http://mashable.com/2010/02/12/facebook-twitter-buzz-gmail/

http://mashable.com/2010/02/12/facebook-twitter-buzz-gmail/

Yahoo Talks Search Strategy and the Microsoft Deal

Yahoo is revealing its new plans for search here at an event it has dubbed “Yahoo! SearchSpeak,” occurring now at Yahoo’s headquarters in Sunnyvale.

While the world’s second-largest search engine is slated to be sucked up by the Microsoft mothership later this year, the team hasn’t stopped developing new features for its product.

On stage, SVP of Search Products Shashi Seth began to discuss Yahoo’s history of search and “misconceptions” of the Yahoo-Bing (Bing) deal, and still went on about the subject even after the power went out throughout the Yahoo building.

Specifically, Mr. Seth spoke about keeping users engaged with Yahoo search until the Bing deal came through (if it is approved, he specifically added).

Here’s some of what of the Yahoo team spoke about:

Now You Can IM Your Facebook Friends With AIM

Facebook and AOL Instant Messenger have made a deal: Now you can send IMs to your Facebook friends using the new AIM beta client for Mac or Windows.

It was already possible to merge AIM’s Lifestream with Facebook’s News Feed — and with Twitter (Twitter), too. But Facebook’s IM network has always been a bit unfriendly to outside connections. The Mac desktop app Adium (Adium) supports Facebook (Facebook), but with frequent disconnections and other issues.

Web IM app Meebo (Meebo) has had an on-again, off-again relationship with the social network. It was one of the first to support Facebook, but when Facebook Connect went live, the network asked Meebo to rework its IM network connections around that new framework. The result was a Facebook outage on Meebo. The issue has since been rectified.

AIM (aim) uses Facebook Connect to integrate with Facebook IM, too. When you load up the beta for the first time, you’ll see an option just above your contacts to connect with Facebook. Do that and all your Facebook friends will appear in your AIM contact list. You can chat with them just like you can with your AIM buddies. We tried it, and it seemed to work well.
It’s Neat, But…

We’d still like to see Facebook’s IM network open up completely to third-party applications without any workarounds or hoops to jump through.

We just spoke about Google Buzz’s lack of support for Facebook, and this is the same sort of issue. Whether we’re talking about instant message networks or web-based social networks, there are too many islands out there and it’s not easy enough to sail between them. The AIM/Facebook deal is an exciting one. We just wish it wasn’t necessary to begin with.

Update: Shortly after we published, Facebook appears to have granted us our wish. The company announced on their blog that they’re opening up Chat to all IM clients.

Google Getting Into the ISP Business With Ultra High-Speed Network

Could Google be your next ISP? Maybe. The company has just announced a trial of its own high-speed network that it plans to offer to “at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people.”

Google says it will be capable of delivering speeds more than 100x faster than typical U.S. Internet connections with up to one gigabit per second. It will do so at a “competitive” price.

The next step in getting this potentially massive project off the ground appears to be teaming up with local governments – Google has launched this website and intros “Google Fiber for Communities” in the video below:

Why is Google getting into the ISP business? Here’s the explanation:

“Next generation apps: We want to see what developers and users can do with ultra high-speeds, whether it’s creating new bandwidth-intensive ‘killer apps’ and services, or other uses we can’t yet imagine.

New deployment techniques: We’ll test new ways to build fiber networks, and to help inform and support deployments elsewhere, we’ll share key lessons learned with the world.

Openness and choice: We’ll operate an ‘open access’ network, giving users the choice of multiple service providers. And consistent with our past advocacy, we’ll manage our network in an open, non-discriminatory and transparent way.”

Although it sounds like we’re still some time away from seeing Google’s fiber service available on a massive scale, this could represent a massive shift in the Internet ecosystem. Keep in mind that Google has also recently launched its own Public DNS service, as well as an alternative to HTTP that it calls SPDY. The company clearly thinks it can build a better Internet than the one we have today.

If it’s successful, Google (Google) will not only know what we do on its plethora of services, but also just about everything else we do on the web (especially if Google becomes our ISP). Now, perhaps more than ever, the question of whether or not that’s too much power for one company to have is at the forefront.

Update: Google tells us they “honestly have no plans to build a nationwide network” and offered us this statement: “our goal is to develop a trial network in one or more communities that reaches at least 50,000 people, which will enable experimentation to help make the Internet better and faster.”

9 Careers on the Way Out

Some careers have simply faded away over the past 10 years. In most cases, advances in technology eliminated the need for certain jobs. Americans are also more focused on conservation. Here are a few jobs that are being phased out; hopefully your career isn't on this list!

fired3.jpg

1. Bank Tellers

While the need for banking services has increased, services traditionally performed by tellers (receiving and dispensing cash, depositing money, etc.) is now performed electronically. The use of ATMs and online banking continues to increase. Tellers are only needed for complex transactions.


2. File Clerks

Even the most paper intensive organizations have decreased their use of paper files. Imaging, electronic forms and careful attention to process efficiency reduced the need to maintain paper files. One of the biggest threats to the file clerk occupation is the push toward environmental sustainability (preserving trees by using less paper). The new "file clerk" is a Database Report Writer who knows how to run database queries.

3. Telephone Operators

Even the smallest company can now use sophisticated telephone systems that allow callers to select their own options for needed information. Callers simply listen to pre-recorded telephone directory names and select the person they want to talk to. Voicemail, email and even texting have become preferred forms of communication in addition to traditional telephone conversations.

4. Data Entry Clerks

There is no doubt the amount of data generated over the past decade has swelled. But it was all electronic to begin with, so there's no need to hire a person to copy it from other sources. The ability to integrate systems and make various systems exchange date automatically also reduced the need to for a person to translate or manipulate data.

5. Mail Clerks

Yes, there is still plenty of mail, only it's electronic, so the need for people to sort and distribute paper mail has decreased. Also, bar code readers sort mail and pre-printed postage eliminates the need for weighing and applying postage stickers. Today's mail clerks have new tools to allow more work to be done with fewer people. (Not all careers are ho-hum. These 10 have a very high percentage of happy employees.

6. Photo Processors

With the prevalence of digital photography, the need for photo processing has greatly diminished. Even people who still choose to print their photos use self-service kiosks. Photo processors who used to run machines in retail stores, as well as in processing centers, are becoming obsolete.

7. Travel Agents

The internet now makes it possible for the public to schedule their own trips. While there are still many travel agents, incentives once offered by airlines, hotels and car rental companies make the occupation less profitable. Today's travel agents often book long or complicated trips, while the weekend getaway or quick business travel is scheduled individually online.

8. Watch Salesperson

Who needs a watch when your cell phone tells you what time it is 24/7? Everything around you shows the time - most electronic devices have a clock. Even billboards show the current time. Watches and watch salespersons are becoming a thing of the past.

9. Video Store Clerk

Remember the video store? Clerks collected returned video tapes and checked them in. They used to stick the tapes in a re-winder then pluck them back in their cases. Even DVDs are being upstaged by online movie viewing and cable companies with user-selected movies. You can now even watch movies on your video game console. Traditional video stores are going away, and so is the need for workers.

The Bottom Line

The past decade ushered in job market changes that closed out old careers and started new ones. In many cases, the processes performed in old jobs were replaced technology, but in some cases, the processes simply went away. One thing is for sure, there will always be change. The unemployment rate may be high, but that doesn't mean you need to sit on the sidelines.

3 Financial Dangers of Social Media

3 Financial Dangers of Social Media
by Claes Bell
Thursday, January 28, 2010provided byBankrate

Anyone who doubts the power of social media to affect finances need look no further than the example of Kansas City Chiefs football player Larry Johnson.

The all-pro running back cost himself $213,000, and ultimately a job, by posting anti-gay slurs on the micro-blogging service Twitter -- in 140 characters or less, of course.

More from Bankrate.com:

• 5 Innovative Job Search Strategies

• Using Twitter Can Save You Cash

• Auto Insurance Rates Collide With Credit

Career trouble is just one way a badly managed social media presence can hit your pocketbook. Following are three areas where social media could damage your financial life, and how to avoid such pitfalls.

Employment

Andy Beal, CEO of the social media monitoring platform Trackur.com, says jobseekers should assume potential employers will do a Google search of candidates' names. Social media profiles typically appear near the top of the search page.

If you have questionable pictures or posts on a public profile, take them down or make the profile private to avoid trouble.

Also, steer clear of negative talk about a prospective employer on any social media platform, Beal says. Many companies monitor mentions of their brand throughout the Web, he says.

Popular Stories on Yahoo!:

• What's Lacking From Apple's iPad

• 4 Annoying Habits People Do at Work

• 7 Ways to Save Money on Taxes
More From Yahoo! Finance

He cites the case of a Twitter user who posted about a new job offer from Cisco, but expressed doubt about "the daily commute" and "hating the work." A Cisco employee noticed the tweet and demanded to know the name of the user's hiring manager.

Even employees who think their jobs are safe can sabotage themselves by being too honest online about their personal lives, or by posting feelings regarding a boss, client, co-worker or company for whom they work.

"We've seen a lot of cases of people publishing status updates that have gotten them in trouble," says Justin Smith, founder and editor in chief of Inside Facebook. "People have said things that have caused problems with their boss because of what they said about their work or because they've shared some other kind of private information about work online."

Caroline McCarthy, a staff writer at CNET News, says the best defense against such mistakes is to use plain old common sense. Remember, anything that appears on the Web is just a screenshot away from spreading quickly, despite the best efforts of social media users to keep it private.

Debt Collection

Social media has become a key tool for collection agencies trying to track down debtors, says Michelle Dunn, CEO of the American Credit and Collections Association and author of "Do's and Don'ts of Online Collections Techniques."

"If they don't have a good phone number or the mail's being returned, a lot of them use Facebook to find out if they have a different address or their employment information," Dunn says.

Many bill collectors who think they've found a debtor on a social media site will keep an eye on that individual's online presence, Dunn says.

pullquote.jpg

"They don't necessarily have to post anything to them; they just watch what that person is posting," she says.

Setting a social media profile to allow anyone -- not just friends -- to look at postings can make your profile a particularly rich source of information, she says.

"People post things about if they've gotten a new home or a new vehicle," Dunn says. "People just post such private things about their lives, and the whole world is watching."

Privacy laws should preclude a collections professional from contacting and humiliating you on your social media page, Dunn says. However, some debt collectors violate those legal and ethical boundaries and assume false identities as a means of getting information, she says.

Scams

Social media sites ask for, and often get, a large amount of personal information from users. Unfortunately, identity thieves may use that information to perpetuate scams, especially if you use personal information when creating security passwords, McCarthy says.

"If you have a public Facebook profile that gives your birth date and your parents' names and that kind of thing, they can provide the answers to security questions that your bank might have on its Web site," she says.

Even if your profile is private, identity thieves may find other ways to get your information, Beal says.

"We see spammers, we see hackers, we see people trying to sell products using fictitious profiles," he says. "There was a study done a few years ago where one group created a specific fictitious profile and the number of people that accepted their friend request ... was pretty high."

For this reason, be careful about adding social networking "friends" you don't know in real life, says Beal.

"Social networking is not a popularity contest," says Beal. "I don't add anyone to Facebook or LinkedIn unless I know them."

And remember, just because a social media site asks for information doesn't mean you have to give it, Beal says.

Finally, McCarthy recommends never sending money to someone who asks for it over a social media service. Smith says that there have been reports of scammers hijacking accounts and posing as friends.

Samsung takes top spot from HP

Samsung Electronics has overtaken Hewlett-Packard as the world's biggest technology company by sales, a sign of how strongly some South Korean companies have bounced back from the economic downturn.

Samsung on Friday reported 2009 sales of $117.8 billion which exceeded HP's sales of $114.6 billion for the year to October 31. It is expected to surpass its U.S. rival again this year -- its 2010 sales are forecast at $127 billion, compared with $120 billion from HP.

The company, which also announced a return to operational profit in the fourth quarter, was once dismissed as a copy-cat manufacturer and poor cousin to its Japanese rivals.

But Samsung surprised many when its market capitalization overtook Sony's in 2002. This year analysts forecast that Samsung's net profit will surpass that of the leading 15 Japanese technology companies combined in the fiscal year to March 2011, according to Bloomberg data.

Samsung is the world's leading maker of memory chips and liquid crystal displays. It is second only to Nokia in mobile handsets. Some 48 per cent of the company's equity is held by foreign investors.

The presence in Korea of the world's biggest technology company is a boon to Lee Myung-bak, the country's president, who is using Seoul's presidency of the G20 leading economies this year to elevate South Korea's international standing.

But Samsung's revenues are not matched by a similar growth in profits. "Compare it with Apple. There is still a gap in profit margins of their phone businesses," said Jae Lee, of Daiwa Securities.

Samsung's size is also a headache for management, as many competitors are also clients. Management battles to balance the interests of its chipmakers against the mobile phone unit, with the company supplying the chips for Apple's iPhone, while marketing its own devices at the same time.

Samsung's chipmakers are unlikely to give any preferential treatment to its own phonemakers over Nokia or Apple.

Samsung's transformation has been rapid and even late into the 1990s Samsung found it hard to penetrate the U.S. market with consumer electronics, getting short shrift from U.S. retailers such as Circuit City.

The company's then chairman, Lee Kun-hee, launched a drive for innovation and quality in 1993, famously exhorting his workers to "change everything except their wives and kids".

Lee this month warned that the company cannot rest on its laurels, despite its huge sales.

Samsung has consistently struggled to be creative and is still looking to lead the industry by developing its own "killer products" rather than playing catch up with competitors.

Lee resigned the chairmanship in 2008 amid a scandal, but has said he could consider returning, after receiving a presidential pardon last year.

Samsung is not the only South Korean company to climb the sales rankings during the downturn. Hyundai-Kia, long the world's sixth-biggest carmaker, has emerged as number four, having proved adept at reading the U.S. market.