Saturday, May 31, 2014

Twitter Changes Its Web Font; Cue a Twitter Freakout

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Twitter changed its primary web font for user profiles on Friday, moving to a sleeker and narrower look.


The new font is Gotham Narrow SSm. Gotham tends to be a popular font across the Internet and was used in Barack Obama's campaign. The new logo for One World Trade Center also uses a Gotham variant.



The font is the product of Hoefler & Co. (neè Hoefler & Frere-Jones), a type foundry operating out of New York City. The font change appears across the Twitter site, on user profiles and sidebars, and on tweets and individual tweet pages. Even the tweet embed code (though not the embedded tweets themselves) is set in Gotham Narrow Read more...

More about Twitter and Social Media



Twitter Changes Its Web Font; Cue a Twitter Freakout

Ahead of iOS 8 announcement iOS 7 adoption nears 90% for iPhone, 85% for iPad

With three days to go until Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference kicks off, one research firm found iOS 7 adoption rose to new levels in the U.S. and Canada as with both iPhone and iPad users continue to upgrade to the latest OS version.







Ahead of iOS 8 announcement iOS 7 adoption nears 90% for iPhone, 85% for iPad

How Verizon Tricks You Into Paying For The Privilege To Pay More

Thanks to some illuminating leaked documents from New York's Public Utility Law Project, we know for a fact that Verizon is taking an advantage of a little loophole in the law that gives them all the benefits of regulation without any of the obligations.
How Verizon Tricks You Into Paying For The Privilege To Pay More

Don’t Freak Out You Guys, But It Looks Like Twitter.com Has Switched To A New Font

twitter Apparently Twitter has switched its web interface from the Helvetica Neue font to Gotham Narrow SSm. Honestly, I barely have any idea what that sentence means, but that is what people who seem to know what they’re talking about were saying yesterday, and judging by the current consternation on Twitter, the change has now gone live for everyone. Also, if I squint at the different fonts… Read More
Don’t Freak Out You Guys, But It Looks Like Twitter.com Has Switched To A New Font

'Ferris Bueller' House Finally Sells

Five years after it first came on the market, the two-building modernist home in Highland Park that played a memorable role in “Ferris Bueller's Day Off” sold today.
'Ferris Bueller' House Finally Sells

Social Media Jobs: Architizer, Night Agency, RF Binder

This week, Architizer is hiring a social media coordinator, and Night Agency needs a social media manager. Meanwhile, RF|Binder is seeking a digital strategist, and AL DÍA News Media is on the hunt for an events manager. Get the scoop on these openings below, and find additional social media jobs on Mediabistro.


Find more great social media jobs on our job board. Looking to hire? Tap into our network of talented SocialTimes pros and post a risk-free job listing. For real-time openings and employment news, follow @MBJobPost.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.













Trademark filings hint at 'Healthbook,' 'HealthKit' and 'iResearch,' suggest Apple involvement

Apple may be filing trademarks for upcoming products through the Trinidad and Tobago Intellectual Property Office, as properties for "Healthbook," "HealthKit" and "iResearch" were filed for just days after rumors of an Apple-branded health app hit the Web.







Trademark filings hint at 'Healthbook,' 'HealthKit' and 'iResearch,' suggest Apple involvement

What To Expect From Apple's WWDC Keynote

It's Apple's first big event since October, and there's a lot of ground to cover.
What To Expect From Apple's WWDC Keynote

Facebook Seeks Patent for Tech to Let Kids on Its Network (Legally)



Facebook restricts users to those over the age of 13, but anyone who’s talked to a tween lately knows how effective that is.


But now it appears Facebook wants to create a way for young people to go legit on the network — and still comply with the law.


In a patent application filed in November of 2012 and made public yesterday, Facebook describes a system to let parents authorize and supervise accounts for younger children in compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. That law regulates how websites and apps can collect data from children younger than 13 and calls for “verifiable parental consent” from publishers that do.


Continue reading at AdAge.com



Waze investor BlueRun Ventures is raising a new $150M fund

Waze investor BlueRun Ventures is raising a new $150M fund
Image Credit: 401(k) 2012/Flickr

BlueRun Ventures, of Waze and PayPal fame, is raising a new $150M fund, according to a public SEC filing.


This new round will follow a previous fund of the same size, which was expected to close during the first quarter of 2014, according to the Wall Street Journal.


It’s unclear if BlueRun’s previous round did in fact close earlier this year. BlueRun refused VentureBeat’s request for comment by phone.


BlueRun’s experience in the mobile sector is extensive. The firm’s first fund, backed by Nokia, dates back to 1998. Additional noteworthy exits include Topsy and Chomp. Current portfolio companies include Banjo and Kabbage.


Here’s the SEC filing, in full:



More to follow.


Waze investor BlueRun Ventures is raising a new $150M fund

Samsung rumored to be working on virtual-reality headset with Oculus

Samsung rumored to be working on virtual-reality headset with Oculus

Above: Oculus Rift dev kit 2

Image Credit: Oculus VR

Samsung and Oculus VR are reportedly working on a virtual-reality headset, according to tech blog Engadget.


Oculus VR, which Facebook bought for $2 billion, is making its own headset, the Oculus Rift, while Samsung has separately been working on its technology. Engadget reported last week about the collaboration, and it says it has more details today.


Oculus declined comment. The Irvine, Calif.-based company is reportedly handling the software side of the product while Samsung deals with the hardware. Under the collaboration, Oculus would give Samsung early access to its mobile software development kit and help make the user interface. Samsung would give Oculus early access to its next-gen organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screens, which have a resolution that’s better than 1080p (the standard for HDTV).


Samsung’s screens are what Oculus needs to launch its PC-based first product for gamers, according to unnamed sources cited by Engadget. John Carmack, the creator of Quake and the new chief technology officer at Oculus, is reportedly creating the mobile software development kit that Samsung is using.


Samsung’s VR headset will use your phone directly, rather than have its own screen, as you plug the headset into a port on the phone. Players would then pair the headset with a game controller.


One of the cool things about using the phone is that it enables video to pass through to you via the rear-facing camera, so you can see a video feed of the outside world. That gives you awareness of what’s going on behind you as well as a chance to use augmented-reality applications.


 


 


 


Screen Shot 2014-03-25 at 2.00.11 PMGamesBeat 2014 — VentureBeat’s sixth annual event on disruption in the video game market — is coming up on Sept 15-16 in San Francisco. Purchase one of the first 50 tickets and save $400!





Samsung Group is a South Korean multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul. It comprises numerous subsidiaries and affiliated businesses, most of them united under the Samsung brand, and is the largest Sout... read more »



Oculus VR™ was founded by Palmer Luckey, self-described virtual reality enthusiast and hardware geek. The company launched a Kickstarter campaign to help fund development of their first product, the Oculus Rift, a ground-breaking vir... read more »



Samsung rumored to be working on virtual-reality headset with Oculus

Bad reputation in Europe? Google now has a form for that

keep-calm-and-i-forgotFrom old arrest records to inappropriate college party photos – seems like every day a CEO or celebrity is making apologies for past, bad behavior. Most of the time it’s simply embarrassing for a week and then the world moves on. But we’ve seen cases where past misdeeds have resulted in forced resignations and customer boycotts.


And though it’s usually the big chiefs we hear about, there are plenty of little fish getting caught in the old news net. Is it fair to judge a person by their past behavior? What if they’ve since moved on to bigger and better things? What if those old news stories turned out not to be true?


Europe’s top court recently decided that to forgive is divine but to be forgotten is the law.


The”European Data Protection law” says that certain people can ask search engines to remove results that include their name and is “inadequate, irrelevant or no longer relevant, or excessive in relation to the purposes for which they were processed.”


If you’re serving time for an armed robbery you committed last week, Google doesn’t have to remove the news stories that covered the crime.


But imagine you’re trying to start a new business and the first thing that comes up when people search your name are news reports of a messy ten-year-old divorce. It’s distracting and potentially harmful to your career – especially if you’re a wedding planner.


The trouble with the law is that there are no hard and fast rules about what can be expunged and what can’t. If you want to give it a shot, Google has a form you can fill out and submit with a copy of your legal I.D..


To prevent fraudulent removal requests from people impersonating others, trying to harm competitors, or improperly seeking to suppress legal information, we need to verify identity. Please attach a legible copy of a document that verifies your identity (or the identity of the person whom you are authorized to represent, as well as proof of your authorization). The document does not need to be a government-issued ID or passport. You may obscure parts of the document (e.g., numbers) as long as the remaining information identifies you. Google will use this information solely to help us authenticate your request and will delete the copy within a month of closing your removal request case except as required by law. *


See, that’s the trouble with things like this. Right away, people see it as a means of harming others – though I can’t imagine how removing a piece of information would be harmful but if there’s a will, there’s a way.


Also note that right now, this only applies to Google in Europe. Even if they grant your wish, the data will still show on the good old, US-based Google.com. And there’s no guarantee that the US won’t choose to implement a similar law. I can’t see the Supreme Court taking this on when there are so many other internet issues to be settled.


The “right to be forgotten” law was designed as a means of legally helping people with a legitimate claim get past it and get on with their lives. Unfortunately, Google’s reporting system is probably already bogged down with 1,000′s of people who want to remove photos of themselves with their old girlfriends before they propose to girlfriend number 10.


What do you think? Good idea? Good idea but too hard to implement or bad idea all around?





Bad reputation in Europe? Google now has a form for that

Little Secrets to Contact Forms That Convert [Quick Tip]

contact forms that convertThis post originally appeared on the Ecommerce section of Inbound Hub. To read more content like this, subscribe to Ecommerce.


Who doesn’t hate filling out forms?


Hate is a strong word, but sometimes it’s not strong enough. When requiring a contact form to download the goodies you’re offering, you have to think first of the users that will face this form on the other side of the screen. Would the scenario look something like this?


Please enter your name, address, phone number, company name ... also your great-uncle’s cat’s favorite piece of furniture to scratch ... 


The potential lead might spew profanities for a while, stub their toe kicking the desk, or threaten to toss the computer out of the window. But the content your site offers is really good. So, they keep going, slogging through multiple form fields to get the prize at the end.


Finally, they succeed, and then there it is: The “Submit” button. “Don’t tell me what to do!” they shout, and then close the window. They’re not alone. Forms using the “Submit” button have a 3 percent lower conversion rate than those that don’t. So how can you get someone to submit a form? The answer is: By using a bit of psychology.


What Should Your Forms Say?


1) Word Choice Matters


The first rule of Form Club: Don’t use the word ‘submit’ when you want someone to submit a form. Studies show that “click here” and “go” buttons score nearly 30% and 25% better, respectively.


contact forms that convert


2) Length Matters 


The second rule of Form Club: Size does matter. The shorter your form, the higher your conversion rate. So leave out your unnecessary fields. Cutting the number of fields may be painful at first, like you’re throwing away valuable information, but that loss will feel like a distant tickle when you see that your conversion rates have risen by up to 120% (true story).


contact forms that convert


3) Field Choice Matters


The third rule of Form Club: Unless you operate a business that phones every submitter of a form after they fill out said form, either steer away from the phone number field or make the entry optional. You can collect the phone number later during the nurturing process using progressive profiling.


contact forms that convert


When Can You Ask for More?


Gathering information on your customers is a tricky thing. You don’t want anyone to feel like you’re peeking into their bedroom with a pair of binoculars, right? Still, every bit of information you gather helps you tailor future content, the services you offer, and even the products you sell to meet their needs.


In fact, think of your contact forms as dates. That's the fourth secret. Did you pry for every ounce of information the first time you took a date to dinner? For example ... did you ask how old your date was? If you did, you probably never had a second date. Forms with the “age” field are less likely to convert. Did you ask for his address? Where she works? What her job title is? How much money his company makes yearly? How much he makes every year? Revealing all that information to someone who’s barely an acquaintance is exhausting. And the person who’s asking looks more than a little creepy.


Instead, get the basics to begin with. Next time you go out, ask for a little more. On the third date, you probably have a pretty good grasp on who you’re buying that lobster for. The same applies to your contact forms. Start with name and email address, and then build from there with one or two questions every time that potential customer comes back. In no time, you’ll know everything you need to make your date’s shopping experience the best ever.




19 (Easy To Fix) Blunders That Are Hurting Your Conversion Rates





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Little Secrets to Contact Forms That Convert [Quick Tip]

Google’s Right To Be Forgotten Form Gets 12,000 Submissions On First Day

Google’s new Right To Be Forgotten from has been up for just about a day now, and the company says that over 12,000 submissions have been received. Google confirmed the figures to Marketing Land, which had earlier been reported by Reuters. Google also said that at one point, it had been...


Please visit Marketing Land for the full article.




Google’s Right To Be Forgotten Form Gets 12,000 Submissions On First Day