The tale of the lost iPhone prototype has taken a dramatic turn, one that could determine not only whether charges are filed, but also whether or not bloggers should be treated as journalists under the law.

In class we discussed the event, in which an iPhone prototype was "found in a bar" and sold to gadget blog Gizmodo. It was later disclosed that Gizmodo's parent company, Gawker Media, paid $5,000 for the phone, which led to a controversy of whether or not Gawker violated the law by purchasing "stolen property."

Last Friday, police raided the California home of Gizmodo editor Jason Chen, seizing his computers in order to determine if a crime was committed. Gawker is claiming injustice, because legally under shield law, it is illegal for police to confiscate the evidence and property of a journalist.

This case could potentially change the future of reporting on blogs, and makes me quite skeptical that Apple had anything to do with the iPhone leak.

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This is an interesting article that provide you 4 specific takeaways from corporate branding. Each point, the article gives you a prospective from both corporate branding and personal branding.

As talked about today in class, Google Voice is intended to make it easier to manage phone calls, text messages, and voice mails. This ingenious application will allow users to route multiple phones together to ring simultaneously as well as manage voice mails easier. Voice Mail is a pain, you have to call it, then type in your password, and listen to the boring voice repeat choices over and over again. Now you will be able to access voice mails on any phones and easily delete them or save them in one location.

Websites like facebook and youtube are key tools to the development of marketing and business strategy. They have changed the way businesses market, and the way that consumers are perceiving advertisements. These websites not only allow companies to get their word out, and fast, but also it allows them to do it very cost effectively. This is especially true for these sites, which cost little to nothing to have content up...

We have all been exposed to the ways of social media and most of us have witnessed the expansion of the simple concept of maintaining a friendship online to the change in use of it for means of marketing. This carried with it the change in approach, as we find social networks accessible via nearly every type of informatic device. A mobile application for facebook is nothing new, yet windows took it a step further with the launch of their new phone the "Kin", specifically designed for users who are heavy users of social networking. They actually got someone to check out all their facebook friends and film their experiences, the marketing concept behind the launch of this phone is quite interesting.

Check this video for the ad and this for a description of the phone

Facebook is moving towards being the center of the social web by allowing companies to advertise even more with unique apps and features on their websites. People will be able to log in to facebook through their websites and when using options on the website millions can learn what song their friends were just listening to, what clothes they like online, what people are buying, the options are endless. Many marketeres look forward to this new opportunity to advertisement more specifically and to target groups. Their ads will be specially modified towards the users profile information and what they "like" online. However, many users are concerned with the amount of privacy they'll be able to have. Some don't wish to have everything they do online broadcast to the world wide web. Facebook anticipated this fear and made a 5 minute video teaching users how to turn off and opt out of this new sharing method and preserve their privacy.

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This is an interesting little slide show about banner ads and interactivity. It has some good pointers for why digital ads are more successful for getting people to interact with the ad, which then turns into a better association with the brand (people remember brands more that they have interacted with). It also has some examples of the best banner ads.

To see the slide show, click here.

This article primarily deals with facebook users' ignorance towards the advertisements that are targeted at them. It evaluates why users ignore advertisements in the first place and what would be ideal in garnering their attention in a positive light. People must have interest in an ad to even consider it, and so companies must do their very best job to target the optimal market at an optimal time. This requires a great deal of time and research, however, without it, advertisements will be rendered useless.


read this to learn more! :-)

The DNC and RNC are slugging it out in cyberspace and since the 2008 election proved the web as a viable campaign tool, both parties reach out extensively to voters online. The RNC is now charging political collusion in the case of the DNC bidding on the search terms "Goldman Sachs" and "SEC" and displaying a Google Adwords advertisement linking to a DNC website. Google has confirmed the Adwords bids were placed 3 hours after the SEC report came out and refutes RNC claims that the DNC had prior knowledge of events that it used for an online marketing advantage.


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