“We are put in situations to build our character… If I fail, I try again, and again, and again…”
I just wanted briefly share something I found to be truly inspiring and motivating, I think it will make you look at things in a different light, even if only for a few minutes.
Facebook is announcing a new tool, Translations for Facebook Connect, that will tap into the wisdom of the crowd to help webmasters and site owners translate their websites and applications for an international audience.
The technology is based on the same solution Facebook developed for itself when it decided to make the site available in multiple language. The Translations application launched in January 2008 to great success, as volunteers around the globe chipped in to translate Facebook into more than 65 languages.
Translations for Facebook Connect will be released as a free tool for developers. The framework can be used to translate sites into any of the languages Facebook supports — including, of course, Pirate (check out the complete list here). Once enabled, the tool will display content in a visitor’s native language if they log in using Facebook Connect. For all the technical details on how to implement the new framework, head on over to the Facebook Developer Wiki.
What do you think: is Facebook Connect Translations a brilliant way to distribute a huge task, or is Facebook taking advantage of the free labor of the crowds? Let us know in the comments.
Quick Pitch: Fuze Box provides applications that allow people to communicate, collaborate and conference from any device, anywhere in the world.
Genius Idea: Fuze Box, which presented earlier this week at the DEMO Conference, seeks to innovate on the standard conventions of business collaboration and the virtual meeting, a packed market dominated by players such as WebEx and GoToMeeting.
The product it launched at DEMO, Fuze Meeting, has similar functionality to its larger web conference competitors, but it offers several killer features. Our favorite though has to be the ability to access video meetings via the iPhone (and soon the BlackBerry).
While Fuze Meeting does have a mobile version, it’s primarily browser-based. This means no plug-ins or software installation is necessary. You can share your desktop, chat with other attendees via IM, and share files. However, Fuze Meeting can seamlessly stream HD video and high-res presentations to everyone in the room. You can even annotate these videos through the company’s Fuze Movie product.
Like we said though, the iPhone app is our favorite feature. From your iPhone, you can view screencasts, send IMs, host audio conferences, watch shared HD video, and bridge outside callers into the conference. With businesspeople on the go so often, it only makes sense to have a simple, easy-to-use mobile version.
Do we think Fuze Box and Fuze Meeting have great potential? Yes. Do we know if they will be able to compete in an already tough space? We can’t tell. Startups like Team Apart already have some of thse features in the browser. If Fuze is to survive, it must focus on being the best mobile meeting system around. Fuze Meeting costs $29/month or $279/year to use.
Twitter’s venture capital raising efforts are launching the startup to new heights as the company’s valuation approaches the Billion Dollar mark.
Sources close to the dealings have reported that the investor group this time around includes mutual fund monster T. Rowe Price and private-equity firm Insight Venture Partners.
In February, Twitter raised approximately $35 million in a round led by Benchmark Capital and Institutional Venture Partners that valued it at $250 million.And just to spell this out–Twitter’s new investors, along with older investors who have reupped, believe the company will ultimately be worth much more than $1 billion. In order to get a return on their money, they will expect it to hit $3 billion or more.
Feel free to debate the merits of Twitter’s growth prospects, and its chances of creating a real business out of all of those 140 character messages its users create.
But in retrospect, this funding round seems obvious: Twitter’s founders have insisted that they want to build the company on their own instead of selling it to the likes of a Google (GOOG) or Microsoft (MSFT), and they’ve already turned down Facebook. And if they weren’t going to sell, raising yet more money to give the company time and resources to build out a real business is the logical choice.
Here are Williams and co-founder Biz Stone talking to Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher at the D: All Things Digital conference in May. Discussion of the company’s future as a standalone business kicks in around the 31-minute mark.
We have received multiple reports that a new, convincing, and dangerous worm and phishing scam is making the rounds on Twitter. Hacked accounts are sending DMs to users and stealing their login information. In fact, one of our own has received one of these direct messages.
Unsuspecting users are receiving DMs with the following text:
If you get this DM, DO NOT VISIT THE LINK. It takes you to a replica of the login page where the hackers will steal your account and use it to send out more infected DMs to your friends.
If you’re one of the unlucky ones to be fooled by this worm, make sure you change your password. Also delete any tweets or DMs that have the link. If you can’t log into your account, reset the password and contact Twitter Support.
This is not the first worm to hit Twitter, but this one is especially dangerous because the login page is convincing and it is spreading via DMs from friends you trust.
When we have more information, we’ll update you with it.
Update: We contacted Twitter and they quickly got back to us. They are aware of the threat and are on the case.
Facebook is announcing a new tool, 
Name: 
