রবিবার, ৩০ সেপ্টেম্বর, ২০১২

Ryder Cup golf: Ian Poulter keeps Europeans in the hunt

Medinah, Ill. ? Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley helped stake the Americans to their biggest lead in the Ryder Cup in more than 30 years. Ian Poulter, eyes bulging and fists shaking with every clutch putt, at least gave Europe some big momentum over the final frantic hour Saturday at Medinah.

Right when it looked as if the Americans were a lock to win back the cup, Poulter birdied his last five holes to win a crucial point and keep everyone guessing. Steady chants of "USA! USA!" gave way to snappy serenades of "Ole, Ole" as both sides trudged to the team rooms in darkness to prepare for 12 singles matches on Sunday.

?

Sunday?s TV

Ryder Cup: Singles

10 a.m.

TV ? Ch. 5

The Americans still had a big lead, 10-6. Europe at least had hope.

"The last two putts were massive," European captain Jose Maria Olazabal said after watching Poulter stay undefeated in this Ryder Cup by rolling in one last birdie putt from 12 feet. "That gives us a chance. It?s been done before in the past. Tomorrow is a big day."

Only one team has ever rallied from four points behind on the final day ? the United States in that famous comeback at Brookline in 1999. Olazabal remembers it well. He was in the decisive match when Justin Leonard rolled in a 45-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole.

Is the Spaniard a big believer in fate?

"I believe momentum will come our way," Olazabal said. "Why not tomorrow?"

The final two matches Saturday were a showcase of what the Ryder Cup is all about ? one brilliant shot after another, birdies on every hole, suspense at every turn.

Luke Donald and Sergio Garcia were on the verge of blowing a 4-up lead to hard-charging Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker, hanging on when Donald matched two birdies with Woods, including a tee shot into the 17th that plopped down 2 feet from the cup.

Their 1-up win kept Woods winless for the first time in a Ryder Cup going into Sunday. Woods and Stricker lost all three of their matches, even though Woods made five birdies on the back nine for the second straight day.

story continues below

Woods was thinking more of the big picture.

"Being up four is nice," he said. "We are in a great spot right now to win the cup."

Poulter and Rory McIlroy were 2 down with six holes to play against Jason Dufner and Zach Johnson when McIlroy made a 15-foot birdie putt on the 13th, and Poulter took it from there.

"We had to make birdies, and wow! Five in a row. It was awesome," Poulter said. "I?ve got the world No. 1 at my side, backing me up. It allowed me to hit some golf shots."

The crowd was still buzzing as it filed out of Medinah, and Poulter grinned.

"It?s pretty fun, this Ryder Cup," said Poulter, who raised his career record to 11-3-0.

It?s been plenty fun for the Americans, who for the first time have not lost any of the four sessions since the Ryder Cup switched to the current format in 1979. Mickelson and Bradley were flawless in foursomes, matching a Ryder Cup record for largest margin with a 7-and-6 win over Donald and Lee Westwood.

Next Page >

Copyright 2012 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/sports/54990916-77/cup-ryder-poulter-win.html.csp

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Run Google Maps Web App In Full-Screen With Original Icon On iPhone 5 / iOS 6

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Although you can bookmark Google Maps on your iOS 6-running device?s home screen, but the experience is somewhat hampered since the web app opens up in Mobile Safari. We have come across a way on how to run the web app in full-screen mode along with the old iOS Google Maps icon for an even better, immersive Google Maps experience on iOS 6.

If there is one thing we do know; it is that a lot of people simply don?t like change, and even though the mobile Google Maps experience is extremely powerful, it does come with its fair share of drawbacks. The first one is that it doesn?t offer a full-screen experience, thanks to the tinted Safari toolbar that sits at the bottom of the browser. In addition to that, it places a rather ugly web app icon on the home screen instead of the well-known and loved Google Maps iOS icon that has been present since 2007. Both of these issues can be overcome through the installation of a simple profile that has been created by Ben Guilds.

iOS 6 Google Maps

Step 1: Open up Mobile Safari on your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad. Navigate to the website of the profile creator by clicking here.

Maps_Step1

Step 2: The blog post gives a small amount of information about the process and provides links to the relevant profiles depending on what device you are using. Select your device accordingly. Clicking on these links on the device will force a prompt to install an unsigned mobileconfig file.

Step 3: Select Install at the top right hand corner of the display before selecting the Done option when the profile has been installed. If the installation requests for a password to be entered then supply the device?s password.

Maps_Step3

Step 4: After pressing the Done button, head on over to the device?s home screen and look for the Maps app/bookmark. The extremely familiar looking Google Maps icon will be on the screen. When invoked, the Google Maps web app will run in full-screen as a replacement for Apple?s native Maps app.

Maps_step4

It may not be a perfect mapping solution, but for those who prefer the familiarity of using Google Maps, this full-screen web solution is definitely a powerful alternative.

(Via TheNextWeb)

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Ex-NY Times publisher Arthur Ochs Sulzberger dies - KWQC-TV6 ...

By DAVID B. CARUSO and KAREN MATTHEWS
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) - Few moments in American journalism loom larger than the one that came in 1971, when New York Times publisher Arthur Ochs Sulzberger had to decide whether to defy a president, and risk a potential criminal charge, by publishing a classified Defense Department history of U.S. involvement in Vietnam.

His choice, to publish the Pentagon Papers and then fight the Nixon administration's subsequent attempt to muzzle the story, cemented Sulzberger's place as a First Amendment giant - a role being celebrated after he died Saturday at age 86.

The former publisher, who led the Times to new levels of influence and profit while standing up for press freedom, died at his home in Southampton, N.Y., after a long illness, his family announced.

During his three-decade tenure, Sulzberger's newspaper won 31 Pulitzer prizes while he went about transforming the family business from perpetually shaky to the muscular media behemoth it was when he retired.

Weekday circulation climbed from 714,000 when Sulzberger became publisher in 1963 to 1.1 million when he stepped down as publisher in 1992. Over the same period, the annual revenues of the Times' corporate parent rose from $100 million to $1.7 billion.

Yet it was Sulzberger's positions on editorial independence that made him a hero of the profession, like when he rejected his own lawyers' warnings that even reading the Pentagon Papers, let alone publishing them, constituted a crime.

Sulzberger, who went by the nickname "Punch" and served with the Marine Corps, privately worried that he had doomed the newspaper but gave interviews saying the Times wouldn't allow the U.S. government to cover up its mistakes under the guise of national security.

"That is a wonderful way, if you've got egg on your face, to prevent anybody from knowing it: Stamp it SECRET and put it away," he said.

"Punch, the old Marine captain who never backed down from a fight, was an absolutely fierce defender of the freedom of the press," his son, and current Times publisher, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr., said in a statement.

Sulzberger was the only grandson of Adolph S. Ochs (pronounced ox), the son of Bavarian immigrants who took over the Times in 1896 and built it into the nation's most influential newspaper.

The family retains control to this day, holding a special class of shares that give them more powerful voting rights than other stockholders.

Power was thrust on Sulzberger at the age of 37 after the sudden death of his brother-in-law in 1963. He had been in the Times executive suite for eight years in a role he later described as "vice president in charge of nothing."

But Sulzberger directed the Times' evolution from an encyclopedic paper of record to a more reader-friendly product that reached into the suburbs and across the nation.

Under his watch, the Times started a national edition, bought its first color presses, and introduced - to the chagrin of some hard-news purists - popular and lucrative sections covering topics such as food and entertainment.

"You forget the unbelievable outrage that greeted those sections. But in retrospect it was the right decision both editorially and economically," said Nicholas Lemann, dean of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

In 1992, Sulzberger relinquished the publisher's job to his son but remained chairman of The New York Times Co. Sulzberger retired as chairman and chief executive of the company in 1997. His son then was named chairman. Sulzberger stayed on the Times Co. board of directors until 2002.

Reacting to news of Sulzberger's death Saturday, former Times executive editor Joseph Lelyveld said that his business success was matched by integrity in the newsroom.

"As an editor, you knew that if you went to the publisher and sought his support on an issue that you deemed to be of high importance, you could pretty much count on getting it. He knew how to back his people," Lelyveld said.

President Barack Obama said Sulzberger was "a firm believer in the importance of a free and independent press - one that isn't afraid to seek the truth, hold those in power accountable, and tell the stories that need to be told."

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he "changed the course of American history with his journalistic decisions."

Significant free-press and free-speech precedents were established during Sulzberger's years as publisher, most notably the Times vs. Sullivan case. It resulted in a landmark 1964 Supreme Court ruling that shielded the press from libel lawsuits by public officials unless they could prove actual malice.

"Punch Sulzberger was a giant in the industry, a leader who fought to preserve the vital role of a free press in society and championed journalism executed at the highest level," said Associated Press President and CEO Gary Pruitt. "The Associated Press benefited from his wisdom, both during his years on the board of directors and his thoughtful engagement in the years that followed."

In 1971, the Times led the First Amendment fight to keep the government from suppressing the Pentagon Papers.

Sulzberger read more than 7,000 pages of the documents and presided over a dramatic internal debate before deciding to publish. Then, he resisted a demand by Attorney General John Mitchell that the paper halt the series after two installments.

A federal judge delayed publication of additional installments, but in a landmark decision, the U.S. Supreme Court eventually sided with the Times and The Washington Post, and allowed the series to continue.

"There were those that thought some kind of deal or reconciliation with the government should have been sought," said First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams, who represented the Times in the court case. "It was Punch Sulzberger who made the decision to resist the government's effort. In making that decision he set in motion a litigation which not only preserved but protected the First Amendment for generations."

In their book "The Trust," a history of the Ochs-Sulzberger family and its stewardship of the paper, Susan E. Tifft and Alex S. Jones cited Sulzberger's "common sense and unerring instincts."

In an interview in 1990 with New York magazine, Sulzberger was typically candid about the paper's readership.

"We're not New York's hometown newspaper," he said. "We're read on Park Avenue, but we don't do well in Chinatown or the east Bronx. We have to approach journalism differently than, say, the Sarasota Herald Tribune, where you try to blanket the community."

Sulzberger was born in New York City on Feb. 5, 1926, the only son of Arthur Hays Sulzberger and his wife, Iphigene Ochs Sulzberger, Adolph's only child. One of his three sisters was named Judy, and from early on he was known as "Punch," from the puppet characters Punch and Judy.

Sulzberger's grandfather led the paper until his death in 1935, when he was followed by Sulzberger's father, who remained at the helm until he retired in 1961.

Except for a year at The Milwaukee Journal, 1953-54, the younger Sulzberger spent his entire career at the family paper after graduating from Columbia College in 1951. He worked in European bureaus for a time and was back in New York by 1955, but found he had little to do.

At various times, Sulzberger was a director or chairman of the Newspaper Advertising Bureau, American Newspaper Publishers Association and American Press Institute. He was a director of The Associated Press from 1975 to 1984.

Sulzberger married Barbara Grant in 1948, and the couple had two children, Arthur Jr. and Karen. After a divorce in 1956, Sulzberger married Carol Fox. The couple had a daughter, Cynthia, and Sulzberger adopted Fox's daughter from a previous marriage, Cathy.

Carol Sulzberger died in 1995. The following year, Sulzberger married Allison Cowles, the widow of William H. Cowles 3rd, who was the president and publisher of The Spokesman-Review and Spokane Chronicle of Spokane, Wash. She died in 2010.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.kwqc.com/story/19672696/ex-ny-times-publisher-arthur-ochs-sulzberger-dies

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Microsoft slammed for Windows 8's games strategy

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This weekend's MacUpdate Promo offers 55% off Data Rescue 3.2.2. "Data Rescue is a robust and reliable hard-drive recovery solution for your Mac. Recover lost or deleted files, mount corrupted drives, and more -- Data Rescue offers complete relief from crippling hard-drive disasters!"

Has the Maps fiasco shaken your confidence in Apple? Cast your vote in "Today's Poll..." in the left column below or go straight to the results here.

Saturday Highlights: US appeals court sends Galaxy Tab 10.1 sales ban decision back to lower court endangering Apple's victory?more in our Apple/Macintosh section; interesting analysis over at Fortune ponders the man in charge of Siri and the new Maps: Scott Forstall; Louie Herr of Digital Trends says we haven't learned the lesson from Antennagate with regards to Maps, saying we've overreacted to the ordeal; Andy Ihnatko says Tim Cook's letter to consumers was the "perfect response", but that Apple's mistake was pushing Maps right into the deep end when they should have approached it like they did Siri; meanwhile, Jim Dalrymple believes this is a simple "black eye, nothing more"; curious question arises out of the Maps issue: "should Apple let users select alternate default apps?"; Consumer Reports not too hard on Maps; some ex Apple and NASA engineers make a pricey coffee maker; Jack Purcher analyzes Intel's computing direction toward "transparent computing"; over at TidBITS, Glenn Fleishman probes mysterious cellular data usage occurring on iOS 6 devices; Apple removes "the most beautiful, powerful mapping service ever" from Maps description on Apple.com; InformationWeek's Eric Zeman reviews his iPhone 5 experience, while Mark Crump provides a view of the iPhone 5 from a photographer's perspective, and over at iDownload Blog, Sebastien Page presents a course on B&W iPhone photography.

Friday Highlights: Tim Cook apologizes to customers for Map errors, says Apple doing everything they can to make it better, in the mean time he recommends Bing, Waze, others as alternatives?numerous reports in our Apple/Macintosh, and Op/Ed sections, Jonny Evans believes the message hints that Apple is working to make their mapping service best in the world, not just better; Chris Ciaccia at The Street calls the apology a grand slam saying "no company on Earth...knows how to spin a negative story into good positive vibes better than Apple"; Tim Bajarin says the real reason Apple jettisoned Google Maps had to do with giving valuable customer data to Google, which would help Android; iPhone 5 available for sale in 22 countries starting today; Macworld reviews Parallels Desktop 8, VMware Fusion 5; US Air Force uses iPads saving more than $5 million/year; court in China says Apple must pay $82,000 to encyclopedia company due to App Store piracy; report says iPhone 5 prices are least in United States, most in Italy; ABC News report on TSA official theft of iPad; Sharp says they are not the cause iPhone 5 shortages, pumping out "adequate volumes of display[s]"; TechInsights analysis of A6 chip; Macotakara blog posts mock-up of apparent iPad mini; San Jose Mercury News's Larry Magid reviews iPhone 5, says is "a worthy upgrade, but nothing to get excited about"; however, Dwight Silverman at the Houston Chronicle is "even more sold on it" now that he's tested his iPhone 5 with LTE finding a big difference from pre-LTE iPhones; Mactuts+ shows you how to upgrade RAM in your MacBook Pro; Mac OS X Hints has a tip that could solve WiFi woes on your iPhone, as well as a tip to arrange icons on your Apple TV menu; New York Times's J.D. Biersdorfer answers reader question on asking Siri questions the right way.

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Sat Sep 29
"Microsoft slammed for Windows 8's games strategy" The Times of India 9:14 AM
  • "Apple vs. Samsung: Galaxy Tab 10.1 ban could be lifted"?Bloomberg News?12:20 PM
  • "Samsung wins reconsideration on Galaxy Tab sales ban in US"?Crave @ CNET?9:02 AM
  • "Sales ban on Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 will be reconsidered"?Ars Technica?2:50 PM
  • "Apple's Mapping Strategy: Today China. Tomorrow the World"?Forbes?2:34 PM
  • "Apple's Maps Is A Black Eye, Nothing More"?TechCrunch?10:08 AM
  • "Apple seems to have gotten a little bit lost"?CNN?2:34 PM
  • "Apple issues full apology over iOS 6 maps cartastrophe"?Wired UK?12:27 PM
  • "Judging From Apple's Apology, Maps Matter and Nokia Has Maps That Work"?Forbes?8:10 AM
  • "iOS 6 Map Flap: Should Apple Let Users Select Alternate Default Apps?"?Forbes?8:15 AM
  • "Tim Cook: 'So sorry for Apple's crap maps app - try Bing or Nokia'"?The Register?8:59 AM
  • "Apple's excessive work hours progress: tracking 800k, 97% 60-hour work week compliance"?The Next Web?10:31 AM
  • "'Weak' Apple iPhone 5 Sales Are A Glitch"?Seeking Alpha?8:11 AM
  • "Apple sued again, this time over Numbers spreadsheet tech"?Crave @ CNET?9:02 AM
  • "Apple's Cook sorry for Maps errors, suggests rival services"?Reuters?9/28
  • "Apple apologises for Maps switch 'frustration'"?BBC?9/28
  • "Apple Maps Apology: There is no company on Earth that knows how to spin a negative story into good positive vibes better than Apple, and the company did it again on Friday."?TheStreet?9/28
  • "Apple's Tim Cook apologises for iOS 6 Maps in open letter, suggests users try Google, Nokia and other mapping apps"?The Next Web?9/28
  • "Apple CEO 'Extremely Sorry' for IPhone Maps Frustration" [Video Report]?Bloomberg?9/28
  • "Tim Cook Apologizes for Apple's Maps"?New York Times [Free/Paid Registration Required]?9/28
  • "Apple CEO Apologizes for Maps App"?WSJ.com [Paid Membership Required]?9/28
  • "Apple CEO: 'We are extremely sorry' for Maps frustration"?CNNMoney?9/28
  • "Tim Cook apologizes for Apple's new Maps app"?Fortune?9/28
  • "Music publisher blocked iPhone 5 music service, report says: Sony/ATV and Apple couldn't agree on licensing fees and that's why we didn't see a Pandora-like music service from Apple, according to a story in the New York Post."?CNET News?9/28
  • "Apple iPad dominates tablet web traffic: An analysis of traffic from tablet computers to more than 1,200 websites found that 98.1 per cent of the traffic came from the Apple iPad."?Telegraph?9/28
  • "Gene Munster: iPhone 5 stockouts in 16 of 20 stores/Only 4 stores in smaller cities had iPhones 5s available for sale, and only for Sprint"?Fortune?9/28
  • "Appeals court sends Galaxy Tab injunction back to trial judge"?Reuters?9/28

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Non-Apple News
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  • "Amazon unlikely to launch color e-book readers in 4Q12"?DigiTimes?9/28
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Publications/Podcasts
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  • "TUAW Origin Stories: PDF Cabinet"?TUAW?9/28
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  • "What's Behind Mysterious Cellular Data Usage in iOS 6?"?TidBITS?12:31 PM
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  • "SK Telecom Gains Unprecedented iPhone 5 Feature While Apple Files for Passbook Trademark and Much More"?Patently Apple?6:46 PM
  • "Apple no longer calls iOS6 Maps 'the most beautiful, powerful mapping service ever'"?9 to 5 Mac?9:04 AM
  • "Apple removes superlatives from Maps description"?iDownload Blog?10:08 AM
  • "Apple iPad Mini debut reportedly imminent"?CNBC?8:13 AM
  • "iPhone 5 Display Vs. Spectroradiometer"?MacStories?12:50 PM
  • "iPad mini Video, Photos Leak"?Tapscape?8:05 AM
  • "Sharp says making adequate volumes of display used in iPhone5"?Reuters?9/28
  • "Sharp: Our iPhone 5 display production is 'adequate'"?CNET News?9/28
  • "It's Now Pretty Clear This Screen Is The Reason iPhone 5 Sales Were So Disappointing"?Business Insider?9/28
  • "Sharp: iPhone 5 Shortage Isn't Our Fault [Report]?Mashable?9/28
  • "Back to the Future - What's inside the iPhone 5"?TechInsights?9/28
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AppleCare/Helps
  • "iOS 6: iPhone 4 & 4S Users Report Excessive Battery Drain"?The Mac Observer?9/28
Price Trackers/Deals
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  • "Leave Devil Alone For iPhone Is Free Right Now (Previously $0.99)"?Apple Sliced?8:54 AM
  • "Deal Alert: Apple 11.6" Dual-Core i5 MacBook Air MC968LL/A $759.99"?Run Around Tech?7:55 AM
  • "Woot! has 2011 Dual-Core i5 MacBook Air ? New in box (Update: $749)"?9 to 5 Mac?7:55 AM
  • "Mac Compatible Printers... Prices Range From $70 To $400 -Best Selling -Prices, Deals, Reviews And Information"?MacReviewZone?2:36 PM
  • "Best Selling Mac Scanners -From $88 To $496 -Prices, Reviews And Information"?MacReviewZone?2:42 PM
  • "Space Station: Frontier HD For iPad Is Temporarily Available For Free (Normally $2.99), The iPhone Version Is Also Free"?Apple Sliced?9/28
  • "The Magician's Handbook: Cursed Valley HD (Full) For iPad Is Free Right Now (Previously $4.99)"?Apple Sliced?9/28
  • "Radballs For iPhone and iPad Is Free Today (Was $0.99)"?Apple Sliced?9/28
  • "iPad (2012) Prices & Sales"?MacPrices?9/28
  • "MacBook Air Prices & Sales"?MacPrices?9/28
  • "MacBook Pro Prices & Sales"?MacPrices?9/28
  • "Apple refurbs: 5 Macs $999 or less"?MacNN?9/28
  • "Mac Software Deals: Photoshop Elements 11, $84; Photoshop Elements 10, $49"?FairerPlatform?9/28

Deal Brothers Daily Deal: Mac mini 2.5GHz dual-core Intel Core i5:? $1189.00 Delivered


Reviews
  • "iPhone 5: My First Week/After spending a week with the Apple iPhone 5, I have a clear picture of what has improved, evolved, and gone sideways."?InformationWeek?9:08 AM
  • "A photographer's view of the iPhone 5"?GigaOM?12:20 PM
  • "CruxSkunk iPad Keyboard Exposes the Mirage of Kickstarter [Review]?Mashable?12:19 PM
  • "Review: Case-Mate Barely There Case for iPhone 5"?Run Around Tech?12:19 PM
  • "PowerSkin Battery Case for iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 review"?iMore?10:08 AM
  • "Review: Speck PixelSkin HD case for iPhone 5"?M.I.C. Gadget?9:52 AM
  • "Review: Wahoo Blue HR Heart Rate Strap for iPhone 4S/5"?iSource?7:55 AM
  • "iPhone 5 vs. the VPI Traveler turntable: The iPhone 5 may be the star of the moment, but the VPI Traveler could stay in your life for decades."?CNET News?10:07 AM
  • "Magia Zip For IPad Has One Sticky Problem"?MacNews?9/28
  • "GLAS.T iPhone 5 screen protector from Spigen SGP (Video Review)"?Insanely Great Mac?9/28
iPad/iPhone/iPod touch Apps
  • "6 cool little features you didn't know iOS 6 had"?VentureBeat?12:23 PM
  • "Top Tier Alternatives To Apple Maps For iOS 6"?Apple'n'Apps?7:56 AM
  • "Don't Like Facebook? Then You'll Like Voicepic Even More"?App Advice?12:50 PM
  • "Flurry for Twitter for iPhone review"?iMore?8:01 AM
  • "9 home theater apps to improve your big screen with a small screen"?Digital Trends?8:04 AM
  • "Arrow Mania Review"?148Apps?2:35 PM
  • "Little Conquest Review"?148Apps?12:49 PM
  • "Project: Mayhem Review"?148Apps?12:23 PM
  • "iOS 6 Maps vs. iOS 5 Maps vs. maps.google.com: Location data shootout!"?iMore?9/28
  • "Create Your Own Passbook Cards, Coupons, & Tickets"?Apple Gazette?9/28
  • "Brewster: Merge iPhone Contacts With Facebook, Twitter, Gmail & Others"?AddictiveTips?9/28
  • "Bad Piggies for iPhone and iPad review"?iMore?9/28
  • "Bad Piggies review: Angry Birds follow-up bolts on complexity"?Crave @ CNET?9/28
  • "Bad Piggies ? Review: Feels like Angry Birds, but plays in a fresh new way"?What's on iPhone?9/28
  • "Appidemic: GridBlock for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch"?AppleTell?9/28
  • "'Lunar Silver Star Story Touch' Review - The Classic RPG in Your Pocket"?Touch Arcade?9/28
  • "'Infectonator' Review - Ending the World, One Zombie at a Time"?Touch Arcade?9/28
  • "Score! Classic Goals for iPad and iPhone review"?Macworld UK?9/28
  • "Carbonite Mobile Review"?148Apps?9/28
  • "Note Anytime Review: A free note taking and sketching app for the iPad that's packed with many features to give users creative flexibility."?148Apps?9/28
  • "Find the Way Review: Find the Way is a short maze game that pits players against a clock as they race to find a way out."?148Apps?9/28
  • "'Super Monsters Ate My Condo' Review and TA Plays - Not Just a Sequel, a SUPER Sequel"?Touch Arcade?9/28
How-To/Tutorial
  • "Use Siri The Right Way On Your iPhone And iOS 6 [Feature]?Cult of Mac?12:49 PM
  • "A course on black and white iPhone photography"?iDownload Blog?7:56 AM
  • "How to Use the Panorama Camera to Take Amazing Panoramic Pictures with iPhone"?OS X Daily?9/28
  • "How to Upgrade the RAM in Your MacBook Pro"?Mactuts+?9/28
Tips
  • "How to Assign a Passcode with More than Four Digits to Secure Your iOS Device"?The Mac Observer?10:08 AM
  • "How to choose an Apple Maps alternative"?USA Today?9:53 AM
  • "Ask Maggie is back! Which iPhone 5 is right for you?"?CNET News?9:00 AM
  • "Here's a neat tip to help make sure you get your iPhone back should you ever lose it"?The Next Web?8:00 AM
  • "One possible solution to iPhone Wi-Fi problems"?Mac OS X Hints?9/28
  • "Apple explains how to create home screen shortcuts to Google and Nokia maps on the web"?iDownload Blog?9/28
  • "Q&A: Asking Siri ? the Right Way"?New York Times [Free/Paid Registration Required]?9/28
  • "How To Buy A Smartphone: Which Is Better, Android or iPhone?"?ReadWriteWeb?9/28
Tim Cook's Maps Apology
  • "Old Maps vs. New Maps"?Vore?6:50 PM
  • "Tim Cook's apology shows that Apple cares, but still needs to fix problem"?TUAW?12:18 PM
  • "The Macalope Weekly: From bad to worse"?Macworld?10:08 AM
  • "NYT: iOS Maps another internet services blunder for Apple"?AppleInsider?8:00 AM
  • "MacOS KenDensed: iPhone 5's First Week & that Maps Thing"?The Mac Observer?7:59 AM
  • "Hate to Say 'I Told You So', Where by 'Hate' I Mean 'Draw Great Satisfaction From'"?Daring Fireball?9/28
  • "Apple's genius Maps jiu-jitsu: the enemy of my enemy is my friend"?VentureBeat?9/28
  • "Examining Maps in the Wake of Tim Cook's Apology"?TidBITS?9/28
  • "Tim Cook's 'Mapology': No explanation of premature Maps launch"?CNET News?9/28
  • "Did Apple's Apology Scare Off iPhone 5 Buyers?"?CNBC?9/28
  • "Well Played On Maps, Apple. Your Move,?Google."?TechCrunch?9/28
  • "Apple Losing Its Sense of Direction"?WSJ Blogs?9/28
  • "Leaders Apologize"?Forbes?9/28
  • "Tim Cook open letter: We fell short with new Maps app; we are extremely sorry"?MacDailyNews?9/28
  • "Apple CEO Cook Posts Letter Apologizing For Buggy Maps"?Forbes?9/28
  • "CEO Tim Cook apologizes for 'falling short' on Apple Maps"?GigaOM?9/28
  • "Apple apologizes for iOS 6 maps"?BetaNews?9/28
  • "Tim Cook on Apple Maps: 'We Are Extremely Sorry'"?AllThingsD?9/28
    http://www.macsurfer.com/redirr.php?u=727070

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    Tim Cook?s astounding Apple Maps apology: Use Bing Maps instead

    Wow. Just wow. In an unprecedented move from Apple, Tim Cook has written an open letter apologising for the royal balls up that has been Apple Maps. You really want to read this.

    Apple Maps has not been well received. The service has been rife with bugs since its launch, causing upset and outrage among fans of a company famed for trying to produce products that ?just work?.

    The issues have been so bad that the whole thing has prompted an official response from Apple?s CEO Tim Cook. Here it is in full:

    ?To our customers,

    At Apple, we strive to make world-class products that deliver the best experience possible to our customers. With the launch of our new Maps last week, we fell short on this commitment. We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better.

    We launched Maps initially with the first version of iOS. As time progressed, we wanted to provide our customers with even better Maps including features such as turn-by-turn directions, voice integration, Flyover and vector-based maps. In order to do this, we had to create a new version of Maps from the ground up.

    There are already more than 100 million iOS devices using the new Apple Maps, with more and more joining us every day. In just over a week, iOS users with the new Maps have already searched for nearly half a billion locations. The more our customers use our Maps the better it will get and we greatly appreciate all of the feedback we have received from you.

    While we?re improving Maps, you can try alternatives by downloading map apps from the App Store like Bing, MapQuest and Waze, or use Google or Nokia maps by going to their websites and creating an icon on your home screen to their web app.

    Everything we do at Apple is aimed at making our products the best in the world. We know that you expect that from us, and we will keep working non-stop until Maps lives up to the same incredibly high standard.

    Tim Cook
    Apple?s CEO?

    Just take a moment to let that sink in. Apple has conceded that it?s made a huge mistake launching Apple Maps in an unfinished state, and then ? boldly ? suggested that iOS 6 users go and use Bing, MapQuest, Waze Nokia or Google Maps (the mobile site version) while they iron out the bugs.

    We really don?t know what to say, other than that we?ve never seen Apple put its hands up to a mistake in quite this fashion before. Cue a barrage of ?This wouldn?t have happened if Steve were still alive? responses?

    Link: Apple

    Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/electricpig/~3/sPUHQuA2irU/

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    শনিবার, ২৯ সেপ্টেম্বর, ২০১২

    Interview with Max Starkov, President & CEO of - HeBS Digital

    Interview with Max Starkov, President & CEO of HeBS Digital, on the hot topic of the emerging role of the community manager in hospitality.

    Masha Polshinskaya, Senior Project Manager ? Hospitality Worldwide, Cleverdis: There has been much discussion about the need for social media to be managed at the property level by a new breed of employee focused solely on social media. How would you define the role of such a ?community manager? at the hotel?

    Max Starkov: Social media is a customer engagement channel and a customer-service channel, and not a distribution channel. The role of the social media marketer is already evolving to better reflect the hard-learned realization of the role social media should play in travel and hospitality. The ?owner? of the hotel social media profiles?the one who manages and is responsible of posting, monitoring and reacting to customer comments?is also evolving and is being transitioned from outside social media agencies and PR agencies to property-based social marketing coordinators and community managers.

    The customer engagement side of social media at the hotel means branding and marketing engagements and requires involvement by the hotel sales and marketing team and perhaps an outside PR or digital marketing agency. The customer service side of social media requires the services of a new type of social media-savvy employee or a team of employees who are able to monitor and react to customer service-related social media engagements 24/7. In other words: I see a dual role at the property:

    • One that is more branding and marketing engagement-focused and could be handled by someone within regular business hours
    • One that is strictly customer service-related and should monitor social media and customer review postings 24/7

    In addition, I have noticed that the industry does not make a clear distinction between the two media formats in question here: social media and customer reviews. Even though they both fall into the realm of user-generated media, there are clear distinctions between the two.

    Social Media:

    There is no doubt that social media has changed how travel consumers research and plan travel, access travel information, and perceive credibility of information. Internet users are increasingly influenced by social networks and peer reviews. By utilizing a comprehensive social media strategy, hoteliers can create social media ?buzz,? target receptive audiences, and stimulate hotel website visits, interactions and bookings, as well as instantaneously resolve arising customer service issues.

    Customer Reviews:

    We see more and more hotel customers using the hotel Facebook wall or Twitter profile to communicate their customer service frustrations, in many cases in real time: ?There is no hot water in my room!? or ?The lights are out in the bathroom,? etc. In other words, there is a convergence of customer reviews and social media, which exacerbates the situation even further and creates the need for hoteliers to monitor their social media profiles and customer review sites in a 24/7 fashion.

    Traditionally, customer reviews on TripAdvisor, the OTA sites and more recently on major hotel brand websites have been reactive i.e. post-stay. Lately, we see more and more ?real-time? reviews where customers are posting reviews during their hotel stays, especially disgruntled guests. All of this necessitates the 24/7 monitoring and reacting to customer reviews, especially negative ones, which should be addressed and resolved as soon as possible.

    Cleverdis: Why is social media not a distribution channel? Many hospitality marketers would claim otherwise.

    Starkov: In my view, hoteliers that are still trying to use social media as a distribution channel are the ones trying to find some kind of meaningful ROI to justify their efforts. Smart hoteliers understand that social media is not a distribution channel in hospitality and therefore use a different set of metrics to gauge success.? Despite the monumental efforts by many hotel marketers in the past five years to use social media as a ?new and revolutionary? distribution channel in hospitality and travel, they all failed miserably. Today the social scene is littered with the abandoned corpses of hotel and other travel-related profiles.

    Why?? Because a distribution channel is primarily a one-way street: the owner or aggregator of travel inventory/information pushes inventory/information through distribution channels which have been accepted by interested parties such as the traveling public, travel agents, group planners, etc. These distribution channels have been incorporated in travel planning technology and marketing solutions like GDS, travel supplier sites, OTA sites, etc.

    Social media is not a one-way street. It is a multi-street maze of peer-to-peer, marketer-consumer and consumer-marketer engagements and relationships.

    In other words, in travel and hospitality, social media is a customer engagement channel and a customer service channel, not a distribution channel. Hoteliers should use the same performance indicators they apply to customer service and branding initiatives.

    Cleverdis: What would your social media strategy be for 2013?

    Starkov: I would do everything possible to bring social media management and customer review monitoring in-house and at the property level. I would create internal social media management and customer review monitoring processes, preferably in the following manner:

    Social Media Profiles on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.:

    Services provided by an outside agency

    I would hire an outside agency to provide best practices and train my staff with quarterly guidelines and concrete ideas regarding social media postings, contests, sweepstakes, etc. This agency would perform quarterly audits of my hotels? management of social media profiles and provide recommendations. This company would be in charge of designing and implementing all of the digital technology tasks: Facebook custom tabs, Facebook sweepstakes, reveal tabs and promotions, Twitter backgrounds, YouTube Channel customizations, etc.

    Services I would retain in-house:

    1. Customer engagement side of social media ? For the ongoing management of the social media presence on Facebook, Twitter, etc. I would appoint a designated marketing coordinator/community manager to work as part of the Sales & Marketing Department. This community manager would monitor customer posts, manage customer engagements, post branding and marketing messages and handle questions and reviews by customers via the social media profiles during regular business hours. Any customer-related issue outside of business hours should be referred to the customer service team at the property.
    1. Customer service side of social media ? This would include monitoring and reacting to customer service-related comments, issues and complaints. Hotel employees from the client-facing staff, including designated reception/front desk managers and clerks would be in chare of these services. The goal is to have a person monitoring customer service issues during each shift, thus ensuring 24/7 ?social media? support. Once again, the 24/7 social media monitoring applies only to customer service issues that require urgent attention and immediate resolution.

    Customer Reviews:

    Monitoring customer reviews should be handled at the property and not by an outside agency and should be assigned to different teams similar to the social media management strategy. During business hours, this could be a marketing coordinator/community manager and after hours, specially-trained members of the front desk servicing teams (including designated reception/front desk managers and clerks).

    Utilizing reputation-monitoring tools like Revinate and ReviewPro is highly recommended for efficiencies, breadth of review sites, and monitoring the comp set.

    Cleverdis: What social media platform would you spend the most time on in 2013?

    Starkov: To be successful in the social space you cannot focus on just one social channel. In any multichannel marketing strategy, it is important to focus your efforts across all social channels that are incorporated into your marketing mix.

    In 2013 I would make sure that my property presence is optimized to the max and I am doing everything possible on the following social media platforms:

    • Facebook: for brand building and deep customer engagement
    • Twitter: for instant communications with customers and as a customer sentiment ?listening tool?
    • Google+: as an up-and-coming social network; at a minimum create and optimize the hotel profile

    Updating your social channels such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ with fresh content daily harnesses the power of a successful social media strategy. The whole of these efforts is exponentially greater and more valuable than the sum of its parts.

    Cleverdis: ?What?s the difference in communicating on Twitter and Facebook?

    Starkov: Twitter is an open platform where hoteliers can easily search buzz surrounding their brand and reach out and engage new customers. Twitter is becoming more and more a customer service tool where hoteliers must monitor and handle feedback and requests from guests in real-time. Consider Twitter as an instantaneous communication tool. You can use Twitter in place of a short promotional email. Or in place of an SMS message. At the same time, Twitter is ?an early warning system? for service problems at the hotel. Therefore, you need to monitor tweets 24/7.

    Facebook is more of a brand relationship tool for fostering customer loyalty and building a robust community of fans. Prompting fans to share photos and experiences is key in building a strong brand community and virally promoting the property in the Newsfeed. Consider Facebook as an extension to your property website, a platform which adds an interactive capability to your customer engagement strategy. Unlike the predominantly static hotel website, Facebook allows two-way conversations (marketer-customer and customer-marketer) as well as peer-to-peer engagements. Example, having one or more ?brand ambassadors? among your Facebook fans goes a long way in promoting your hotel and engaging the rest of the fans and building brand equity and loyalty.

    Cleverdis: What other social media would you use?

    Starkov: In this age of rich media and exploding video format, I would spend the necessary efforts and resources on enhancing and optimizing my property?s YouTube channel and Flickr profile.

    I would also create 30- to 60-second videos focusing on various aspects of my hotel product: leisure travellers, meeting planners, wedding planners, family travellers, spa, etc. and use those for the hotel website, YouTube channel, Google+ Local and Bing local listings, as well as for MMS promotions.

    The search benefits of Google+ are becoming vital in an SEO online strategy. The power of Google+ results in Google organic search cannot be ignored, and this growing presence in search results are turning the heads of social networks such as Twitter who used to own social search result listings.

    Another social platform hoteliers should leverage in 2013 is Foursquare. Foursquare is intrinsic in socially engaging guests on a local level. Offering Foursquare check-in specials for guests is?a perfect way to up-sell onsite accommodations such as dining and spa as well as increase viral awareness.

    Emerging social networks such as Instagram and Pinterest should also be on hoteliers? radar.

    Cleverdis: ?What content would you put online? Where can you find it?

    Starkov: One of the biggest challenges in our industry is the creation of new, original and engaging content for the hotel website, the hotel blog, email marketing, social media postings, etc.

    The 2011 Google Panda Update made most hotel websites and other hotel digital content assets obsolete by introducing very strict requirements for content, interactivity, and page download speeds. The update requires hoteliers to generate engaging and unique website content (as opposed to bland, old and tired content) that would intrigue users and increase the site?s ?stickiness.? An even more recent algorithm update by Google now known as the ?Freshness? update added a strict requirement that determines how news-worthy and how current the content is on the hotel website, blog, etc.

    Social media added an additional complexity to the equation. Social media users dislike pompous over-the-board content. The ?official? content ? the content that comes from the hotel in the form of website copy, blog articles, Facebook postings, etc. ? should be as close to the style and format of the ?unofficial? content or the user-generated content. The bigger the gap between the official and unofficial content, the less credible the official content is since people tend to trust their peers more than any official entity.

    Hoteliers should be looking into generating good and engaging content for the social media profiles and the hotel website blog using all available sources:

    • Hotel Website?s Content Management System (CMS): does your property website CMS have the functionality to automatically push ?fresh? content in the form of specials and promotions and the latest events at the hotel or the destination to your Facebook wall, Twitter, mobile site, etc.?
    • Good copywriting skills should be a requirement for any community manager/social media marketing coordinator. This should be part of the job description and job requirements.
    • Create an internal system within the hotel for sharing ?Facebook-worthy? news, happenings, events and activities. Your in-house experts, from famous chefs to popular spa practitioners to wedding coordinators, are your biggest assets. Ask them to share their stories, best practices, case studies and recommendations. From seasonal recipes to ?How to?? advice to ?Top 10?? lists?all of these constitute valuable content worth publishing.
    • PR Agency: your contract with an outside PR agency should also include a Facebook and a blog version of any consumer-focused press release they produce. Such announcements about a hotel promotion, new amenity or service, happening at the hotel, etc. should be shorter and structured as sharing exciting news with your Facebook fans or hotel website blog readers.

    Traditionally, hotel websites have been content rich vs. news rich, with descriptions and information featuring and explaining in detail every facet of the hotel business and service, from the bed linens to the capacity of a meeting room. The static content is there, but the ?fresh? content or the ?original and engaging? content is certainly lacking, and this is the main issue with current hotel websites after the latest Google algorithm updates.

    Cleverdis: If you were an independent hotelier and had only 1,000 Euros, what would your online marketing strategy be? Would you use only social media?

    Starkov: With only 1,000 Euros I would address social media only if everything on my website was fully optimized and functional. Is your website SEO up to par? Do you have a mobile website? How about a booking engine on both the desktop and mobile sites? Are the calendar of events and activities on the site updated? Do you send monthly email promotions to your customers? Do you have content on the site addressing all of your important and key customer segments? How about landing pages describing all aspects of the hotel product? How about content in foreign languages to address your main foreign feeder markets?

    With a low budget, it is important to take full advantage of organic visibility in natural search results. I would begin optimizing all property local listings including Google+ Local, Yahoo Local Directory and Bing Local. I would optimize the TripAdvisor presence and set up free links from online directories and destination sites to the property website to boost Google rankings and your Google PageRank. Once I have optimized my presence across the web, I would take advantage of Google AdWords to launch paid search campaigns ? these could be micro-campaigns in selected feeder markets or promoting a concrete hotel special/package.

    I would create an internal system to monitor customer reviews about my hotel on all important review and OTA sites, from TripAdvisor to Booking.com to Expedia. I would train my staff how to monitor customer reviews and how to react in each of the following three instances: highly negative, but true reviews; negative, but false, and highly positive reviews. I would create internal guidelines with concrete ?owners? of the process and even recommend ?official property comments? in each of the above instances.

    Then and only then would I start thinking about building a social media presence, starting with the hotel fan page on Facebook, including a custom tab with the hotel logo, photos, descriptive copy, a reservation widget, an email capture widget and call-outs to the hotel website.

    Here are some final quick tips for managing a robust social media strategy:

    Facebook

    1. Fresh content is key to maintaining a Facebook Fan Page community.
    2. Engagement is the true measure of ROI. Engage fans with open-ended questions, fill-in-the-blanks, and trivia.
    3. Use Facebook Insights to tailor your Fan Page content. Use the power of social analytics to find out the best time of day to reach the highest number of users and what type of content is receiving the most engagement. Use this insight to shape your strategy.
    4. Let your fans shape your community. Facebook is a two-way marketing platform, and it is important to make sure you are answering all comments/questions and providing your fans with the content that inspired them to ?Like? your page.
    5. Focus on local engagement. Utilize Facebook Deals to offer check-in specials to guests. Local, social marketing is becoming strategic in resonating with key customer segments.

    Blog on the Hotel Website

    1. Post fresh, unique and engaging blog articles.
    2. Host blog contests to engage customer segments. Prompt visitors to comment on a blog post to enter to win a prize/free stay.
    3. Create blog categories that target your key customer segments. Create sections tailored around Travel Tips, Specials & Packages, Dining, and other onsite amenities.
    4. Link to your Blog in highly visible real-estate on your website homepage to capture more traffic and qualified leads. Promote your blog on social channels such as Facebook, Twitter, etc.
    5. Link to your blog on your email marketing template, and highlight your latest posts in monthly email marketing pieces.

    5 ideas to gain more visibility

    1. Tag relevant social media pages to gain qualified fans and followers.
    2. Favorite relevant Fan Pages on Facebook or ?List? relevant handles on Twitter to build strategic connections and visibility.
    3. Post fresh and engaging content for more visibility in newsfeeds.
    4. Link to social community profiles on your website, email template, and blog.
    5. Cross promote your social channels.

    The ?Don?ts? of a community manager

    1. Don?t ignore your community. Listen. Learn. Respond.
    2. Don?t neglect your brand. Foster positive buzz, and shape the conversation to align with your persona and branding.
    3. Don?t tell your community what they want, ask them.
    4. Don?t be a bore. Engage your community with fun contests, trivia, and more. Remember social media is just that?social.
    5. Don?t isolate. Integrate your community into the comprehensive marketing mix. No community can grow on an island.

    Communicate to bloggers to incite them to talk about your hotel

    1. Host blogger contests where you prompt them to write about your hotel (linking to your website) in order to be entered to win a free stay.
    2. Create a Special Package specifically for bloggers where they can stay at the hotel at a discounted price and then blog about the experience.
    3. Prompt bloggers to write guest articles for the hotel blog to give them a free ?plug? (great for reciprocal linking).
    4. Create an email list targeted specifically to bloggers so you can begin building a brand relationship and prompt them to blog about the hotel regularly. To build this list, you can host a blogger sweepstakes.
    5. Feature a ?Blogger of the Month? section on the hotel website for cross promotion (great for reciprocal linking).

    About the Author and HeBS Digital

    Max Starkov is President & CEO of HeBS Digital (Hospitality eBusiness Strategies), the hospitality industry?s leading full-service digital marketing and direct online channel strategy firm based in New York City (www.HeBSdigital.com).

    HeBS Digital as pioneered many of the best practices in hotel Internet marketing, social and mobile marketing, and direct online channel distribution. The firm has won over 220 prestigious industry awards for its digital marketing and website design services, including numerous Adrian Awards, Davey Awards, W3 Awards, WebAwards, Magellan Awards, Summit International Awards, Interactive Media Awards, IAC Awards, etc.

    A diverse client portfolio of top tier major hotel brands, luxury and boutique hotel brands, resorts and casinos, hotel management companies, franchisees and independents, and CVBs are taking? advantage of HeBS Digital?s direct online channel strategy and digital marketing expertise. Contact HeBS Digital consultants at (212) 752-8186 or success@hebsdigital.com.

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    Source: http://www.hebsdigital.com/blog/interview-with-max-starkov-president-ceo-of-hebs-digital-on-social-media-and-customer-review-best-practices/

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