Home / mashable.com rss archive / September-21-2007


Bob Dylans Facebook App Rocks
Now here’s the most interesting interactive advertisements I’ve seen in a while. To promote his “Dylan Greatest Songs” album that’s coming out in October, Bob Dylan has created a Facebook application that lets you enter 10 lines of words or phrases. A video of Bob Dylan holding sheets of paper will read [...]

TheBoaters is Dogster for Boats
Ahh, boys and their toys. And their cars. And their boats. We all know (even if we don’t act like we know) that material things with flashy screens and big engines are extensions of a man, and a new social network is well aware of this fact. TheBoaters is an [...]

IQZone Dorm Room Challenge Winner
IQzone, the mobile classifieds system, has announced that Tyler Anderson has won the company’s Dorm Room Survival Challenge. You may remember the challenge set forth by IQzone a month ago, entailing that Anderson had to use the classifieds service to beg, borrow and steal his way into furnishing his dorm room for the [...]

BlogRush Flavors Make Pyramid Schemes Taste Better.
BlogRush, the latest program to be called a Pyramid scheme, has just announced the upcoming launch of a new option for web publishers: BlogRush Flavors. Yummm. In order to make you feel better about adding a widget to your own blog, BlogRush Flavors offers an array of colors to skin your widget, [...]

Tjoon Split-Screen Webcam Jam
Tjoon is a site that lets you record split screen videos directly from your webcam. This lets you bypass the need for a video-editing tool or software. Tjoon will automatically detect your webcam, and split your screen four ways. You can fill all the spots yourself, like the guy shown below [...]

BitTorrent 6 Released with uTorrent Capabilities
BitTorrent, which acquired uTorrent late last year, has just released BitTorrent 6, the first version that combines the two services, incorporating uTorrent functionality with BitTorrent’s open-source base (uTorrent was a closed-source service). With BitTorrent 6, you’ll see that the user interface now resembles that of uTorrent’s, including the menu bar. Its system resources [...]

Is Australia the New China?
Several privacy advocates are in an uproar in response to a bill introduced by Australia’s Parliament, which would grant the country’s federal police the power to control which sites can be accessed by users of the Internet. Titled the Communications Legislation Amendment (Crime or Terrorism Related Internet Content) Bill 2007, the federal police would [...]

Whos at DEMOfall?
Next week is the DEMOfall conference in San Diego where a total of 69 startups will be debuting their products. Mashable’s Kristen Nicole will be in attendance.Many of the companies are brand new, while a few have been profiled here on Mashable already. Below is a look at a few of the companies [...]

Podaddies Partners with Apple for Quicktime Ads
Podaddies, a video advertising start-up, has recently closed a deal with Apple for the development of advertising compatibility for Quicktime and iTunes. This is an interesting deal, as Apple does not provide ad-support content. Podaddies already provides technology to play ads on connected iPods and iPhones, and is working on creating the same [...]

Major Media Companies Found Hacking The Pirate Bay
Some leaked emails at the MediaDefender-Defenders has granted The Pirate Bay the proof it needed to file charges against several media companies. These emails prove that some major record labels and film production and distribution companies have hired professional hackers and saboteurs to destroy The Pirate Bay’s trackers. While this may be a [...]

Did GodTube Rip Off Veoh?
A programmer that was contracted by video sharing site Veoh to design their flash player is now accusing GodTube of stealing code. Paul Yanez has posted a side-by-side comparison of the two players on his blog to make his case. Yanez points out that the two players use the same exact fonts, many [...]

DiggFeedr for Faster Digging
If you really love Digg, then you’ll really, really love DiggFeedr. This RSS feed tool is built on Ruby on Rails and pulls Digg items using the Digg API in order to syndicate this content through Feedburner. That means that you’ll get 100 items on this feed, instead of the 40 as provided [...]

Beware of PDF Files! Adobe Security Vulnerability Found.
Don’t open any PDF files anytime soon. Better yet, don’t even go to any websites where PDF files may be embedded. According to hacker Petko Petkov, there’s a vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat/Reader that lets malware into your Windows box with no prompts of any sort. All you need to do is open [...]

WishPots Post-Investment Incubation
Wishpot, the wishlist creation site, has joined the Seattle incubator Curious Office Partners. This is an expected move, as Wishpot recently got seed investment from a group of angel investors, including Adrian Hanauer, co-founder of Curious Office. What’s more, Kelly Smith of Curious Office has joined Wishpot’s advisory board. Now that Wishpot [...]

Is the new Microsoft Live Search Up and Running?
Previews of the new Microsoft Live search layout have leaked onto the Web after a Microsoft Product Manager posted some screen shots to his blog. At the moment, the new Live search appears to be working for some people (like myself) and not for others, so the company may be in the process of [...]

Video Blogger Amanda Congdon Leaves ABC
Amanda Congdon, who gained notoriety as a host on RocketBoom and then moved on to eventually host her own videoblog for ABC News, has left the show now that her one year is up. Congdon says it was her decision to leave the show, and will begin a new project in the digital space [...]

Facebook Will Not Sign NDAs for fbFund
Developers submitting applications for potential funding through the fbFund will not be able to sign Facebook to a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). This means that legally speaking, your ideas are not guaranteed to be kept confidential, and you have no right to pursue a lawsuit against Facebook should them or another company launch an application [...]

Utah Jazz Launches Fan Site
MyLifeBrand, the social networking aggregation tool that also provides white label solutions to companies looking to build a social network, has teamed up with NBA team the Utah Jazz to create a fan site community, Jazzbots.Here, fans will be able to publish content within this network where they can create profiles, share photos and videos, [...]

Council Employees Fired in UK due to eBay usage
Nine employees of the Neath Port Talbot Council in South Wales, UK have lost their jobs when it was discovered they were spending up to two hours a day on eBay.Of the nine employees, who were earning 25,000 ($50,000 USD) a year, three were fired, and the other six resigned after being confronted with the [...]

Megedeth and Yebotv team up for live concert broadcast
The iconic 1980’s heavy metal band, Megadeth, is teaming up with Yebotv for a live webcast of their concert on September 22nd.The concert, being broadcast live from Columbus Newport, will begin at 7:30 PM and will be available as a Real Time stream on Yebo and Megadeth’s site’s, as well as Road Runner Records [...]

Google Beating Facebook at its Own Game?
Google knows a good thing when it’s sitting in front of its face. And that good thing is the openness of Facebook. As the other major influence for 2007’s tech scene (the other being the iPhone), we’ve seen a lot of networks follow Facebook’s lead, from Bebo, to LinkedIn, Yahoo, and [...]

Local government employees fired in England due to eBay usage
Nine employees of the Neath Port Talbot Council in South Wales, England have lost their jobs when it was discovered they were spending up to two hours a day on eBay.Of the nine employees, who were earning 25,000 ($50,000 USD) a year, three were fired, and the other six resigned after being confronted with the [...]

Netvibes New Directory OptionsMuch Improved
Netvibes has improved its widget directory, and I couldn’t be more glad. You’ll find it easier to navigate, easier to find widget content to add to your start page, and easier to create your own widget. Filtering options help you find stuff more efficiently, the categories are displayed better, and you can [...]

GoFresh to launch Mobile Social-Ad network
With mobile content and monetization getting far greater share of attention of small to big companies everyone is ready to grab the share. Just to account for some of the activity in the space, earlier this week it was Google officially launching Mobile Adsense, before that AdMob with iPhone specific ads, AOL acquiring Third Screen [...]

Wordpress 2.3 out on Monday; Now with Tags
  Open source blogging software Wordpress is getting a new dot release next Monday, 24th September. The release comes with the must have feature addition - Tagging and Tag clouds. From the blog publisher/owner perspective this means much easier access to adding tags to their posts that would result in better categorization without using the [...]

Block Ads & Replace them with Widgets
Wibiki is an ad blocker that lets you replace ads with a mini link-sharing board that’s been created by you and your friends. There are two options for getting wibiki to block ads: change your DNS server settings manually, or install the auto-configuring software from wibiki’s site. From there, ads known to the [...]

Help Find Memory Leaks in Firefox
If youre a Firefox enthusiast, the Mozilla community is currently looking for additional volunteers to help reduce memory usage and fix any memory leaks in the browser. If youre not a programmer, Firefox programmer Jesse Ruderman says you can still help:If you’re a Firefox user, an easy way to help is to browse with [...]

DOmedias Alternative Media Network
DOmedia is an advertising company that specializes in alternative media, and it’s created an online destination as a resource and community for people to join in on the conversation.With DOmedia focusing on both the buying and selling aspects of advertising, its website is geared towards anyone participating in alternative media, from advertisers to production [...]

Google Stock Price Soars at $560.70
After a few weeks of rolling out new advertising options, from YouTube video ads to Google Gadget ads, the search giant’s stock price has peaked at a new record of $560.70 today. It’s previous high was reached this past July at $558.58, but the stock price quickly dropped below $500 after Google reported [...]

Virgin Mobile Sued Over Use of Flickr Photo
A photo used in a recent Virgin Mobile ad campaign is the subject of a lawsuit filed by a Texas family. The photo features a teenage girl, Alison Chang, flashing a peace sign, and was used in a variety of print and billboard advertisements. Some of the ads apparently featured the slogan free [...]

Microsoft Exec to Testify at Google/Doubleclick Hearing
Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith will testify at next weeks Senate hearing on the proposed merger between Google and DoubleClick. Microsoft has previously criticized the deal as giving Google an unfair competitive advantage in the online advertising market. However, thats probably going to be a tough sell now that Microsoft has purchased aQuantive [...]

Snapvine Gets $10M for Social Voice Messaging Tool
Snapvine, the service that lets you leave and receive voice messages on your MySpace profile, has received $10 million in funding from Bridgescale Partners, a new investment firm in the Valley. Snapvine already had a round of funding amounting to $2 million, led by Draper Fisher Jurvetson, First Round Capital, and Kleiner Perkins’ partner [...]

Miniclip Games Now Available on Netvibes
Popular gaming site Miniclip has launched a series of widgets that users can add to their Netvibes personal homepage. Miniclips Ecosystem page includes more than 15 different games such as Bush Shoot Out, Space Escape, and Surfs Up. Games can be added to your homepage in the same fashion as other Netvibes widgets. [...]

MatchMines Media Reccomendations Gets $10M
MatchMine, the service that will store your media preferences to provide recommendations using its MatchKey technology, has raised $10 million from the Kraft Group.Launched with a limited preview version of the service for recommending movies, initially covered here, the major launch will be next week at DEMO in San Diego. You’ll remember that MatchKey [...]

Report: Google to Build Trans-Pacific Cable
Googles plans to build its own data network are now rumored to include communications cable under the Pacific Ocean. This follows reports earlier today that Google is looking to bid on wireless spectrum in the UK, in addition to their moves in the US.The project to lay cable, called Unity, would involve several other [...]

eGlints Attempts College-Only Social Networking Angle
Since Facebook opened up to everybody, several startups have tried to go after those yearning for the good ole days when you needed a .edu address to register for the social network. The latest attempt comes from eGlints, which closely mirrors Facebook in terms of features and design. Upon logging in, you will [...]

BoardRideTV: Another Action Sports Social Network
BoardRideTV is a new photo and video sharing site for action sports. Users can share content for sports like surfing, snowboarding, and skateboarding. All content can be tagged, and users can browse different channels for individual sports. Users can also get a basic profile and maintain a friends list. Videos feature [...]

Rumor: Google Considering UK Wireless Bid
Google is reportedly considering a bid for wireless spectrum in the UK. This news follows moves by telecom regulators in the UK proposing that Vodafone and O2 auction part of their spectrum to other phone companies. Google has already planned a bid of more than $4.6 billion for wireless spectrum in the US, [...]

New GameSpot Application for Facebook
My Console is a new application that allows gamers to share what they are playing with Facebook friends. The app pulls information from your GameSpot account to display your current list of games, and shows a list of games your Facebook friends are playing once they add the app. My Console also features [...]

MyBlogLog Now Requires Yahoo ID
MyBlogLog now requires you to use a Yahoo ID to login. The process is pretty painless, asking you to first login to Yahoo, and then select which Yahoo name to merge your account with. However, you do have to re-upload a new avatar once the process is complete, as MyBlogLog will also now [...]

MyBlogLog Now Requires Yahoo ID
MyBlogLog now requires you to use a Yahoo ID to login. The process is pretty painless, asking you to first login to Yahoo, and then select which Yahoo name to merge your account with. However, you do have to re-upload a new avatar once the process is complete, as MyBlogLog will also now [...]

20 Icon & Graphics Generators
You don’t need to be a great artist to get great looking graphics. In fact, sometimes you don’t even have to roll up your sleeves. We’ve put together a list of 20 sites that’ll help you create icons, favicons, animations and various graphics in no time.Recommended: Piczo Stuff at Mashcodes!Share This

ReverbNation Launches New MySpace Widget
ReverbNation has launched another new widget for bands and artists to promote themselves. Named TuneWidget, his widget nearly acts as a mini website in itself, offering all the necessary information for the band, including upcoming shows, song and video previews, and marked locations on a Yahoo map. The widget also displays band [...]