Click here to listen

Nerd front:

Google “translate” works wonders when translating foreign languages to English. Scott uses it a lot when he’s translating Norwegian words and phrases that he can’t convert in his head. It’s not called the world wide web for nothing. This is an good way to unify all content on the web, and get more out of threads from other countries.

Path is a new mobile application, currently available only for iPhone. Dave Morin, a former Facebook application developer  is the brains behind the operation. Path is a photo sharing service that limits the number of people who can see the photos you post. Studies show that most people can only stay in close contact with 40-60 friends on a social network. Based on that research, Path lets you add 50 connections, setting it apart form other photo sharing services like Flickr and photobucket.

Facebook messages is an “all-in-one” email, IM, and SMS application. It combines all these into one feed in an effort to reduce spam and stay connected simply and easily. Request your invitation today.

Tip of the Week:

Maximize your computer’s calendar feature. You can easily share your calendar with other people and allow them to add events. This is a very useful and often overlooked tool that businesses or groups can use to stay better connected and on the same page. Get more information including step-by-step directions to start sharing your calendar today!

What’s on our mind:

John received his Square in the mail! Square is a tiny device that plugs into a headphone jack and can be used to scan credit cards. This is good for businesses that are on the go, and making sales at unorthodox locations. The application is fee, and so is the device (upon request). This could the application that changes the way people shop.

Demo of Square at SXSW from 9 Clouds on Vimeo.

Here’s a link to the original post.

English is no longer the dominant language on the Internet. Corporations and even small businesses in South Dakota can market to customers around the world by using applications like Google translate to convert their product page to another language.

Question of the day:

How are you processing transactions right now? What works for you and your business?

Tell us in the comments box below.

Even the name sounds scary.

Firesheep is an add-on for the popular web browser Firefox. With an easy one click installation, users of Firesheep can see who is using an open public wi-fi networks. Not only that, they can click on the user’s name and see what the person is doing online. Many popular website like Facebook, Twitter and Hotmail only encrypt your initial login and then act as an open site once you are logged in. These sites are then openly visible to Firesheep users! Gmail recently switched to encrypting each individual page so it is safe from this fire-breathing sheep.

Apparently (or supposedly), the creator of Firesheep wanted to increase pressure on major sites to improve their encryption and giving hacker-like access to any casual user is one powerful way to do it.

Fortunately, you can download a plug-in to stop the Firesheep plugin. Think of it as the antidote: Force-TLS. This Firefox add-on creates encrypted connections when you log on to web pages like Facebook. However if you are not using Firefox, your browsing could still be at risk.

Firesheep serves as a reminder: password protect your wi-fi networks. Never access personal data on unencrypted sites that you wouldn’t want others to see (banking information, credit card information, lewd photos or message…ahem, Brett Favre). If a site says https instead of http, it is a protected site and you can feel safe from inferno sheep.

If you have any questions, just ask: info@9clouds.com

So what? How many people even use twitter.com anyway? Most people use programs like Tweet Deck, mobile twitter or Hoot Suite, right? This is true, but having a custom background image is an easy way to brand yourself or your business. Not only does it look more professional, but it shows customers you pay attention to detail.

So how does one design for the new twitter? Unfortunately, most custom backgrounds that looked great on the old twitter are now obsolete. The user interface width has increased over 275 pixels. This means many custom images and content is no longer visible on the left side. Here is a general guide on how much space you have to work with, and how many users will see your background at these sizes:

(100%) 41px on each side
(72.7%) 108px on each side (1280x800px screen resolution)
(28.8%) 200px on each side (1440x900px screen resolution)
(4.6%) 312px on each side (1920×1080 screen resolution)

Here are a few general guidelines for designing new backgrounds for the new twitter:

1. Keep content between 41 and 108 pixels on the left side. This may require you to cut images and content, but it can be done. It doesn’t matter how cool a design is if no one can see it, right?

2. Keep it simple. This is closely tied to tip #1. You don’t need a full bio or a dozen URLs in your design. Put them in your bio, or better yet tweet them!

3. Design for all screen sizes. Keep your content between 41-108 pixels, but create an image that will still fit larger screens. I usually design a background around 2000 x 1600 pixels. Don’t forget to set the background color to match your custom image as well.

4. Test your image. Try viewing your background on different monitors to make sure the important content is visible on all screens.

We put these guidelines to make a new background for Chief Outreach Officer Scott Meyer. As you can see, it may take a little more thought to create new twitter backgrounds, but it can be done.

Old Twitter

New Twitter

]]> http://9clouds.com/2010/10/12/how-to-create-backgrounds-for-the-newtwitter/feed/ 0 http://9clouds.com/2010/09/24/ebooks-vs-paper-books/ http://9clouds.com/2010/09/24/ebooks-vs-paper-books/#comments Sat, 25 Sep 2010 00:08:26 +0000 Scott http://9clouds.com/?p=1234 A recent infographic from our very own Amy Colgan has generated a lot of buzz on The Post SD: the battle between eBooks and paper books. Although paper books still dominate, eBooks are quickly catching up as the Kindle, iPad and Nook become come sights on planes, trains and automobiles around the world. As this graphic shows, new releases (printed as hardcover books or eBooks) are increasingly going digital. What do you prefer? Have you tried a Kindle, iPad or Nook? Which would you recommend?

Paper books still dominate but eBooks are quickly catching up

This patent allows one to extract both individual and pre-generated images, data and text from one’s experience through the game to create a customized story. This data would be extracted and stored on an external device to be organized into a chronological timeline. This then could be sent to a server to create products from printed comic books to iBooks.

This technology is not limited to just video game consoles such as Wii, Xbox or Playstation. It includes “motion-activated” controllers, which can include the iPhone, iPad and other mobile products.

I feel this patent, if developed, will have a substantial impact on the gaming industry. Not only does this provide a fun way to “re-experience” your favorite games, but you can record tricks and game secrets to share with friends or use to play the game again. Plus, who doesn’t want to be the lead character of their own comic book?

I also think this will lead to a whole new experience for online video and iBooks. Remember when The Butterfly Effect was creating buzz for just having multiple endings? What if you could read a novel on your iPad in which every time you read it was different because you could choose where the story led? What if you could make decisions for characters in movies?

Additionally, this could also lead to new features for Apple apps like iMovie and iPhoto. The same technology could be applied to these programs to instantly create scrapbooks, yearbooks, digital biographies and more.

Although this technology is not even close to hitting the shelves yet, I am eager to see how it develops, and how it will impact other technologies. It’s definitely something to keep your tech-savvy eye on.

This board incorporates sites from stumbleupon to Vimeo and foursquare. Naturally, Facebook and Twitter were given the coveted Boardwalk and Park Place locations. Railroad spots were replaced with smartphones, you get to collect $200 when you pass Wi-fi, and I particularly enjoy that MySpace was given the jail spot! You also get to pick up Mashable and Technorati cards as you make your way around the board.

I am really hoping Hasbro takes a hint and puts this game into production. Game night anyone?

In a recent presentation by European Sony executive Mike Hawking, PlayStation 3 is adding 3D Blu-ray support. This will make PS3 consoles compatible with 3D games as well as online videos, movies and photos. The firmware upgrade for Blu-ray will be available this September, and 3D YouTube support is expected to become available within a year. Hawking stated since PS3s already have the hardware needed to handle 3D images. This technology will also allow users to upload images from 3D cameras.

Television is also going 3D. This year companies like Samsung and Sony have marketed 3D televisions. 3D TV is expected to become a hugely popular item as 3D becomes more standard in video, gaming and television programming. I feel sports fans will be the first to embrace 3D television, and others will follow once this technology becomes more affordable.

It’s not just entertainment that is going 3D. Adobe recently stated that a new version of Adobe Flash will have 3D support. More details on this new feature will be presented at the Adobe Max conference this October. This will be a huge development for 3D developers and animators. There is no word yet on if this technology will be applied to other Adobe programs such as Photoshop or Illustrator, but I would not be surprised if 3D technology is a key upgrade in the next Creative Suite programs.

What I find interesting about this 3D revolution is that three-dimensional cinema has actually been around in some form since the 1890’s! 3D also had a stint of popularity in the 1950’s, and again in the 1990’s when IMAX theaters were opened. It wasn’t until recent years that there has been a push for 3D technology in other digital platforms. What is next for 3D? What other platforms can you see this technology being used, or even become standard? Mobile? Instant Messaging? Are we going to wake up one morning and find our Google browser or Facebook homepage 3D? Personally, it wouldn’t really surprise me.

On June 26, 2009 Chris Nelson officially incorporated 9 Clouds in the state of South Dakota. We’ve seen tremendous growth, have learned a lot along the way and turned our vision into a reality thanks to the help of friends, family and the supportive communities in South Dakota. To all of you, we wish you thanks!

In honor of our first birthday, we decided to build a sandbox. A yellow one in fact. Starting Monday we will be launching our first product, the Yellow Sandbox. The Yellow Sandbox is a place to learn and play with social media.

Subscribers receive: access to instructional videos on how to use social media, synchronization of their social media accounts so they can send one message and have it posted to all their accounts and a personal website with links to their social media accounts.

If you are social media savvy, then maybe you’re more inclined to invite one of your friends to join the sandbox. We have an attractive affiliate program just for you!

We kept busy in our first year and look forward to another busy year as we learn to walk, eat solid foods and say our first word: Facebook. In the midst of this development, we’ll also continue to speak, educate and assist businesses in using, monitoring and optimizing social media and online tools. If you or someone you know could benefit from these services, please let us know!

Happy birthday 9 Clouds. Thanks to everyone who helped us along the way and look for our official party on 9/9/10. You’re invited.

The iPad has already sold 1 million units in only 28 days. At this rate in just under 4 years, the iPad will have sold more than 50 million units. See how the adoption of the iPad compares to previous revolutionary technologies like the iPod, iPhone, Internet, TV and radio.

There has been an exponential growth of technology in our lives which seems to only be accelerating. For a more in-depth analysis of this growth, watch the inspiration for this infographic, Social Media Revolution 2, which highlights the rapid changes in society due to technology and provided inspiration for this infographic.

This article can also be found at thepostsd.com.

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… Rank: wait… Traffic: wait… Price: wait… C: wait…

The initial pre-release information about the Facebook and Twitter applications were that they would be able to run in the background of your game and in the game you could take screenshots or videos and upload them to Facebook with very little effort, or at least update your status or send out a tweet from the pause menu. However when it came out none of these features were available, instead you needed to go to the dashboard of the Xbox 360, open up the Twitter or Facebook app, then proceed to tweet or look at what your friends are up to on Facebook.

These apps are not hard to use, but they are definitely not easy. Facebook tries to load too much at a time and is big and bulky and overall slightly confusing. Twitter is also a lot bulkier than it needs to be and very difficult to navigate efficiently. It’s been seven months since this was released on Xbox Live and there have been no changes to either program. I’m not sure if anyone even uses them because it is far easier to pull out your cell phone, even if you don’t have a data plan, and tweet or upload posts to your wall.

If they can make the applications run in the background of your game this will help to further merge the Xbox Live society with Facebook and Twitter, but until then they will just be taking up precious space on your Xbox 360 hard drive.