Representational image (Reuters)

As other passengers began to cry and pray, Welch strapped on his oxygen mask and pondered his fate.

"I understood that I might be going to meet God," Welch, 34, recalled. He thought, "If this is my time, this is my time."

Faced with his own mortality, he could have closed his eyes in quiet reflection. Instead, Welch, a sports photographer, responded in a distinctly 2014 manner: He reached for his Samsung Galaxy Note 3 smartphone, thrust it into the murky air and pressed the "record" button. He even found the presence of mind to record a smiling selfie.

Never mind that the plane landed safely soon after, making the mechanical failure a relative nonevent. The pulse-quickening, you-are-there footage captured by Welch and other passengers helped propel the story to national news. Welch's two brief videos, meanwhile, went viral; one attracted more than 1 million views.

It is no longer enough to record seemingly every last moment of life with your smartphone, it seems. Near-death is fair game, too.

Thanks to the Personal Video Industrial Complex - tens of millions of video-enabled smartphones, feeding countless hours daily to video-sharing behemoths - rock concerts, presidential inaugurations, fourth-grade school plays and even midair near-disasters can all be considered "content" now, inspiring us all to tap our inner Edward R. Murrow and record the event for posterity.

But even as public gatherings, from the world-historical to the intimate, evolve into a sea of glowing blue screens, a backlash has started to take root. An improbable assortment of critics - mindfulness gurus, twee indie rockers, even, seemingly, Pope Francis - have started to implore these armchair videographers to drop their phones and actually start living again.

To live the moment or record the moment? It's become a defining dilemma of the iPhone age.

"Is it more important that we actually live these experiences than obsessively record and upload them to the cloud?" asked William Powers, a research scientist at the MIT Media Lab and author of "Hamlet's BlackBerry: Building a Good Life in the Digital Age." "Absolutely. Will most people therefore learn to be more in-the-moment and swear off excessive pictures and videos? I doubt it."

The rest is here:

Your Time Could Be Up. Is It a Good Time to Upload?

Eagan, MN (PRWEB) September 28, 2014

Today SelectAccount, a leading provider of health savings accounts, introduced its new e-Vault. A powerful electronic document management system where health care receipts can be uploaded, stored and organized all in one place. But the e-Vault goes beyond a simple storage system. It delivers peace of mind as account holders build their medical savings balance to cover future health care expenses. Users can easily track unreimbursed expenditures and know the amount available for tax-free withdrawal at a later date.

The e-Vault eliminates fading receipts tucked into desk drawers, file cabinets or shoe boxes and organizes them so they can be located easily in the future. Account holders can quickly sort by date, tax year, name or amount, according to Nicole Stretar, SelectAccount Vice President of Product Development and Information Technology. Whats even more exciting is account holders can track the dollar value of unreimbursed medical, dental and vision receipts that they have chosen to pay for out of pocket while they are working and then withdraw tax-free in retirement.

In addition to the option to store receipts, account holders can easily upload receipts to submit a new claim or to match with a previous paid claim. Simply take a photo with a smart phone or upload a scanned document from a computer, enter some prompted information to help store and process the document and hit submit. The e-Vault will display the uploaded documents, the action taken or action available to take in the future. Users can upload as many documents as they like and safely store them for as long as needed.

About SelectAccount

SelectAccount has been driving innovation in medical savings administration for over 25 years. They offer a full suite of tax-advantaged solutions - HSA, HRA, FSA, VEBA, transportation and dependent care accounts to meet clients changing needs as they plan for their health care expenditures. They are one of the leading medical savings administrators in the country managing more than half a billion dollars in consumer medical account savings assets integrated with numerous partner data exchange connections, serving 7,000 employers with account holders in all 50 states. MII Life, Inc., d.b.a. SelectAccount has been approved by the U.S. Department of Treasury as a non-bank HSA Trustee. SelectAccount is headquartered in Eagan, Minnesota with an office located in Chicago, Illinois. Visit http://www.SelectAccount.com to learn more.

Here is the original post:

SelectAccount Launches e-Vault, a Powerful Electronic Document Management System

'Now I'm the 'JetBlue selfie guy': Scott Welch's selfie went viral on YouTube. Photo: YouTube

JetBlue Flight 1416 was just minutes into its trip from Long Beach, California, to Austin, Texas, on September 18 when Scott Welch, a passenger in Seat 5A, heard a suspicious pop. Moments later, smoke began to fill the cabin, clogging the air to the point that he could see only a few rows in front of him, he said. The starboard engine of the Airbus A320, he soon learned, had blown.

As other passengers began to cry and pray, Welch strapped on his oxygen mask and pondered his fate.

"I understood that I might be going to meet God," Welch, 34, recalled. He thought, "If this is my time, this is my time."

When his plane cabin filled with smoke, Scott Welch quickly pulled out his phone. Photo: YouTube

Faced with his own mortality, he could have closed his eyes in quiet reflection. Instead, Welch, a sports photographer, responded in a distinctly 2014 manner: He reached for his Samsung Galaxy Note 3 smartphone, thrust it into the murky air and pressed the "record" button. He even found the presence of mind to record a smiling selfie.

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Never mind that the plane landed safely soon after, making the mechanical failure a relative nonevent. The pulse-quickening, you-are-there footage captured by Welch and other passengers helped propel the story to national news. Welch's two brief videos, meanwhile, went viral; one attracted more than 1 million views.

It is no longer enough to record seemingly every last moment of life with your smartphone, it seems. Near-death is fair game, too.

Thanks to the Personal Video Industrial Complex - tens of millions of video-enabled smartphones, feeding countless hours daily to video-sharing behemoths - rock concerts, presidential inaugurations, fourth-grade school plays and even midair near-disasters can all be considered "content" now, inspiring us all to tap our inner Edward R. Murrow and record the event for posterity.

Read the original post:

Near death? Take a photo

'Now I'm the 'JetBlue selfie guy': Scott Welch's selfie went viral on YouTube. Photo: YouTube

JetBlue Flight 1416 was just minutes into its trip from Long Beach, California, to Austin, Texas, on September 18 when Scott Welch, a passenger in Seat 5A, heard a suspicious pop. Moments later, smoke began to fill the cabin, clogging the air to the point that he could see only a few rows in front of him, he said. The starboard engine of the Airbus A320, he soon learned, had blown.

As other passengers began to cry and pray, Welch strapped on his oxygen mask and pondered his fate.

"I understood that I might be going to meet God," Welch, 34, recalled. He thought, "If this is my time, this is my time."

When his plane cabin filled with smoke, Scott Welch quickly pulled out his phone. Photo: YouTube

Faced with his own mortality, he could have closed his eyes in quiet reflection. Instead, Welch, a sports photographer, responded in a distinctly 2014 manner: He reached for his Samsung Galaxy Note 3 smartphone, thrust it into the murky air and pressed the "record" button. He even found the presence of mind to record a smiling selfie.

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Never mind that the plane landed safely soon after, making the mechanical failure a relative nonevent. The pulse-quickening, you-are-there footage captured by Welch and other passengers helped propel the story to national news. Welch's two brief videos, meanwhile, went viral; one attracted more than 1 million views.

It is no longer enough to record seemingly every last moment of life with your smartphone, it seems. Near-death is fair game, too.

Thanks to the Personal Video Industrial Complex - tens of millions of video-enabled smartphones, feeding countless hours daily to video-sharing behemoths - rock concerts, presidential inaugurations, fourth-grade school plays and even midair near-disasters can all be considered "content" now, inspiring us all to tap our inner Edward R. Murrow and record the event for posterity.

Read more from the original source:

A defining question in an iPhone age: live for the moment or record it?

Amazon recently premiered its new dramedy Transparent. The massive retailer is banking on its original TV content to rope in new customers. Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Amazon Studios hide caption

Amazon recently premiered its new dramedy Transparent. The massive retailer is banking on its original TV content to rope in new customers.

Amazon is betting that binge-watching will lead to more online buying. On Friday, the company put up all 10 episodes of a highly anticipated series called Transparent, a show about a transgender parent coming out to her children just one of a spate of original movies and TV shows coming out this year.

Though the online shopping giant has a history of mediocre self-produced programming, this time it's bringing in some big name talent and putting a lot more financial muscle behind its efforts. This push is part of a much bigger plan by Amazon that includes original video games and books.

Roy Price, the head of Amazon Studios, says getting arts and entertainment to its customers is in Amazon's DNA.

"We sell a wide variety of products, but we do have our origin in books and movies and music and stories," Price says.

So in 2011, the company made access to a streaming video service part of Amazon Prime, the retailer's premium service. Prime was initially set up to provide free two-day delivery for an annual fee. Price says adding exclusive content is a way to make Prime more appealing.

"It adds special value to the service to have something completely unique and original that was developed with that customer group in mind," he says.

And with the idea in mind of bringing in a lot of new customers as well, says Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter. He says it's about a lot more than getting them to watch TV.

"Amazon concluded a few years ago that if you give people only free shipping they're less likely to sign up than if you give them free shipping plus free media," Pachter says.

Continue reading here:

Amazon's Original Content Primes The Pump For Bigger Sales

'Now I'm the 'JetBlue selfie guy': Scott Welch's selfie went viral on YouTube. Photo: YouTube

JetBlue Flight 1416 was just minutes into its trip from Long Beach, California, to Austin, Texas, on September 18 when Scott Welch, a passenger in Seat 5A, heard a suspicious pop. Moments later, smoke began to fill the cabin, clogging the air to the point that he could see only a few rows in front of him, he said. The starboard engine of the Airbus A320, he soon learned, had blown.

As other passengers began to cry and pray, Welch strapped on his oxygen mask and pondered his fate.

"I understood that I might be going to meet God," Welch, 34, recalled. He thought, "If this is my time, this is my time."

When his plane cabin filled with smoke, Scott Welch quickly pulled out his phone. Photo: YouTube

Faced with his own mortality, he could have closed his eyes in quiet reflection. Instead, Welch, a sports photographer, responded in a distinctly 2014 manner: He reached for his Samsung Galaxy Note 3 smartphone, thrust it into the murky air and pressed the "record" button. He even found the presence of mind to record a smiling selfie.

Advertisement

Never mind that the plane landed safely soon after, making the mechanical failure a relative nonevent. The pulse-quickening, you-are-there footage captured by Welch and other passengers helped propel the story to national news. Welch's two brief videos, meanwhile, went viral; one attracted more than 1 million views.

It is no longer enough to record seemingly every last moment of life with your smartphone, it seems. Near-death is fair game, too.

Thanks to the Personal Video Industrial Complex - tens of millions of video-enabled smartphones, feeding countless hours daily to video-sharing behemoths - rock concerts, presidential inaugurations, fourth-grade school plays and even midair near-disasters can all be considered "content" now, inspiring us all to tap our inner Edward R. Murrow and record the event for posterity.

See more here:

'If this is my time...'

Nate Swanner

Youve probably seen Ello pop up on your RSS feed (or however you happen to keep up with information) over the past few days. The new social media site has been dubbed the anti-Facebook, due to its strikingly sparse interface and promise to not make you the product. To gauge how accurate that is, I went inside to discover what Ello is, and who it isnt for.

To my mind, Ello is like any other bootstrap startup. Its simple, pretty effective at one thing, and simple enough to grasp. Those who try to over-complicateEllo do it a disservice. Its social, just a different take on what that is, and means.

For Ello, the goal is to feed you info on a macro scale. Its like a warehouse full of people who somehow heard that there was a party there. A party may happen, but were all a bit early to the event. You know, if a party actually breaks out.

Posting is dead simple, and you can mention people you follow via the familiar "@" tag. Finding new users is easy via "discovery". You can upload pics or GIFs to a post, too. That's really about it. Being beta, there aren't many bells and whistles yet.

Though simple, Ello might sufferfrom being a bit too open. Its social without boundaries. You dont have to use a real name, a picture, or even give any info about yourself. If you like vacationing in Ibiza, Ello will speak to you. They still ask for responsibility from users, but that's self-regulation, and social media doesn't lend itself to that.

Thats not to say Ello is void of reason or cause, though its just different. Their ethos is that you arent the product, but thats a bit obfuscated by a few facts. Theyve raised nearly half a million dollars in venture funding, and will charge for features down the line.

To their credit, backers say theyre fine with Ellos current trajectory. Ello also doesnt seem to be aiming for a big spend from users. Things like managing multiple accounts with one log-in will cost around $2. Thats not a lot, but could speak to the true aim, here.

Excerpt from:

Ello review: its not the anti anything

Whether you like it or not, a lot of your data is probably being stored in the cloud, and that's a trend that's not going to stop. While it is convenient to have your data available from virtually everywhere, it's also prone to security vulnerabilities. Here are some tips on how to keep your cloud-based data private and secure.

If you have a modern smartphone, it's likely any photos and videos you take are backed up to the platform's respective cloud service iCloud, OneDrive, etc. This is meant as a convenience, but at the same time, you might not want the embarrassing photos you take while drunk at the bar saving to the cloud.

If you don't want your photos going to the cloud at all, disable the backup feature on your phone. Each platform is different, and you'll want to consult with the manufacturer's support to find where to toggle off your phone's automatic photo upload feature. Also keep in mind that other photo apps like Instagram might have their own settings you need to toggle off as well.

It's also worth noting that deleting a photo from your phone doesn't mean it's deleted from the cloud, too. In fact, you could find photos that you took years ago backed up to the cloud even if you delete them from your phone's photo gallery. Make sure to log in to your cloud account and delete anything you don't want stored there. This might be tricky with some services, like Facebook, so make sure to read the terms of service to ensure nothing is still backed up even after you delete it

If you have devices on different platforms, keeping tack of all of your photos and videos can be a hassle. To make it easier, set your devices to backup them up to a central location like OneDrive or Dropbox. That way you don't have to bounce between services and make changes individually.

This is important as two-factor authentication (2FA), which is sometimes called two-step verification or multi-factor authentication, adds an extra layer of protection to your online accounts. We covered 2FA previously in this article about alternatives to passwords. What 2FA does is require you to input a second code for the account you're accessing. Typically the second authorization code is texted to your phone or sent to your email address. Google even has the ability to send your second code to a standard land line. Without the second form of authorization, the account cannot be accessed.

Most of the popular cloud services like Google, Dropbox, iCloud, and many others have the ability to set up 2FA. However, it's up to you to enable it as it's not required by default. It's not as convenient as a single password, but it's much more effective for maintaining your privacy and security.

If you're not sure if the site you're accessing has two-factor authorization, check out twofactorauth.org. It displays the sites and services that provide 2FA and is updated regularly.

Setting up two-factor authentication does take a bit of time to get used to and set up, but once you get used to it you'll have the peace of mind knowing your data is much more secure.

A best practice since the beginning of the web is to have strong and complex passwords, or pass phrases. Never use the same password or phrase twice or share them with anyone. A strong password or phrase consists of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and special characters, and the longer the password or phrase, the more secure it is. Also, mark it on your calendar to go through and change passwords every six months or so.

Excerpt from:

Tips for securing your data in the cloud

As crazy as it may sound to you, I love those moments where I discover that I need to learn way more on a topic I thought I knew relatively well. It means that my knowledge in that field is growing, Im closing the gap from being proficient to being an expert, and that I can make sharper decisions as a business owner.

I recently experienced this around building and optimizing landing pages.

To be sure, my team knows a good amount about the fundamentals of landing page optimization. Weve been fortunate to have a lot of success with our testing and optimization experiences, especially for our individual subscription service for our EasyBib product.

A few years ago we changed our pricing model from a yearly subscription to an optional model of monthly, semi-annual and yearly. This increased our revenue by 111%. Two years later, we put the sign up form on a landing page, instead of a secondary page, and increased revenue by 35%. Last year, we changed our credit card processing from Paypal to native processing, which improved revenue by 27%. And most recently, we added a modernized look with imagery and PR social proof, which improved conversions by 22%.

Therefore, when our team developed the homepage for our new product GetCourse, which provides deep analytics on your presentations through user tracking and questions, I felt confident that we knew what we were doing.

Breaking our confidence on our new product

We followed a number of conversion rate optimization processes. For instance, we tried honing in our user language by asking prospective customers on calls and in person how they would describe the product and why they would use it. We showed initial versions of the homepage to people and asked what confused them and why they wouldnt sign up, hoping to find and dispel any areas of confusion.

When we drove traffic to GetCourse, and the conversions didnt come, we turned to Feedback Army. We found that some people found the product useful for enhancing presentations with questions and voice overs, while others thought hosting was valuable. However, our unique selling proposition of tracking and analytics was not as obvious as we hoped.

Our bubble was popped by UserTesting.com

A bubble. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The rest is here:

Your Website Is Failing: How User Testing Will Improve Everything

OPINION: Imagine, if you will, that Chris Martin, is feeling fed up with howgrimthe worldis rightnow,(a valid response, I think we can all agree) so he decides that, in order to raise awareness, he'll upload a photo of himself to his social media platforms. He's wearing, well, nothing, save for a peace sign on his tummy, with his hands artfully covering his manhood.

"It's time to get people's attention" is how he explains himself to the New York Times. "People won't be able to ignore this visual!'

I'm not sure about you but my first thought would be 'Chris, you're a critically acclaimed, incredibly popular, talented, intelligent man. I know many people consider you attractive, but why you gotta go nude?"

Now, let me tell you what's really happened: acritically acclaimed, incredibly popular, talentedand intelligent singer, Alicia Keys, has gone and posed nude for her fans. In an interview with theNew York Timeson Sunday, she used those exact words above about not being able to ignore the visual.

You mean the nude pregnant woman visualpioneered by Demi Moorethat celebrated its 23rd anniversary this year?

Now, because she is a compassionate, socially conscious woman, Keys is following up on her nude pic by donating $NZ1.2 million of her own money to a dozen worthy causes.It's all part of the grass roots campaign she's launching calledWeAreHereMovement.com

And yet, the question remains on high rotation in my brain: why you gotta go nude?

It's funny isn't it, that when we ask it of a hypothetical Chris Martin, we're asking it in terms of relevancy. Why would such a man strip?

But if it's a woman then we know her body is part of the package. Thisis what it is to be a female singer in a hyper-sexualised landscape: at some point or another you gotta go nude.

Putting aside the 'awkward family photo' associations that drawing on a pregnant belly calls to mind; let's get down to some facts here. Keys has a new single to promote - it's called We Are Here and it fits, snug as a Tetris wall, into the larger social justice campaign she's launched.

Here is the original post:

Alicia Keys: Why the need to be naked?

Forza Horizion- Insane Jump
Possibly the shortest video i #39;ll ever post, but i thought this was quite impressive if i say the least Sorry my upload schedule is up for the wall at the mom...

By: PTSxVipErZz

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Forza Horizion- Insane Jump - Video

Picking the best service for your organization can be a challenge, but this guide will help determine which cloud service is right for you.

Today's cloud storage/file-sync space is constantly evolving.

The recent market gyrations may have you wondering if you should switch to another provider. With that in mind, we conducted an informal poll and asked cloud storage users for their opinions on the benefits and drawbacks of their services of choice.

The majority of respondents told us about their likes and dislikes of Dropbox (which earned six favorable mentions); Box (the favorite of five respondents); Google Drive (favored by four); and OneDrive (the recipient of four votes). Some participants use more than one service. A few other respondents chose lesser-known services, which you can read about in the "Cloud Storage Alternatives" section of this story.

We also put together an at-a-glance chart (below) that provides a quick comparison of the major cloud service providers.

Pros and Cons of Popular Cloud Services

Dropbox

Pros: "We went with Dropbox because of its ease of signing up," says Jerry Lee, founder of StoryLeather. "Plus, a lot of the freelance contractors we work with are already using Dropbox, so this created less friction to share files with them. More importantly, Dropbox was more vendor-neutral,' whereasin order to use Google Drive you have to have Gmail." Lee says OneDrive similarly requires a Microsoft account.

"Dropbox was a first-mover, and that's what drew us to them initially," says Ryan Matzner, director of app design and development firm Fueled. "What's kept us with them is how simple, hassle-free and easy-to-use the software is. Many members of our team are extremely tech-savvy, but a number aren't. And it's great that both kinds of users have little to no issues using Dropbox's website, desktop app and mobile apps."

So many people have Dropbox, and that makes sharing with them easy, according to Raymond Selzer, co-founder and director of development of website design firm Interslice Designs. "For those without Dropbox, sharing is still very simple."

Read the rest here:

Cloud Storage Users Share Pros and Cons of Leading Services

Is Yahoo working on its own online document creation and collaboration software? Thats the question whichimmediately comes to mind upon hearing news thatthe company has now picked up a Bangalore-based startup called Bookpad, makers of Docspad, a service aimed at developers looking to add document viewing, annotations and editing features within their own applications.

What differentiates Docspad from rivals like Google Docs, however,is that instead of being aimed at consumers looking to simply create or edit documents, spreadsheets, or slideshows fromthe web, then share those files and collaborate with others, Docspad is designed to bring a Google Docs-like ease-of-use to any other application a business may need, including things like applicant-tracking systems, conferencing solutions, learning management solutions, and more, co-founder and CEO Aditya Bandi explained in a recent blog post.

The deal is making waves throughout Indias tech community, and has been confirmedby The Economic Times, The Times of India, and others. TechCrunch has also nowheard from sources that the deal has gone through. Bandi declined to comment, but its worth pointing out he has already changed his LinkedIn profile to reflect his new position as Product Manager at Yahoo.

Terms of the deal have not been disclosed, but Yahoo has the money to continue itsstartup shopping, thanks to its stake in Alibaba, which just ranked as the worlds biggest IPO. The Economic Times says via sources, the deal is clocking in at aroundRs 50 crore ($8.3 million).

Weve asked Yahoo for an official confirmation of the Bookpad deal, and are waiting to hear back.

UPDATE: Yahoo has confirmed, saying:

We have acquired Bookpad, the company behind the Docspad product. The team will join our communications organization in Bangalore, where they will work on strengthening the Yahoo Mail experience. Were excited for the expertise and knowledge that the team brings with them, and cant wait to get to work collaborating with them.

The startup was founded by three 20-something graduates from theIndian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati Aditya Bandi, Niketh Sabbineni, and Ashwik Reddy. Last year, it was backed by NASSCOMs 10,000 Startups initiative and Microsoft Ventures. (NASSCOM, we hear, is already opening talking about the deal, too.)

According to The Economic Times, the Bookpad team met with Yahoo during a trip to Silicon Valley organized by NASSCOM. The report also noted that Yahoo wasnt the only suitor showing interest Autodesk and Dropbox were taking a look at the 8-person team, too.

Read the original:

Yahoo Acquires Bangalore-Based Bookpad, Makers Of Online File Editing And Collaboration Software Docspad

City-based start-up Smartur has developed a mobile application (app) built on augmented reality that allows users of Android phone users and iOS mobile devices to click a selfie with Indian spaceship Mangalyaan that is due to land on Mars next week.

The Smartur app will provide the mobile users a platform to experience and participate in India's most important space programme milestone - the historic arrival of Mangalyaan on Mars on September 24, according to a release here on Sunday.

The Smartur app is an augmented reality app that has been developed using a 3D model and provides the user with an almost 'real' experience of seeing the object (in this case Mangalyaan) in their living environment, the release said.

The app allows the participants to click and upload/ share innovative pictures that can look like Mangalyaan is lifting off from their hands or out of their car or any other idea that comes to their mind, it said.

A participant would be required to download the app for free on their mobile device and take a print out of the 'Marker' (a marker is a design that helps the model the Mangalyaan to be placed in reality). The combination of the app and marker would give users an actual feel of being right there with the Mangalyaan, it said.

Originally posted here:

Mobile app for clicking selfie with ISRO's Mangalyaan

CAMPAIGNERS for better broadband in rural villages around Chipping Sodbury are meeting en masse next week.

Representatives of a wide variety of home run companies and businesses based in Horton, Hawkesbury Upton and on Sodbury Common will meet on Thursday, September 25 (7pm) in a united call for an improvement to connection speeds.

The meeting at Horton Village Hall is the culmination of growing anger among business owners in the area over the lack of superfast broadband, despite South Gloucestershire Councils 35.6million project with BT.

Richard Williams, owner of Morgan and Lotus dealership Williams Automobiles based on Sodbury Common, is organising the event which he said would be attended by hundreds of people unable to run their businesses from the area.

We have to go into Bristol to upload pictures to our website, he said. If we couldnt do that we would be scuppered.

The council has paid BT millions and they have not delivered. If I sold them a car that only went for a few miles I bet they wouldnt be too happy. It drives me up the wall.

South Gloucestershire Councils deal with BT to roll out superfast fibre optic broadband to 15,000 homes by spring 2015 has been heavily criticised for leaving numerous rural areas out completely and has led to Thornbury and Yate MP Steve Webb launching his Mind the Gaps campaign to ensure whole villages do not miss out.

The deal is subject to strict European Commission regulations whereby local authorities can only use public money to invest in areas where there is no current or planned standard or superfast broadband.

David Perry, deputy chief executive of the council, is expected to attend the meeting along with Me Webb and representatives from the Federation of Small Businesses and the Countryside Alliance.

All are welcome to attend.

See the rest here:

Broadband campaigners urge people to attend crunch meeting in Horton

Apple CEO Tim Cook and U2 singer Bono. Photo: Getty Images

Maybe it's a case of unlucky 13th? U2's now infamous 13th studio album Songs of Innocence was released only six days ago - via a guerilla-style auto upload into more than 500 million iTunes accounts to coincide with the launch of Apple's iPhone 6.

Many have decried the faux outraged reactions at the method of delivery, like Sharon Osbourne's: "Shame on you ..." and "This is an invasion of my private ... entertainment space".

Talk about first world problems. Just go ahead and delete it.

Unlucky 13? Songs of Innocence, an 11-song album by U2. Photo: AP

But nearly a week later, the dust has not settled, in fact it's getting more and more stirred up. Musically it wasn't a bad album but as a marketing move the verdict is in: an epic fail, on a global scale, even though 33 million people have reportedly listened to it. The Irish band's little free album could become costly to their future if the mud currently being flung sticks.

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Criticism has gone way beyond Osbourne's rant and Tyler the Creator's more amusing comment, "It's like waking up with a pimple or a herpes [d--k]".

Our own Urthboy summed up the way criticism was headed on Wednesday afternoon: "Nothing thatU2do is within a zillion miles of relevance for up and coming acts I reckon."

Wired magazine called the album "horrid" and said the "devious ... giveaway should be remembered as a monumental blunder by the tech industry".

See the original post:

U2 album: epic fail on a global scale

Apple CEO Tim Cook and U2 singer Bono. Photo: Getty Images

Maybe it's a case of unlucky 13th? U2's now infamous 13th studio album Songs of Innocence was released only six days ago - via a guerilla-style auto upload into more than 500 million iTunes accounts to coincide with the launch of Apple's iPhone 6.

Many have decried the faux outraged reactions at the method of delivery, like Sharon Osbourne's: "Shame on you ..." and "This is an invasion of my private ... entertainment space".

Talk about first world problems. Just go ahead and delete it.

Unlucky 13? Songs of Innocence, an 11-song album by U2. Photo: AP

But nearly a week later, the dust has not settled, in fact it's getting more and more stirred up. Musically it wasn't a bad album but as a marketing move the verdict is in: an epic fail, on a global scale, even though 33 million people have reportedly listened to it. The Irish band's little free album could become costly to their future if the mud currently being flung sticks.

Advertisement

Criticism has gone way beyond Osbourne's rant and Tyler the Creator's more amusing comment, "It's like waking up with a pimple or a herpes [d--k]".

Our own Urthboy summed up the way criticism was headed on Wednesday afternoon: "Nothing thatU2do is within a zillion miles of relevance for up and coming acts I reckon."

Wired magazine called the album "horrid" and said the "devious ... giveaway should be remembered as a monumental blunder by the tech industry".

Read more here:

Epic fail could cost dearly

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

He filled his days with business planning, even hand-drawing spreadsheets on plain paper from the law library. Upon release, he'd sketched out what would become Pigeon.ly, a venture that connects inmates with their loved ones through phone calls and photos.

Hutson believed he saw a billion dollar opportunity. There are 2.3 million Americans in prison; and millions more with a loved one behind bars. Hutson intimately knew the extreme isolation experienced by inmates. He also noticed was that once his fellow inmates were released, many returned. According to one Bureau of Justice study, three-quarters of prisoners were rearrested within five years.

Those who maintained close ties on the outside fared better. Forty years of research has found that inmates who stayed in contact with their families have lower recidivism rates.

With all this in mind, Hutson developed Pigeon.ly's photo-sharing platform, FotoPigeon, which gives family and friends a way to search all federal prisons for an inmate's current location (which changes frequently). For fifty cents apiece, customers upload photos and Pigeon.ly prints and ships them in plain envelopes that make it through prison mail check.

But despite a well-drawn business plan, Hutson had obvious hurdles launching his start-up: He was released in 2012 to a halfway house without Internet. His business partner and old friend Alfonzo Brooks had to "hire" Hutson so that he could leave for work each day. Not to mention the fact that traditional investors didn't understand the potential market of inmates and their families. His first round of investment came from peers: "Guys we knew from the streets," Hutson explained. "They were close to the problem ... it was a very easy sell." But contributions were small, averaging $500 or $1,000.

The site had to be easy to use -- much of Pigeon.ly's customer base only has mobile access to the Internet. Still others don't have email addresses. They did a lot of testing on grandmothers, because as Hutson puts it, "You can't just make the typical assumptions a tech company would make."

Hutson acquired customers through direct mail, tucking advertisements for FotoPigion into newsletters that included content inmates would find valuable -- like details on new sentencing guidelines.

Using this method, Hutson had attracted 2,000 paying customers by 2013, when Pigeon.ly was accepted to NewME, a San Francisco tech accelerator aimed at supporting underrepresented communities. Hutson raised $1 million in seed money from investors and venture capitalists. In the past year, he's raised another $1 million and is about to close on what will be the company's largest investment round to date, although he declined to give an exact amount.

The company launched TelePigeon in December 2013, which works with Internet phone-service providers to give families phone numbers that are local to where their loved ones are incarcerated. That way, inmates can call home at local rates no matter where they're serving time, which is an alternative to the expensive long-distance collect calls. Families who can't afford the nominal fee get 20 minutes free each month. Hutson said it's saved families over $646,000 since January 2014.

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Ex-con launches startup aimed at inmates

Is SlideShare part of your content strategy? Truth be told, we have yet to fully integrate it intoour content creation processhere at Buffer. Weve felt lots of great nudges, though.

Weve heard tell ofthe amazing opportunity on SlideShare, how its a primed network of highly engaged influencers just itchingto find and share your stuff. What might ultimately sell us, though, is the response we got froma single slide deck, created in a hurry, that garnered over 5,000 views in one weekend.

It would appear thatSlideShare has the potential forbig returns ona small investment.

I dove into some research on SlideShare content in order to see the best route to success and how to best invest your time. Hereare the best Slideshare tips and resourcesI found.

Weve long been told that SlideShare is a great place to invest quality content creation time.The stats bear this out.

There are over 60 million unique visits toSlideShare every month.

Seven million SlideShare pages get viewed every single day.

SlideShare receives 500 percent more traffic from business owners than Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

SlideShare was one of our key suggestions foradvanced content tipsand ways totake content beyond the standard blog and social scenes. We just hadnt quite fit it into our schedule yet.

Excerpt from:

Slide Decks Beginners Guide: 10 Actionable SlideShare Tips for Maximum Results by @kevanlee

Tampa Bay, Florida (PRWEB) September 16, 2014

KnowBe4 has announced the release of its automated Voicemail Phishing Security Test module, the first of its kind, giving IT Managers the ability to test users on social engineering via the phone. As criminals have expanded their repertoire, moving into new territory with automated voicemail phishing (vishing) attacks, KnowBe4 has countered with a new module loaded with five Kevin Mitnick VST Scenarios that can be used to keep users on their toes with security top of mind.

Cyber criminals have moved into fully automated types of attacks, utilizing open source tools that allow thousands of dials per hour, attempting to trick end-users into giving out confidential information like their voicemail pin number, bank account and credit card information, and/or healthcare related data, said Stu Sjouwerman, CEO of KnowBe4. We now have a tool that can help arrest a users inclination to provide information.

KnowBe4 customers will be able to upload a CSV file with employee phone numbers, choose a VST template, and start the campaign set-it-and-forget-it, very similar to the existing phishing security test campaigns KnowBe4 currently provides. The new Vishing Security Test (VST) now trains employees against social engineering attacks via the phone on their desk. If an end-user enters data via the telephone keypad in response to the VST, that means a fail which can be used as a reason for a short remedial training module.

Weve seen a massive increase of phishing and ransomware attacks in 2014 over previous years and cybercriminals are constantly looking for new ways to invade a network, adds Sjouwerman. In KnowBe4s recent September 2014 poll, nearly 90% of 300+ IT managers surveyed said they saw phishing attempts get through their filters every month. Frequent, effective Security Awareness Training is now an essential layer that can help data breaches like the recent Home Depot or JP Morgan Chase hacks.

Individual employees may be targeted for seemingly innocuous information in a vishing scam and are caught unaware, providing key credentials or a way in to steal corporate data. KnowBe4 trains users on these new scenarios and how to recognize and avoid such social engineering attempts.The module plugs into the new KnowBe4 V3.5 cloud-based Admin Console for quick and easy deployment.

For more information visit http://www.KnowBe4.com

About Stu Sjouwerman and KnowBe4 Stu Sjouwerman (pronounced shower-man) is the founder and CEO of KnowBe4, LLC, which provides web-based Security Awareness Training (employee security education and behavior management) to small and medium-sized enterprises. A data security expert with more than 30 years in the IT industry, Sjouwerman was the co-founder of Inc. 500 company Sunbelt Software, an award-winning anti-malware software company that he and his partner sold to GFI Software in 2010. Realizing that the human element of security was being seriously neglected, Sjouwerman decided to help entrepreneurs tackle cybercrime tactics through advanced security awareness training. KnowBe4 services hundreds of customers in a variety of industries, including highly-regulated fields such as healthcare, finance and insurance and is experiencing explosive growth with a surge of 427% in 2013 alone. Sjouwerman is the author of four books, with his latest being Cyberheist: The Biggest Financial Threat Facing American Businesses.

About Kevin Mitnick Kevin Mitnick is an internationally recognized computer security expert with extensive experience in exposing the vulnerabilities of complex operating systems and telecommunications devices. He gained notoriety as a highly skilled hacker who penetrated some of the most resilient computer systems ever developed. Today, Mitnick is renowned as an information security consultant and speaker, and has authored three books, including The New York Times best seller Ghost in the Wires. His latest endeavor is a collaboration with KnowBe4, LLC.

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KnowBe4s New Vishing Module Takes a Bite Out of Automated Attacks