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This post is part of Mashable’s Startup Review series, which highlights great unsung startups. The series is made possible by Sun Startup Essentials.

Company Name

Dailymile

20-Word Description

Dailymile is a social training site for runners, triathletes, and cyclists.

CEO’s Pitch

That race was great, but how do I stay in-touch with the people I just met? And how can I find people to train with in a new city? Providing an answer for these questions drove us to begin dailymile. We wanted to find a better way for athletes to sign-up for races, share workouts, and meet participants. Participating in a race doesn’t end after you submit payment. It’s the daily journey of training, learning, and sharing. As athletes, each day for us is an adventure filled with lessons learned and friends made. We share these experiences with one another through dailymile.

Mashable’s Take

Currently in private beta, Dailymile is a site for keeping track of your workouts, finding athletic events you can participate in, and sending motivation to others. The design is very slick and the features are well-organized, and while the event section dedicated to 10Ks and triathlons can be intimidating, there are tools that can be useful to just about any level of athlete – even if you’re just the type trying to stay in shape by going to the gym.

Once logged in, the homepage of Dailymile is very Twitter-esque, allowing you post a short update about your most recent workout (which can range from running, to swimming, to weightlifting, etc.), as well as multimedia content like photos and videos. There is also a “You and Your Friends” timeline, an “Everyone” timeline, and a “My Training” log – essentially the same views offered on Twitter. Speaking of Twitter, your updates can be auto-posted to the service if you sync your accounts.

Dailymile takes it a step further than other would-be Twitter clones though with some features very specific to the fitness niche. For one, there is the “Motivation” feature, which allows you to message other people on the site with a pre-set message like “Great Performance” or “You’re an Inspiration.”

There are also discussion groups you can join like “40+ and proud of it” and “My first marathon,” so you can find people pursuing a similar fitness goal as yourself. The aforementioned event section is already seeded with lots of running, trialthon, and cycling events you can participate in, though most seem to be on the West coast (not surprising given the time of year).

Ultimately, Dailymile has adopted a lot of popular features of other sites for the fitness niche and done a nice job with them. I think it’s more likely to be successful with serious workout nuts than weekend warriors, but there is certainly something for anyone that wants to put the time in - both in the gym and on the site. As mentioned, Dailymile is currently in private beta, but you can try it out using the invite code ‘mashable’.

Editor’s Note: This post is part of an ongoing series at Mashable - The Startup Review, Sponsored by Sun Microsystems Startup Essentials. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

Sponsored By: Sun Startup Essentials

作者:Adam Ostrow

更新日:2008年12月1日 23時25分

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MySpace is not known for good design. Its garish profiles make designers nauseous. And yet, there are signs of hope: we’ve tracked down 50 MySpace music layouts that are quite remarkable. Stylish. Stunningly well-conceived. Beautiful, even.

Could it be that MySpace profiles aren’t all bad? You be the judge.

A Fine Frenzy - This artist has been high in the charts for quite some time, and her page, courtesy of BandSpaces.com, happened to make it as the first in our musical roundup. As you can see, it’s no wonder why.

Joss Stone - It’s all about placement and graphics. One glance down the artist’s page and it’s clear that the standard layout can be warped with some nice colorful touches. This page is a winner.

Shine - You can keep your page looking segmented if you like, but it doesn’t have to be boring. Sweep the page with images and buttons in the right places and you’ve got yourself a rockin’ MySpace destination.

MyNameIsAugust - Delivered by OutLoudMarketing, the page for August looks fairly ordinary in comparison with the items above, but it still manages to please.

Valerie Nicole - Tidy and neat, this isn’t as in-your-face as some of the others, but it’s still a sight for sore eyes - of which there are plenty across the wide world of MySpace.

Underhills - Though the silver-colored music player does feel a little clunky amid the wallpaper, the complete ensemble is nothing short of fantastic. It’s one of those pages bound to elicit an “I wish that had been mine” kind of critique from visitors.

Airlines - Let’s face it. Good promotional media from bands can mean great publicity. (Books are judged by their covers, in other words.) Which is why the MySpace page for The Airlines, another invention of BandSpaces, lands on this list. It gives the visitor a clear impression that they can make equally kick-ass without breaking the bank.

Lady Sovereign - I’ve been somewhat familiar with Lady Sovereign’s songbook for several seasons now, and the sharp color contrast of her MySpace page is befitting of the musical experience she delivers. Very billboard-esque, this one is.

Stereo Transmitted Disease - If you want to take things a little musica obscura in terms of your band name and bio and things, the page assembled for STD sets a good example. It’s a kind of hodgepodge, wrapped into an easily digestible square.

Man Like Machine - Lots of white space but still fun and playful, Man Like Machine is a music page, but gets marked in the Just Plain Pretty category just the same.

We Are Tokyo - This design is white and red in a way reminiscent of staple colors commanded by The White Stripes. Which is fine by us, because We Are Tokyo pull it off quite well.

Mia Sable - This is a winner in so many ways. Done up with just the right amount of glitz and glamour to make it stand out from the crowd, Mia Sable’s MySpace page is nothing short of fantastic. If this doesn’t make you envious, few others will.

The Academy Is - Having your band name plastered across nearly the full top fold of your MySpace page may not such a bad thing, so long as everything else looks proper. And it does!

Censura - Put your name and music front and center and leave the rest for window dressing. This one is not only beautiful. The geography of it makes it worthwhile to emulate.

The Midway State - Another boxy beaut, the page for The Midway State is impressive for its elegant design and its translucent features.

Race the Sun - This one’s simply a gem to look at. Loading the page takes some time, and some things make seem out of place, but heck if this isn’t one of the most image-enhanced pages on the network.

Cambria Detken - An extraordinary piece of work, the profile for Cambria Detken is one of the best. It makes good use of white space like and wraps it up in butterflies and flowers with plenty of green to go around.

Mr North - Oh what some motion graphics can do. The idea here is to splash the page. The paint job is entertaining. The features are all there. Altogether, it’s an engaging place to be. Which is the point.

Rented Mule - One of the more plainly drawn pages, Rented Mule Jazz is something that lots of folks could take cues from without a degree in design. Easy does it.

Helena Jesse - The lesson here: put heavy emphasis on your header and you’ll grab some attention. The rest of the page is fairly ordinary, but perhaps we’re in store for further enhancements.

Goodnight Caulfield - Akin to the Mia Sable page, albeit made for a four-piece group, Goodnight Caulfield’s profile is so polished that you start to question whether anything is wrong with it. Very little, it turns out!

Gonna Get Got - What a treat. Name emblazoned in white across the top, great graphical touches the entire length of the page, music placed front and center. What else can you ask for? Add another URL to the winner’s circle.

Zone Music - It would be quite basic without that collage to the right of the music player, but if that’s what makes this gem, then so be it. The page is superb with all facets included.

Paul Cullen - So well done, yet not excessively so. It befits the artist, for sure. Which is how it should be, wouldn’t you agree? Out Loud is responsible for making this page happen.

Scott Philipp - That’s Scott Philipp and the StoneBaby Band, to be precise. The contrast of colors make seem a little unusual to some. Black and soft gold are quite a juxtaposition to make. But stick around for a moment and you’ll why we picked it as one of the best.

Ricky Martin - Alright, you may like the guy’s music, or you may not. But one thing is certain. His MySpace page is a great one. It’s refined and easy to navigate without being imposing in any way.

The Stooges - The page rocks. Enough said.

Lenny Kravitz - If you haven’t seen the place before, you will be surprised. The choice of  photo slideshow and background and menu layout and profile componentry, there’s something for most any MySpace page designer to be fond of.

The Almost - Bold and soft all in one page, it’s an interesting thing to look at. It’s colorful but not too much so. It’s very clearly and basically designed, which makes it seem borderline amateurish. So it get a nod.

JMR Productions - We’ll toss this in simply for spice. It’s brash and at the same time fairly plainspoken. It’s great.

Brianna Sage - One of the better sites to make smart use of white space, the profile constructed by Out Loud for Brianna Sage is really well done. The design firm has certainly shown a consistency across many of its creations that it’s hard to imagine anything dreadful coming from its assembly line. A complementary applause is deserved.

Teddy Geiger - It’s not immediately apparent that this is a great design, but give it a moment, we say. It’s the right mix of photography and fringe edits that give it a place on this map.

Ken Hyland - One of the more clean and collected profiles of this broad bunch, the profile for Ken Hyland has professionalism written all over it.

Coldplay - Are broad brush strokes enough to make a MySpace page attractive? We think so. Oh, and there are plenty of little quirks and uniquities to satisfy most folks. (Just as long as they’re noticed.)

Led Zeppelin - The page is top notch. There’s nothing else to say, really. Top notch, indeed. Befitting of the band, wouldn’t you say?

Blue Island Tribe - It’s all waterworks here. And we have to admit, it looks pretty darn good. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but if you’re looking for surfer inspiration, you’ll be hard-pressed to find something much better.

Anouk - From top to bottom (or at least the middle), Anouk’s MySpace page is nicely finished. Everything is clearly delineated, which definitely works in its favor.

Kate Nash - It’s amazing what a checkerboard background can do to a MySpace page, isn’t it?

Citizen Cope - A grand banner topping the page, Citizen Cope’s profile has its rough spots, but there’s nothing that will displease. Chalk that assessment up to the backdrop.

Death Cab for Cutie - Have we gotten loose with our praise with this one? Perhaps, perhaps not. It’s certainly a subjective thing. Some will love the page for its squarish sensibility. It’s got a few abstract bones in its body, for sure.

Dido - Mostly black with plenty of beveled edges, Dido’s profile is well made. There’s ample empty space, which can detract from the sense of fine design, but that may suit some folks. Does it suit you?

Eisley - At least one member of the Mashable crew is partial to Eisley (hint: check the byline), so take this plug as you wish. The extra-large borders around every piece of the puzzle are what really bring things home.

Elbow - This band’s profile is black and white done right. It’s as simple as that.

Eminem - Everything’s so packed together that we can’t help but like it. It’s pretty much the antithesis of sprawl. Kudos on the set design, Eminem.

Ingrid Michaelson - There’s hardly anything unusual about this page, but its colorway and layout are what we think every band should strive for at the very least. The better to please listeners.

M.I.A. - Beware of the flash. Alternatively, if you like the flash, you’ll love it. Seriously.

Nine Inch Nails - Another fairly docile setup, the Nine Inch Nails profile is totally square and totally worth a plug. It’s NIN, through and through.

Radiohead - Its theme coincides with the In Rainbows release, so of course it looks great. Love the darkness, people. Love the darkness!

Smashing Pumpkins - How to summarize…. It has an elaborate headdress with plenty of band stamps to go around. Thumbs up for intelligent design.

U2 - Compared with the first half of this series, the U2 page is, in terms of the band’s global impression, woefully inadequate. But that’s this Irish quartet, for you. MySpace just isn’t cool enough for Bono and his Chanel shades. The thing is, the profile still amounts to an appreciable contribution to the network. How’s that for a finale?

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作者:Paul Glazowski

更新日:2008年12月1日 21時57分

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Pownce, the microblogging service often compared to Twitter, has been acquired by Six Apart. According to the company blog, the service will be shutdown on December 15th, while the main Pownce team – Leah Culver and Mike Malone – will join Six Apart. Users will have the option to “import [their] posts to other blogging services such as Vox, TypePad, or WordPress.”

The brainchild of Culver and Digg founder Kevin Rose, Pownce launched with much fanfare in 2007. But despite the early buzz and in many ways a superior feature-set, the service hasn’t been able to gain nearly the type of traction as the darling of short-form messaging – that of course being Twitter.

It doesn’t sound like Six Apart has aspirations to revamp Pownce and take on Twitter either. They echo the sentiment that this deal is more about acquiring talent from Pownce, writing, “we are very sorry the site will be closing … We’re planning on doing great things with the help and expertise of the Pownce team, and can’t wait to see all the results of their hard work.”

Kevin Rose and Daniel Burka will also be joining Six Apart as advisers as part of the deal.

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作者:Adam Ostrow

更新日:2008年12月1日 21時6分

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During a breaking news event, we typically sit glued to a Twitter search. And yet that method of tracking news in real time is fairly embryonic: it’s the first step towards all the world’s data becoming real time, and available via constantly updated news feeds.

That’s the basis of StanzIQ, a real time search and information app being developed to track everything from emerging terrorist situations to seeing the feedback on a live concert - on your phone, while you’re in the crowd.

True Ventures Funding

On paper at least, it’s a good bet, with backing from a top VC firm and an experienced team. StanzIQ will soon announce a $1.5 million funding round from True Ventures, and the group consists of Jack Moffitt, Patrick Mahoney and Brian Zisk, who, along with Jon Callaghan of True Ventures, were partners in Green Witch Internet Radio (an early open source streaming service acquired by CMGI in January 2000). Moffitt was one of the lead developers of XMPP (Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol), a set of open XML technologies for real-time communication. And it’s XMPP that forms the basis of StanzIQ.

The Chesspark Connection

The other consumer app you might remember this team for: Chesspark. As the company explained to Mashable:

The StanzIQ team originally built a phenomenal XMPP-based infrastructure for acquiring, sorting, and distributing data in real time in order to build the Internet chess community Chesspark. The aim was to build a real time game and community on top of the XMPP suite of protocols which is perfect for managing real time data. We have spun off the chess site and turned our attention and our toolset to a much bigger challenge.

The StanzIQ team has lead the drive on building numerous Open Source Applications and Protocols which are now used by companies ranging from giants like Microsoft to indie developers like Rogue Amoeba, not to mention their work on XMPP which is used by companies including Google, Cisco, Neuros and Yamner. StanzIQ has a number of Open Source tools which it has built, some of which are also licensed commercially including Speeqe, Strophe (in 3 languages), Punjab, and Palaver.

All of which sounds great in theory, but the proof will be in the real time results. We’ve yet to see any. And until we get our hands on this thing, we’re reserving judgment.

作者:Pete Cashmore

更新日:2008年12月1日 20時47分

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Chris Snyder is an online journalist specializing in new media. He writes about the tech biz for Wired.com’s Epicenter blog.

It’s a long road to a victory in the browser wars. Just ask Firefox. The open source browser which launched in 2004 just cracked the 20 percent threshold of the market share for November, according to Net Applications, pushing it a step closer but still miles away from IE.

Recently a few new players have also thrown their hats in the ring, including Google with its much-hyped Chrome and the lesser known, Mozilla-based social web browser Flock, which released its 2.0 version this past October. But do these newcomers even stand a chance?

The Basics

Firefox is gaining ground for good reason: it’s simple, reliable and secure. Its tabbed browsing led to a similar remodel in IE and it has a slew of add-ons that give it a leg up over the competition. It’s slowly becoming the new standard with a steady audience, and that will be hard to beat anytime soon. And its open source platform leaves room for alternatives and experimental niche browsers like Flock.

Flock 2.0 is basically a Firefox with a lot of perks and pre-installed add-ons for those heavy into social networking.  Think of it as a FriendFeed of the browser world, which brings all of your friends from 23 various networks together in a sidebar. It is also one of the first browsers to incorporate media feeds for photos and videos.  Flock is all about sharing what you find on the web as you surf, and it allows you to accomplish this pretty easily by dragging and dropping them either into an email or onto a friend.

Chrome is the polar opposite of Flock, and its big advantage is that it’s even simpler than Firefox, or any other browser out there right now.  The search bar is also integrated into the address bar, which seems to be the wave of the future, at least for those who swear by Google search and don’t need any bells and whistles. Unfortunately, Chrome’s only available for PCs at the moment.

Usability

Chrome wins hands down on getting the job done.  It’s quick and painless with a clear focus of searching for information using Google’s engine.  Dynamic tabbed browsing is a staple now, and if anything crashes, only that tab will go down, not your entire session, which is nice. But if you want a richer web browsing experience stick with Firefox or Flock.  There’s also no easy way to subscribe to RSS feeds from the search bar as there is with Firefox.

Flock can feel a bit overwhelming at times with all of the sidebars of information, but once you get everything set up and get the hang of it, it’s pretty convenient and preferable to keeping a million tabs open for sites like Twitter and Facebook. The drag and drop interface is great.  When you just want to email a YouTube video or picture it’s much easier than copying any URLs, although it does also seem a bit too easy to share something that you might not want shared.

The only other problem with the social networks is that you can’t really fit all of that functionality into a sidebar.  It’s a good way of consolidating friends, but it’s more like a giant address book than anything else. Simple things like posting tweets are a bit confusing, with no clear box for entering in text. When a friend adds content, however, it will open up the profile in the main browser in full view, so you still need to go back to the source.

Speed

Despite the extra features, Flock is surprisingly just as fast as Chrome or Firefox, at least on a medium grade PC.  Looks like they’ve improved upon this concern in the latest release. And Chrome seems to have Firefox beat in this category but the difference isn’t anything drastic.

Privacy

Incognito — aka “porn mode” –  is the new way to surf, as every browser is picking up on this private surfing option that Safari first initiated.

Chrome has faced some privacy concerns at launch with its Omnibox monitoring and recording too much information, but this can all be prevented by changing the default settings and going Incognito.

Expandability

Chrome doesn’t support any extensions or add-ons yet, so Firefox still dominates in this area.  But if you are looking for simple, you probably don’t want much more than Chrome already offers.

Final Thoughts

Firefox is here to stay, but there will always be a long tail of niche alternatives like Chrome and Flock.  When Chrome moves into Mac realm it could pick up some market share from Safari.  Flock will be there for social network junkies who want to try something new, but the first step to making Flock mainstream will be for more of the social networks themselves to go mainstream. Twitter is on track, but still has a long way to go before it’s a household name. If you’re only on Facebook or MySpace, you probably don’t need to worry about the extra sidebars and features.

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作者:Christopher Snyder

更新日:2008年12月1日 20時5分

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It seems like every day we see a new use for Twitter, some of which can be rather mundane, others of which are actually smart business ideas. Domain registrar NameCheap is executing one of the latter, running a holiday trivia contest where their followers are awarded free domain registrations for correctly answering questions.

Why this is genius: (1) it gets tons of people to follow NameCheap on Twitter (2) it will generate brand exposure as people answer questions with Tweets containing @namecheap (3) it will acquire customers, as you’ll need to sign up for a NameCheap account so you can sync your Twitter account and be credited for $9.69 (the price of registrations) each time you are one of the first three people to answer a question correctly.

The questions are holiday themed, and a new one will be posted every hour until Christmas. In all, that equates to $17,000 in free domains – or about one-quarter of the price of purchasing a half-page ad in BusinessWeek.

Clearly, you can imagine how the trivia-contest model could be extended to a lot of different types of promotions on Twitter, and I’d expect it to become fairly common if NameCheap’s campaign takes off.

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作者:Adam Ostrow

更新日:2008年12月1日 19時14分

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iPhone this, iPod Touch that, BlackBerry and Google Android apps galore, but where is the Windows Mobile love?  Well, it is certainly not to be forgotten as the Samsung i770, HTC Touch Pro and Samsung Omnia are all being sold in stores this December, and all of them are powered by Windows Mobile. With those users in mind, here are over 20 top free apps to get the most out of the Windows Mobile operating system.

What are some of your favorite Windows Mobile applications? Let us know in the comments!

Games

Death Drive - Who doesn’t love a little vehicular combat?  Death Drive brings Carmageddon like combat to your Windows Mobile powered device.

Kevtris - What is mobile gaming without at least one version of Tetris?

Pocket Heroes - Pocket Heroes is a Heroes of Might and Magic game clone for Pocket PC.  It may be a bit simple for some, but still a lot of fun.

Realms - A space based shooting game that might remind you a bit of the old Asteroids arcade game, but only in concept.  Multiple ships to choose from and numerous levels to explore.

Internet Tools

Fring - Fring brings their instant messaging services to more than just the iPhone and iPod Touch with a Windows Mobile version.  Allows you to instant message with AIM, Google Talk, ICQ, MSN, SIP, Skype, Twitter and Yahoo.

Opera Mobile - The popular Opera browser comes to the mobile format with a full set of features.

Slick - Allows you to instant message with AIM, Google Talk, ICQ, Jabber, MSN and Yahoo. Also has text messaging, emoticons, message history and more.

TwitToday - A plugin for your Today screen that allows you to post to your Twitter account.

Web Viewer - Web Viewer is an expansion to the web browsing ability with a tabbed browser that allows you to save open tabs and more.

Media Players

MPlayer for Windows Mobile - Part of the MPlayer suite for Linux, MPlayer for Windows Mobile will let you play Flash videos as well as videos in the RV40, RV30, R20, sipro, cook and atrac codecs.

RealPlayer - An official mobile release for the famous Real One Player.

The Core Pocket Media Player - TCPMP, as it is known, supports a dizzying array of video and audio formats from DivX to Ogg Vorbis.

YouTubePlayer - Just as the name implies, YouTubePlayer lets you to search YouTube for videos and then plays them in their native FLV format.

Phone Applications

Call Firewall - Call Firewall does exactly what you would think it might in that it helps you create blacklists and whitelists for your Windows Mobile powered cell phone.  One of the coolest features is that it will send an SMS to a blocked call telling them why they were blocked.

iDialer - iDialer, pictured above, gives you a new dialing interface that feels similar to another popular phone’s dialing system.  It does offer compatibility with popular Internet phone services such as Grand Central and JaJah.

Skype - The well known Skype service is available for Windows Mobile, enabling you to make Skype calls from your mobile, saving you a lot of money on calls.

Utilities

CapSure - You can capture your screen in BMP, GIF, JPG or PNG and then add captions, obscure sensitive information and more.

Dashwire - Allows you to sync your phone at all times including pictures, files, contacts, messages and more.  Cool feature that lets you see texts on your computer as they arrive at your phone.

GSync - As you can probably guess by the name, GSync allows you to synchronize your Google Calendar with your Windows Mobile powered phone.  The app is available in Dutch, English and Italian.

iContact - iContact changes your contact interface to more of an iPhone style system that allows you to browse through your contacts with just a flick of your finger.

Pocket RAR - An official version of the RAR archive manager that you can use on your mobile device.

SoftKey Manager - This app allows you to edit the soft keys on your Today screen.

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作者:Sean P. Aune

更新日:2008年12月1日 18時22分

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While I do own several Apple products, I’ve often joked about the cult-like nature of some of the company’s fanatical enthusiasts. The Simpsons captured this sentiment remarkably well in a parody of Apple aired last night on FOX.

Complete with “The Mapple Store,” a “MyPod,” a $1200 “MyBill,” and a Bart voice-over of a “Steve Mobs” keynote, the animated series completely nails the stereotypes of Apple products, employees, and users. Check it out in the video below:

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作者:Adam Ostrow

更新日:2008年12月1日 17時12分

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The Web has been huge for unsigned musicians. Many artists have leveraged social networking tools and music discovery services to find record deals, while others have built large online fan bases. Looking to capitalize on this trend, MSN has added a feature called “Unsigned” to its music channel in the UK, allowing artists to upload music videos and have their work featured on the site.

Unfortunately, that’s just about all Unsigned offers. As a visitor, you can do a simple browsing of the most recently uploaded videos or check out profiles for a few of the bands that MSN has decided to feature. But there are no interesting discovery features, no community, and not much content, other than a few generic articles about how to get a record deal. Additionally, the uploaded process is cumbersome – MSN explains how to do it in a 13 step tutorial.

The one thing that MSN Unsigned does offer is traffic. MSN’s UK site boasts 5.4 million visitors every month. Is that enough to attract a few bands to upload videos? Absolutely. But AmieStreet, Sellaband, and the dozens of other websites targeting this crowd need not quiver in their boots over the arrival of Microsoft in their space.

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作者:Adam Ostrow

更新日:2008年12月1日 16時40分

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Here’s Mashable’s latest round-up of upcoming Web 2.0 events, parties, and conferences. For more upcoming event listings, check out Mashable’s Events section.

Not on this list? Contact us and let’s establish a media partnership.

December 3, 2008, San Francisco, CA: The 2008 Holiday Season is upon us and when the NYC Webgrrls Community gets together for the Holidays, it is an industry event, not only about revelry but also about the celebration of the achievements of women in technology and business. The event starts at 7PM with a 2-hour open bar followed by great Italian food, door prizes, and drawings. More information is here.

December 3, 2008, San Francisco, CA: Silicon Valley Rocks! is the first music showcase featuring performances from Silicon Valley’s tech community - from VCs and entrepreneurs to bloggers and software developers - to raise money for Music in Schools Today (MuST) a Bay Area non-profit that seeks to rescue school music programs from budget cuts. The full details are here.

December 4, 2008, New York City, NY: Webgrrls is having a NYC party just like the one in San Francisco the night before (scroll up for more information). Or just get the information and RSVP.

December 9-10, 2008, San Francisco, CA: The Mobile Media Investor Conference (MMIC) program will happen in San Francisco and is your opportunity to network with mobile industry leaders and investors. At the MMIC program, you can hear case studies and learn real examples of how to make money and how to raise money in the mobile media world. Your 10% discount is here. Further, an additional $500 off can be taken with code MMIC995.

December 11, 2008, Mountain View, CA: Add-on-Con is the first conference designed specifically for developers and marketers of browser Add-on’s. Organized by members of the community, the one day conference brings together platform vendors, developers, and marketers, with the goal of facilitating communication and sharing knowledge.

December 16, 2008, Los Angeles, CA: Meet up with E.Factor for Entrepreneurship: The Rise & Fall of An American Entrepreneurial Icon with an exclusive book signing with Jordan Belfort, Author of The Wolf Of Wall Street. Everyone who attends gets the book! Belfort will share his thoughts with the audience on the question of “Entrepreneurial Greed vs a Sustainable Company”.

December 13-14, 2008, New York City, NY: A group of top New York iPhone developers formed the iPhone Boot Camp NYC by creating a meetup for iPhone developers and wannabe developers. In December, iPhone Boot Camp NYC is offering two more workshops on basic and advanced iPhone Development. The goal is to train dozens of developers, then spin off a company so each developer has a chance to work full time on the apps in a community of fellow developers with a shared knowledge and training. A 10% discount off the already discounted early-bird rate to mashable readers is available using discount code mashable.

January 13, 2009, London: E.Factor hosts Commercial Opportunities in Mobile Phone Entertainment. Attend and learn more about this emerging face of advertising.

January 21, 2009, Amsterdam: E.Factor is hosting an event entitled Following the Trend which will cover how to understand trends. Keynote speakers of the evening are Rob Wageman and Marjan Ippel.

January 31, 2009, San Francisco, CA: The Teens in Tech Conference is bringing youth and technology together in San Francisco. Learn from teenagers what they think about the current trends of teenage technology. Feel inspired to create technology, at a younger age at the Teens in Tech Conference. From developers, to entrepreneurs, to video-blogging, find it at the 2009 Teens in Tech Conference. Only 25 tickets are available at this discounted rate of 250 for the entire event!

February 4-5, 2008, Denver, CO: Web Directions focuses on professional development for web designers and developers, interaction designers, user experience professionals and other practitioners in the web arena, whether they work as a contractor, in a design agency, in small or large businesses, in government, education or the not-for-profit sector.

The conference features two in depth days of leading web design and development experts, an optional two days of half day intensive hands on workshops, as well as numerous networking opportunities. Whatever your or your company’s role in building or managing web sites, applications or communities, Web Directions is full of practical, valuable insights, education and inspiration. Book before December 5th for just $795 — but Mashable readers can get another $50 off, simply by using the promotional code WDN09MB.

February 6-7, 2009, Orlando, FL: In today’s economy, maintaining a competitive advantage is crucial, whether you are a freelancer, or run a development shop. Using the productivity benefits of Rails helps us to stand out in the crowded space of developers and development firms. And the Rails core team hasn’t kept us wanting, adding features such as internationalization, compatibility with Ruby 1.9 and JRuby, thread safety, and much more. And if the Rails Rumble proved anything, it’s that a small team of Rails developers can accomplish a great amount with little time. So how do we as developers continue to improve how we work and what we produce? Get more information by attending the acts_as_conference.

February 9-10, 2009, San Jose, CA: User-generated content is a rapidly developing revolution in media. Average Joe internet users now wield power over online content, and businesses are adapting to respond to this trend. UGCX is the first conference and trade show organized to bring together content-trendsetters and business leaders to examine how these worlds collide and what the future holds.

Sessions within this two-day conference in San Jose, California, will focus on successful case studies and business models that are driving traffic and revenue to content sites worldwide. Mashable readers can save 15% with priority code UGCXMAS.

February 12, 2009, Santa Monica, CA: The highly-anticipated Twiistup will hold their 5th and largest event to date on Thursday, February 12th at a massive hangar in Santa Monica, CA. The search is on for startups to “show-off” at the event. Fifteen showoffs will be selected to showcase their products and services to an audience of investors, entrepreneurs, press and other influencers in tech, media and entertainment. You can find out how to apply and register for the event by clicking here.

March 9-10, 2009, London: The Social Networking World Forum is the perfect event for professionals to learn and discuss the future development of social media. The two day conference and exhibition will provide a focused platform for the global social media industry. The conference aims to address core issues such as monetization, future technologies/services, engaging social groups with brands and how businesses can get the most out of social and business networks.

March 9-12, 2009, San Jose, CA: Registration is now open for the eighth annual O’Reilly Emerging Technology Conference, O’Reilly’s flagship event for disruptive, innovative and groundbreaking thought. ETech 2009 will feature exciting program content in new areas of urban sustainability, personalized healthcare, mobile telephony and materials & mechanics. Register by January 12 and Save $300 - https://en.oreilly.com/et2009/public/register. Mashable readers get a 15% off discount on top of that using code et09mash. View the growing lineup of speakers at http://en.oreilly.com/et2009/public/schedule/speakers.

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作者:Tamar Weinberg

更新日:2008年12月1日 15時38分

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A historic Presidential election, an economic crisis, and even Hannah Montana were unable to capture the #1 spot in Yahoo’s yearly rankings of popular search terms. Instead, for the 7th time in 8 years, that title goes to Britney Spears.

In the announcement, Yahoo tries to explain: “In 2008, she made a comeback with a new album, three MTV Music Awards, a sitcom guest star role and documentary on her rise, fall and career comeback.” True, Britney actually had a #1 song this year – her first in a decade. But, Yahoo’s rankings are much more a testament to our collective fascination with pop culture, as other terms in the top 10 include World Wresting Entertainment, Miley Cyrus, Jessica Alba, Lindsay Lohan, Angelina Jolie, and American Idol. President-Elect Barack Obama was only the third most-searched for term.

In addition to the most searched terms overall, Yahoo has posted rankings for most searched politicians, Olympians, news stories, women, famous deaths, economic terms, and “rising” celebrities.

If you’re thinking the celebrity fascination might be a Yahoo thing, think again. In Google’s end of year search rankings for 2007, Britney came in at #3, with terms including American Idol, Anna Nicole Smith, and Paris Hilton blanketing the top 10. Any way you slice it, it’s fairly clear we’re all in the wrong business.

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作者:Adam Ostrow

更新日:2008年12月1日 15時37分

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Help us help you. Mashable would like to know more about you in order to better serve you. Conducted through our advertising network, Federated Media, this survey will enable us to understand your needs better.

As an immediate thank you, seven lucky people will be selected to win a brand new, YouTube-ready, KODAK Zi6 HD Video Camera.

Seven winners will be chosen on Monday, December 8th. So fill out the survey now for a chance to win.

The KODAK Zi6 HD Details:

# Record High Definition video (720p at 60 fps with 16:9 aspect ratio)
# Easily upload recorded footage to YouTube with built-in USB and software
# Expandable SD/SDHC card slot up to 32 GB
# Vibrant 2.4-inch viewfinder; Watch footage on HDTV with included cables
# Go Green: Includes (2) AA pre-charged Ni-MH rechargeable batteries and charger

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作者:Adam Hirsch

更新日:2008年12月1日 14時0分

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The Huffington Post has raised 25 million dollars in funding from Oak Investment Partners, claims AllThingsD.

According to AllThingsD, this puts the valuation for The Huffington Post at 100 million dollars. It’s a big valuation, and the 25 million dollar round is bigger than the previously rumored 15 million. A question that inevitably still pops up after any news such as this is: “How does this make sense? It’s just a blog!” I, however, don’t see why not.

I’ve checked out Huffington Post - which I rarely normally do as I’m not interested in politics - and I don’t see any crucial differences between this site, and any big media publication on the web. They’ve got news, reports, features, they seem to be timely and thorough, and they produce a lot of content. On the internet, that’s pretty much all that matters: whether you’ve got a team of 100 people behind the site or it’s just a one man gig, all your readers care about is the content.

The only difference between a blog and any other media publication is that blogs scale very well. Traditionally, if you want to start a newspaper, you need editors, journalists, graphic designers, you need money for print, you need marketing, and a zillion other things just to start off. And it all costs a lot of money.

On a blog, starting out is not only cheap: it’s free. You just start writing. If you’re good, then you get audience, and you can add all those things mentioned above as you go along. However, this doesn’t at all mean that a blog cannot be bigger than the New York Times: there’s absolutely no reason why it couldn’t. And one day, it’ll happen. In fact, blogs usually understand the new media better than old giants. Valuating The Huffington Post at $100 million may be brave, but it’s definitely not insane; we’ll see if this particular bet pays off.

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作者:Stan Schroeder

更新日:2008年12月1日 13時50分

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Brightstorm makes me feel old. The recently launched website to help teens with schoolwork is introducing SAT prep courses via online video, and is offering 1,000 free courses to Mashable readers (details below).

Back in my day, preparing for the SATs consisted of review books or signing up for an expensive in-person class or tutoring session. Now, using video, teachers walk you through everything you need to know for the Math, Verbal, and Writing components of the SAT exam, which is presumably even more competitive than it was during the college admissions process of the last millennium.

On a serious note, Brightstorm is the type of service that I’m happy the Internet makes possible. It makes something once reserved largely for kids with money – like SAT prep – available to everyone on the cheap (the service is $49/yr). Further, with video, you can watch lessons whenever you want, as many times as you want; with an in-person tutoring session, if you don’t get it or weren’t paying attention, it’s money down the drain.

If you’re a student or a parent of one studying for the SATs, Brightstorm has made 1,000 courses available for free to Mashable readers. Sign up here.

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作者:Adam Ostrow

更新日:2008年12月1日 13時0分

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The New York Times has an extensive story about Facebook Connect and its imminent expansion to new services: Digg, Hulu, Discovery, CBS and several others. However, looking back at the initial announcement of Facebook Connect, there’s really nothing new here; we’ve known the names of these partners from day one, and the story in NYTimes merely states that Facebook will start expanding Connect in the weeks to come.

The real news, here, is the fact that the NYTimes is running a huge story about Facebook Connect in its printed edition. To the majority of the general public the concept of Connect - a two way platform which enables web sites to connect with Facebook and allow their users to communicate with their Facebook friends on these sites and away from Facebook itself - is probably quite vague. However, social networking is obviously now mainstream enough that a platform connecting social networks is big news.

Incidentally, Facebook currently doesn’t work for me: I can’t login, and I’m annoyed - too annoyed. Being connected with my friends on Facebook or some other social network soon might become a crucial part of my Internet experience; social networking is shaping up to be the first really, really big thing that came out of the web 2.0 phenomenon. Through platforms such as Connect it will become truly ubiquitous, an invisible layer covering the entire world wide web. Whoever controls the biggest piece of the user data/identity pie will be on top of the socnet food chain, and Facebook seems to be doing everything right lately, and this includes getting big press coverage.

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作者:Stan Schroeder

更新日:2008年12月1日 10時20分

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There aren’t many sites with 5 million users that we haven’t heard of, but Power.com is just that, and it’s a name you might be hearing a lot more of after it launches in the US today.

Previously available in Brazil and India, the site bills itself as a “Meebo for social networking” of sorts, allowing you to simultaneously login to accounts on both social networking services like Facebook and MySpace and instant messaging networks like MSN.

From there, you can view new activities from friends on those services, see who’s online across all of them via a buddy list, and use the “Power Communicator” to simultaneously send a message to your friends on any site you have synced with Power.com. In other words, if your friends are spread across many social networks, you can see an aggregate view of their activities and message them on their native network, all from inside the Power.com interface.

Isn’t this just like Friendfeed?

Not exactly. For one, the instant messaging aspect is something Friendfeed doesn’t have - if you’ve synced your Facebook, MySpace, and MSN accounts with Power.com, you’ll get a buddy list that shows all of your friends who are signed on to those services, even if they don’t use Power.com. Additionally, Power.com is far more of a two-way communicator. In addition to aggregating activities from your friends across multiple services, it lets you respond to them and send messages to their native app.

So it’s like Facebook Connect, Google Friend Connect, etc?

Still a bit off. While those services will let you access your friend’s list on third-party websites, Power.com isn’t looking to be your universal profile or social graph. And, it doesn’t matter at all if your friends use it – you’ll still be able to communicate with them using Power.com so long as you’ve synced your account.

How does it have 5 million users already?

Initially, the only social networking service supported by Power.com was Orkut, which, is big in Brazil and India. These are where most of Power.com’s users are currently – Alexa shows that the site is in the top 1,000 in both markets. Additionally, the service has lots of built in viral marketing. For example, when you send a message to friends on other networks, it includes a “Sent by Power.com” message (like Hotmail circa 1996). Power.com also has a communicator app that is added to social networking profiles, allowing friends to contact you through it (similar to MeeboMe widgets).

Will it take off in the US?

At launch, Power.com supports Facebook, MySpace, Hi5, MSN Messenger, Orkut, and YouTube. While there is certainly some overlap between those services, Power.com will become much more valuable when it adds LinkedIn, Twitter, Flickr, Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail, AOL, and Skype, all of which are expected to be added soon.

Ultimately, you end up with a combination of an aggregation service like FriendFeed, a multi-protocol IM tool like Meebo, and an all-in-one email application. Like Meebo, getting started is as easy as logging in with one of your existing accounts on one of the supported services, making user acquisition a breeze. The viral features mentioned above should presumably have the same big impact in the US, further fueling growth.

Despite flying under the radar in the US, Rio-based Power.com has already raised $6 million from Draper Fisher Jurvetson, in addition to well-known angel Esther Dyson. The company has 70 employees.

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作者:Adam Ostrow

更新日:2008年12月1日 5時23分

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Tonight is the final night to thank your favorite websites by putting forth your vote in the Open Web Awards, an open, international contest for the best websites and services. This voting round closes at midnight PST, November 30th (4 hours from now).

After that, it’s back to our regularly scheduled startup news until we announce the finalists on Wednesday. Vote now with the widget below, or forever hold your peace.

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