The beautiful truth about the Apple logo

It’s one of the most familiar icons around today and is showing up on sites across the globe as people mourn the death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. But, what is the story about the Apple logo. The apple bit is obvious, that’s the name of the company, but what about the bite, the byte?
Rob Janoff, who designed the famous logo old school style using paper, pens, glue and art knife, explained in interview that there was no mystical undertone, no religious connection, no gay iconography (despite the colorful stripes):
“Adam and Eve didn’t have anything to do with it. The bite of knowledge sounds fabulous, but that’s not it. And, there is a whole lot of other lure about it. Turing the famous supposed father of computer science who committed suicide in the early 1950s was British and was accused of being homosexual, which he was. He was facing a jail sentence so he committed suicide to avoid all that. So, I heard one of the legends being that the colored logo was an homage to him. People think I did the colored stripes because of the gay flag. And, that was something really thought for a long time. The other really cool part was that apparently he killed himself with a cyanide laced apple. And, then I found out Alan Turing’s favorite childhood story was Snow White where she falls asleep forever for eating a poisoned apple to be woken up by the handsome prince.”
It is none of that.
“When I explain the real reason why I did the bite it’s kind of a let down. But I’ll tell you. I designed it with a bite for scale, so people get that it was an apple not a cherry. Also it was kind of iconic about taking a bite out of an apple. Something that everyone can experience. It goes across cultures. If anybody ever had an apple he probably bitten into it and that’s what you get.”
It was only after the design was done, that Janoff’s creative director pointed out that there is the computer term “byte”, meaning 8 “bits”.  But, that was coincidental too. “At the time I had to be told everything about basic computer terms,” Janoff says. Computers were a long way from mainstream at the time.
[Interview cribbed from what I believe is the original source Creative Bits, if you know otherwise please let me know.]

Apple’s Steve Jobs Has Died

 Apple cofounder, chairman and former CEO Steve Jobs has died today at age 56. Apple’s board issued the following statement about his death:

We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today.

Steve’s brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve.
His greatest love was for his wife, Laurene, and his family. Our hearts go out to them and to all who were touched by his extraordinary gifts.

The Apple site has the image above of Jobs on its home page, along with this page and statement:

Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple. If you would like to share your thoughts, memories, and condolences, please email rememberingsteve@apple.com

Apple employees were also sent this email that Apple posted from Apple CEO Tim Cook:

Team, I have some very sad news to share with all of you. Steve passed away earlier today.
Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.
We are planning a celebration of Steve’s extraordinary life for Apple employees that will take place soon. If you would like to share your thoughts, memories and condolences in the interim, you can simply email rememberingsteve@apple.com.
No words can adequately express our sadness at Steve’s death or our gratitude for the opportunity to work with him. We will honor his memory by dedicating ourselves to continuing the work he loved so much.
Tim

Jobs had stepped down from his CEO position just over a month ago, citing health reasons.
There’s really no way we’re going to do justice to his career or impact here. I’d suggest those looking for good commentary to start at Techmeme here, where stories are already being collected, and more will follow.
RIP, Steve.
Postscript: There’s now a statement from Steve’s family:

Steve died peacefully today surrounded by his family. In his public life, Steve was known as a visionary; in his private life, he cherished his family. We are thankful to the many people who have shared their wishes and prayers during the last year of Steve’s illness; a website will be provided for those who wish to offer tributes and memories.
We are grateful for the support and kindness of those who share our feelings for Steve. We know many of you will mourn with us, and we ask that you respect our privacy during our time of grief.

Google’s Sergey Brin has also posted thoughts about Steve Jobs:

From the earliest days of Google, whenever Larry and I sought inspiration for vision and leadership, we needed to look no farther than Cupertino. Steve, your passion for excellence is felt by anyone who has ever touched an Apple product (including the macbook I am writing this on right now). And I have witnessed it in person the few times we have met. On behalf of all of us at Google and more broadly in technology, you will be missed very much. My condolences to family, friends, and colleagues at Apple.

I’ve also seen numerous people ask about a special Google logo in honor of Jobs. I’m pretty sure that will happen.
Postscript 2: Now a statement from Google’s Larry Page:

I am very, very sad to hear the news about Steve. He was a great man with incredible achievements and amazing brilliance. He always seemed to be able to say in very few words what you actually should have been thinking before you thought it. His focus on the user experience above all else has always been an inspiration to me. He was very kind to reach out to me as I became CEO of Google and spend time offering his advice and knowledge even though he was not at all well. My thoughts and Google’s are with his family and the whole Apple family.

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo also tweeted thoughts:

Once in a rare while, somebody comes along who doesnt just raise the bar, they create an entirely new standard of measurement.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has posted:

I’m truly saddened to learn of Steve Jobs’ death. Melinda and I extend our sincere condolences to his family and friends, and to everyone Steve has touched through his work.

Microsoft’s Bill Gates has a blog post up with a statement:

Steve and I first met nearly 30 years ago, and have been colleagues, competitors and friends over the course of more than half our lives. The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come.
For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it’s been an insanely great honor. I will miss Steve immensely.

Postscript 3 (7:10pm PT): The Google home page now has “Steve Jobs, 1955 – 2011″ on it, which links to Apple:

Apple 'genius' Steve Jobs dies from cancer

					SAN FRANCISCO: Apple's visionary co-founder Steve Jobs died from cancer Wednesday at 56, a premature end for a man who revolutionized modern culture with ubiquitous inventions like the iPod and the iPad."We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today," the California-based gadgetmaker said in a statement from its board of directors. "Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve." Tim Cook -- who had been handling Apple's day-to-day operations since Jobs went on medical leave in January, and was made CEO in August -- led the praise for the Silicon Valley legend. "Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor," he said. "Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple." Apple turned its home page into a tribute to Jobs, posting a large black-and-white photo of the bearded high-tech maestro in his trademark black turtleneck and small round glasses. The only caption: "Steve Jobs, 1955-2011." When a user clicks on the photo, they are taken to Cook's message in remembrance of Jobs, who died after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. Apple fans were invited to share their thoughts, memories and condolences by sending messages to rememberingsteve@apple.com. The rest of the website and store remained accessible. Jobs' family also issued a statement, saying he had died surrounded by his relatives. "In his public life, Steve was known as a visionary; in his private life, he cherished his family," it said. "We are thankful to the many people who have shared their wishes and prayers during the last year of Steve's illness; a website will be provided for those who wish to offer tributes and memories." Born on February 24, 1955 in San Francisco to a single mother and adopted by a couple in nearby Mountain View at barely a week old, Jobs grew up among the orchards that would one day become the technology hub known as Silicon Valley. He was just 21 and Steve Wozniak 26 when they founded Apple Computer in the garage of Jobs's family home in 1976. Under Jobs, the company introduced its first Apple computers and then the Macintosh, which became wildly popular in the 1980s. Jobs was elevated to idol status by ranks of Macintosh computer devotees, many of whom saw themselves as a sort of rebel alliance opposing the powerful empire Microsoft built with its ubiquitous Windows operating systems. Jobs left Apple in 1985 after an internal power struggle and started NeXT Computer company specializing in sophisticated workstations for businesses. He co-founded Academy-Award-winning Pixar in 1986 from a former Lucasfilm computer graphics unit that he bought from movie industry titan George Lucas. Apple's luster faded after Jobs left the company, but they reconciled in 1996 with Apple buying NeXT for $429 million and Jobs ascending once again to the Apple throne. Apple went from strength to strength as Jobs revamped the Macintosh line, revolutionizing modern culture and launching a "post-PC era" in which personal computers give way to smart mobile gadgets -- the iPod, iPhone and the iPad. His passing will raise doubts over whether the Cupertino, California-based company can continue its dominance in the hugely competitive technology sector. Jobs is survived by his wife Laurene, with whom he had three children. He also had a daughter with a woman he dated prior to marrying. (AFP)

Facebook changes ‘annoying’; Google+ becomes ‘worldwide party’ public to all

As Facebook made changes to its Web site leading up to what could be a major redesign announcement, Google’s social network competitor Google+ became public to all.


A cartoon by Salvadorian student Luchoedo shows Google calling Facebook a “chismoso,” or “gossip,” and Facebook calling Google a “sabe lotodo,” or “know-it-all.” The fight between their social networks for dominance just got a little bit bigger. (Image via Flickr user Luchoedo ) Facebook’s revamped news feeds that highlighted more “important” stories got — like many of Facebook’s prior revamps — a cold reception from users. Some readers even suggested ways to revert back to the old Facebook design, such as setting the account language to English (U.K.).
Meanwhile Google+, which rolled out tons of new and improved features when it went public Tuesday, got a rousing vote of approval for the first time. “If you hate Facebook's new update, try out Google+!,” technology blogger Ashley Esqueda wrote on Twitter.
Social network users brought out all sorts of comparisons Wednesday to make sense of the new changes on Facebook and Google+.
Blake Hounshell, managing editor of Foreign Policy magazine, compared the new Facebook to the Windows operating system, because in its new design Facebook is “always asking you to update stuff, verify stuff... behaves in strange ways. Super annoying,” he wrote on Twitter. Sixty people retweeted Hounshell’s comment.
About the new Google+, Swedish technology entrepreneur Anton Perlkvist, wrote that it was no longer “like a house party without alcohol [where] everyone is just standing around waiting,” a comparison he had made just 32 days ago.
“Update: it's improving. A lot. Things are happening. NOW,” Perlkvist wrote on Google+ Wednesday.
Could this be a turning point in the battle for dominance between Facebook and Google?
Facebook, at 750 million users, is the world's No.1 social networking service. Google won’t say how many people have signed up for Google+, but analysts estimated upward of 25 million users. That was before it went totally public today.
Google+ hasn’t lost all its critics, including College Humor, who roasted the social network Wednesday by releasing a video that called it “the antisocial network.”
But PC World points out that Google+ has got the advantage over Facebook in one category — it encourages people to have more followers.
Be prepared, Perlkvist says, continuing the metaphor, for Google+ to become a “worldwide ... interesting party.”

source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/facebook-changes-annoying-google-becomes-worldwide-party-public-to-all/2011/09/21/gIQAenn4kK_blog.html 

Google Introducing new and improved sitelinks

Webmaster level: All

This week we launched an update to sitelinks to improve the organization and quality of our search results. Sitelinks are the two columns of links that appear under some search results and ads that help users easily navigate deeper into the site. Sitelinks haven’t changed fundamentally: they’re still generated and ranked algorithmically based on the link structure of your site, and they’ll only appear if useful for a particular query.

Sitelinks before today’s changes

Here’s how we’ve improved sitelinks with today’s launch:

• Visibility. The links have been boosted to full-sized text, and augmented with a green URL and one line of text snippet, much like regular search results. This increases the prominence of both the individual sitelinks and the top site overall, making them easier to find.
• Flexibility. Until now, each site had a fixed list of sitelinks that would either all appear or not appear; there was no query-specific ranking of the links. With today’s launch, sitelink selection and ranking can change from query to query, allowing more optimized results. In addition, the maximum number of sitelinks that can appear for a site has been raised from eight to 12, and the number shown also varies by query.
• Clarity. Previously, pages from your site could either appear in the sitelinks, in the regular results, or both. Now we’re making the separation between the top domain and other domains a bit clearer. If sitelinks appear for the top result, then the rest of the results below them will be from other domains. One exception to this is if the top result for a query is a subpart of a domain. For instance, the query [the met exhibitions] has www.metmuseum.org/special/ as the top result, and its sitelinks are all from within the www.metmuseum.org/special section of the site. However, the rest of the results may be from other parts of the metmuseum.org domain, like store.metmuseum.org or blog.metmuseum.org/alexandermcqueen/about.
• Quality. These user-visible changes are accompanied by quality improvements behind the scenes. The core improvement is that we’ve combined the signals we use for sitelinks generation and ranking -- like the link structure of your site -- with our more traditional ranking system, creating a better, unified algorithm. From a ranking perspective, there’s really no separation between “regular” results and sitelinks anymore.

Sitelinks after today’s changes

These changes are also reflected in Webmaster Tools, where you can manage the sitelinks that appear for your site. You can now suggest a demotion to a sitelink if it’s inappropriate or incorrect, and the algorithms will take these demotions into account when showing and ranking the links (although removal is not guaranteed). Since sitelinks can vary over time and by query, it no longer makes sense to select from a set list of links -- now, you can suggest a demotion of any URL for any parent page. Up to 100 demotions will be allowed per site. Finally, all current sitelink blocks in Webmaster Tools will automatically be converted to the demotions system. More information can be found in our Webmaster Tools Help Center.

It’s also worth mentioning a few things that haven’t changed. One-line sitelinks, where sitelinks can appear as a row of links on multiple results, and sitelinks on ads aren’t affected. Existing best practices for the link structure of your site are still relevant today, both for generating good quality sitelinks and to make it easier for your visitors. And, as always, you can raise any questions or comments in our Webmaster Help Forum.

Written by Harvey Jones, Software Engineer, & Raj Krishnan, Product Manager, Sitelinks team

Source: http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2011/08/introducing-new-and-improved-sitelinks.html

Top 20 Ways to Make the Most of Your Posts and Tweets

The following are some easy ways to integrate your marketing efforts and surround consumers with branded experiences:

1. Include social media icons in your blog's sidebar.
2. Provide links to your branded online sites in your email signature.
3. Place your branded online destination links in your forum signatures.
4. Add links to your online content in the comment forms when you publish comments on blogs.
5. Put links to your content in your ads.
6. Include links to your content on your business cards.
7. Insert links to your content in your email newsletter.
8. Incorporate links to your content on your sales receipts.
9. Include Facebook social plugins on your blog or Web site from the Facebook Developer tools.
10. Include Twitter widgets from the Twitter Resources section of Twitter.com on your blog or Web site.
11. Add your YouTube videos on your Facebook page and profile.
12. Feed your blog content to your Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn profiles and your Facebook page.
13. Share your blog's content in LinkedIn groups.
14. Use the SlideShare app to display your business presentations on Facebook and LinkedIn.
15. Include links to your blog in your online profiles on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and so on.
16. The bio you include in guests posts for other people's blogs should include links to your online content and destinations.
17. Include LinkedIn plugins from the LinkedIn Developers Community on your blog and Web site.
18. Include the URLs to your online content in brochures and other marketing materials.
19. Consider listing URLs of your online content in your store or event signage.
20. Feed your Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook updates to your company's blog.

Source: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/220030

Top Five Social Media Mistakes

Here's a list of the biggest mistakes I've seen business owners make with social media and how to avoid them.

1. Talking One-Way: Many business owners start posting status updates because they think that is all they need to do to grow their company online. But the way they do it cuts off any chance of having a two-way conversation. In today's messaging marketplace, consumers want to be heard. If you are just talking to customers but not letting them to talk back and engage with you, then you are wasting considerable time and effort online.

When you go online and post in a status update area, do not just talk at or to people; speak with them. Tag people in a post and ask them a question. Tagging simple means that you write directly to a person on their facebook wall or on their Twitter feed. On Facebook you put the "@" sign in front of their profile name, for Twitter this sign would go in front of their username.
Also, take a few minutes to stop by the "neighborhood" of each social site that you frequent and say hello, find out what your neighbors are up to, and post a quick reply. By actively engaging in these spheres, you keep your business top of mind.

2. Not Knowing When to Ask for Business: Many online businesses have conducted conversations with their connections for quite some time now, without translating this dialogue into any sales. Some companies fail to ask for business online or they ask too soon. You need to build some rapport first; people will buy from you only as much as they trust you. Set up a rule to convert conversation into clients or customers.
I follow the 3/3 rule, whereby I talk to someone no more than three times, for not more than three minutes on each occasion, freely offering tips, exploring another company's branding or directly helping them, before I ask that person for some business. When I do the asking, I send the prospective customer a closing script or a post to indicate how I can help further.

3. Shiny Object Syndrome: With all the flashy new websites and with social networking capabilities changing by the minute, no wonder you are swept up in checking out a new site or a fresh feature when you go online. Instead of spending countless hours exploring new dazzlers, devote only a set amount of time each day or week to review the new happenings online. Otherwise you will be sucked into a vortex of shiny objects and before you know it your week is over and you have not converted any online relationships into profits. Flag interesting sites or novel capabilities in a folder or on your calendar to revisit later for research and development.

4. Poor Messaging: A consumer can become overwhelmed by dealing with all the wrong messages that are crowding the Internet lately. Company owners are projecting the wrong image through what they say online. In some cases, their posts have absolutely nothing to do with their company, brand, or personality.
Too many entrepreneurs do what I call panic posting -- just posting for the sake of posting and sharing ideas that do not highlight their overall brand image. If you have a serious company, don't post jokes and funny videos; instead post statistics and updates about your company's team members. If your business has a relaxed image, inject humor into your posts; a funny YouTube video can go a long way.


5. Sales Faux Pas: Writing how much your product or services cost in a status update or post is not only a time waste; it is plain wrong. Would you walk up to someone before you have even introduced yourself and say that your latest product is now available at a certain price for a limited time? If so, you would probably end up not only talking to yourself (the person would walk away), but also you likely would lose the entire room of people as customers just from their overhearing your sales introduction.
Instead, try sharing the pros and cons about your industry or product category and ask people to provide feedback and participate. This is a great way to bridge the distance between you and your prospects and get them involved with your company's brand. Ultimately newfound fans will promote you without being asked because they feel included; the fact that you asked and listened goes a long way.
Whether yours is a one-person business or it has 150 employees, take time every month or quarter to examine your social media practices. You could save thousands of dollars and hours -- and have more to show for it.

source: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/220099?cm_mmc=Market-_-Outbrain-_-NA-_-NA

Google Confirmed Testing Frames For Search Options & Search Results

Google ConfirmedTesting Frames For Search Options & Search Results

Google has confirmed a new user interface test on the search results page where the left side search filters are in a scrollable frame, and the middle of the search results are in their own scrollable frame. Technically, they are not frames, but rather some form of AJAX or HTML5 like interface. I am honestly not sure, since I did not see it myself.
I reported this at the Search Engine Roundtable and posted a video from a spanish blogger that captured it. Here is that video:

The Spanish blogger also notes you can try this yourself by changing your cookies. I have not tried this, nor do I recommend it, but if you want to take the risk, here is what you do.
(1) Use Chrome (2) Download this chrome extension (3) Then modify your cookies and in the field it says NID use

50=RbHwrmdgEAl6v3XPDKfJey5zpW7n84oRvsTZOK0LuYwW0m0UDFcPmts2HqKaZc2-Rdo7iLsrYKOUVKV4ztyb7JMDWavDVmvsyC2UldBcyFKsmyM_4Qhr761WpGHfoZPZ

A Google spokesperson confirmed this as a new test, saying “Google is always experimenting with new features.”

source: http://searchengineland.com/confirmed-google-tests-framed-search-filters-search-results-89909