AMD Radeon HD 7970 Launched, Fastest GPU Tested
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Mick Darling's posterousAll my blogging in one spot. (mostly)AMD Radeon HD 7970 Launched, Fastest GPU Tested
MojoKid writes "Rumors of AMD's Southern Island family of graphics processors have circulated for some time, though today AMD is officially announcing their latest flagship single-GPU graphics card, the Radeon HD 7970. AMD's new Tahiti GPU is outfitted with 2,048 stream processors with a 925MHz engine clock, featuring AMD's Graphics Core Next architecture, paired to 3GB of GDDR5 memory connected over a 384-bit wide memory bus. And yes, it's crazy fast as you'd expect and supports DX11.1 rendering. In the benchmarks, the new Radeon HD 7970 bests NVIDIA's fastest single GPU GeForce GTX 580 card by a comfortable margin of 15 — 20 percent and can even approach some dual GPU configurations in certain tests." PC Perspective has a similarly positive writeup. There are people who will pay $549 for a video card, and others who are just glad that the technology drags along the low-end offerings, too.
Read more of this story at Slashdot. How to Master YouTube Promoted VideosMatt Lawson is the vice president of marketing at Marin Software, the largest paid search management provider. Many people think of YouTube as a place to watch cat videos and post clips of their kids singing silly songs. However, marketers should take YouTube as seriously as they do Google. By many counts, YouTube is the second-largest search engine (behind Google and ahead of Yahoo). In June 2011, ComScore reported that Americans had more than 5.6 billion YouTube viewing sessions per month, with the average visitor frequenting the site 23 times a month at an average of 26 minutes per visit. Reports show that YouTube passed 20 billion video views during October 2011 alone. YouTube’s millions of visitors do a lot of searches, either by way of Google or the YouTube site itself. Predictably, sophisticated video search is the cornerstone of YouTube’s success. For marketers, this means you need to think about your video strategy as carefully as you do your paid search strategy. Creating compelling videos and posting them on YouTube is a given — but you also have to get people to watch them. Make sure your videos turn up in search by using YouTube Promoted Video Ads to ensure your videos get found. The ads operate much like Google paid search ads, enabling advertisers to draw attention to videos, gain viewers and channel subscribers, and eventually influence downstream conversions. According to visitors’ search results, Promoted Videos appear either at the top or at the right of the page. Additionally, with a Promoted Videos account, marketers can add overlays to their videos that link directly to their site, offer a promotion, etc., which will drive traffic to their sites and directly boost sales. Given the prominence of YouTube today, every marketer should consider a Promoted Videos program. Here are a few practical steps to get you started. 1. Create a ChannelBefore you even think about buying Promoted Video ads, make sure you have a complete presence on YouTube. Start by creating engaging videos (not just one, but several) that promote your products and services in a fun, dynamic way. Don’t make these videos “salesy,” but instead focus on entertaining people. Experiment with different kinds of video, including how-tos, product reviews, customer testimonials and professionally-produced marketing videos. To create these videos, you can work with an agency, hire a video production company or shoot some yourself. Once you’ve generated a menu of videos, create a YouTube channel to showcase them. Just as important, add accurate titles, descriptions and tags to every video; YouTube will use these keywords to match your video with visitors’ search queries. Over time, make sure to monitor video feedback. If a video achieves a positive response, it’s time to invest in promoting it. 2. Keywords are Key
Like other Google ads, Promoted Videos are managed through AdWords and follow a similar format to paid search, so search marketers may find the process of creating Promoted Video ads quite simple. When creating an ad, make sure the thumbnail description and ad copy reflect the nature of your video. Like paid search, you can select between broad, phrase, exact or negative match types for your Promoted Video keywords. One thing to remember: YouTube visitors are looking just for video content, so their search habits differ from traditional search. That means porting over keywords from search or display campaigns won’t work. Instead, choose keywords that relate to the video you’re promoting. YouTube offers advertisers a keyword suggestion tool that provides recommendations based on your video description, video id/URL or target demographic. The tool, currently in beta, also provides monthly search volume statistics for each keyword, so you can see which keywords visitors tend to use more often. 3. Make Every Bid CountWhen it comes to bidding for Promoted Video keywords on YouTube, approach the task as you would a paid search or display campaign. That means setting a conversion goal and determining an expected volume and budget for each month. Naturally, you’ll want to determine the value of each click before making bids. A third-party bidding tool, particularly one integrated with your SEM campaigns, proves useful in managing your YouTube bidding decisions and assessing the results of your Promoted Video campaigns. 4. Don’t Forget the OverlayOne of the primary perks of running Promoted Videos is the ability to include an overlay ad, clickable text that appears at the bottom of your video while it plays. The overlay allows you to add a link from your YouTube video to an external site, and is thus an invaluable technique to drive viewers to your site. You can also use this space to offer a promotion, such as 20% off a customer’s first purchase, which directly impacts conversion. Video is often more of a branding tool, but with the overlay, you can turn your videos into actionable, direct response campaigns. 5. Don’t be BoringFirst and foremost, YouTube is a massive content destination and social network. Consumers go to YouTube to be entertained, get information, find specific video clips and then share. Therefore, create videos that engage your target audience, then embed links in the overlay or at the end of your video that encourage people to pass along. A successful video doesn’t just get views, but also elicits a response and encourages sharing. Track the social sharing path of your videos and respond to viewer comments. If viewers ask for a follow-up video, be sure to provide one. And if your video is shared onto other social networks, be sure to respond on those channels. Participating in the conversation with viewers allows you to strengthen your brand and provides insights on how to create better videos. Online video is no longer just “nice to have.” Every marketer should have a video strategy — and YouTube is the place to start. Images courtesy of iStockphoto, ozgurdonmaz, Flickr, jonsson More About: Advertising, contributor, features, How-To, Marketing, promoted videos, Video, YouTube Adobe releases EchoSign app for iOS, enables legally binding contracts to be signed with a 'click'
We're not going to twist your arm, but if you're sitting on some beachfront property that you're willing to deed over to your favorite Engadget writers, the folks at Adobe are making the process all too easy. The company is delivering a free app for iOS that enables EchoSign subscribers to attach legally binding signatures to virtually any document, all from the comfort of their preferred fruit-filled device. What's more, the software also allows users to send documents to others for a one-click stroke of the pen and track the status of said agreements with real-time updates. Now, please excuse us. We've got some aboveboard contracts to draft.
Adobe releases EchoSign app for iOS, enables legally binding contracts to be signed with a 'click' originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Dec 2011 07:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink 9to5Mac | Adobe | Email this | Comments
from Engadget http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/22/adobe-releases-echosign-app-for-ios-enable...
Four short links: 22 December 2011
DotEPUB Converts Websites to Ebooks [Chrome Extensions]
If you've ever wanted to convert an article to an ebook for later reading, it's usually a two or three step process, but DotEPUB is a Chrome extension that handles the conversion in one simple click. More »
Sony divisions to elope in Vegas, celebrate the marriage of Television and Internet at CES 2012
Well, we can't decide if this is one of the cheesiest or most clever event invites in CE history. Sony's PR arm just sent us an e-vite to the marriage of Sony Electronics Home Division and Sony Entertainment Network, simplified to "Television and Internet" on the company's appropriately generic Wedsite wedding page. Now this won't be a cheap Vegas wedding by any means -- the ceremony will take place at the Bellagio Wedding Chapel on the evening of January 11th, with a "Reception Immediately Following." Since this is technically a marriage between cousins, we've spent time with both the bride (Bravia) and the groom (Sony Entertainment Network -- or SEN, when among friends), so we mean no offense if forced to choose sides in the chapel. Coincidentally, we'll already be in town, so we may pop in to greet the likes of family members "Al Gore, Father of the Internet" and HMZ-T1, aka "Aunt Madge." Care to come along? The couple-to-be's site appears to be open to all, so hit up the source link to sign the guest book and send in your RSVP.
Sony divisions to elope in Vegas, celebrate the marriage of Television and Internet at CES 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Dec 2011 13:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Sony (Wedsite) | Email this | Comments
from Engadget http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/21/sony-divisions-to-elope-in-vegas-celebrate...
Gracenote launches ACR TV recognition, HABU mood-based music curation
It's that pop song again -- you know, the one that forces you to flip the radio to anything else. But still, you're dying to know what it's called, if only to avoid hearing it ever again. Boom Boom? Heartbeat? Shazam! Super Bass, by Nicki Minaj. If you haven't used Shazam, chances are you know someone that does, and often. Gracenote's new Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) technology takes that same concept and applies it to TV shows and movies, and it's coming soon to a smartphone or tablet near you. A yet-to-be-named app will let your device "listen" to whatever you're watching, identifying TV shows and movies based on dialogue or the soundtrack, then displaying a variety of info about whatever's on screen. Gracenote is also expanding its audio offerings, showing off both HABU and MoodGrid, which are mood-based music curation services for mobile devices and in-car systems, respectively. Software groups songs based on emotional themes, then plays them back depending on your selected mood. Happy? Sad? Intrigued? We'll need to wait until CES for the full scoop from Gracenote.
Gracenote launches ACR TV recognition, HABU mood-based music curation originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Dec 2011 10:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments from Engadget http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/21/gracenote-launches-acr-tv-recognition-habu...Why Quora’s New Boards Feature Makes It a Better NetworkQuora’s relationship with the Q&A format is no longer exclusive. As of Tuesday, you can also use the site to arrange content from around the web on Pinterest-like boards. While the move seems like an odd one for a startup most often defined as a Q&A platform, it also opens up an opportunity for Quora to become the most prominent interest-based network — a chance the platform didn’t stand while married to Q&A. “It’s like if it were really easy to create lots of sub-Twitter accoutns for yourself,” Quora co-founder Charlie Cheever tells Mashable about Quora’s new Boards feature. “Social services tend to pull you toward a set of shared interests within a group, but if you’re interested in something else, there’s not a great place to talk about it.” On Cheever’s Twitter feed, for instance, a lot of people tweet about football throughout the weekend. About as many people complain they hate it when people tweet about football. With Quora boards, someone who likes football can create a board for it and spare their football-hating fans from quarterly game updates. Meanwhile, football haters can still follow the same person’s board about tech news. It’s different than following people; it’s following interests. ![]() The Q&A site has actually been an interest-based community for some time. Users have been able to follow both others on the network and threads on specific questions as updates in their news feeds. But there have been a couple of factors that limited its capacity as an interest-based network. The first is that there has been no good way to curate questions under topics that can be followed. Quora introduced “topic groups” in June to solve this problem by creating feeds of questions relevant to certain topics, but they aren’t available for every topic and can’t be created instantly. The other factor holding Quora back from functioning as an awesome interest network was that the feed was restricted to content created on Quora, whereas other social networks like Facebook and Twitter have the wealth of the Web to draw upon. Boards hit both of these birds with one stone by allowing users to create new topics with content from both Quora and elsewhere. Quora already allowed its decently sized userbase to share their expertise, approach topics from different angles and follow their interests rather than people. Now it does so in a way that makes it easier to follow more content, and thus more likely to scale. More About: quora For more Business coverage:
Twitter Takes TextSecure, Texting App for Dissidents, Open SourceA technology that helped start a global movement is now being put into the hands of the people. TextSecure, an Android app that encrypts text messages and is popular among activists in many countries, is now open source, thanks to Twitter. Twitter acquired the company that makes TextSecure, Whisper Systems, last month. In countries where governments have more strict control over wireless networks, Whisper Systems’ apps have been extremely helpful to dissidents wanting to communicate and organize securely. Now Twitter has just turned TextSecure into open-source software, meaning those same dissidents can engineer new features and adapt the software for their own purposes, potentially making them even more secure. Whisper also has another app, RedPhone, which encrypts voice calls on Android devices, though that one hasn’t been made open source yet. Twitter says it’s going to open up Whisper’s products slowly, saying in a blog post that it needs to “make sure it meets legal requirements and is consumable by the open source community.” Both TextSecure and RedPhone were unavailable when Mashable tried to download them from the Android Market earlier today. (See the clarification below.) The apps certainly had their fans. Movements.org, a nonprofit dedicated to connecting “grassroots digital activists,” cites Whisper Systems’ apps in a how-to on securing Android devices. The company’s transition to Twitter wasn’t smooth for the users of its apps, though — the company had to take RedPhone offline right when Egypt’s elections were happening last month, leading to many complaints. Clarification: After publication, Twitter told us that Whisper Systems “removed both services from the market, coinciding with their acquisition (and in anticipation of today’s news).” More About: open source, texting, textsecure, Twitter Sleepyti.me Calculates the Best Time to Go to Sleep So You Wake Up Refreshed [Webapps]
One big part of waking up refreshed and comfortable, instead of aggravated is getting to bed at the right time. Sleepyti.me is a webapp based on our sleep cycles that calculates when you should fall asleep or, alternately, set your alarm. More »
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