B2tween Creativity & Safety

This is a flyer explaing 'Why Social Networking?'. People have diverse reasons to use social networking services.

This was my idea of the flyer. I made it in iPad 2, which I recently bought.

This one below was done in iPhone 4. I used an app called 'Brushes'.

Finally, I think I got it right. The last version was done with Adobe Illustrator CS5.

This is the documentary movie about 'Why Social Networking?'

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The Paperlinks QR code reader is fast, free and powerful!
With Paperlinks, scanning QR (“Quick Response”) codes is easy and fun. Your editable history will include items you’ve already scanned. And best of all, you can create your own QR codes at www.paperlinks.com, then have people scan your Paperlink code for an in-app (rather than web browser) experience. Paperlinks codes can be scanned by other readers. However, with the Paperlinks reader, people can scan your code, then: save dates to their calendar; add contact info into their address book; view maps and directions, all with the smoothness only a native app can deliver.

FEATURES:
• Instant Scan – no touching, tapping or clicking. Unlike other QR reader apps, you just open Paperlinks and scan!
• Fast – go from app to content in a split second.
• History – Tabbed access to a complete list of all previous scans. Easily delete entries with a simple finger swipe.
• Full Paperlinks integration with QR codes generated through Paperlinks.com.

The QR code

A thing of beauty or an eyesore? The magical barcodes that can be scanned by a smartphone to launch an offline-to-online experience are often criticized for their black and white checkerbox appearance. Those who doubt that QR codes will go mainstream are quick to point out that the look of QR codes will deter marketers and advertisers from using them.

Fortunately, QR codes are malleable and can be redesigned in truly extraordinary ways, while still maintaining their scanability. The truth is, QR codes no longer have to be checkerbox in appearance. We’ve entered a new phase of “designer codes” that can be integrated into marketing campaigns in an attractive way that isn’t an eyesore.

QR codes have so much potential from a design perspective, so let’s take a look at a few tricks and techniques you should keep in mind when designing a code to enhance your brand and appeal to your audience.

1. Add a color palette

The easiest way to add branding power to your code is to add color to it. Your QR code does not have to be standard black and white in order to be scanned. You can embed multiple colors and apply a color gradient without affecting scanability. The only rule of thumb is that the code color should generally be dark and placed against a light-colored background. Make sure the contrast is sufficient, or the code will be difficult to scan.

A “reversed out” code, where the background is dark and the boxes are light colored, is generally not recommended. Only a small handful of QR code readers can treat such codes as a film negative and properly interpret the data.

2. Soften hard edges with round corners

One of the QR code’s greatest aesthetic flaws is its numerous hard edges. You can dramatically lessen the severity of this look by strategically rounding some corners. It is not necessary to round all of the corners, but softening up the edges will definitely make the code appear more friendly and approachable.

3. Incorporate dimensionality with 3D impact

One high impact way to brand your QR code is to obstruct some of the boxes with imagery, such as a logo. By placing an image in front of the code, you imbue the code with a sense of depth. An ordinary barcode suddenly becomes a form of artwork, and you can really make a statement with the way you melt boxes together or choose to obstruct aspects of the code.

Fun ideas include adding a logo to the center of the code, but you could also add interesting elements to the corners or the sides for an even less standard look. Adding images or characters between the boxes is another playful way to dress the code with personality and style.

4. Use QR code with 30% error correction

If you decide to add in a logo to create a 3D feel for your QR code, you need to decide which part of the coding to obstruct with your logo. The key to creating these eye-popping designer codes is to take advantage of the fact that up to 30% of a QR code’s data can be missing or obstructed, and still be scanned. QR codes can be generated with 0%, 10%, 20% or 30% error correction rates built in. Building in the 30% error correction rate adds more noise (extra boxes) within the code, but those extra boxes within the code can then be removed to make way for a logo or other interesting imagery.

If you use a QR code with 0% error correction, the code will look more streamlined, but opportunities to brand the code by adding in a logo are very limited. Removing or obstructing a single box within a 0% error QR code could render it unscannable.

5. Apply a trial-and-error process

Technically, it is possible to mathematically compute which boxes in a QR code are the buffers that can be removed, but such computations are generally unnecessary. By applying a simple process of trial-and-error, anyone can begin applying their design techniques to a code and then test for scannability.

Be sure to test your code’s scannability with multiple QR readers, ideally three or four. Some readers may be able to overcome some stylistic elements of your designer code, whereas others will not. Deploying your code without testing for scannability is designer malpractice and can cause serious heartache with clients. It is true that even with reasonable precautions, designer codes may still be difficult to scan, so you must always weigh the costs of scanning difficulty against the benefits of designing a code that is eye-catching. If a designer code takes more than a few seconds to scan, it probably needs to be redesigned.

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This is my documentary project about 'Why Social Networking?' These days, people are getting into social networking services, communicating, connecting with others.

This part is the first part of the documentary and is about an introduction and definition of social networking.

I recorded my voice for narration about the trend of social networking and statistic about SNS.

Why social networking part1 from iglassbox on Vimeo.

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Social networking sites like My Space, Facebook and Twitter can be great

resources for staying in touch with friends, but they should never become

a substitute for physical interaction with others.

Unfortunately for many people, checking in on social networking sites takes up

a lot of their spare time and sometimes can even become a bit of an addiction.

To help you determine if you use social networking sites appropriately we have

put together the questionnaire below. Answer "yes" or "no" to each question and

then total your answers to determine if you are addicted to social networking sites.

Questionaire

1. Are you a member of multiple social networking sites?

2. Do you visit your social networking sites with no goal or specific purpose in mind?
3. Are you usually surprised by how much time you spend on a social networking site?
4. Have you ever said no to an activity with your family or friends because of social networking sites?
5. Have you ever ignored a responsibility like homework or chores because of social networking sites?
6. Do you ever stay up late or get up early to spend more time on social networking sites?
7. Have you ever hidden your time on social networking sites from family or friends?
8. Have you ever used social networking sites when a parent or teacher has told you not to?
9. Do you prefer to interact with people on social networking sites rather than face to face?
10. Has anyone ever commented on how much time you spend on social networking sites?
11. Do you have more friends on your social networking sites than you do in your real life?

12. Do you become frustrated or angry when a social networking site goes down or is unavailable?

Type 1

If you answered "yes" to between one and four questions then you are most likely

not addicted to social networking sites. You probably use social networking sites

to extend your relationships with family and friends but recognise that keeping up

with these sites are less important than strengthening the relationships that exist

outside of the Internet.

Type 2

If you answered "yes" to between five and eight questions then you may be addicted

to social networking sites. For the next week try to write down every time you visit

a social networking site and how long you spend on it.

Type 3

If you answered "yes" to nine or more questions then you are likely to be addicted

to social networking sites. Your use of these sites is most likely getting in the way

of your real life and you may even be using them as a substitute for getting out and

making friends, or nurturing the friendships that you already have.

Try to wean yourself off of social networking sites by spending less time on them

each day, and more time on activities away from the computer.

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I can work part time job from this spring semester as a computer lab

consultant in UNC. So I finished the process of getting my social security

number (SSN) today.

It took a whole day. I went to several offices in UNC and SSA (Social Security

Office) and finally finished it. I may get my SSN card within 10 days from today.

From now on, I am a legal worker in USA.

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The past year was an eventful one for the world of social networking.

Facebook went on an acquisition spree. Twitter started growing up.

And MySpace? Well it’s the same old story over there.

In 2010, we predicted that Facebook would conquer the web. We just didn’t know the social network

would do it so convincingly. We’re not oracles, though, and we did miss on some of

our acquisition picks. Well, time for round two.

Now that Facebook is clearly king, what is going to happen to the rest of the world’s social networks?

What will happen to Bebo? What’s next for MySpace? And will Facebook finally hold that IPO?

Here are my predictions for what will happen in the world of social networking in 2011:

1. Google’s Social Networking Efforts Flop Spectacularly

Google dominates search. It has nailed mobile. Oh, and it owns YouTube, the web’s biggest video

property. So why the heck does it fail so miserably at social?

Until this year, Google’s had middling success in social — YouTube, Gmail, Gtalk, Blogger and Orkut

have all had varying levels of success. This year though, Google Wave was shut down, Google Buzz

flopped and Google’s big social initiative has been delayed due to in-fighting and a lack of clarity and purpose.

Here’s my first prediction of the year: Google’s social media efforts will be spectacular failures. TechCrunch

nabbed a screenshot of the “Google +1″ social toolbar, one big component of Google’s social plan, we’ve

been told. We remain unimpressed, though. As Buzz demonstrated, sticking something social on a page

doesn’t mean people will instantly use it.

More importantly, Google as a company is built for speed and efficiency, neither of which are critical to the

success of a social network. That’s why we predict another horrendous year for the search giant in the social realm.

2. A Middling MySpace Is Sold Off

Despite a total redesign and overhaul, MySpace continues to plummet like a boulder pushed off a cliff.

While we’re fans of the social network’s attempt to reinvent itself as a “social entertainment destination,”

the frank truth is that MySpace is bleeding money and there’s no end in sight to the bloodshed.

Eventually MySpace will bottom out; we just don’t know when. It won’t come soon enough for News Corp.

though, and it will start looking for someone to take its high-profile Internet property off of its hands.

MySpace is still a valuable asset in the right hands, so somebody will pick it up.

3. Bebo Gets a New Owner… Again

Bebo’s fall from grace is one of the sad stories of social networking. When we first covered Bebo in 2006,

it was on its way to becoming a powerhouse. In 2008, AOL acquired Bebo for $850 million, an astounding

(and overvalued) price point.

Six months ago, AOL sold Bebo for about $10 million to Criterion Capital Partners. Then they made a few

big moves: they hired Kevin Bachus, co-creator of the Xbox, and brought Bebo co-founder Michael Birch back

as an advisor and investor.

Bebo’s still shrinking though. Unless Birch and Bachus can orchestrate a comeback of Rocky proportions,

Criterion Capital Partners will start looking to make money on its investment or at least minimize its loss.

Even if it makes a comeback, Criterion’s reportedly interested in selling Bebo this year.

We expect Bebo to be in new hands by this time next year. The most likely acquirers, we believe, would

be a group led by Birch himself.

4. No Facebook IPO in 2011

There have been countless rumors about a Facebook IPO since 2007. The media has been waiting

with baited breath for the day that Mark Zuckerberg cashes in on his baby and turns his company public.

I’m here to tell the media: Don’t hold your breath.

I could create a list of reasons the size of an SUV why Facebook and its billionaire leader aren’t going

to be raising money on the public markets. Here are just a few of them:

• Mark Zuckerberg is famously uninterested in money. He believes in delayed gratification and has
• lived in a modest home for years — he’s the opposite of the far more extravagant Larry Ellison,
• co-founder and CEO of Oracle. In other words, he’s in no rush for a big payday.
• Secondary markets like Sharespost have changed the game for cashing out on investments.
• In the past, VCs needed to cash out on their investments by acquisition or IPO, but as Accel
• Partners proved last month, VCs no longer need an IPO to do so.
• Zuckerberg sees no strategic advantage to an IPO. In fact, it’s just a lot more paperwork, headaches
• and scrutiny. He’d love to delay that as long as possible.
• Facebook doesn’t believe it’s ready for an IPO: “Facebook would benefit from another year of growth
• absent the added scrutiny that comes with a public listing,” Business Week reported earlier this year.

The result is that there won’t be a Facebook IPO in 2011. So long as the company’s growth metrics are

strong, Facebook has no need for the public markets. When it hits its saturation point though, that’s when

you should expect the social network to make its move. I predict that will happen in 2012.

Image courtesy of Charis Tsevis

5. Twitter Has a Very Boring 2011

While I don’t consider Twitter a social network, many people do, so it’s only appropriate that

I provide a prediction for what will happen to Twitter in 2011.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t come up with anything interesting: Twitter’s going to have a steady

and boring 2011.

Sure, Twitter will launch new features, and senior execs will continue to step down and new people

will take their place, but that’s what happens to any maturing business. Now that Twitter has new funding,
has launched its ad platform and has launched a complete redesign, is there an earth-shattering event

that could take us by surprise?

I don’t discount it; I just don’t predict there will be one. An IPO makes no sense with the new round of

funding. A redesign isn’t necessary. Really, Twitter is focused on its ad platform and will launch features

that enhance it. Twitter will slowly continue to grow, but I don’t expect Facebook-like hockey stick growth.

In 2011, Twitter is going to be one of the most boring social media services around. And I know

the Twitter team is just fine with that.

6. The Social Networking Trend of 2011: Mobile Photos

Pokorny was discussing during his Ignite talk at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco. He argued that

publishing has evolved from the desktop (blogging) to the phone (tweeting) to the smartphone (photo-taking).

While social photography is nothing new (Flickr and Facebook dominate), mobile photography is just

beginning to blossom, thanks to apps like Instagram, PicPlz, Path, and Dailybooth. Other services like

Tumblr, Gowalla, Posterous and most recently Foursquare are only pushing the trend further.

2011 will be the year mobile photo sharing becomes all the rage. These services will hit critical mass as

smartphone users install apps in order to keep up with their friends. I also predict that Facebook will join

the fray and implement new mobile photo-sharing features integrated with its Places platform, bringing

the whole trend to another level.

This is retrieve from mashable.com

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Popular presentation-sharing website Slideshare posted its annual

Zeitgeist summary Thursday, bringing some interesting data to the fore.

For instance, presentations written in Japanese have the highest average

number of slides (42), women use fewer slides than men in their presentations

and the longest presentation uploaded in 2010 is 1,937 slides long.

This year’s report also laid out some data about the 1,000 most popular

presentations on its site this year: 

• Popular Presentations Use a Lot of Slides: The total number of slides 

  in the top 1,000 slide decks has about 63 slides per presentation.

  The average number of slides for all presentations is 19. 

• Popular Presentations Use Few Words: Popular presentations use

  about 24 words per slide. 

• There’s Something About Keynote: While only 2% of all presentations

  were made in Apple Keynote this year, almost 16% of those in the top 1,000

  were made in Keynote.

    

If you’re interested in digging deeper into what makes a presentation so good

that people want to share it, check out the most popular presentations of 2010.

Eighty-two slide Social Media for Business came in first, followed by Steal This Presentation, which is appropriately a presentation about how to give presentations.

The entire Zeitgeist slideshow is available below:

SlideShare Zeitgeist 2010

This is retrieved from mashable.com

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More than 130 years after George Eastman invented roll film, still photography

remains one of the most expressive and enduring ways that individuals from

all over the world capture and share their experiences. That’s why it’s not really

a surprise that photo sharing sites were some of the first social sites to appear

on the Internet.

Today, the photo sharing category of sites and apps is largely dominated by the two big players, Facebook () and Flickr (). Both services are a great way to share photographs and video with family members, friends, online acquaintances and even the random Internet visitor. However, the world of photo sharing sites and tools goes far beyond just these services.

1. SmugMug

What It Is: SmugMug is a site with a central focus on making it easy to showcase and organize your photographs — whether you want to sell them or not. How It’s Different: SmugMug is really focused on making sure your photos are safe, secure and easy to access. There are no bandwidth caps and no limits on the number of photos you can host. You can choose to password-protect all or some of your photos or galleries, add custom watermarks and share photos on social networks like Twitter (), Facebook andTumblr ().

2. picplz

What It Is: Picplz is a photo sharing app that makes it easy to share your photos to Facebook and Twitter, while also checking in to Foursquare (). How It’s Different: While not purely a photo sharing app — you can browse, comment and upload photos using the website — mobile is the big focus with picplz. The app and the website also let you apply filters to your photos, stuff like toy camera, ’70s and cross-processed.

3. Instagram

What It Is: Instagram is an iPhone app that lets you take photos and share them with your friends on Twitter, Flickr, Facebook, Tumblr and Foursquare (). You can also apply various filters and transformations to your photos. How It’s Different: Instagram () is most similar to picplz, but it has a hint ofHipstamatic in it as well. What sets it apart is its ease of sharing, browsing and commenting.

4. Path

What It Is: Path is a website and iPhone app that lets you share your photos with a select group of people. How It’s Different: Path () limits you to 50 network connections, based on a theory that states that humans can only sustain 150 social relationships. By limiting users to a smaller network, Path hopes that the sharing and capturing experience can be more personal and more special. Read more at mashable.com

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These days people have new powers. Not that kind. I mean on the Web. We can

create websites and post messages to the world with the click of a button.

Blogs, social networking sites and twitter - all make it easy. But this power comes

with new responsibilities, especially when it comes to the workplace.

This video explains how the world of external company communications have changed

thanks to social media - and ways organizations can react responsibly.

This video also said that in this social-oriented era, companies should have their own

account of famous social networking services such as Facebook and Twitter.

Then, companies have to monitor what is being said about their companies on

the web and respond as quickly as possible and as sincerely as they can.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXngsqPhUlg]

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This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable

regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.

In the past 12 months, we’ve seen a lot of changes in the world of web design. Growing popularity in the mobile device space — including smartphones and tablets like the iPad — have refined the way many users access and interact with content.

Likewise, the formal adoption of web standards like HTML5, web fonts and CSS3 by browser makers means that more and more users are now able to take advantage of the latest and greatest features on the web.

1. Lose the Flash

Regardless of where you stand in the war over Flash, the fact remains that more and more sites and web developers are moving away from Flash-only solutions for video, animation and navigation.

Flash still excels when it comes to building fully interactive designs and Rich Interactive Applications (RIAs), but for small business owners who aren’t showcasing or providing that sort of experience, trading Flash for HTML5, JavaScript and CSS3 might just make more sense.

2. Web Fonts

Typography is an important — I would argue crucial — component of any web design. Historically, customizing the typography you use on a website has been a complicated and headache-inducing process. As a result, most designers were reduced to either using the small selection of web-safe fonts or using workarounds like text images or Flash as text replacements.

3. Mobile Compatible/Optimized Sites

More and more websites — big and small — are taking the time to make their sites small screen friendly. Having a mobile compatible or mobile optimized website means that not only will your site load faster over cellular data connections but that content will be better formatted for the screens of smaller devices, making it easier to access and understand.

4. Inspired By Tumblr

The popular microblogging platform Tumblr () is a great way to quickly and easily post updates, share content and garner direct visitor feedback. Tumblr has become a really popular platform and more and more small businesses are using it for their own company blogs or sites.

5. Touches of the Future: HTML5 and CSS3

As I stated in the introduction, it can be difficult for small businesses that aren’t in a design-related field to adopt many of the cutting-edge web design trends for fear of shutting out parts of their potential audience.

Read more at mashable.com

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