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Maemo 5 didn’t stand on its own for long before being mashed together with Intel’s Moblin, but Nokia’s N900 still stands as one of the best handhelds for web browsing. It’s hardly the world-beater that Nokia (may have) hoped it to be, but that’s not because the internals aren’t impressive. We’re guessing that only a handful of you made the effort to fork over wads of cash in order to pick an unlocked version up, but if you did, you no doubt have some opinions post-purchase. Is the display living up to your expectations? Are you and Maemo getting along alright? How’s that keyboard? We’re eager to know how you’d tweak the N900 if you had the keys to the design kingdom, and with MeeGo already being announced, we’re forbidding you from suggesting the obvious. Or you can, but we’ll be plugging our ears, closing our eyes and humming annoyingly.

Filed under: Cellphones

How would you change Nokia’s N900? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Mar 2010 22:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Geoff Livingston co-founded Zoetica to focus on cause-related work, and released an award-winning book on new media Now is Gone in 2007.

Addressing the very private nature of intimacy remains the most difficult aspect of sex-ed on the social web. While “Public Health 2.0″ is a top priority for related causes and organizations, it can be difficult to approach from a social media standpoint. Because it’s the most private and sensitive of issues, many people are embarrassed or offended by conversations about sex.

However, many organizations, from mass media outlets to cause-specific efforts, are still attempting to use social tools to address reproductive health issues. The difficulty in running a successful effort lies in navigating the troubled waters between an individual’s right to privacy and the public need for sex education online.

Finding the Balance Between Public Education and Privacy

A very provocative effort may raise some eyebrows, but at the same time fail to generate conversation. The issue may be too sensitive for most — except for a minority of outgoing, extroverted online citizens.

For example, Sex Really discusses violence towards women in dating situations. Sex Really takes the initiative on pointing out tough topics and assumes conversation will occur offline, though some folks do choose to interact with the Sex Really team online. The effort uses a variety of media from its own site, as well as a Twitter account.

The site takes a rightful strong stances against violence towards women, yet the public conversational results vary. That doesn’t mean the effort isn’t successful in educating readers.

“This campaign has made effective use of social content, messaging related to social behavior change, and content aggregation,” said Beth Kanter, author of the popular Beth’s Blog.  “It’s hard to tell why there isn’t more conversation on the site from the target group (e.g. comments on the podcast posts) — they do have an active Twitter stream.   They also have a link to [Planned Parenthood] where [users] can get private information or connect with a health counselor for advice.”

Another example of an open site that gets some decent participation (but still less than similar non sex-ed campaigns) is MTV’s GYT (Get Yourself Tested). Because the effort is tied into the popular TV show 16 and Pregnant, there are a lot of eyeballs landing there.

Integrating traditional media into a social web campaign is one way to incite conversations about getting tested for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). While educating themselves, participants not only sound off, but in some cases could win an opportunity to appear on the cable network — a great motivator to get people talking. There’s a GYT Facebook Group with 2,500 fans (which is comparatively low, considering other teen-oriented Pages get tens of thousands), and some decent online conversation.

Clearly, though, openness can actually act as a barrier to communication for such a sensitive issue.

Full disclosure: Beth is a business partner of mine.

Privacy Protections Can Drive More Participation

One organization committed to the sex ed space is ISIS, Inc., a non-profit organization based in Oakland, CA. They have had two very successful efforts: The Say What Contest and the inSpot notification service. ISIS efforts use technology to provide privacy guarantees first, then encourage the social conversation. By putting privacy at the forefront of what they do, ISIS is able to boost participation.

The Say What Contest uses incentives to get youth and young adults to talk. Specifically, the contest asked teens and twenty-somethings what the worst advice they got from their parents was. The goal was to highlight misnomers passed on from generation to generation. User stories are posted in podcast format.

“Youth used their own cell phones or landlines to call a private digital phone number and tell their stories,” said Deb Levine, Executive Director and Founder of ISIS. “Entrants’ phone numbers were stored in a data file that was password-protected and only available to contest sponsors in order to contact contest winners. We used a moderation feature for the widget such that we only included entrants who did not state their full name or location. No phone numbers were associated publicly with entries selected to be included in the widget.”

“The Say What campaign was a compelling contest that focused on the gold mine of good and bad sex advice teens have heard,” said Scotty Hendo, principal at CauseShift. “I liked how they used the telephone to capture stories directly from the teens. Plus, creating a widget helped spread the word and offer more people the chance to listen and rank contestants … [T]he campaign was a creative way to get teens to critically question what they’ve been told by their peers and adults.”

ISIS’s other project deals with an even greater social taboo. Many people experience great shame in finding out they have contracted an STD, and don’t want to admit it to their past and present partners. In an effort to stop the spread of STDs, the inSPOT network allows users to sign on to a private local community and send an anonymous e-Card to partners from a “concerned friend.”

“80% of senders choose to send their e-mails anonymously, and 80% of senders also choose to include a personal message,” said Levine. “The site has no backend database to collect information on sender e-mail addresses, recipient e-mail addresses, or personal messages. Currently, most users of inSPOT are using dynamic IP addresses which cannot be traced back to their computers or computer networks. We also use CAPTCHA to discourage spammers and bots from sending out multiple cards.”

The “Share it if You Like it” Approach

Making traditional media sharable on the web is another approach. While this strategy doesn’t break much ground in terms of social media, it hinges on creating content compelling enough that people will want to share it on their own networks using a service like AddThis or ShareThis.

Consider the original and critically acclaimed PBS TV program The Education of Shelby Knox, which discusses abstinence versus sex education in the deep South. The website assumes you will want to sound off about the show positively or negatively (and thus sex education) on your own social networks using the ShareThis service, or even go so far as to plan an event in your neighborhood.

“In terms of using a video with someone like Shelby, I do think it makes it much easier for people to discuss the issues because it’s not about ‘their kid’ — because no parent wants to believe their kid would be the one having sex in the school bathroom or whatever,” said Kivi Leroux Miller, president of Nonprofit Marketing Guide.com. “Making the conversation about Shelby and her friends allows people to share their opinions, fears, etc., while giving them some cover, since it’s not about them personally.”

Whether or not that cover translates into real social media discussion of sex education is another story. However, the site is still getting comments years after the show’s original air date.

More social media resources from Mashable:

- 3 Ways Educators Are Embracing Social Technology

- How Twitter in the Classroom is Boosting Student Engagement

- HOW TO: Prepare for Disasters Using Social Media

- How Companies Are Using Your Social Media Data

- The Science of Building Trust With Social Media

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, LaurenSimmons

Reviews: AddThis, Twitter, iStockphoto

Tags: education, facebook, List, Lists, non-profit, sex, sex ed, social good, teens, twitter

Greg Rollett runs a music marketing company from his laptop in Orlando, FL. He is an advocate of the New Music Economy and very hopeful that artists can still live the rock star lifestyle in the digital age. Connect with Greg on Twitter, @g_ro.

Today’s musicians, both mainstream and indie, are using social media to connect with fans, build anticipation, and generate revenue in new and unique ways. The products range from singles to mix tapes to digital six-packs, even oddly shaped USB sticks, vinyl, and the occasional traditional album.

But how are these artists reaching their new fan bases online through social channels? Much like the business world, social media promotion for musicians is still a very new game, with no exact recipe for platinum success.

There are however, some innovations being put forth, and a new connection is being formed between artists and fans — a connection that empowers both to give each other what they are looking for.

Fan-Funded Projects

We have all heard about the success of micro lending organizations like Kiva, which use multiple small payments to contribute to a larger goal. The same process is being applied to creating an album or a music-based project.

One such project is the Washington D.C.-based indie hip-hop group Panacea. The producer/MC duo listed their project on Kickstater, a funding platform for artists, designers, filmmakers, musicians, journalists, inventors, explorers, and others.

The project was posted on the morning of February 26th. According to Jeremy Calvery, the group’s Director of Digital Media and Promotion, “We were at $1,000 before the end of the first day. We had to increase the number of $200 packages from three to five over the weekend because people were e-mailing and literally begging for the chance to ‘buy’ the whole back catalog. Less than five full days from the first e-mail to the list, we had reached the funding goal of $3,800, which was set to be just a bit more than what the minimum press of 250 vinyl copies was going to cost.”

Another hip-hop outfit, the Get Busy Committee, also launched a project on Kickstarter. In their drive to raise $3,218, they included one premium pledge level at $1,000 — an investment that netted the donor a song about him or herself to be included on the record, as well as a platinum plaque. They sold this spot within 24 hours.

Using Video to Create Buzz

Another approach musicians are taking is the use of web video series. Indie pop artist Mike Posner has been telling his story over the course of a video series titled “One Foot Out The Door.” Daniel Weisman, Mike’s manager, stated that he was attempting to create an income stream for Mike while he was finishing college and working on his debut album.

Daniel and his management company Elitaste were approached by the shoe company Puma about integrated artist campaigns. Puma ended up sponsoring Mike’s last semester in college, and provided a camera crew to follow him from classes, to the studio, to shows all over the country.

Daniel wanted to do something special for the Mashable readers when I reached out to him, so fresh off the upload, here is the premier of Episode #10 of “One Foot Out The Door.”

Live streaming has also been worthwhile for big announcements. Underground artists the Kottonmouth Kings turned to Ustream to tell their fans all about their new album and when they could expect it in local stores.

The video was watched live and formatted like a press conference, with fans getting the chance to ask questions and share their feedback. It was a smart way to bring their fans into the experience and give back to the community that has supported them for 10+ years.

Creativity From the Fans

Rob And Kal are a pop/rock act from the UK who are taking fans inside their studio and the music creation process. They call it Mubla 2.0, which Rob defined as “our interactive recording project where we come up with song ideas and you help us develop them with your comments, suggestions and musicianship.”

So far they have five songs in progress with fans like Adam saying, “I just feel the intro has a little too much going on and 2.33 to 2.56 I almost want the piano to play and pull at the heart strings.” Another commenter named Russell gave tips like, “Think drums and a bit more of heavier guitar would go down nicely particularly near end.”

This concept empowers fans and gives them a product they feel responsible for and connected to. The project can only strengthen the bond between fans and artists, and result in an easier sale when the time comes to release an album.

Reaching Out to Non-Music Bloggers

Glasses Malone, a new artist signed with Cash Money Records, is turning to bloggers to get the word out about his new album “Beach Cruiser.” What makes his campaign unique is that unlike traditional artists who look to get their tracks on highly trafficked MP3 blogs and review sites, Glasses and his team are focused on adding value to bloggers whose primary focus is not on music.

A marketing rep for Glasses told me, “These bloggers are more open to running contests and integrated campaigns than traditional music bloggers because they are not accustomed to being pitched by a major label artist. We have found blogs that love unique and fresh content that will separate them from their peers and competition, and it is working out very well for us so far.”

Armed with a research team, they have been targeting biking blogs, college blogs, beach lifestyle sites and more, all with the hope of driving new traffic to Glasses’ site and generating some pre-album buzz.

Conclusion

No matter what the labels and corporations are doing, musicians are taking it upon themselves to use social channels to connect with fans, offer value, and create relationship. This has ultimately led to new business models and revenue streams from sponsorships, touring and live appearances, custom products, and social monetization through advertising.

What are your expectations from artists in today’s music industry? What other unique social media promotions have you seen from your favorite musicians? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

More social media resources from Mashable:

- How The Roxy Became the #1 Venue on Twitter [INTERVIEW]

- 8 Great Spotify Hints, Tips and Tricks

- The Science of Building Trust With Social Media

- How Companies Are Using Your Social Media Data

- How Twitter in the Classroom is Boosting Student Engagement

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, karimhesham

Reviews: Mashable, iStockphoto

Tags: bands, BLOGS, music, record labels, social media, trending, ustream, video, Vimeo, web video, web video series

Continue reading HDI headquarters walkthrough: details galore on the new face of in-home 3D

HDI headquarters walkthrough: details galore on the new face of in-home 3D originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Look out, OnLive — you’ve got company. InstantAction is having their coming out party at GDC, and we stopped by for a lengthy chat about the technology, its future and the hopes / dreams of the company. Put simply (or as simply as possible), IA has developed a browser-based plug-in that allows full games to be played on any web browser so long as said browser is on a machine capable of handling the game. In other words, you’ll still need a beast of a machine to play games like Crysis, but the fact that you can play them on a web browser opens up a new world of possibilities for casual gamers and independent developers. You’ll also be notified before your download starts if your machine and / or OS can handle things, with recommendations given on what it would take to make your system capable.

Oh, and speaking of operating systems — games will only be played back if they’re supported on a given OS, so you won’t be able to play a Windows only title within a browser on OS X or Linux. Rather than taking the typical streaming approach, these guys are highlighting “chunking.” In essence, a fraction of the game’s total file size has to be downloaded locally onto your machine, and once that occurs, you can begin playing. As an example, we were playing The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition — which is the sole title announced for the platform so far, though Assassin’s Creed was demoed — within minutes, and since you’re curious, that’s a 2.5GB game, and we were on a connection that wasn’t much faster than a typical broadband line.

More after the break…

Continue reading InstantAction streams full games to any web browser, gives indie developers a business model (video)

InstantAction streams full games to any web browser, gives indie developers a business model (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Mar 2010 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Darkworks introduced its TriOviz for Games SDK yesterday during GDC, and while TriOviz technology has been around for years in Hollywood, it wasn’t until today that this same technology debuted for console and PC titles. Essentially, this software wrapper enables standard 2D video games to be viewed in 3D on a traditional 2D display, and we were able to sneak an exclusive look at the technology today at the company’s meeting room. We were shown a European version of Batman: Arkham Asylum on Microsoft’s Xbox 360, and we were given a set of specialized glasses (which were passive, unlike NVIDIA’s active-shutter 3D Vision specs) in order to enjoy the effect. So, how was it? In a word or two, not bad. It obviously wasn’t perfect, but you have to realize just how cheap of a solution this is for the consumer to implement. All that’s required is a set of special glasses, but given that these can be distributed in paper-frames form, you could easily find a set for a couple of bucks (at most), if not bundled in for free with future games. Users won’t need to purchase any additional hardware whatsoever, and what they’ll get is a deeper, more immersive image in return.

We could very clearly see the 3D effect, and even though it was subtle, it definitely enhanced our experience. We noticed a minor bit of blurring and ghosting during just a few scenes, but when you consider that this doesn’t actually change the underlying code in existing 2D games (that’s the cue for developers to breathe a sigh of relief), we didn’t feel that these minor quirks were unreasonable. The other interesting aspect is just how clear the image remained for onlookers that didn’t have 3D glasses on; we noticed slight image doubling at specific points, but it’s not something we simply couldn’t look at without acquiring a headache.

More after the break…

Continue reading Darkworks shows off TriOviz for Games 2D-to-3D SDK, we get a good look

Darkworks shows off TriOviz for Games 2D-to-3D SDK, we get a good look originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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