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Loading ...Romancing the screen
Harlequin Enterprises Ltd. says it’s the “first publisher” to offer electronic books with “interactive buttons” that link to sites with more information about the content.
Toronto-based Harlequin is a subsidiary of Torstar Corp.. better known for the Toronto Star newspaper. Earlier this month, the company announced its novel Unmasked includes hyperlinks to sites containing photos, historical commentaries, illustrations, sound effects, maps and articles.
We haven’t tested the links, but given the subject matter of Harlequin novels, we recommend you test the sound links only at home.
The company says the interactive buttons “enhance the reading experience” and bring “the world of the novel to life without the reader having to leave the computer.” With these advances in technology, you can experience romance without the requirement of archaic, 20th-century items, such as an actual partner.
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Shooting Google Messenger
According to IDG News Service, prosecutors in Italy are finishing an investigation into whether Google should be charged with defamation or invasion of privacy in connection with a video posted in September, 2006.
The clip, which was only on Google Video for a few hours, showed bullies harassing a disabled teenager. A Down Syndrome advocacy group, Vividown, later complained, so prosecutors in Turin are reportedly considering criminal charges against the search engine company.
IDG quoted Google spokesman Stefano Hesse as saying a prosecution could prove
“dangerous for the future of user-generated content.”
The video reportedly showed the bullies hitting the disabled boy with tissue boxes.
No word yet on whether the Italian prosecutors are going to charge the lowlifes who actually harassed the disabled kid.
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Forget brain tumours - these cell phones are healthy :-)
KDDI Corp. of Tokyo has launched a line of handsets designed to keep you healthy, according to IDG News Service.
KDDI’s handsets include motion sensors and GPS receivers designed to figure out how far users walk. The Walk and Run application is designed to figure out the number of steps you’ve taken (in case you lose count), how far you’ve gone and the number of calories burned. When you’re finished working out, the data is sent to a server, and can later be analyzed by your PC (presumably while you’re sitting down and not burning too many calories).
To help motivate people to exercise, the handsets include links to the Lismo music download services, and users can send selected tunes to a pair of wireless headphones. The “Beat Run” application also matches musical tracks to the pace of the person’s exercise.
No word yet on how many users of these healthy handsets got hit by trucks while they were engrossed in their music or counting their calories while running in traffic wearing their wireless headsets.
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Facebook developer takes a stab at reform
Online users who would like to virtually shove a nine-inch blade through someone’s pancreas will be disappointed now that Slide has removed its Shank application from the Facebook site.
According to a report published in PC Advisor, Shank was one of the “virtual activities” that Facebook users could use through the “Superpoke” application. But shank is also a slang term for stab, and the developer decided the app was in “poor taste.”
The app, which features a cartoon image of a knife, was originally designed as a lighthearted method for Facebook users to contact each other. Superpoke lets you wink, flirt with, hug and throw sheep at other people on Facebook – virtually, of course. But now that Slide has removed Shank, you can no longer stab your friends (or enemies) online through SuperPoke.
It’s only a matter of time before someone develops an app that lets you shoot someone online. but there’s no word yet on when the “take your patient’s pulse” app will be available to paramedics through SuperPoke.
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Hackers announce World War 3
Websense Inc. has announced it has discovered a spam and Web site spoofing campaign designed to fool people into thinking the U.S. has invaded Iran.
The San Diego-based messaging security vendor’s Security Labs ThreatSeeker Network announced Thursday the Storm Worm campaign has started “social engineering” campaign with this aim.
On a blog, Websense posted screen shots of spam messages making claims like “Negotiations between the USA and Iran have ended” and “US soldiers have occupied Iran.”
It also posted a screen shot of a spoof Web site which posts a videotape, allegedly taken by an American soldier, of a mushroom cloud presumably resulting from a nuclear weapon.
In a message to journalists, Websense stated: “Given recent tensions between the US and Iranian governments, and recent news about missile tests in Iran, users could be easy targets for this campaign.”
It’s true users could be “easy targets” for such a campaign – if they don’t follow the news and believe everything they read in spam messages.Then again, if they don’t follow the news, they probably think Iran is a song by A Flock of Seagulls.
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...More fun in press releases: jetting to Infinity Bay
Working in the publishing field means reading a lot of press releases, most of which are targeted at your magazine’s readership. Sometimes they aren’t.
Today, ComputerWorld Canada got a couple of doozies, including one we got “free of charge” (?) from Seasmoke PR about the Infinity Bay Resort and Spa. Included is: “I’m sure you and your readers are interested in discovering this new Caribbean hot spot. Especially with weekly non-stop flights from Miami, Atlanta and Houston, other markets are soon to follow. I am sending you this story free of charge. I have stunning artwork to accompany the release, and would be happy to send it along.”
Well, we’d love a free trip to the Caribbean, but it’s not exactly a hotbed of enterprise IT.
If we were interested and needed to get down there, we’d know just who to turn to: a private jet! So says Public New York City PR: “Business travel needs to be effective, and more savvy business travelers-cum-private jet passengers are finding it just that…For example, in a New York to Boston flight charted by Blue Star Jets is about $4,700 for seven people. Rounded out, this becomes roughly the same price as a last minute commercial ticket.”
Perhaps they should take their own advice and use the cost savings for another go-’round at PR school.
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Please help refute Forrester study
Most corporate blogs published by firms selling to the business market “failed to energize their intended audiences,” according to a recent report from Forrester Research Inc.
According to CIO magazine, Forrester examined 90 enterprises with corporate blogs and found 58 per cent had no more than one comment per post. Sixteen per cent received a comment while only 13 per cent had more than one post.
Forrester noted 56 per cent of the blogs “regurgitate company news or executive news.” Only 13 per cent used personal anecdotes while 16 per cent included “moderate personal insight.”
Please post a comment – anything – responding to this. Otherwise, this post will only serve to prove Forrester’s point.
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Even highly educated spammers need a good spellcheck
With most schools having already completed their commencement ceremonies, Shark Tales has realized the only way to catch up to these smarty-pants new kids is to take advantage of e-mail offers such as the following, which arrived in a colleauge’s inbox this morning:
“Bacheelor, MasteerMBA, and Doctoraate diplomas available in the field of your choice that’s right, you can even become a Doctor and receive all the benefits that comes with it!”
Apparently those benefits do not include a good sense of spelling and grammar. As Sharky’s colleague commented, “Wow … nominated for an MBA … and I would have settled for a Bacheelor, since I don’t have time to do a dissertation for my Doctoraate.” Really, with all this crap coming into our Outlook accounts, who does?
