You can now edit videos directly on YouTube

YouTube

By Rosa Golijan
msnbc.com - 9/15/2011
The folks at YouTube want to help you make your videos look a bit better. How? By letting you use a number of tools to stabilize, rotate, and spice up your clips directly on the site — without needing to re-upload footage.

According to the official YouTube blog, the new tools can be used on newly uploaded as well as older videos (as long as they do not have over 1,000 views or any third-party content). The videos' URLs and ID numbers will remain the same unless you choose to save the edited footage in brand new clips.

You can see a little preview of just what you'll be able to do with all the editing tools in the clip below. I recommend taking a peek just for the sake of seeing how the Instagram-style filter effects work — because let's face it: We're bound to start seeing those a lot more frequently.

Note that the editing features are being rolled out gradually. So don't worry if you're not seeing the magical "Edit Video" button just yet — just give it a bit of time.

Business Owners: Twitter Is Not Your Therapist

By: Carol Roth | AllBusiness.com | 

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Filed In: Internet, E-commerce & Social Media and Technology

2011-09-13

As I spend more time on social media, I'm amazed at the sheer number of entrepreneurs who treat Twitter like a therapist's office.

I totally understand that many of the folks online are solopreneurs and small-business owners, and that for them a social media site like Twitter serves as a virtual water cooler. But if you are one of these people, I ask you to rethink your strategy.

If you have a personal profile that has nothing to do with business, then go ahead, do what you want. (And by "do what you want," I mean: Be very careful, because just like a court of law, anything you say can and will be used against you in the future.)  If you are using your accounts for business in any way, however, then you really need to think about your objectives.

Let's take Twitter, for example. People follow you so that they can read your tweets.  If you are cultivating your business online, then ostensibly your followers want to hear about business.  That's not to say that you can't engage in dialogue, build rapport, and put out some other content that you think your followers would be informed or entertained by, but you need to be careful.  More importantly, you need to think carefully about your intent.

I may have a random thought like, "I wish the bejeweled fashion trend would die" (which I do think, by the way), but is this something that I should share on Twitter?  Probably not, because it's just my stream of consciousness, and the people who follow me probably don't give a rat's ass about the bejeweled fashion trend (or what I had for dinner, or whatever).

From time to time, it may produce a bonding effect to share some personal information with your followers, but put yourself in your readers' shoes: Is that what you would want to be reading from you?

Here are a few other therapist-office violations that business owners are likely to commit on Twitter:

Twitter worship: I recently saw a tweet that said, "Sending my dad lots of healing energy today so his fever comes down quickly."  I am not sure if the sender thinks that God or the head of the Mayo Clinic is following her on Twitter, but I have no other explanations for her tweet.

Is the point to solicit empathy?  Why would your Twitter followers need this information?  I can understand the temptation to upload your brain to Twitter, but that doesn't mean it's effective.  Call your dad directly, for goodness sake!

Spam is as spam does: There are a number of people who get irate at spammers on Twitter.  They vent their frustrations at these individuals for sending them auto DM's (Twitter jargon for "automated direct messages"), general spam tweets that mention them, and other issues.

The problem is that by calling out spammers in your stream, you are basically spamming your own followers. Don't bring attention to these idiots by sharing their behavior with your followers -- and more importantly, don't clog your followers' Twitter streams with the same nonsense that makes you so upset.

Over-sharing your personal views: According to a University of Colorado at Denver study, politics and religion were the two status-update topics most likely to get you "unfriended" in social media.  So, if your business is to be a political or religious pundit, then sure, make your views known. If not, save them for more private venues.

I am all for taking a stand and being contrarian, but do it in a relevant arena, or you may find your social media strategy unraveling. Business is business - keep it that way.

Work venting: "OK," you say, "I will keep my tweets all business, all of the time." Yet you still need to be careful.

Tweets that vent about difficult or stupid clients, project-related problems, or other business issues don't show you and your business in a good light. They may also give your clients cause for concern that your M.O. is to share anytime something goes wrong. Does anybody want to hire someone that airs their dirty business laundry online?

I'm with the cool kids: Twitter and social platforms are all about engaging with followers. And sometimes there are great reasons to keep your back-and-forth conversations going inside your stream rather than taking them private. For example, I had a dialogue with @ConversationAge recently about sites that steal content.  This was a relevant back and forth discussion to keep public, because it is a topic of interest to both of our followers. 

On the other hand, sometimes this back-and-forth turns into silly banter that makes it look like you just want others to know that you are friends with some person or group.  It's OK to start conversations online, but if it's going to get lengthy or personal, move it to a private forum (such as Twitter DMs).  We already know that you're popular; you don't need to prove it ad nauseum.

Can Windows 8 save the PC from extinction?

By David Goldman @CNNMoneyTech September 14, 2011: 3:13 PM ET

ANAHEIM, Calif. (CNNMoney) -- There's no question that Microsoft got the message: Mobile devices and tablets are the future of computing. Here's the next quandary: Is Windows 8 enough to salvage the PC, or is it too late?
Love it or hate it, Microsoft made a bold bet with its radically redesigned, re-engineered Windows 8. It rejected Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) chairman Steve Jobs' declaration in March that the post-PC era has begun.
Rather than simply putting its Windows Phone software on a tablet to try to compete with the iPad, a battle all other rivals are currently losing, Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) gambled that people want more out of their tablet experience. It believes that buyers -- including home users, not just office workers -- are still clamoring for storage, processing power, and robust content creation tools.
Yet consumers have been voting "no" with their pocketbooks. PC sales growth has tumbled in the United States and have even come to a screeching halt globally. The unstable economy has contributed significantly to that, but the iPad has also chomped away at the PC. When Hewlett-Packard (HPQ, Fortune 500) decided to exit the PC business, CEO Leo Apotheker cited as a prime reason that "the tablet effect is real."
With Windows 8, Microsoft is in a sense betting the house on form factor. The company believes that when people buy an iPad, what they really want is a PC on the go that's just not available to them yet.
"It looks like Microsoft is finally on the right track, writing the evolution of the Windows PC on its own terms," said Al Hilwa, analyst with IDC.

Click for a look inside Windows 8

Time is not on Microsoft's side. It's still very early on in the Windows 8 development cycle, with the developer preview just launched on Tuesday. Microsoft wouldn't say when Windows 8 will be ready for a test release, never mind general availability. Meanwhile, the iPad is already five months into its second-generation device.
"I think it's too early to call Windows 8 the revival of the moribund PC market," said Carl Howe, analyst with Yankee Group. "It's really easy to demo stuff that is completely unusable in real life -- see Windows Vista -- and sells poorly when the final product packaging is done -- see Windows Vista."
Laptop and desktop PCs will never die off entirely; the keyboard and big-screen form factor is ideal for desk-bound tasks.
But will users always need software like Windows and Microsoft Word to power those computers? Google's current batch of cloud-powered Chromebooks are more like proof-of-concept prototypes than actually useful devices, but they point the way toward a very different future of what "the PC" could look like.
Microsoft needs to steer the world in another direction.
It will have from now until Windows 8 hits store shelves to work on its sales pitch. Consumers have become accustomed to simplicity when using tablets. Microsoft may need to convince them that they're missing out on a fuller experience.
"Windows 8 certainly has potential to put Microsoft back in the consumer market," said Michael Silver, analyst at Gartner. "But the Microsoft offering will do more to converge PCs and tablets, which also may mean it will be more confusing for consumers to buy a Microsoft tablet."
Though a Windows 8 tablet would come with a distinct app advantage over the iPad -- there's more software written for Windows than the iPad -- even native software has taken a backseat as the Web continues to solidify itself as the most-used application on any connected device.
"I don't think Windows 8 can save the PC market," said Zeus Kerravala, analyst at Yankee Group. "The simplicity and portability of a tablet makes them ideal for what most people want to do with computers."
Still, others say that the PC, though fading, is far from dead. IPads are great complimentary devices, but the PC is the only serious content creation device on the market. With Windows 8 could be the missing bridge between the desktop and mobile worlds.
"Microsoft has in effect thrown down the gauntlet to Apple and Google (GOOG, Fortune 500)," said Laura DiDio, principal at tech consultancy ITIC. "Microsoft said, 'Not only are we still relevant but we have every intention of giving you a run for your money and users' hearts and minds." 

First Published: September 14, 2011: 3:05 PM ET   

Facebook Updates Help Users Share Better With Others

• By KATHERINE BOEHRET

 

On a recent vacation to Aruba, I had to smile when I saw that each of the computers in the hotel business center had Facebook.com saved in their Internet bookmarks. Even people in a tropical paradise are anxious to check Facebook.

For all of Facebook's popularity, many of its users are still nervous about how to maintain their privacy on the network. Google's rival social network, called Google+, answered the call for easier sharing control: Each post clearly shows which groups of friends will see it, and these groups are privately named by users.

This week I'll dig into the latest updates on Facebook, which aim to ease the process of controlling one's profile and privacy. An upcoming Facebook developer conference in two weeks is expected to reveal additional changes.

Borrowing a page from Google+, Facebook has overhauled many of its privacy settings, including the ownership and identification of photos. WSJ's Katherine Boehret says th

s on Facebook is its more obvious way of showing users who will see their posts. Facebook takes a page from Google+ by better revealing sharing: It uses a drop-down menu beside each post that, by default, checkmarks either Public, Friends or Custom, and sharing can be changed with each post. The Custom setting can exclude or include certain groups, but people still must open it to adjust customized sharing. With Google +, though, all groups with whom content is shared are constantly visible underneath the post.

Facebook's own blog hints at future improvements to this sharing awareness, saying that this drop-down menu will grow to include smaller groups of people with whom you may want to share so as to make it easier to choose the audience you want for certain posts, which sounds a lot like what Google+ offers.

Now, you can change the sharing settings associated with a post after it publishes to your profile. In the past, a post's sharing settings were permanent once it was published, and changing it required deleting the entire post and re-posting with different sharing settings.

Location, Location, Location

A handy new feature in Facebook is the ability to add one's location to each post. This feature was once limited to the Facebook app on mobile devices. Adding a location to a post like, "heading off for lunch with friends," gives the post more contextual information. By tagging the photos I share on Facebook from my recent vacation with "Aruba," I save myself the trouble of creating an Aruba album or adding a caption to each photo that says where it was captured.

Tag, You're It

When Facebook first enabled tagging people in posts, a method used for mentioning someone so other people know that person is with you, numerous friends asked me how to do this since it wasn't obvious. Before now, the way to tag someone was by placing the "@" symbol before a friend's name while mentioning that friend in a post, or simply typing his or her name. Now, a small symbol below the window where users type posts shows an icon of a person with a "+" symbol. Clicking on that lets users type other people's names to add to the post.

Facebook now lets you tag people in photos and posts even if you aren't Facebook friends with them—and vice versa. Previously, you could only tag people if you were already Facebook friends.

Also, any post or photo in which you're tagged by someone who isn't a Facebook friend must first be approved by you. And Facebook takes this a step further by now letting you opt to review and approve any tag someone else tries to add to one of your Facebook posts or photos.

Before, any other Facebook friend could tag you or other people in your photos without your say-so. This content tag review isn't on by default, so to turn it on, select Account (in the top right corner of your Facebook page) and then Privacy Settings. Next, edit the settings in How Tags Work and turn Profile Review on.

My Profile, My Way

One of my favorite new features is that it's now easier for me to tweak my own profile page to include content I want on it. For example, a friend tagged me in one of her photos and one of my eyes was closed. Rather than un-tagging myself from my friend's photo, which totally unidentifies me in the photo, I can now just remove the photo from my profile.

To do this, I clicked on the icon that appears at the right side of each post and selected Remove Post in the drop-down menu. This lets my friend keep the photo tagged with my name, but the photo doesn't appear with my profile. The same is true for non-photo posts that include my name.

The Change-Up

Not all new features in Facebook will be well received. A former feature that let people click a "Link" button in a post to add a URL is gone as part of an effort to streamline the network. People can still share links in posts by pasting a URL into a post, but this doesn't automatically remove the long URL, like that "Link" button did. Facebook is weighing whether to add the link capability back in posts.

Facebook isn't currently as good as Google+ when it comes to showing users exactly which groups of friends will see their posted content. But many more people use Facebook—and social networks work best when the people you want to socialize with are using them—so Facebook currently maintains its go-to social-network status. With Google+ nipping at its heels, Facebook will surely further improve the way it displays sharing options.

—Write to Katherine Boehret at katie.boehret@wsj.com.

Facebook Fraud: Beware Malicious Friends

New Facebook Fraud: Watch Your 'Friends'
By Kathy Kristof | Sep 7, 2011
CBS Money Watch

Con artists are lurking in the shadows of your Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and eHarmony accounts, according to the North American Securities Administrators Association, the oldest international investor protection association.

Crooks have always gravitated to so-called “affinity” frauds, which target the members of a set group such as members of a particular church, alumni association or country club. That’s because victims let down their guard when they’re introduced through a friend, even if that introduction is second-hand. (Think: “I was referred to you by Father Jim.” Or “Susan suggested that I give you a call.”)

In fact, scammers purposefully infiltrate tight-knit groups, figuring that common hobbies, lifestyles, professions or faith will help them establish a bond with their victims. Because we assume that our friends won’t betray us, that bond increases the likelihood that even a reasonable, thoughtful individual will become a victim.

Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and eHarmony have become a particular targets of affinity fraudsters because it’s so easy to break into these groups, according to the investor protection group. You may be selective about the group you accept as friends and connections online, for example. But you might be tempted to accept connection requests from “friends of friends.” If just a few of your legitimate friends are less selective than you are, you could get connection requests from people who know people that you went to high school or college with, for example.

You might assume this “friend” is an old acquaintance that you’ve simply forgotten. The formula: the faux friend will post often and regularly interact with your group of friends. The name becomes increasingly familiar. Months into your online “relationship” with this person, a big move in the stock market might cause him or her to mention that he/she is an “investment professional.”

“Don’t worry,” he might say. “This market reversal is just temporary.”

In these tumultuous times, even savvy investors are looking for good advice. If the con artist is smooth enough, he won’t even approach you. You’ll approach him. The next thing you know, he’s commiserating with you about how rotten all the traditional investments are. Then, ever so smoothly, he moves to the pitch: “Well there is one thing you can invest in, but it’s not for everybody….”

You may get sucked into the affinity fraud vortex, thinking that you’re getting this opportunity because your long-lost (and suspiciously missing from the year book) high school classmate is willing to let you in because he knows you. In fact, many victims of affinity frauds end up so certain that the con artist is legitimately helping them that they end up promoting the bogus “opportunity” to their own close friends and families.

“A con artist can take advantage of how easily people share background and personal information online by using this information to make a highly targeted pitch to friends within that social group,” said David Massey, North Carolina’s Deputy Securities Administrator and President of NASAA. “Just because someone has friended you online doesn’t mean that person is your friend when it comes to investing.”

What signs might tip you off that the investment is fraudulent?

• Lack of public information. If you’re offered an investment that’s not listed on a major stock exchange (anything that can’t be looked up on Yahoo Finance), insist on seeing the prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. If there isn’t one, walk away.
• Promises of high returns with little or no risk
• Sense of urgency. (”I can only leave this deal open for you until the end of the week”; “this opportunity won’t last”; “there are a limited number of shares”)
• Request for payment through e-currency web sites.
• Testimonials from “satisfied” investors
• Hard-to-verify information — i.e. “this investment is registered but it’s registered with securities regulators in Bermuda, rather than the U.S.”

For further signs of financial fraud and information on where to report it, check out NASAA’s alert here.

Kathy Kristof is the author of Investing 101

Read more: http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/blog/devil-details/facebook-fraud-beware-malicious-friends/5124/#ixzz1XiKcaxW0

911-2001 We will Never forget!

Is It Really Necessary To Logout of Web Sites?

By Lincoln Spector, PCWorld    Sep 1, 2011 7:50 AM

Keith Stanley wants to know if he should really logout of Web sites that require a login when he's done with them.

That depends on the site, and on the computer you're using.

There's not much danger if we're talking about your own computer. The chances of someone accessing your account via an active logon are pretty thin. And in cases where it might happen, it's probably because either your PC is already infected, or an untrustworthy person has physical access to it. Either way, you're already in trouble.

But I'm a cautious person, and I recommend others be cautious, as well. That's why I recommend logging out of financial and retail sites, where someone else's illegal access can have serious consequences. I don't bother loggin out of other sites.

You really don't want to stay logged onto a financial site indefinitely. If a criminal can get access to your bank account or credit card number, your life is going to become very unpleasant. Luckily, most financial sites will log you out automatically after a certain number of minutes of no activity.

Retail sites don't do that--probably because they have a financial incentive to make your purchases as easy as possible. Amazon.com doesn't even offer a clear logout option on their site. The trick is to click the Not your name link that you'll find in parentheses near the top of the page.

If you're using a public computer--say, in a library--or even an office computer that co-workers can access, the answer is simpler: Always log off of everything.

Contributing Editor Lincoln Spector writes about technology and cinema. Email your tech questions to him at answer@pcworld.com, or post them to a community of helpful folks on the PCW Answer Line forum. Follow Lincoln on Twitter.