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Internet helps museums net new art lovers (AFP) : Technet |
- Internet helps museums net new art lovers (AFP)
- GeekTech Podcasts: Color-Changing Plants and Meat-Flavored Drinks (PC World)
- Nokia likely to sack several executives: report (Reuters)
- Calif. juror ordered to turn over Facebook posts (AP)
- Soon you'll be able to pay by smartphone with YESpay (Digital Trends)
- Video shows Cuban fears of Internet, social media (Reuters)
- Are Cover Letters Still Relevant For Social Media and Tech Jobs? (Mashable)
- The Macalope Weekly: Mis-quotable (Macworld)
| Internet helps museums net new art lovers (AFP) Posted: 05 Feb 2011 06:35 PM PST LONDON (AFP) – The world's great museums are increasingly using the Internet and social networking sites to pique the interest of people who might never think of setting foot in an art exhibition. At a click of a mouse, some of the greatest galleries in the world can come to life in a way that has hitherto been near-impossible when seen with the naked eye. The launch of the Google Art project, taking the cameras used in its Street View site through the doors of 17 museums including MoMA in New York and the National Gallery in London, is the just the latest move into the Internet. The State Hermitage in Saint Petersburg, Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum and another London heavyweight, Tate Britain, are among the institutions whose selected artworks can be seen in incredible detail. But all the museums featured already have their own websites, so why marry up with the US online giant? "We have to seek out the Internet user, on social networks, the networking sites, wherever they may be," said Laurent Gaveau, in charge of new media for the Palace of Versailles, the only French museum taking part in the Google project. And Google can offer technological muscle. "The use of gigapixel is really new," Gaveau said, referring to the high-resolution system used for capturing the paintings. By using the zoom function, viewers can see works such as Flemish Renaissance painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder's "The Harvesters" in tiny detail -- even the modest meal the peasants are enjoying in the field is clear as day. The other innovation is the ease of taking a virtual tour around a number of the world's finest museums -- you can either see the pictures up close, or take a stroll around the galleries. Charlotte Sexton from Britain's National Gallery said museums were convinced that the Google site -- far from harming the traffic to their own websites -- could actually capture a new audience and even persuade people to come to the museums. "There is plenty of evidence that shows that by engaging with relevant content online it actually can be a driver to encourage people to go and see the real thing -- you can't underestimate the thrill of the original," she said. "And for many they may never be able to visit physically but they can have a meaningful virtual experience." Larissa Korabelnikova, spokeswoman for the Hermitage, agrees. "There is no conflict between virtual visits to the museum and real visits," she said. "One adds to the other." But not all museums are convinced about Google Art. The Louvre in Paris, a true giant of world culture and home to Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa", spurned Google's advances and chose instead to build up its own website, which currently receives 11 million visits a year, compared to 8.5 million visitors in the flesh. The Palace of Versailles says the benefits of moving online have been huge. In three years, its decision to embrace Facebook, YouTube and Twitter has seen more and more users directed towards its own website, which now counts six million a year. |
| GeekTech Podcasts: Color-Changing Plants and Meat-Flavored Drinks (PC World) Posted: 05 Feb 2011 11:54 AM PST The GeekTech crew convenes again for another GeekTech Edition of the PCWorld Podcast. This week, Nick Mediati, Armando Rodriguez, Alex Wawro, and Macworld's Sam Felsing take a quick look at some of the gadgets at Macworld Expo 2011; and talk about bomb-sniffing plants, meat-flavored beverages, and a local pinball museum that got our attention. You can also stream the podcast via QuickTime: Subscribe to the PCWorld Podcast on iTunes or via the PCWorld Podcast RSS feed. You can reach us at iTunes. Get your GeekTech on: Twitter - Facebook - RSS | Tip us off This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Nokia likely to sack several executives: report (Reuters) Posted: 05 Feb 2011 05:01 AM PST FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The world's biggest cellphone maker Nokia is likely to sack several executive board members in a management shake-up, a German weekly reported. As rival companies have been eating into Nokia's market share, Chief Executive Officer Stephen Elop, who took over last September, is due to unveil a revamp of the company's strategy, which could include organizational changes, on February 11. Citing company sources, German weekly Wirtschaftswoche reported on Saturday that Mary T. McDowell, the executive in charge of Nokia's mobile phones unit, may have to leave the company along with Niklas Savander, the manager of the markets unit. Chief Development Officer Kai Oistamo may have to go, too, as may Tero Ojanpera, the manager responsible for services and mobile solutions, the weekly reported. Elop has ordered headhunters to look for top people with good software expertise, the report said. A Nokia spokesman declined to comment. Elop has been widely expected to make big changes to the top management team. So far, only one former leader, Anssi Vanjoki, has left the company. Nokia has been left in the shade by high-end competitors such as Apple and Google and is now also suffering a drop in sales of its stronghold of traditional phones as Chinese manufacturers muscle in to take advantage of the growing market. (Reporting by Arno Schuetze and Tarmo Virki; Editing by Susan Fenton) |
| Calif. juror ordered to turn over Facebook posts (AP) Posted: 05 Feb 2011 04:14 PM PST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – A California judge has ordered a juror to turn over Facebook messages he posted during the trial of several alleged gang members. Sacramento Superior Court Judge Michael Kenny said Friday that Arturo Ramirez could face jail time if he doesn't give Facebook permission to disclose the postings within 10 days. Defense attorneys had requested the disclosure to determine whether Ramirez was influenced by any outside communication. The five alleged gang members were convicted last year in the 2008 beating of a man at a gas station. They have yet to be sentenced. Ramirez's posts allegedly characterized the evidence as "boring" and revealed he was on the jury. His attorney says the judge's order an invasion of privacy and told the Sacramento Bee that he planned to appeal. ___ Information from: The Sacramento Bee, http://www.sacbee.com |
| Soon you'll be able to pay by smartphone with YESpay (Digital Trends) Posted: 04 Feb 2011 10:19 PM PST YESpay regularly processes millions of cardholder payments for its merchants and predicts mobile payment will attract customers and merchants alike looking to experience the speed, ease and convenience of paying with their mobile phone. Mobile payment is an up and coming market with several new smartphones including near field communication (NFC) technology which provides the platform for mobile payments to take place. We expect to see many more announcements about NFC over the coming year. The YESpay-Wallet Mobile App is currently under development and the company is looking to release it soon, but no specific date has been released. The YESpay-Wallet Mobile App will allow customers to manage their credit cards, check card balances, reload their virtual Cards with any major credit/debit card, check their Retailer Discount Coupons and Promotions status and find a nearby YESpay Merchant store with the store locator feature. In addition, using the mobile app customers will be able to pay with their smartphone by selecting one of their credit/debit or Virtual Cards in their electronic wallet, holding their mobile device in front of a scanner on the countertop and scan the card Mobile App's on-screen barcode to make a purchase. |
| Video shows Cuban fears of Internet, social media (Reuters) Posted: 05 Feb 2011 01:39 PM PST HAVANA (Reuters) – Cuba fears the United States is encouraging dissent through social media such as Facebook and Twitter with the goal of toppling the government, according to the video of what appears a meeting of Cuban officials posted on websites this week. The 50-minute video apparently is a presentation given by an Internet expert to officials of Cuba's Interior Ministry last June. A link to the video at http://vimeo.com/19402730 was posted on several blogs, including that of Cuban anti-government blogger Yoani Sanchez, and on the website of the Miami Herald. It is not known how the video was obtained. The expert, whose identity is not disclosed, told the officials the United States is promoting use of Facebook and Twitter to foment dissent similar to ways it was used in insurrections in the Ukraine in 2004 and in Iran in 2010. He also said the U.S. government is financing the introduction into Cuba of satellite communications equipment to create secret points of WiFi access. In communist-led Cuba, Internet access is limited and content largely controlled by the government. The lecturer mentioned U.S. aid contractor Alan Gross, who has been detained since December 2009 on suspicions he illegally supplied satellite phones to Jewish groups for Internet access. Gross is described in the video as a "mercenary." "The idea is to create a technological platform away from control of Cuban authorities that permits the free flow of communication between Cuban citizens selected by (Cuban enemies) and the world," he said. Cuba said on Friday that Gross, 61, will face trial soon on charges of crimes against the security of the state and that prosecutors would seek a 20-year sentence in the case that has been a stumbling block for U.S-Cuba relations. The lecturer said the U.S.-supplied satellite equipment seeks to spread the voice of a new wave of anti-government bloggers such as Sanchez. "A virtual network of mercenaries is organizing that are not the traditional counter-revolution. We are talking about young people, people who can have an attractive discourse, young people who hang out with our children and our brothers," the expert said. He said the United States is dedicating more money to finance "cyber dissidents" than to the island's traditional opponents. According to a U.S. State Department cable obtained by WikiLeaks and published in December, Washington is losing confidence in the older dissidents and giving more credence to bloggers and intellectuals. In the video, the expert said Cuba should try to neutralize the dissident bloggers by countering with its own. "Being a blogger is not bad. They have their bloggers and we have ours. We're going to fight to see which of the two turns out stronger," he said. (Editing by Jeff Franks and Xavier Briand) |
| Are Cover Letters Still Relevant For Social Media and Tech Jobs? (Mashable) Posted: 05 Feb 2011 06:07 AM PST The cover letter is often an expected attachment to the résumé, serving as an applicant's first impression on potential employers. Traditionally, it offers job seekers an opportunity to introduce their skills and qualifications, while giving hiring managers an idea of a candidate's suitability for the position. But as more companies use social networks to screen candidates, many applicants are questioning whether their cover letters are still relevant. With the level of transparency in social media, what can a cover letter offer that a LinkedIn profile or Twitter stream can't? Opinions of the career experts interviewed for this article were split, leading us to answer the above question with "it depends." Here's a look at why you may not want to send a cover letter, why it could still be useful to send one, and how to optimize your approach when applying for social media and tech positions.
The Relevancy FactorA cover letter's value can be determined by its approach. Many hiring managers see them as increasingly unnecessary because they're often text-heavy, unoriginal, and repeat the résumé rather than enhance it. Mark O'Connor, staffing manager at oil company Tesoro, says he doesn't read much into cover letters, particularly for tech jobs -- but adds that it doesn't mean applicants shouldn't bother to send them. "They should be short functional summaries of their relevant experience," he says. Still, O'Connor's team of recruiters focuses on developing relationships with candidates via social networks. From there, they're more concerned about the details that lie within the résumé and try to hone in on a candidate's past experience. For MSNBC Career Columnist Eve Tahmincioglu, cover letters are even more important for social media and tech job seekers. "Today companies want tech employees who are critical thinkers, well-rounded and do more than just tech speak," she says. "These things are hard to convey in a résumé." In some cases, Tahmincioglu adds, the first person to see your application is a human resources manager, who may not know much about the dense list of computer programs and technical projects on your résumé. The cover letter can be an opportunity to draw them in with a personal touch.
What Your Cover Letter Says About YouThe main advantage of a cover letter is its ability to be customized. Some hiring managers see it as a way to assess your dedication to and qualifications for a specific position. "A cover letter, especially one that is customized to the position tells me the person is actually applying for this position. This person cares enough to write something that applies -- not just a blanket response of résumés to a bunch of jobs," says Patrick Chaupham, senior vice president of digital communications at public relations agency Weber Shandwick. In fact, it's the lack of tailored and interesting cover letters that keeps Ryan Goff, director of social media marketing at advertising and public relations agency MGH, from reading them. "We want to be wow'ed, and the cut-and-paste cover letter will never do the trick," he says. "Know your audience and, in doing so, give us something that would impress."
Top Cover Letter TipsHere are the top four cover letter tips from the career experts we interviewed:
ConclusionA cover letter is still valuable -- as long as it's done right. Like Goff said, the key is to know your audience. If you're applying to a company that has dedicated technical recruiters spending 90% of their time on LinkedIn, connect with them there. If you're working with a general human resources manager, use the cover letter to be relatable by showing off your personality and creativity. No matter what your approach, be clear about your passion for the particular position and/or company. Hiring managers won't be excited about you unless you're excited about them.
Social Media Job ListingsEvery 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 9 Hot Startups - Top 5 Online Communities for Starting Your Career - HOW TO: Land a Business Development Job - Top 5 Tips for Creating Impressive Video Resumes - 19 Resources to Help You Land a Job in 2011 Images courtesy of iStockphoto, mrPliskin and wdstock
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| The Macalope Weekly: Mis-quotable (Macworld) Posted: 05 Feb 2011 09:19 AM PST [Editors' Note: Each week the Macalope skewers the worst of the week's coverage of Apple and other technology companies. In addition to being a mythical beast, the Macalope is not an employee of Macworld. As a result, the Macalope is always free to criticize any media organization. Even ours.] It was a week for misunderstanding and misconstruing as a Samsung executive apparently had marbles in his mouth about the Galaxy Tab. People still aren't getting why Apple's not shaking in its boots about Android, but, in the company's defense, it's hard to shake in diamond-studded boots. Finally, Netgear's CEO would like to apologize for how dumb you are. Is it competition yet? Yes, it's time for another round of the game show that's sweeping the nation: Is It Competition Yet? The game where we take a critical look at the iPad's competition and laugh, laugh, laugh, oh, how we laugh. This week the Dell Streak 7 joined the party, sporting a "low-resolution screen, poor battery life, and soon-to-be outdated OS." All of which left Engadget wondering "why the guys in Austin decided to bring the Streak 7 to market in its current form." Sounds awesome. Welcome, Streak 7. Well, OK, what about the Galaxy Tab? That got a lot of positive buzz when it came out. How's it doing? Oy. See if you can follow this. After a report suggested that 2 million Galaxy Tabs were sold, helping drive the iPad's market share down to 77 percent, Samsung clarified that these were shipments to retailers, not sales to consumers. Samsung executive Lee Young-hee corrected this misunderstanding and stated that the number of tablet devices sold to consumers is actually "quite small." About 45 seconds and 100 phone calls from Samsung executives later… Samsung on Tuesday disputed claims that it had said its Galaxy Tab sales were well below shipments. It recaptured a segment of the results call (below) and said that executive Lee Young-hee had described the sales to real customers as "quite smooth," not "quite small" as the WSJ had said. Yeah! It's the number of people who didn't return them that's small! Tracking by ITG since mid-November suggests that the return rate for the Android tablet is as high as 15 percent. Is that high? Well, the iPad's return rate at Verizon stores is just 2 percent so... uh, yes, that's high. But wait! Samsung denies this as well, saying returns are, in fact (waiiiiiiiiiiiit forrrrrrrrrrr iiiiiiiiiiiiiiit…) less than 2 percent. The Macalope would kind of like to see Samsung's work on how they sciencemagically got to a number just a little below the iPad's return rate. Because it's probably pretty funny. Now all eyes turn to the Motorola Xoom, which will feature Honeycomb—the first release of the Android OS that's optimized for tablets. And possibly bears. Early reviews are positive (like the Galaxy Tab's were) so surely this is The One. Or we'll be back here in a month still asking ourselves… Is It Competition Yet? Some competition would be good Look what competition's done for iPhone users. Verizon and AT&T are practically falling over each other trying to throw hotspot features at them. So don't think the Macalope doesn't want there to be some solid iPad competition—he's just still not seeing a lot of it. It seems likely that, with the help of Honeycomb, Android tablets will do better than they've done to date, at least in terms of unit sales. But it's truly hysterical to hear from Google boosters about "why Apple should be afraid of Android" even as the Apple continues to beat the tar out of everyone in the only measure that has any meaning in the long run: profit. We go through this practically every week, but apparently some people still aren't getting the memo. By the way, long-time Mac users should click through to that first piece, because it's a hoot. It's like the kids of Microsoft fans who railed against the Mac in the '90s have grown up and are Android fans railing against iOS. Get a Blind Melon CD, put on your plaid shirt, and enjoy a blast from the past because Apple apparently "sucks" again. A new Lo Netgear CEO Patrick Lo provided some expert analysis on Apple this week, prompting the Macalope to wonder whatever happened to John Gruber's jackass of the week (clearly John has lost his edge over the years). "Once Steve Jobs goes away, which is probably not far away, then Apple will have to make a strategic decision on whether to open up the platform," said Lo. Um, yeah. Once you get past the jerktastic parts of Lo's interview, you're left with the ones that regurgitate the dull-witted "conventional wisdom" of the technology industry. "What's the reason for him to trash Flash? There's no reason other than ego," he said. Lo has apparently never used Flash on a Mac. Or been asked why it's so bad for Apple to be a gatekeeper but it's A-O-K for Adobe to be one. It constantly amazes the Macalope how these brilliant CEOs seem to think Apple somehow needs their advice. They're either stupid or deliberately spewing bad advice, knowing the company won't take it, but desperately trying to create any kind of negative buzz. Or they're stupid and trying to do that. The Macalope also hasn't ruled out insanity. Sensing (or being politely told by his PR department) that predicting Jobs's imminent disappearance from the scene might have been a wireless bridge too far, Lo attempted to clarify his remarks, because you morons obviously misinterpreted him. However, I deeply regret the choice of words I used in relation to business decisions Apple must grapple with in the future in relation to open vs. closed systems… Of course Patrick "regrets" his choice of words because they make him look like an insensitive jerk. For those of you keeping score at home, that's not an apology, that's wishing you had a time machine so you could go back and say something differently and look like less of an ass. …which have been construed by some to be references to Steve Jobs' health and which was never my intention. Totally! He clearly meant that Steve would be "going away" soon because he's going to go on the no-holds-barred Thai kickboxing circuit. It's weird how some might have misconstrued that. I sincerely apologize that what I said was interpreted this way, and I wish Steve only the very best. The only thing Lo "apologizes" for is other people's interpretations. Which makes no sense. Again, if you're following along on your score card, Lo hasn't apologized for anything he's done, he's just called everyone a bunch of idiots who took his words the wrong way. "I'm sorry you're so stupid." Jobs is constantly pilloried in the press as a being a heartless jerk. If he is, he's not up to Lo's standard. |
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