Myspace Proxies 360.com

At home, at lunch, and on Twitter, everyone seems to be talking about the Preakness, one of most prestigious thoroughbred horse races around. They’re talking about the lone female horse in the race (Rachel Alexandra) or the underdog winner of the Kentucky Derby (Mine That Bird). Now you’re even more confused than ever.

If you’re interested in learning more about horse racing, or at least being able to understand what people are actually talking about, there are a couple of good ways to use the Web and even the iPhone to get yourself up to speed. By the time you’re done with this list, you’ll know more about “The Run for the Black-Eyed Susans” than anyone else you know.

1. Learn about the horses via BloodHorse

There’s a ton of buzz about this year’s horses, especially Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird and the only female in the race, Rachel Alexandra (the first filly to enter the Preakness since 1999). But what do you really know about the horses beyond that?

Show off some knowledge by getting in some quick research. Beyond information provided on the official Preakness website (note: it’s slow due to high traffic), check out BloodHorse, which has information on trainers, pedigree and recent news for all of the horses.

2. Watch past races on YouTube

Does everyone around you keep talking about the huge upset that Mine That Bird delivered at the Kentucky Derby? Well, if you’re trying to catch up to the action quickly, YouTube is the place to visit. There’s video of most of the big competitors, including Rachel Alexandra’s ridiculously easy win at the Kentucky Oaks. Seeing them in action will give you a better idea about the accomplishments of each, and perhaps it’ll rev you up for the big race.

3. Take the time to research the race itself

The Preakness has a ton of of history, dating back to 1873. It’s a cornerstone of the Triple Crown and all of horse racing, so if you’re serious about getting in some horse racing education, be sure to be reading about Preakness on Wikipedia, hop on by the Preakness Stakes 2009 Facebook fan page, and get the recent news by setting up a Google News feed or alert on the Preakness

4. Take the Preakness mobile with iHorseRacing (iPhone)

Never be without the latest news on the Preakness competitors by loading Horse Racing Love (iHorseRacing) [iTunes Link] on to your iPhone. The simple app aggregates horse racing news and results for those who want to stay on top of the horse racing world. The app costs $0.99.

5. Follow the Twitter conversation

If you want to capture all of the real-time news leading up to the big race, Twitter Search is your best bet for catching what people are saying. Better yet, use monitter to track the conversation around Mine That Bird, Rachel Alexander, and your favorite horses. This will also help you avoid some nasty Preakness Twitter spam.

If you’re looking for more realtime web updates from Twitter and beyond, consider following a FriendFeed search for “Preakness”.

More Sports resources from Mashable:

- 100+ Free Sports Apps for the iPhone

- 30+ Tools for a Winning Fantasy Football Season

- 20+ Tools and Leagues for Fantasy Baseball

- 15 Resources for Finding Jobs in Sports

- Top 10 Tools for Soccer Moms and Weekend Warriors

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, TheDman

Reviews: Twitter, YouTube

Tags: betting, horse racing, odds, preakness, preakness 2009, racetrack, sports, stakes

Source:Preakness Online: The 5 Step Preakness Crash Course

Proxy facebook updates, myspace news, myspace proxy, new technology

Tweeji is a new Twitter-like site in the same vein as CelebrityTweet: it’s a place for Tweets from famous people. Except in this case, the famous people are…well, dead.

It’s an interesting idea and the technology and design are really, really good. It’s also not your typical Twitter aggregator: all the Tweets have permalinks going to the Tweeji domain itself and you can sign in with your Twitter account to follow, reply and the rest.

So rather than just gathering Tweets, Tweeji is a kind of self-contained “mini Twitter” of its own - it’ll be interesting to see whether this awesome software is reused for other purposes in the future. And if you find an interesting Twitter user posting posthumously, you can also contact Tweeji to have them added.

Where it falls down, however, is in the branding. There’s just something distasteful about “following dead people” - a morbid marketing angle that leaves an unpleasant taste in the mouth. If the angle was more like the wonderful Historical Tweets, which humorously creates faux tweets from historical figures, it would be great. It’s simply the case that wallowing in morbidity doesn’t appeal.

Reviews: Twitter

Tags: tweeji, tweet, twitter

Source:Good Taste Fail: Tweeji Tweets Dead People

Proxy facebook updates, myspace news, myspace proxy, new technology

Dan Schawbel is the bestselling author of Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success (Kaplan, April 09), and owner of the award winning Personal Branding Blog.

Celebrities have officially taken over social networks and are using them to connect with fans and promote their movies, albums and other products. The recent redesign of Facebook Pages has presented celebrities with a great opportunity to engage their fan base and amass hundreds of thousands, if not millions of fans.

While it seems very few big name celebrities are actually using Facebook as a tool to build their own brands and gather their large followings, there are a few who are actively networking on their Pages. Here are 5 lessons we can learn from them.

1. Be authentic and engaging

Vin Diesel: As Adam Ostrow points out in a recent post, with over 3.5 million fans Vin Diesel is the most aggressive and authentic celebrity on Facebook. Diesel, who you probably know from The Fast and the Furious movies, has developed his fan base on Facebook by taking pictures of himself with his friends, family, and other celebrities. He has written extensively on his wall about his life, various activities he’s participating in, and often engages fans by asking questions. The results are mind-blowing, as he has tens of thousands of likes and comments for each item he shares.

Shaq: Shaq is one celebrity and all-star basketball player who has become extremely popular in social media because of his transparency and authenticity. He has over 475,000 fans on Facebook, and over 970,000 fans on Twitter, where he spends more of his time.

What we can learn: Be authentic and start conversations instead of just pushing promotional material.

2. Offer fresh content

Lady Gaga: Lady Gaga is one of the hottest young hip hop superstars on the planet right now, with a few hit singles and a very unique personality and appearance. She sports over 2.5 million fans on her Facebook page and receives thousands of likes and hundreds of comments for her wall posts. She and her social media team strike a nice balance between promoting her music tour for her new album and interacting with her fans. Her page has a few cool features worth noting, such as a laundry list of her events, notes from her tour bus, contests and a “music” tab, where you can play her music videos and listen to her songs.

Lenny Kravitz: Lenny Kravitz, a well-known rock star, has over 705,000 fans on Facebook. While he doesn’t engage in much conversation on his wall, he posts some amazing pictures of his live concerts, as well as the fans that come to see him, which really brings the community together. He gets a few hundred comments per post and a few thousand likes. The most unique feature on his page is a tab called “Free Song!,” where you can download one of his songs for free, and there are options to play other songs within a Facebook app.

Ashton Kutcher: Ashton Kutcher is probably best known, in the social media world, as the man that challenged CNN to a race to a million Twitter followers and won. What you may not know about Kutcher is that he has also built a similar following on his Facebook Fan Page. Right now he has over 1.7 million fans. He has a “video” tab where he records videos of himself talking about different things from the convenience of his house. In addition, he shares relevant news, and videos from his startup, Blahgirls.

What we can learn: It’s important to engage fans with great, fresh content and keep them coming back for more.

3. Tell your story

Michael Phelps: Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps has one of the most popular Facebook Pages in the world, with over 2.2 million fans. He uses Facebook as an online diary, talking about his experiences, and sharing videos of himself and pictures from his sponsorships (one has him eating a hot dog at Subway). You may remember the controversy when he was caught smoking marijuana, you’ll see on his page that he apologizes for it to his fans. Phelps also talks about events like the Special Olympics, branding himself as a philanthropist.

What we can learn: Use your voice. Use Facebook to tell your side of the story and express your views.

4. Control your Page

With over 1.4 million Facebook fans, Britney Spears is able to command a lot of attention.  Relative to other celebrities on this list, Spears is the least authentic on her own page.  She has a team dedicated to her social profiles, and by reading the posts on her Facebook page, it’s obvious that it’s not her.  Her page features her latest songs, pictures from her performances, updates for fans, and an event calendar, where you can follow Spears on tour. 

What we can learn: Control your own page, whether you’re active or not, and whenever possible, try to get your own unique URL, which is great for personal branding. Spears can be found at Facebook.com/britneyspears. (Learn how to create your own vanity Facebook Page URL here.)

5. Promote your causes

Demi Moore: With over 430,000 fans, Demi Moore is somewhat active on her Facebook Page. She talks about her husband, Ashton Kutcher a lot, as well as her current activities and some promotional items. On Facebook, she’s an advocate of cleaning up the car wash industry, which is posted several times on her wall and in a note.

Lance Armstrong: Lance Armstrong, the world famous bicyclist, is also well known for his participation on social networks. His Facebook Fan Page has 336,000 members. He brands himself relative to his expertise and what he’s known for, a bicyclist and “Livestrong.” Armstrong provides up-to-date notices on his latest races, as well as videos and pictures of his current location and different bikes that he likes. His fans respond strongly, with hundreds of people liking his posts, commenting on them, and even starting their own discussions on topics like “what keeps you going?”

What we can learn: Use your page to promote the causes you believe in. Social media is the perfect tool to unite fans around an issue that matters to you.

More Facebook resources from Mashable:

- 8 Essential Apps for Your Brand’s Facebook Page

- 5 Tips for Optimizing Your Brand’s Facebook Presence

- 5 Elements of a Successful Facebook Fan Page

- New Facebook Pages: A Guide for Social Media Marketers

Reviews: Facebook, Twitter

Tags: ashton kutcher, britney spears, celebrity, demi moore, facebook, Lady Gaga, lance armstrong, Lenny Kravitz, Lists, michael phelps, shaq, vin diesel

Source:5 Lessons Celebrities Can Teach Us About Facebook Pages

Proxy facebook updates, myspace news, myspace proxy, new technology

Wolfram Alpha, the brand new search engine - or “computation engine” - that introduces a totally new way to search the web, launches in a live webcast tonight on Justin.tv. As we mentioned previously, the service is trying hard to avoid the “Google killer” label that led to inflated expectations for other search engines at launch. It is, however, a remarkable new approach to finding information and making sense of it, as Adam Ostrow explained in his review last week.

If you can’t wait until tonight, Wolfram has posted a screencast (embedded below) which explains its principles in detail - well worth a watch if you’re struggling to understand this new launch.

RSS readers: you will need to click through to Mashable to view the video.

Reviews: Google, Mashable

Tags: Google, wolfram alpha

Source:Wolfram Alpha Launches Tonight: What the Heck is Wolfram Alpha? [Video]

Proxy facebook updates, myspace news, myspace proxy, new technology

Recently, Google announced a significant update to its Search function: the Options panel. Although - for the most part - it’s only a different way to display some old features, changes such as this one can have a profound impact on the most important service on the web today.

Design-wise, though, it doesn’t look like much. The new pane on the left side looks simple and logical; almost as if its design wasn’t even a problem that needed addressing, and they just went with the first thing they came up with. After all, it’s only blue, plain letters on a white background, right?

In fact, although most of its menus and interfaces are extremely simple and plain looking, a lot of thought goes into their design, and you can see that in a fascinating insight into how the Options panel was created on the official Google blog. In the images below you can see several concepts and iterations of the design, which show that Google takes great care that every pixel is positioned exactly where it should be, and that the final design is absolutely perfect. As it turns out, simple is not that simple to make.

[Images courtesy of the Official Google Blog]

Reviews: Google

Tags: design, Google, search options

Source:An Insight Into Google’s Design Decisions

Proxy facebook updates, myspace news, myspace proxy, new technology

One month ago, Face.com released the private alpha of their Photo Finder Facebook Application. It’s goal is to help tag photos of you and your friends that are untagged by utilizing facial recognition technology.

And while only a few thousand alpha testers have the Facebook app installed, it has tagged over 700,000 faces across 400 million photos. No matter how you slice it, that’s an amazing amount of photos that this app has sifted through. Just as important, it’s eerily accurate at connecting faces to names.

How Face.com’s photo recognition operates

The moment that you install the application, Photo Finder is already hard at work. The key is that it’s not just scanning your pictures, but the public photos of all of your friends. According to Face.com, your entire social graph can end up having over 100,000 photos - astonishing if it’s true. Eventually the application will inform you when it’s scanned through all of your photos and your friend’s photos and allow you to auto-tag those pictures. This could be useful for discovering old pictures, but could also bring unwelcome pictures back to the surface.

Photo Finder offers a percentage of accuracy for every photo it tags. You can either confirm that the tag is correct or that it picked the wrong person. In my trials of the app, though, I didn’t find a single incorrectly tagged picture. I’m sure if I went deeper and waited for Photo Finder to sift through more of my photos, I’d find some oddities, but overall this thing doesn’t mess up.

Completing the social graph

It’s impressive how scalable Photo Finder has been thus far. It’s tagging Facebook photos faster than 9,000 images a minute and rising. When Face.com is finally released to the general public, it’s likely that it would be able to sift through almost all of Facebook’s 15 billion+ photos.

Facial recognition, of course, isn’t a new technology - Apple’s iPhoto has it and there is Polar Rose, which provides facial recognition on Flickr. Face.com seems to have a far more ambitious goal though: to complete the picture social graph. No person left untagged, no photo left by in digital space, and every person in every picture tagged and sorted.

Since this is going through public photos only, the privacy issue isn’t as prevalent, though we’re sure concerns will be raised. However, Photo Finder’s phenomenal speed is a reminder that anything you or your friends put on the Internet is public domain and will probably be found one way or another.

Invites to Photo Finder

Photo Finder may be in private alpha, but Face.com is offering 50 invites for our Mashable readers. It’s first-come, first-serve, so be sure to sign up quick!

Reviews: Facebook, Flickr

Tags: face.com, facebook, facial recognition, images, Photos, social graph

Source:Face.com is in Your Facebook, Tagging Your Photos [Invites]

Proxy facebook updates, myspace news, myspace proxy, new technology

This post is part of Mashable’s Spark of Genius series, which highlights a unique feature of startups. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here. The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark.

Name: AudioBoo

Quick Pitch: AudioBoo is social audio. An iPhone app & platform that effortlessly records audio to the cloud.

Genius Idea: AudioBoo is a platform that I’ve been waiting to review ever since I discovered it several months ago. It’s essentially a way to create and share podcasts and audio clips, but with a simplicity that has attracted some big names like UK actor Stephen Fry and The Guardian newspaper as users.

Listen!Review of Audioboo by Mashable Editor Ben Parr

First, the iPhone app: it’s very simple to use. The most important feature of the app is that you can record audio and upload it to the AudioBoo server and your account. This makes it very simple to create, publish, and broadcast your most recent podcast (also known as a boo). The second feature is the ability to listen to the most recent boos from other users.

Yes, the iPhone app is very simple, but that’s the goal: to make podcasting really easy. Audioboo definitely succeeds in that regard. With very little fuss you can be up and running with your own podcast that can be distributed via social media - you can have AudioBoo automatically update your Facebook and Twitter with new Boos - and even iTunes.

The website itself is also pretty basic. You can only listen and subscribe to boos (although you can sort boos by popularity and time). But once again, this is the point: it’s the Twitter of podcasts - simple to use, easy to distribute. Its focus on simple audio is superb and perfect for anyone who wants to try podcasting without all of the fuss.

Since I’m talking about an audio app, I can’t finish this post up without making my own Boo. So listen to my review and subscribe to my Boos for my future Boocasts.

Sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark

BizSpark is a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.

Entrepreneurs can take advantage of the Azure Services platform for their website hosting and storage needs. Microsoft recently announced the “new CloudApp()” contest - use the Azure Services Platform for hosting your .NET or PHP app, and you could be the lucky winner of a USD 5000* (please see website for official rules and guidelines).”

Reviews: Facebook, PHP, Twitter

Tags: audiboo, podcasts

Source:AudioBoo Makes Podcasting With iPhone Dead Simple

Proxy facebook updates, myspace news, myspace proxy, new technology

Not another Twitter story!, you cry. Because frankly you’re fed up of the Twitter hype. Users are perturbed because a feature was removed and their Trending Topics are getting spammed. The host of CNN Live was fed up too, in a discussion I joined earlier today on the topic of whether Twitter has jumped the shark.

CNN had been motivated to ask the question after Nielsen posted stats claiming that Twitter has dismal retention rates, and by Current TV’s video parodying the inaneness of celebrities on Twitter.

This all happened, of course, on the same day that one of those celebrities plastered his Twitter name across the front of the CNN Building in Atlanta. (Where the Mashable team is coincidentally staying for a social media event tomorrow.)

As I tried to explain today (video below), this is all simply par for the course. Twitter, coming out of nowhere, is suddenly everywhere, all at once. Twitter on Oprah! Twitter on The View! Twitter on The Ellen Show! On Gartner’s Hype Cycle, which describes the nature of buzz, you might say we’re passing the peak of inflated expectations. The Oprah appearance can surely not be topped, and thus Twitter’s hype curve must start trending down.

The surprise: it’s actually a good thing. Twitter is headed rapidly towards a more stable plateau, just like every other successful startup before it.

Embedded video from CNN Video

Reviews: Mashable, Twitter

Tags: cnn, hype, twitter

Source:Twitter, Welcome to the Trough of Disillusionment! [Video]

Proxy facebook updates, myspace news, myspace proxy, new technology

The Android Market’s app selection still pales in comparison to the iPhone’s collection, which surpassed one billion downloads in late April. But some healthy competition is starting to heat up in one category that’s sure to please the social types.

eBuddy for Android launches today and joins Meebo IM, Hi AIM, and Skype in the communications category. A direct competitor to Meebo, eBuddy’s free instant messaging application supports multiple chats for AIM, Facebook, ICQ, Google Talk, Yahoo, and MSN Messenger.

eBuddy’s background running application touts a buddies tab that combines all friends across configured IM accounts, a chats tab to manage multiple open chats, and an accounts tab for adding each of your preferred IM services. Users can add new buddies in the app, organize pals into groups, and sort by IM account type.

Some other features Android users should love include optional audio notifications for new messages, status updates, emoticons for every IM service, and automatic reconnect if their internet connection is lost.

According to eBuddy, their Mobile Messenger for J2ME phones has been downloaded over 20 million times. If that’s the case, then we expect their free Android app to challenge existing IM options, and give Meebo IM a solid competitor in the Android Market.

Are you an Android owner? Let us know what you think of eBuddy for Android in the comments.

More Mobile Resources from Mashable

- 20+ Mobile Internet Applications

- Tweets to Go: 36+ More Twitter Resources for Your Phone

- MOBILE PRODUCTIVITY TOOLBOX: 45+ Mobile Productivity Resources

- 30+ Mobile Photo Sharing Tools

Reviews: Android, Facebook, Skype, Yahoo!

Tags: android, Android Market, ebuddy, im, Mobile 2.0

Source:eBuddy for Android, Better than Meebo IM?

Proxy facebook updates, myspace news, myspace proxy, new technology

Drop.io is known for really simple file sharing. Whether you’re hosting and sharing files with contacts, or using conference.io for media-rich chat rooms, Drop.io makes it easy and fast.

Now, with a natural extension for the file sharing site, Drop.io’s bringing simple back to presentations. Today the company is introducing Present.io for a no setup, no software online solution that combines real-time presentations with images, audio, documents, and video.

Here’s how it works. As with anything on Drop.io, you can create a drop in just two-clicks. So for a new presentation, just name it and add your media files. You can then share the link with collaborators. Once you’re ready to start, just hit “start presentation” on the right-hand side, and all viewers will see the a “join presentation” option.

Once you’re in presentation mode, participants will be able to see what you’re doing in real-time. All participant controls are off during the presentation - except for chatting - but all content is bundled by file type on the presentation home page, so participants can download, embed, share, and comment on all media.

Present.io may not sound like much more than a standard presentation sharing service, but there are a few key differences. Most notably, there’s no software download or registration required, and a slew of media files are easily accessible in presentation mode. So, going through a deck of slides, showing a video, and collaborating on a document, can all happen with zero complications. Also, every drop includes a unique conference line that’s free, which makes this an incredibly affordable option for web demos and team collaboration.

Some other interesting features include the ability to present from an iPhone or Android, admin control of the chat layer, the option to have multiple presenters, and a way to show your cursor to viewers.

Present.io does an amazing job at stripping away the complexities typically associated with online presentations, but the service may be too simple for some users; we recommend trying it out and deciding for yourselves. Check out their video below and let us know your thoughts in the comments.

More Presentation Resources from Mashable

- Forget PowerPoint: 13 Online Presentation Apps

- ONLINE PRESENTATIONS: 30+ Presentation & Slideshow Services

Reviews: Android, drop.io

Tags: drop.io, online presentations, present.io, presentations

Source:Present.io: Dead Simple Web-Based Presentations

Proxy facebook updates, myspace news, myspace proxy, new technology