All 250 million Facebook users will now have the ability to browse, order, purchase and ship flowers and other gifts without ever leaving the site. A partnership with ad network/app developer Alvenda made it possible, giving Facebook users even more access the outside world from inside the cozy little blue and white world.
Before I go any further, I invite you all to take advantage of this new setup and send me flowers. Peonies are preferred but really, I’ll take anything. No allergies here, and my birthday is September 18.
Back to the topic, this is all very fascinating, but what really peaks my interest is the fact that 1-800-FLOWERS are such trailblazers! I only just learned from this TechCrunch article that the flower retailer was the first to ever offer online transactions via AOL. Prior to that, the company had begun investigating e-commerce before such a thing even existed. Who knew they were so ahead of the game when it comes to online marketing?! That being said, let’s see if anyone actually uses this thing.
You’ll have to visit 1-800-FLOWERS.COM fan page to use the store, but the good news is, you’ll get a discount code when you Become a Fan (REMEMBER: PEONIES.)
Before you know it, we’ll be doing EVERYTHING from Facebook. Now, if only they could do something about that truly awful internal messaging system.
Only furthering the argument that the only thing PCs are good for is looking at porn, Microsoft just released a new commercial for Internet Explorer 8, emphasizing the feature that allows you to hide your browser history. It’s not for the weak-stomached.
A little breakfast-time browsing, I see. That’s sick. I have to give it to Microsoft though, this video is extremely share-worthy, only increasing it’s chances of going viral and boosting downloads (if that’s even possible anymore). It has already been Twittered about thousands of times!
I originally posted this on the SocialVibe blog, where the teens loved it (and had plenty of harsh comments) but it’s too good not to share here too, since this blog is all about… well, technology.
A 17 year-old Romanian girl experienced an untimely death after being electrocuted while simultaneously taking a bath and tweeting. The teenager experienced a jolt of electricity after attempting to plug in her charger with a wet hand.
Let this be a warning to all of you: DO NOT TWEET IN THE BATHTUB. Your life is far more important than telling your friends that “this strawberry shampoo smells, like, so good.”
Sure it’s sad, but I’d say this one has a Darwin Award coming her way fo’ sho.
Draaaaaama! I love it. Check out this clip of Leo Laporte blowing up at TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington over a Palm Pre review unit. Let’s just say, he doesn’t even get to the actual review.
It’s obvious that Facebook is quickly overtaking MySpace, which has ruled the US social networking scene for the past several years. But which websites have the rest of the world panting, logging on daily and updating their status? This map, created by IBM’s many-eyes.com, decodes which social networks are dominating and where.
The popularity is based on Alexa ranking and Google Trends, and although Facebook isn’t QUITE ahead of MySpace yet, this map says it is. I wonder what this will look like in five years.
To any and all people who may care what I have to say about the Ferarro ID theft thingee – l shot a quick vid as promised. I am the lamest video-maker ever so pardon my n00bness. I think I cover all key points.
Side note: I’m apologize, but I’m probably not going to accept any of the Facebook friend requests you’ve sent, as you can imagine, I’m a little weary of really exposing too much of myself. Please feel free to follow my Twitter and read my blog though, I am sure you’ll get more than enough information about me here. I live a pretty public life.
XOXO
Sarah
P.S. My apologies to any of you who saw the first unedited version of this, which she so kindly posted on her blog (briefly) for you all to see, before I even put it up.
I spend about equal parts of my time online (and offline) using Twitter and listening to music. When I heard about Song.ly, the service that allows you to share mp3s with your tweets, my initial reaction was “duh, that’s brilliant.” Now let’s see if it actually works.
1. Copy the mp3 URL of the song you want to share.
2. Visit Song.ly and paste into the space provided.
3. Test the pop-up player to make sure it’s working.
4. Click the green button that says “Tweet.”
Your Twitter followers will be able to click the compacted URL, which will take them to Song.ly, where they can then listen to the tune… though it doesn’t seem they can easily download it, which would be a nice bonus.
I haven’t used Internet Explorer in oh, about 5 years, and I probably won’t again (ever), but that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy this potentially viral video Microsoft released celebrating the launch of Internet Explorer 8.
This LOL-worthy video campaign takes us on a trip down Internet memory lane and features cameos from B-list comedians, web-celebs, and clips from classic viral vids and websites (hello, Chawlee Bit Me & the Hamster Dance!) Microsoft seems to be relying heavily on the influential power of social media to help promote IE8, and have even setup a website to encourage sharing.
In my opinion, this definitely beats the Bill Gates + Jerry Seinfeld #fail campaign last year. That being said, it doesn’t excuse the fact that the browser has been… le suck compared to Firefox.
-Accelerators, right-click functionality to map directions, translate words, email your friends and more.
-InPrivate browsing designed to shield your browser history (they say shopping, I say embarrassing Google searches/porn).
-Web Slices, which appears to be a “create your own iGoogle” via your toolbar.
-Search suggestions, self-explanatory yet helpful.
-SmartScreen, filters to protect you from potentially harmful websites.
I just left the most geeky, techy and AMAZING conference of my life. 2009 SxSW Interactive in Austin, TX. I went on behalf of SocialVibe, spreading the good word about raising donations for your favorite causes via branded widgets, but I left with much more than business contacts – I left with new friends. Techy friends. LA friends. Social media friends. Memorable moments (some of which I can’t remember).
I could do a post recapping the entire experience, if you’re interested, but for now I think I’ll just share ironic claim tag on my baggage:
Today is a day that should truly be celebrated, for 39 years ago today at the UCLA campus, the first computer-to-computer transmission was made.
Check out the first hand account (including IMP Logs) from Leonard Kleinrock and Charley Kline, who successfully managed to transmit a message over the ARPANET from the UCLA SDS Sigma 7 Host computer to the SRI SDS 940 Host computer at 22:30 hours on October 29, 1969.
The duo attempted to send the word “login,” but only the ‘l’ and the ‘o’ made it before the system crashed. That’s right, the first ever message on the Internet was “Lo!” The full “login” was successfully sent an hour later.
If it weren’t for this special day, you might not be reading this now.
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