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Facebook to introduce revamped commenting system
Posted by Patrick Lambert Categories: Rumors, Social Networks,
Facebook has offered blog owners the ability to integrate their commenting system into their own sites for a while now. So fa, it has seen limited adoption, with most sites using their own commenting system, or something like Disqus, and integrating the 'Like' button or Facebook Sharing. Now, rumors abound that the social networking site is about to completely revamp its commenting system, and is set to offer the same functionality that'll allow this much enhanced version to replace the comment system on most blog platforms. Some of the rumored features include threading, comment voting, and the ability to login using Twitter or Google IDs.
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| AllFacebook
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Vokle: Set up your own Internet talk show
Posted by Reza Malayeri Categories: Social Media, Startups, Video Services,
Vokle is comprised of a small team of technology and communication enthusiasts in California, and they've built an incredibly powerful platform for video conferencing. With just a few clicks you can become the host of your own video talk show, and start taking questions from a live audience.
You can post your show in one of several categories on Vokle, including topics like: entertainment, arts & lifestyle, technology, business, learning, and offbeat. It's is easy to use, social media friendly, entertaining, and very interactive.
Vokle has built its platform with a heavy focus on social media integration, and you can sign into the website using your Facebook or Twitter account. I found the embed feature to be one of the coolest I've seen in any video sharing service. You can embed a single line of code on any webpage, giving fans and followers multiple access portals to your show when it goes live.
Click to continue reading Vokle: Set up your own Internet talk show
Read More | Vokle
Deal of the Day: Save 36% on Dell Vostro 230 with 24-inch Samsung monitor
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Displays, Hot Deals, PC / Laptop,
Dell is offering a 36% discount on their Vostro 230 2.93 GHz Dual-core Mini Tower bundled with 23.6-inch Samsung 2494LW LCD Monitor, and that's good enough to make that our Deal of the Day. The Vostro base config also includes 2 GB DDR3 1333MHz memory, 250 GB Hard Drive, DVD+/-RW Optical Drive, GMA X4500 graphics, Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit OS, and bundled Keyboard + Mouse with shipping included:
Save 42% on Dell Vostro 230 with 23.6-inch monitor
Don’t forget, if you’re looking for other deals, be sure to check out our Newegg Promo Code thread.
Latest Gear Live Videos
The future of Apple’s NFC mobile payment strategy
Posted by Reza Malayeri Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Editorial, Rumors,
There is no question that mobile phone payments are very popular, and that many of us can operate our entire financial lives from our mobile phones. Apps from PayPal, and Square can turn our iPhones into portable financial centers, allowing us to exchange money quickly and easily. These new applications are creating opportunities and benefits that will shape the future of mobile payments.
Predictions about the iPhone 5 and the iPad 2 are beginning to heat up, and much of the talk has been about the implementation of NFC (near field communication) technology. What we haven't heard about so far, is anything about native intergration of mobile payment solutions from Apple and Google.
Click to continue reading The future of Apple’s NFC mobile payment strategy
R.I.P. Wizard Magazine
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Image Comics, Wizard Entertainment,
Okay, who had Comics Buyer’s Guide in the Last Comics News Magazine Standing pool?
CBG is now the longest-running continuously published comic book magazine and they’ve survived all comers. Overstreet’s Fan, Hero Illustrated, The Comic Reader, The Mirkwood Times, The Comics Journal, and now Wizard.
In case you haven’t heard the news, Wizard Magazine officially shut down last week, sending its staff packing.
Wizard was lucky - they caught the wave of the 1990s comic book bubble and the launch of Valiant and Image and then helped increase that bubble (Gareb was at the first official meeting of the Image Comics founders at Marc Silvestri’s Malibu beach house way back in the early 1990s).
Once the gravy train of million-selling comics derailed, and the internet took away the need for a news magazine, Wizard’s been struggling to remain a viable publication. Watching them flail around for the past decade has not been pretty. I knew a couple of good people who worked for the magazine in those early years and they've long since gone onto other things.
Click to continue reading R.I.P. Wizard Magazine
DC Thomson the big deal publisher of classic British comics like The Beano and Commando is looking for help in their Dundee, Scotland office.
The search is on for a Circulation Executive to help manage “the circulation and distribution of our customers magazines and childrens’ comics.”
You’ll be “providing support to allow the day to day management of titles, implementing and development of business plans through the provision of accurate data and producing reports of activities, achievements and market intelligence to both internal and external contacts.”
Naturally, you’ll need some skills: excellent written and verbal communication skills, “the ability to carry out research with limited management involvement,” and budget/forecasting/retail planning.
Previous experience in a circulation role is “desirable but not essential,” but your speed is. The job listing is closing on Feb 2.
Good luck, job seekers!
[Artwork: Commando #4359, on sale now, © DC Thomson]
Graphic Novels Outsell Snooki
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Television, Dynamic Forces, Image Comics,
It appears that nobody wants the read a book that Snooki claims to have written. The tanned and tiny "star" of MTV's Jersey Shore had her first novel, A Shore Thing published about a month ago. Since then, it's sold less than 9000 copies.
This despite a massive pr push that's seen the little orange pumpkin rolling from TV appearance to TV appearance.
9000 copies.
How does that compare to graphic novel sales? John Jackson Miller at The Comics Chronicles has the scoop.
In 2010, Image's Walking Dead Vol 1: Days Gone Bye sold 43,900 copies, DC's Blackest Night hardcover (19,200), Image's Chew Vol. 1 (13,600), and Dynamite's Boys Vol. 6 Self-Preservation Society (11,100). And that's just a sampling.
In all, some 38 graphic novels outsold Snooki's book and that's just using GN sales figures from the direct market.
Click to continue reading Graphic Novels Outsell Snooki
Weekend Reading: Dick Tracy, Grim Ghost, Wonder Woman & Bully
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Reviews, Television, DC Comics, IDW Publishing, Marvel Comics,
Is there enough money to get Ricky Gervais to host the Eisner Awards this year? Please tell me there is. In the meantime, enjoy this link-based goodness:
Tracy: Here’s a nice profile of Mike Curtis and Joe Staton, the duo taking over the Dick Tracy strip on March 14. Bonus: the article features a 2-panel sequence from the Tracy strip by the new guys. I’m in! [Link: Daily Cartoonist]
Bonfire: Heidi at Comics Beat has the first part of a solid, smart interview with Ed Catto. You might know him as the Captain Action guy, but he’s also one of the guys behind the new comic-related advertising agency, Bonfire.
Tony: Mr. Tony Isabella has found a new comics writing home for himself over at the relaunched Atlas imprint. He’ll be co-writing the Grim Ghost, a series he worked on back during its original incarnation. Tony’s a good writer with an excellent sense of story & structure and he writes some snappy dialogue. I’m going to get this.
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Dick Tracy, Grim Ghost, Wonder Woman & Bully
Will the US get an Internet Kill Switch like Egypt?
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Editorial, Internet,
With reports of Egypt's government completing shutting down the Internet in the country, talk about an "Internet kill switch" bill in the U.S. has reemerged. Could it happen here?
The bill in question is the Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act of 2010, a cyber-security measure introduced in June by Sen. Joseph Lieberman. It was an over-arching cyber-security measure that, among other things, would create an office of cyberspace policy within the White House and a new cyber-security center within the Homeland Security Department.
A provision that got the most attention, however, was one that gave the president the power to "authorize emergency measures to protect the nation's most critical infrastructure if a cyber vulnerability is being exploited or is about to be exploited."
Some interpreted that to mean that the president would have the authority to shut off the Internet at random. Lieberman refuted the "Internet kill switch" assertion as "misinformation" during an appearance on CNN, and the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which he chairs, later published a "myth vs. reality" fact sheet on the bill.
Click to continue reading Will the US get an Internet Kill Switch like Egypt?
As the violence and protests develop in Egypt, Renesys, an Internet research firm, published a fascinating overview of what happened to the country's Internet connections. At 22:34 UTC, all the entry points into the country were cut in a matter of minutes. The four major Internet providers in Egypt were ordered to cut all links, by removing the 3,500 routes that packets could take, leading to no valid path for the traffic to reach any addresses inside of the country, save for one small network. Almost a day later, they estimate that around 93% of traffic is still cut off.
Unlike earlier protests in Tunisia and other countries, where governments tried unsuccessfully to block invidual sites like Twitter and Facebook, people still finding ways around the blocks through proxies, this time the complete isolation from the global Internet was an unprecedented event. It's still not known what will happen to the economy of the country if these measures stay for longer than a few days.
Read More | Renesys
