Exploding Or Eroding Your Brand Via Social Networking

Social media savvy can come in handy while trying to market your business, brand, product, or service; however the Globe and Mail has compiled a list of anecdotal evidence and they've spoken with the "experts" who warn that the opposite can also be true. The truth of the matter is that exploiting social media is like a wild fire rather than a controlled burn, and just as you might hope the winds are in your favour, they'll sometimes turn on you and you'll get burned!

"...where potential returns come with risk, summarized in this warning from Della Smith, the principal of Q Workshops: With social media, “you can do a lot of brand damage very easily.”"

Check out Timothy Taylor's "Are Twitter and Facebook evil?" a short, but interesting read.

Jetman Yves Rossy Aborts Africa To Europe Flight

Yves Rossy, also known as Jetman or Fusionman by some, was forced to ditch in the Mediterranean Sea while attempting an intercontinental jetpack flight from Africa to Europe. The 23 mile flight would have been just 1 mile longer than his successful trek across the English Channel to France earlier this year. According to Gizmodo, Rossy will make another attempt sometime around New Years.

Check out this video, now this is a guy who is truly excited about his work!

Facebook Positioning For An IPO?

Facebook announced Tuesday that it was creating two classes of stocks for itself and converting all existing stock into so-called Class B shares with 10 voting units per share. Class A shares which could be sold at an initial public offering would represent 1 vote per share.

“We did introduce a dual-class stock structure because existing shareholders wanted to maintain control over voting on certain issues to help ensure the company can continue to focus on the long term to build a great business,” a Facebook spokesman, Larry Yu, said in an e-mailed statement. “This revision to the stock structure should not be construed as a signal the company is planning to go public.”

What this does is allows the company, via a public offering, to raise cash by selling the Class A shares on the open market while retaining a firm grip on things with it's Class B shares. While they may be denying that an IPO is in the works the signs are pointing in that direction.

Source: New York Times

Apple Smack Down Ads Continue...

With a plethora of smartphone choices in the marketplace Apple has taken to the air waves again in a show of oneupmanship with the holiday season in full swing. This time however, Apple has not been so bold as to name it's rival, perhaps that's because there are multiple targets? It'll be interesting to see how the competition reacts and who will fire the next volley? Will Google stick to it's "do no evil" motto or will Microsoft see this as an opportunity to shoot back for the I'm a Mac... I'm a PC ads in the wake of the recent iPhone security problems?

Apple iPhone Ad - Did You See My Email? from Arik Hesseldahl on Vimeo.

New iPhone Worm Targets Netherlands Users

A new worm detected that targets the iPhone is specifically directed at users in the Netherlands who use their device to do online banking with Dutch online bank ING Direct according to security company F-Secure.

"It's the second iPhone worm ever and the first that's clearly malicious - there's a clear financial motive behind it," F-Secure research director Mikko Hypponen told the BBC.

"It's fairly isolated and specific to Netherlands but it is capable of spreading."

The worm again attacks iPhones which have been "jail-broken" and have SSH (secure shell), a file-transfer program that enables users to remotely connect to their phones, installed.

I wonder how long it will be before we see Microsoft adds poking fun at iPhone's security? "I'm a Windows Mobile, and I'm a iPhone OS"