook's director of mobile engineering told reporters that Home had been downloaded "just about" 1 million times. On Sunday, Facebook Home was classified as having been installed 1 million - 5 million times in the Google Play Store. Facebook did not immediately respond to our request for comment about when exactly it passed the million mark.

While it's certainly a good milestone to reach, demand for Facebook Home appears to be dropping off. It took Facebook 10 days to hit 500,000 downloads and about twice that long to hit 1 million. Data from App Annie, which tracks app store rankings, shows that Facebook Home is currently below the top 100 Android apps in every country where it's available. In the US, it barely cracked the top 50 at its peak and has since dropped out of the top 300. Read more...

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Texting while driving has now replaced drunk driving as the number one cause of teenage deaths on the road in the U.S., new research has found.

The study, performed by the Cohen Children's Medical Center in New York, found that more than 300,000 teens are injured and more than 3,000 die each year as a result of sending SMS messages while behind the wheel.

Although it is illegal to text and drive in the UK, it is still allowed in many states in the U.S.

Although it is illegal to text and drive in the UK, it is still allowed in many states in the U.S.

By comparison, 282,000 are injured and 2,700 teenagers are killed as a result of drink driving. Read more...

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You must have had a seriously busy week last week if you missed all these goofy viral videos that appeared on our radar. Stop all that leaning forward and sit back while we catch you up on all the latest mirth and merriment with the one and only Viral Video Recap.

While you adjust your volume, here's a sneak preview of what you'll see

For instance, let's revisit that surfer heist movie, Point Break, except instead of being directed by the formidable Kathryn Bigelow, let's put the quirky Wes Anderson in the director's chair. Or what about Tommy Wiseau, the director of The Room, otherwise known as the worst movie ever made? Jeez, this is going to be fun...? Read more...

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Get your Mother's Day-flavored sci-fi fix in this thrilling short

Aliens have invaded our planet, and they're out to destroy our race. We've all seen this movie before. But in this gritty, surprisingly good sci-fi short, things are actually a little different from what we're used to. In Hybrids, the aliens are the result of a failed government experiment, botched bio-hybrid soldiers who have now turned against their creators.

In this 8-minute short by Patrick Kalyn, who's worked on the special effects of blockbusters like Avatar, King Kong and the indie sci-fi masterpiece District 9, these hybrids are hunting for children, whom they believe hold a mysterious "key." Among their victims there's the daughter of a former special forces soldier, played by Daniella Evangelista. Now, she's out for revenge Read more...

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Seth Meyers will take over as the next host of Late Night on NBC, succeeding Jimmy Fallon who is heading to The Tonight Show, the network announced Sunday.

Meyers, who is currently a head writer at Saturday Night Live where he hosts the "Weekend Update" segment, will take over Late Night in the spring of 2014 when Fallon replaces Leno as the host of the Tonight Show. The show, to be called Late Night With Seth Meyers, will be taped in New York and produced by Meyers' longtime boss Lorne Michaels.

"We think Seth is one of the brightest, most insightful comedy writers and performers of his generation," Bob Greenblatt, the chairman of NBC Entertainment, said in a statement. "His years at SNL's ‘Weekend Update’ desk, not to mention being head writer of the show for many seasons, helped him hone a topical brand of comedy that is perfect for the Late Night franchise." Read more...

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Lots of great new apps launched this week.

Disney released Story, a new app that uses the location and time stamp on photos you take with your iPhone to instantly create a digital storybook based on different events.

Zynga released a new game in its "With Friends" series called Running With Friends, an infinite running game that has you compete against friends to see how long you can survive, and Flipboard updated its Android app, bringing support for magazines and other content to the platform.

Curious about how these new apps look? Check out the video, above, for a hands-on look at some of our favorites from the past week. Read more...

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During her first earnings call after taking over as CEO of Yahoo, Marissa Mayer laid out her plan to start acquiring smaller companies that "align well overall with our businesses," noting that she had done about 20 such acquisitions in her long tenure at Google. That was just more than six months ago, but Mayer has already completed half as many acquisitions in her time at Yahoo.

Yahoo announced late Friday that it had acquired Loki Studios, a mobile gaming company, for its experience with "community and location-based mobile services." This marked Yahoo's fourth acquisition this month, and according to a Yahoo spokesperson, its 10th acquisition since Mayer took over as CEO in July. The full list includes: Stamped, OntheAir, Snip.it, Alike, Jybe, Summly, Astrid, GoPollGo, Milewise and Loki. Read more...

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Applying for a job is not what it used to be

In this new digital world of work — where it’s more competitive than ever to land your dream position — offering a standard resume and writing an introductory cover letter will get you nowhere

Why? Because those are the exact same things everyone else is doing. To move yourself to the top of that virtual pile, you’ve got to do something different.

Now, what you do varies according to your chosen industry. If you're applying for a job in the financial industry, for example, you might want to stick to the standard application process for the most part. But for most industries, you don't want to fit in — you want to stand out. Read more...

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Food porn on Instagram is ubiquitous. That is to say, pretty much everywhere you look someone's posted a meal for one reason or another. It's the perfect tool to show off how lovely your burger looks before devouring it. If, however, you're an identity thief trying to avoid getting caught by the law, perhaps it's a good idea to not take photos of food at your clandestine meetings.

That didn't stop Nathaniel Troy Maye, 44, from snapping a nice image of his steak and macaroni and cheese at a January 7th meeting with an undercover witness for the IRS at Morton's steakhouse. They'd been trying to catch the person claiming they had 700,000 identities up for sale, and this was the second meeting with the suspect, but they'd yet to get an actual identification. Read more...

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Finding the perfect gift for your mom on Mother's Day is never an easy feat. Her tastes change, your memory fades and you always wind up finding her something at the very last minute.

In this Sunday Comic from our friends Nitrozac and Snaggy at The Joy of Tech, we learn that when it comes to tech gifts, we shouldn't underestimate the savvy of our moms.

Did you get your mom a tech gift or gadget this Mother's Day? Let us know in the comments.

Comic illustration provided by The Joy of Tech. Published with permission; all rights reserved. Read more...

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There have been rumors in recent weeks that Apple is planning a complete redesign for iOS 7 that moves away from the "skeuomorphic" look it has relied on to date, which designs digital objects like real-world objects. Now, one digital agency has come out with a video imagining what this kind of redesign might actually look like.

In the concept video above, Simply Zesty shows off a flatter user interface. Each of the app icons have less-rounded edges and cleaner designs. The calendar app ditches the look and feel of a printed calendar in favor of a design more like the Sunrise app. The weather app has a more minimalistic design that is similar to Forecast, a web-based weather app from the makers of Dark Sky Read more...

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Kristen Wiig made her much-anticipated return to Saturday Night Live, hosting the show for the first time after leaving it last year at the end of her seventh season

On the eve of Mother's Day, Wiig starred in an hilarious fake commercial for a flower service, in which she reminds us that no matter how odd our mothers are ("This week your father and I watched a porno," Wiig's character's mom says in the skit), we still love them.

Wiig came back to some of her classic sketches like "The Californians," and experimented with new ones as well

To celebrate Mother's Day with a laugh, watch the video above. Read more...

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When you first hear the phrase "two-way conversation," you probably think, "Well, what other kind of conversation is there?" But when it comes to brands, this phrase embodies a very specific marketing strategy: personification.

Ever since the advent of social media, brands have been trying to engage consumers in ways that make them seem more like people, rather than large corporations trying like hell to sell you products or ideas.

Instead of the age-old press releases and ads that need to go through rounds of approval, social media-savvy employees (often from an ad agency) run a brand's social accounts without much regulation from the powers-that-be. Read more...

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Google has outdone itself for Mother's Day this year.

The search giant released an interactive Google Doodle on Sunday that actually creates cards for mom, which are designed to look like the kind of arts and crafts projects she would want to pin up on your family's refrigerator

When you press the play button on this Google doodle, you'll see options to draw your mom, or choose flowers or a gift. From there, you'll have options to customize the kind of "materials" used in the drawing (crayons, scrapbooks, pasta and beans) and to design the border for the image.

Read more...

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