Facebook sells out. . . outside of facebook, outside of the internet, and in your local superstore actually.

Facebook is releasing plastic cards containing Facebook credits to purchase items in various games and applications on Facebook in Walmart, Target, and possibly other stores.

Addy Dugdale over at Fast Company says:

It’s a logical move for Mark Zuckerberg’s gang–after all, his chum Sean Parker estimated earlier this year that Facebook’s Credits system would account for around one third of the social network’s revenue. So having it available in as many forms as possible instead of merely the bank of Mom and Dad–i.e. their bank cards–is not a bad idea at all.

Earlier this summer, Facebook signed a deal with MOL Global, a firm that brings virtual credits to real stores via its terminals in Asia and Australasia.

. . . perhaps this could be one way of teaching your kid about the value of money. “You wanna buy the FarmVille, son? You gotta save your money and buy your own credits at Target.

It’s a great idea, because it’ll help Facebook turn a profit and that is the end goal for every business. After all a profitable Facebook is a Facebook that continues to exist and that is something I have an interest in seeing happen.

This. . . this is just amazing.

After you click on one of the two choices at the end of this intro video you will be taken to a youtube page where you are able to type in what happens to the bear and an appropriate video is played. Super awesome. Super props and kudos to Tipp-Ex for an excellent idea executed amazingly well!

Oh Pepsi. . . why would you make such a bone headed mistake like using music that you haven’t secured the rights to use? Especially when there are plenty of options for music that isn’t tied down by any of these problems. Pepsi used the song “Why Can’t We Be Friends” by the band “War” in this commercial spot:

The guys from War claim Pepsi stole their “signature song” for a national ad campaign … and now the band is opening a $10 million can of whoop ass to make things right. -TMZ

As of now on Jamendo alone has 1552 albums (each containing several pieces of music) available, licensed under an attribution only Creative Commons License. Which means you can use this music in any of your productions for the cost of a line in the rolling credits!

Kevin MacLeod has skads of royalty free music available to use as you like as long as you give him credit and even has options for applying for a Sans Attribution License in those cases where you cannot credit him (such as in a commercial).

There are many other royalty free / creative commons music sources including Free Play Music and places like RoyaltyFreeMusic.com (which offers royalty free music at a low cost).

With all of the options for royalty free music. . . don’t be like Pepsi. Don’t use music that you don’t have a license for in your productions, especially since there are plenty of pieces of great music readily available.

Human beings have been altering their perception of the world for millenia, but finally we’re doing it in a way that makes the world a better place. It’s called augmented reality and it’s putting information as close as your eyes. Look at the world and know in depth everything you could ever want to know about whatever is before you.

Tim Folger over at National Geographic wrote an amazing article about the current state of augmented realty (AR) that pretty much leaves me speechless!

The U.S. Marine Corps is testing AR technology developed at Columbia University to train mechanics. They don headgear that projects animated 3-D computer graphics onto the equipment under repair, labeling parts and giving step-by-step guidance. “The marines worked faster with our AR program than with laptop-based manuals,” says Steven Feiner, a computer scientist at Columbia.

Early adopters can test out the world’s first augmented-reality glasses for consumers, from a U.S. company called Vuzix. They look like wraparound sunglasses, except you can’t see directly through the lenses. Instead, small cameras centered on the outside of each lens feed continuous video through a mobile computer (say, an iPhone) to an LCD screen mounted inside each lens. So you look at the world indirectly, through the two tiny cameras’ feed. (And without a panoramic field of view, you’ll have to be careful where you walk.) The price for the glasses with cameras is about $600.

When connected to an iPhone, an iPod, or a PC for at-home gaming, the glasses combine computer input with the live video, creating a single stereoscopic field of view on the LCD, where computer graphics merge with the real world. Paul Travers, president of Vuzix, says that in the near future video glasses will deliver spectacular AR effects. “Instead of a little cell phone display, you’ll have an image on the LCD that looks like an IMAX theater filling your field of view.”

The next stage in the evolution of AR is taking shape in the lab of Babak Parviz, an associate professor of bio-nanotechnology at Seattle’s University of Washington. Parviz has made a contact lens etched with a tiny, transparent electronic circuit that contains a single LED. Over the next several years he hopes to add hundreds of LEDs to the lens, allowing it to display text and images that would appear to hover in space at a readable distance in front of the eye. “With enough processing power, the lens could translate speech into text in real time and display it for deaf people,” says Parviz. The lens would be powered wirelessly by radio waves transmitted from a cell phone in your pocket.

Unbelievable. Folks, we live in the future right now.

A fig rig is sort of a steering wheel shaped rig for your video camera to help get steadier shots while still keeping fluidity of motion and control. Since I didn’t really want to spend $300 today or wait for one to arrive I decided to make a similar rig myself. I decided on a square design (hence squig rig) instead of circular since it’s easier to assemble and I think the benefits of a circular design is dubious at best.

This is a video showing off my Squig Rig and a short shot of it in action:

Here are a couple of still photos for a more detailed view of the squig rig iteself and the bracket after it has been put together:

This rig uses four equal length pieces of 3/4″ pvc pipe for the walls (make long enough to fit your camera), four 3/4″ pvc elbow connectors, one 1/4″ wing nut, two 1/4″ bolts, one 1/4″ hex nut, one 1/4″ locking nut, one pipe bracket with space for 1/4″ bolts/nuts, super glue, and flat black spray paint.

I think this rig is pretty good, but I think shifting the weight of the camera more towards the center will help increase stability even more, so I’ve drawn up plans for version 2:

What do you think? Let me know if you give making one of your own a shot. Feel free to ask any questions about the rig and materials as well.

Some people say that social media optimization (SMO) is like herding cats. I say, “if you’re going to herd cats, bring a can opener.” Just like cats, the people on social media sites will run to where ever you are if you make noise in a way that lets them know that you have something that they want.

The denizens of social media are waiting out there, listening intently for any sign of interesting information. They will respond with a mass amount of activity if you let them know that you have something “cool”. You’re job isn’t over with just the first rush though. If you want to keep them near by then you’ll need to be responsive, keep them engaged, and keep the conversation active.

The people are waiting on Facebook, Twitter, Jaiku, and all of the other social media sites. They are waiting for other people (and that includes you. . . probably) to start making some noise about something interesting. They want to hear the latest news about their hobbies and interests and (lucky for you) most of these hobbies and interests are listed in the “interests” section of their user profiles. The users of social media also write about what they want to hear about.

All you need to do is look at what they post to their statuses/walls/twitter accounts and if they have a blog at the very least skim it. Keep in mind that they do have filters. They only want to hear about their interests and like cats they are indifferent at best to anything not interesting to them. They want to spend their time reading, watching, talking about their interests and they will never feign interest. They will in fact feel indignant and insulted if you talk about something they don’t care about. Their time is at a high premium and they don’t have extra time for things outside of their sphere of interests. They rightfully expect you and me (savvy marketers that we are) to cater to their interests.

You need to speak to them in a way that lets them know you have what they want. The first step towards that is to figure out their interests by checking profiles, looking at blogs, and generally using the abundant resources available in the social media era.

However, don’t overlook the basic method of simply asking them. You can do this via the use of online polling systems (some of which are built right into the social media sites) and by engaging them in the topical discussion boards. Once you know their interests you need to speak to their interests.

If you’re talking about something they write about, they will listen. Bloggers are always looking for information about and surrounding their chosen field and will usually be happy to hear from you if you’re on topic. Social media sites are full of individuals who may not be bloggers, but are just as passionate about certain topics and ecstatic to hear anything about those topics of interest. Remember though, stay on demographic with them.

Don’t drift into “uninteresting” things, because, just like a herd of cats, if you get boring they get lost. Don’t reach out to dog bloggers about the latest cat food. Try not to ask too much of your audience either. They want to interact just enough and if you take up too much of their time they will quickly grow tired and bored of you and your message.

You need to be responsive to your audience needs and desires. They will ask questions that you need to answer quickly, truthfully, and tactfully. Keep an eye out for these questions so you can respond quickly. You can do this via RSS subscriptions to searches on twitter or google blogsearch, email notification systems on discussion boards, and there are even entire services dedicated to being a watchdog for your keywords.

Do not lie. If you lie everyone in the world will know in 5 minutes, because they will figure it out in 2 minutes by using google and they will let everyone on all of their social networks know about it, and those people will spread the message, and so on. . . until one lie ruins your entire reputation. It’s not worth it. Be honest. Make sure you address people in a way that is both natural and respectful.

Don’t talk to the teenage demographic the same way you would your grandmother and definitely not vice versa. You might think that it’s too much trouble to respond, but ignoring questions is a death sentence that may be even worse than lying.

Being uninvolved in the social media sphere is like having no voice and that can only work against you. You’re going to run into both positive and negative responses to you, your brand, and your message. It’s okay. I promise.

Thank and promote the positive responders by commenting or emailing back, and offering to post cool comments on your blog with links to their blog or website. A little flattery and promotion goes a long way with people.

Respond to and work with the negative responders no matter how much you think you’d rather not. Do your best to change their mind with an open and honest dialogue about their issues.

At the end of the day stay calm and collected. By keeping your cool while your detractors lose theirs the world will see you as the good and reasonable one while your detractors will be seen as ranting nutcases. Let them walk into that trap if they want to.

Whether it’s handling your social media presence or herding cats the important thing to keep in mind is to appeal to the interests and habits of the ones you’re trying to attract.

Focus on what they are interested in and what they want and keep the tools and supplies handy that will keep them coming to you. Bust out the can opener and make the noise that lets them know that you have what they want and all they have to do is come running. Once they know you’ve got what they’ve been looking for they’ll be there faster than you can keep up with.

In a big announcement, OLX has finally publicly announced that they just received a strategic investment from South African media conglomerate Naspers in the range of $20 to $40 million.  The full story by Leena Rao is over on TechCrunch, Naspers Makes Strategic Investment In Craigslist Competitor OLX

We’ve been hearing recently that South African media conglomerate and recent DST investor Naspers was sniffing around Crasiglist competitor OLX. Today, we confirmed with OLX co-founders Alec Oxenford and Fabrice Grinda that Naspers has made a strategic investment in the online classifieds company.

While Buenos Aires-based OLX is not disclosing the amount invested, we’ve heard from sources that the investment was in the range of $20 to $40 million. Naspers also bought out the shares of all of OLX’s previous investors, which include Nexus Venture Partners, The Founders Fund, DN Capital, General Catalyst Partners, and Bessemer Venture Partners. Prior to this round of funding, OLX had raised nearly $30 million.

While the free classifieds site has trouble competing with Craigslist in the U.S., OLX has a strong user base internationally, and is the current leader in Latin America and Asia. The company, which is seeing over 125 million unique visitors per month worldwide, has a presence in 90 countries in 40 languages.

In 2007 OLX has made an investment in Edeng.cn, a Chinese free classifieds site and acquired Mundoanuncio.com, a Craigslist-like classifieds site targeting the Hispanic market, in 2006. OLX also has a hold on the Philippines market thanks to a white label partnership with Friendster. And OLX scored a similar deal with social network hi5.

So why does Naspers want a stake in OLX? The conglomerate has been making a number of investments in the emerging Latin American market, including BrandsClub, Grupo Abril, Movile and Buscapé. According to a joint statement made by OLX and Naspers, the South African firm’s long-term, general strategy “is to acquire/establish a core internet community within a specific country/region and to then expand the operations by adding additional services such as e-commerce, communication, social networking, content and gaming.”

Disclosure: OLX is a client of Abraham Harrison

Good old Stephen Colbert gives us some of the best advice for social media ever disseminated.

Control-Self-Delete is the word on the street now. Apparently all you have to do is:

• Never make a mistake
• Change your name when you’re an adult
• Change your face with invasive surgery
• Replace all of your friends
• Replace all of your family

The clip is awesome.

Nicholas E. Kinports over at Admaven wrote a great piece reminding us all to remember what we used to say about social media:

Sometimes it’s useful to look back and remember what we were all saying about social media and the future of advertising. I was reminded of an article I co-authored in early 2009 that eventually made it’s way to Bloomberg-Businessweek.

Here’s an inspiring TEDx video from David Armano covering his current views on the topic:

It’s a great little piece and a nice call to think about our goals, ideals, and actions as we move forward.

FBML (facebook markup language) is a specialized language for rendering pages and portions of applications in facebook. It’s often changing and tends to be more of a tripping point than a sstepping stone for developers. Though it looks like we’re all in luck as facebook is moving away from fbml:

Last Thursday Facebook announced they’re moving away from FBML and towards a more dynamic platform in the form of iFrames for both canvas applications as well as Facebook page tabs. Also, soon Facebook will not allow the creation of any new FBML applications. -Via Ten Golden Rules

We are also moving toward IFrames instead of FBML for both canvas applications and Page tabs. As a part of this process, we will be standardizing on a small set of core FBML tags that will work with both applications on Facebook and external Web pages via our JavaScript SDK, effectively eliminating the technical difference between developing an application on and off Facebook.com.
-Via The Facebook Developer Blog

This is great news! Applications and facebook pages have a chance to become much more dynamic now.