WTF Jeans?! A gadget geek’s dream?

ashroseconsulting — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:19:48 +0000

If you were ever frustrated by the lack of iPhone/iPod touch pocket on your jeans, here’s a treat for you: wtfJeans. This freshly launched indie jeans brand was just a blueprint three months ago, but things happen fast on the Internet, and now you can order them from the online shop, in boy/girl varieties.

What’s so special about these jeans? Well, they have an iPhone/iPod touch pocket with micro-fiber interior protection, as well as a hidden, high-security USB stick pocket. These should be a perfect fit for your gadgets, unlike the pockets usually found on, well, regular jeans. While we cannot comment on build quality, fit style and all those other things that make you love or hate a pair of jeans, the idea of jeans with custom pockets for our favorite gadgets warms our geeky hearts.

According to the site, the jeans are still in beta stage (whatever that means), and the first pairs are expected to ship on May 2, at the price of 59 euros (80 dollars).

Read the full article from Mashable here.

Check out my complete website here.

Apple iPad comes to the US on April 3rd

ashroseconsulting — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:11:29 +0000

This is exciting. I know a lot of people think this is unnecessary, but I love the idea I can’t wait to get to the store when they come out to play…

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“Apple finally announced the exact date of iPad availability in the U.S.: It’s Saturday, April 3, for Wi-Fi models, while models with both Wi-Fi and 3G will be available in late April.

As far as other countries go, all models of iPad will be available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK in late April.

If you’re interested in pre-ordering your iPad, you can do it from March 12 onwards; U.S. customers can pre-order both Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + 3G models from Apple’s online store or reserve a Wi-Fi model to pick up on Saturday, April 3, at an Apple retail store.

Pricing and availability are the same as announced: Wi-Fi models will be available for a suggested retail price of $499 for 16GB, $599 for 32GB, $699 for 64GB. The Wi-Fi + 3G models will be available for a suggested retail price of $629 for 16GB, $729 for 32GB and $829 for 64GB.”

View the article from Mashable here.

Yahoo and Twitter Partnership — What’s Next? Facebook and Hotmail?

ashroseconsulting — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:28:26 +0000

I suppose it was only a matter of time before social media also integrated it’s way into an email client, but there is this part of me that figured it would be Google over any others. Now that Google has created it’s own form of social media and community with Buzz, it leaves other big players open for partnerships with social media companies. What next….Facebook and Hotmail?

“An hour ago, we learned that Twitter and Yahoo struck a content-sharing deal. Now we have details on what that exactly entails.

We knew that the Yahoo-Twitter partnership would be comprehensive and more encompassing than Twitter’s search partnerships with Google and Bing, but now Yahoo tells us that the integration will focus on three primary areas:

Access to your Twitter feed on Yahoo: On Yahoo Mail, Sports, the homepage, and other Yahoo properties, you will be able to check the most recent tweets of your friends.
Ability to update status from Yahoo: Yahoo will become a Twitter client, allowing you to update your status from multiple locations on Yahoo. We’re not sure if this is going to be through widgets or another method.
Yahoo Search and media integration: Public Twitter updates will be integrated throughout Yahoo Search, News(), Finance, and Entertainment, among other properties.

Yahoo will have full access to the Twitter data firehose, so you can expect real-time updates in Yahoo Search, among other integrations. They will use tweets to improve relevancy, freshness, and search results, as well as “drive deeper user engagement.”

The first integration will be available “immediately,” and that is the real-time search integration. This brings Yahoo Search in line with its competitors in terms of real-time data. You can probably expect this to launch fully later tonight or early tomorrow. As for the other integrations, they will launch later this year.”

View to article from Mashable here.

ZipList Creates Sharable Grocery Lists from Thousands of Recipes

ashroseconsulting — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:48:00 +0000

Wow I can’t believe that something like this finally exists. As someone who has a passion for cooking, this program will definitely make my life WAY easier…when it comes to food shopping.

This comes from a section of Mashable that discusses great new start-up ideas–small businesses thriving!

Quick Pitch: ZipList is a free online shopping list and recipe service that makes it easy to share and add ingredients with one click.

Genius Idea: ZipList gives you the tools to create, store, and share a family grocery shopping list on the web. The list can be accessed by almost any device with a web browser, or you can share it in an e-mail or SMS text message. Of course, you can also print out an old-fashioned paper list if you prefer that.

The web-based shopping list interface lets you specify which store an item is available at — you can even specify the aisle. There’s also an option to add notes about coupons or anything else that’s pertinent to whichever household member goes to the store to pick the groceries up.

Read the full article from Mashable here.

Facebook Beats Twitter and Google Buzz in Reader Poll

ashroseconsulting — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 02:24:04 +0000

It’s been yet another exciting matchup here in our Web Faceoff series, with the newcomer Google Buzz going head to head with Facebook and Twitter for the heady title of Mashable readers’ favorite social network.

Last week we saw free beat out premium in our online dating services head-to-head, and this week we wanted to check in on how you good readers were ranking Buzz in its still early days against popular contenders Facebook and Twitter. The results are now in…

Read the article from Mashable here to find out more.

Have Keyboard, Will Travel. Op-Ed, nytimes.com

ashroseconsulting — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 23:32:30 +0000

By SHEELAH KOLHATKAR

YOU can tell when a print journalist has lost his full-time job because of the digital markings that suddenly appear, like the tail of a fading comet. First, he joins Facebook. A Gmail address is promptly obtained. The Twitter account comes next, followed by the inevitable blog. Throw in a LinkedIn profile for good measure. This online coming-out is the first step in a daunting, and economically discouraging, transformation: from a member of a large institution to a would-be Internet “brand.”

Read the full article here. (I recommend it! This story doesn’t just pertain to print journalists, but really any person in communications.)

Top 10 Twitter stats for this week–Tweet!

ashroseconsulting — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 15:04:34 +0000

When it comes to taking the pulse of what Internet users are most interested in discussing, look no further than Twitter. This week, Twitter was in love with Valentine’s Day, enamored with Justin Bieber and abuzz over Google Buzz.

Thanks to our friends at What The Trend, we’re able to take a look at that snapshot to see what topics captivated Twitterusers the most. Because this is a topical list, hashtag memes are excluded.

What Was Hot in the Twitterverse

The top trend of the week, “Valentine’s Day,” benefited both from being a holiday and the title of the number one movie at the box office. Likewise, events like the Olympics and the NBA All-Star game ranked highly on the list, as well as holidays like Mardi Gras and Ash Wednesday (or the first day of Lent).

In entertainment, YouTube sensation turned tween-superstar Justin Bieber continues to take over Twitter and the BRIT awards show that Twitter is hardly American-centric.

Google Buzz continues to be a hot topic, as users debate its merits and its potential privacy issues.

You can check past Twitter trends in our Twitter Topics section.

Read the full article from Mashable here.

Inbound Marketing vs. Outbound Marketing: What’s the difference?

ashroseconsulting — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 17:00:24 +0000

It took me a bit to truly understand the nature of inbound marketing vs. outbound marketing. Are you savvy to this terminology? Traditional forms of outbound marketing are dated and challenging (esp. cold calling because of new do not call regulations). Now that a large portion of the community communicates through social media and blogging, it is vital to any new business to actively participate in getitng your message out there in creative forms. The more links and resources you have pointing to your website the better. This is called inbound traffic: people seeking you who you didn’t have to seek out yourself.

Read this article to learn more about Inbound marketing and it’s value to your business.

Tiger Woods apologizes: Do you think he’s really changed?

ashroseconsulting — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 16:17:56 +0000

Tiger Woods will go before the cameras Friday for the first time since his sex scandal erupted and apologize for cheating on his wife with a bevy of babes. But he’ll be flying solo.

PGA Tour pal Brad Faxon told a Boston radio station that Woods’ long-suffering spouse, Elin Nordegren, won’t be with him. Instead, retired NBA superstar Michael Jordan will be there to provide Woods some morale support.

“I know Michael Jordan’s going to be there,” Faxon told WEEI-AM’s Dennis & Callahan show. “I know Elin is not going to be there … I think Tiger really wants some friends there. That’s why this thing is really a mystery to me.” It will be the first time he’s faced the public since his lurid – and disastrous – sex scandal broke on Thanksgiving.

CBS has brought in their big gun Katie Couric to anchor the pivotal moment in a sleazy saga that has transfixed the country for months. ABC is siccing their “Good Morning America” anchors Robin Roberts and George Stephanopoulos on the story.

The 950-member Golf Writers Association of America is officially boycotting the affair, saying its “presence, without the ability to ask questions, gives credibility to an event that isn’t worthy of it.” Woods, 34, is not expected to take questions when he addresses a small group of friends and colleagues – and some tame reporters – at the PGA’s headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. Still, millions of Americans are expected to stop what they’re doing and watch the world’s greatest golfer tries to rescue what remains of his tattered reputation.

When Woods finishes speaking, it’s back to sex addiction therapy for him, PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said.

Woods’ secrets began spilling out early on Nov. 27 when he wife reportedly brandished a golf club and confronted him about his mistresses. The fleeing golfer crashed his Cadillac Escalade into a tree – and totalled his carefully-crafted good guy image.

To repair the damage, Woods apologized on his Web site for his “transgressions” and reportedly underwent sex addiction therapy last month at a Mississippi clinic.

Read the article from the NY Daily News here.

Watch the video here.

Corporations Work with Social Media to Create “Good” Buzz

ashroseconsulting — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:54:19 +0000

It’s definitely great to see large companies focusing on putting the “good” out there when it comes to promotion. Social media is a new outlet for large companies to communicate with their public about the good things they are doing. The following Mashable article outlines 5 major companies who are part of this movement. We can only hope that others will start to follow in their shoes.

5 Winning Corporate Social Good Campaigns

“Companies on the social web are increasingly trying to create better relationships by doing good. These social media efforts have created incredible new ways for companies to partner with non-profits and customers. The resulting wide ranging series of initiatives include contests, giveaways, fundraising drives and events to benefit communities.

While cause marketing and corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs have been around for some time with fantastic campaigns, open crowd-oriented social media initiatives are new. We decided to take a look at some of the best corporate efforts around.

These five initiatives represent some of the best corporate “social media for social good” campaigns to date.”

Read the full article from Mashable here.