Top 5 Augmented Reality Business Cards

Augmented reality (AR) is a term for a live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment whose elements are augmented by virtual computer-generated imagery. It is related to a more general concept called mediated reality in which a view of reality is modified (possibly even diminished rather than augmented) by a computer.

The New Dork - Entrepreneur State of Mind

THE NEW DORK - Entrepreneur State of Mind
(better than the original)



by Grasshopper.com

Making Sense Of The Ever-Changing Social Media Landscape

Making Sense Of The Ever-Changing Social Media Landscape
by: Dennis Shiao of InXpo

Social Media Landscape by Ivan Walsh via flickr

In the early days (e.g. 2003 through 2007), social media was Missouri — in a “show me state”.  As Director of Marketing or CMO, your biggest challenge was not how to leverage social media – but rather, how to justify it to the CFO and CEO.  Return On Investment (ROI) metrics had not yet been established, so you had to “make it up” on the go – and then convince stakeholders that the metrics were valid.  In fact, you probably had to first educate stakeholders on what social media was and how it could benefit your company.
Here we are in 2009 and the world has shifted.  Social media and social networking sites are as much a household name as the “Big 3″ television networks were back in the 1960’s.  Today’s networks include YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.  The C-suite has read numerous accounts of social media driving real business value (ROI) – and they’re seeing the competition active in social networks.  So now the tables have turned – the CEO is now in pursuit of the CMO to ask questions like, “what is our social media strategy” and “why aren’t we doing more of it”?

Social media is an ever-changing landscape – and that’s a good thing, as it reflects the fluid and dynamic nature of the associated technologies and communities.  As a marketer, though, it means that you need to stay on your toes to best judge how to adapt to the changing landscape.  How quickly do things change?  Well, let’s consider the developments of the past few months:

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Doubledown's Terminology : Social Networlds

There has been a lot of talk lately about what to call "Virtual Worlds" or a "metaverse"  (right off the bat, ironically, the wikipedia entry for "Virtual World" says "computer-based simulated environment"  meanwhile metaverse on wikipedia says "The Metaverse is a fictional virtual world, described by Neal Stephenson)"

It was brought up last week at Metanomics Community Forum - The terms that floated around were "Virtual Environments" , or "Immersive Media" ... which led to "Virtual Synthetic Immerse Environments..."

It was brought up last Sunday at Metaverse Week in Review where Mal Burns has decided to change calling  "Virtual Worlds" into calling them "V-Worlds"

Facebook even has a category under 'interests' called "Virtual Social Media"  (which I'm quite impressed with so kudos to Facebook).

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When I think of labeling a technology, I tend to think about how music genres became labeled.  My example in it's simplest form "Rock-n-Roll".... what the hell does that even mean?  Literally, it means stones and the outer breaded layer of a sandwich.  As future moved onward, rock-n-roll dropped the buns, and became "rock"  soon after that sub-genres emerged (alternative, metal, punk, etc).    Lets say there's a band that categorizes themselves as "rap metal emocore electrofunk", the music stores will sell their CDs in the "rock/pop" section.  Why? because people get what that means without having to use wikipedia... even if the term doesn't even fit.

Electronic music genres are the same.  For example, there's a genre called "IDM" (Aphex Twin falls into this genre).  What is IDM you ask?   Well it stands for Intelligent Dance Music.  If you've ever listened to Intelligent Dance Music, the first thing you think is 'there's no way in hell anyone can dance to this'.  So Aphex Twin coined the term "Brain music".   Sounds more fitting in my opinion... however, Aphex Twin to this day is the only one that uses the term... to everyone else, it's still IDM.

Basically every term in history came to fruition through a chain of small conversations and events which led to the terminology just STICKING.  ... And that becomes the label... whether it fits or not.     There's never been a strong enough campaign to change a label society decides to stick with out of convenience.


Well here's what I've decided, take it or leave it:   I....  I am going with this one:    
"Social Networlds"  ... (Virtual Worlds + Social Networks is a nice simple play on words, and that is all we really need.)

Either way (and point being), the terms Virtual World and Metaverse are here to stay (with "immersive environment" as a runner up).  Those terms already stuck, and there's not going to be a way to change it.   But hey, call an inworld social universe whatever you wish... no one will understand what you're talking about until you describe what you mean anyway.  The description and definition that comes along with the label is what matters most.

-Doubledown Tandino

NEW FTC RULES: http://bit.ly/1B3xI6
Full Disclosure   :  I wrote this blog post in my underwear and my underwear is made by Hanes.

The Social Media Guru

The Social Media Revolution [video]

Doubledown Tandino's Diggs of the Week - Iran Election & Social Media - June 2009-3

This past week's news was filled with Iran election & revolution coverage (or lack there of). We also witnessed a revolution in social media.

I pulled several interesting article links from the past week. These articles are about the massive role social media played rather than news about Iran:

#IranElection Crisis: A Social Media Timeline - One of the striking aspects of the #IranElection crisis has been the heavy use of social media. Iranians have relied on it to spread information on protests and to communicate their situation to millions of concerned people worldwide.

How (Twitter and) I* Crashed Iran's Propaganda Web Sites - A top new-media activist looks back on his role in the Twitterati's rise to power this week — and why it didn't stop Ahmadinejad's. *"I" is Josh Koster , Raph Koster's brother.

What the World Didn't See in Tehran - Iranian state television yesterday broadcast the soap operas and covered the news about Rafael Nadal's withdrawal from Wimbledon and Pakistani operations against the Taliban as if they were the most important stories of the day...

Tools to Undo Censorship in Iran and China. USE THEM - Web censorship has once again become a huge issue, due to two unrelated events: China’s Internet blockade due to the anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre, and more recently, the controversial Iran elections which have resulted in new oppressive measures, implemented by the current country leaders, to shut down free speech in the country.

Iran, Twitter, and The American Information Elite - Over the weekend, Iran hurtled into political upheaval, and America's 24-hour cable news networks hardly noticed. Mark Ambinder explains the role Twitter played in Iran.

Doubledown Tandino's Diggs of the Week - June 2009-1

Doubledown Tandino's Digg It Favorites of the Week:

20+ best sites to submit your news | INDEZINER - Every webmaster knows that site promotion is vital on the internet. There are many ways to do that. One viral marketing technique is also public news promotion. We searched for you and find out some great websites that are featuring community news.

Metaverse Week in Review | Live Show about Virtual Worlds - Metaverse Week In Review airs live right here every Sunday, starting at 12 pm SL time/8pm UK time. Archives of past shows are available by clicking the “On Demand” button.

Avatars United | www.AvatarsUnited.com | world MMO community - Welcome to the world’s open community for MMOs! Register today, hook up with your friends and improve your virtual life… one application at a time! " It's like Facebook for your virtual personas.

LIVE. Music electronic on USTREAM, most-popular Live Streams - Electronic Music Ustream Shows Broadcasting Live including electronic music DJs mixing live online.

ARhrrrr - An augmented reality shooter - ARhrrrr is an augmented reality shooter for mobile camera-phones, created at Georgia Tech Augmented Environments Lab and the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD-Atlanta). The phone provides a window into a 3d town overrun with zombies. Point the camera at our special game map to mix virtual and real world content.

Case Studies Real Organizations Find Success in Second Life - Real Organizations Find Success in the Virtual World There are hundreds of organizations currently in Second Life, including many Fortune 1000 companies and government institutions.

Marketing and Networking in the Second Life Art Scene - In this article, we’re going to explore some ways you’ll be able to hit the ground running with marketing yourself in SL’s virtual art scene. There are many similarities to real life when it comes to presenting yourself to the inworld audiences of curators, collectors and other artists.

RJDJ Scripting reality – music is everywhere… Dizzy Banjo - RjDj is an amazing iPhone application which creates mind twisting hearing sensations by weaving your environment into reactive music. Voices, cars, your walking speed.. these and many other things can be used to shape your experience. If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, try it!

SelfControl - Program to block internet distractions - Is email a distraction? SelfControl is an OS X application which blocks access to incoming and/or outgoing mail servers and websites for a predetermined period of time. For example, you could block access to your email, facebook, and twitter for 90 minutes, but still have access to the rest of the web. Hope you enjoy my selections.

- Each week I hope to bring you some interesting stuff for my Doubledown Tandino's Digg It Favorites. Make sure to DIGG the articles that interest you and make sure to connect with me on Digg & on Twitter : @Doubledown_inSL @Ravelong

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Doubledown's Note about Digg: I have been heavily using Digg (http://digg.com) for my daily website surfing and bookmarking. It's been useful to me in three ways:

1) Any website I come across that interests me, I want to save & share, I'm now using Digg to bookmark the site instead of saving the link to my web browser's bookmarks. Going to my own profile to see an easy access list of links I wanted saved has been working well.

2) Digg has a great community of site sharing people. I can go to Digg, without having something specific I'm looking for, and find interesting news and articles just by parusing the digg site.

3) Digg and Twitter combo with these tools: http://twiggit.com and http://twitterfeed.com
my Digg submission feed is: http://digg.com/users/BradReason/history/submissions.rss
(You are more than welcome to set your twitterfeed to send my digg links through your twitter if you enjoy my selections.)

See ya around Digg: http://digg.com/users/BradReason

Fantopia Magazine (ToonTopia Dance Club)

Fantopia Magazine
(ToonTopia Dance Club)

We at FanTopia publishing has just launched a new magazine. Our mission is to explore pop culture beyond the scope of the mainstream, thereby illustrating for our readers the groundbreaking ideas that will influence the trends of tomorrow in the global dance music business within second life. Fantopia is an indispensable style guide, cultural reference and source of entertainment for a highly influential audience. Geared to drive the music and fashion industry in sl. Pick it up for free on XStreetSL

Americans! Let the FCC know how you feel about DRM...

Americans! Let the FCC know how you feel about DRM...
Posted On: Thu, 2009-01-08 22:40 by mattl

DRM refers to technologies typically used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, and copyright holders to attempt to control how consumers access and use media and entertainment content. Among other issues, the workshop will address the need to improve disclosures to consumers about DRM limitations.

Interested parties may submit written comments or original research on this topic.
If you're in the USA, please submit your own response.

Thanks Mattl from http://www.defectivebydesign.org

"Conference Report: California Bar IP Section “Entertainment & Media” (and Stan Lee!)"

Conference Report: California Bar IP Section “Entertainment & Media” (and Stan Lee!)
July 16th, 2008 by Thayer Preece
Via www.VirtuallyBlind.com

"Last month, attorneys from across the state of California gathered in the posh Beverly Hills Hotel, vacation home of the stars, for the Intellectual Property Section of the California State Bar’s conference on Entertainment & Media. (With special guest appearance by Stan Lee!) The panels included one on the law and virtual worlds. (That wasn’t the one with Stan Lee.) The virtual worlds panel consisted of in-house attorneys from Fox, Disney, and Sony, and was moderated by James Nguyen, an attorney who represented Marvel in their lawsuit against NCsoft, makers of the game City of Heroes. (But did I mention… Stan Lee?)"

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