Recently, I was invited by Google to participate in “Mobilizing Mobile” in Mobile, Alabama. As part of Google’s Go Mobile initiative, the event demonstrated what happens when a city’s infrastructure and community goes mobile.

Below you’ll find four key take-aways from teaming up with Google. I believe they can be applied by any startup, in any industry.

Lesson 1: Set the agenda

Consumer adoption of the mobile web is outpacing the rate at which mobile web experiences are being built. In less than three years, more people will access the web via a mobile device than by any other way. Google recognized this trend, and now its showing others where the world is headed.

By painting the bigger picture for everyone else, Google is also framing what the future will look like. Setting the agenda may sound like a lofty goal for a startup, but that’s what you should be focused on.

Startup companies are all about painting the big picture before anyone else can see it. Without a big picture idea, who will join you as a co-founder on your high-risk, potentially hallucinogenic quest? Who will fund you? Who will buy your product, rent you office space, listen to your pitch, or support your ideas? It’s this kind of foresight that creates new opportunities in the marketplace.

Lesson 2: Make your innovation tangible

Now that you’ve created your framework, you need to show it to your audience.

Google goes to great lengths to make its products approachable for users and developers. And they work hard to get users to test out new products as soon as possible.

For the GoMobile initiative, they built the GoMo Meter — a mobile preview tool that “shows you how your current site looks on a smartphone, and provides a report on what’s working and what you can do better.”

The GoMo Meter embodies several aspects of Google’s philosophy when it comes to new products. It has a low barrier to start, requires no commitment to use it, and offers easy access with a simple and obvious interface, all tied to a topic that interests each of us endlessly — ourselves (or, in this case, our websites).

How do you make your startup’s innovation tangible?

Start by figuring out what makes your innovation meaningful to your customers. What do they see and feel in their initial product encounter? When they ask themselves, “What is this?” and “Is it for me?” guide them to the right answer.

Look too for the human behaviors that your product is working on. It’s humans who will make decisions and judgments about your products, and you can tap into some enduring human traits in well-known ways. For example, after successfully raising a VC round, Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman mentioned that well-known VC Roelof Botha only invests in consumer companies that let consumers indulge in one of the seven deadly sins.

Lastly, give users something obvious and easy to do. This could be watching a video or slideshow, clicking a button to initiate an action, entering a few data points, showing some before and after screenshots — anything that leads to a tangible and specific interaction.

As a startup, if you get people interacting with your product, you start to influence their behaviors. Their behaviors then influence their beliefs, which again influence their behaviors in a virtuous cycle.

You could try to influence beliefs. Untold millions are spent everyday attempting to influence beliefs – that’s much of the advertising you see. But it’s very hard both to influence beliefs and to measure changes in beliefs to learn if you’re effective. So focus on behaviors and let them lead to beliefs.

A simple way to prove that you want to influence behaviors over beliefs is to consider fast food. People eat it (a behavior) but they don’t believe it’s good for them. And how many of the seven deadly sins does it appeal to? Sloth, to start, and greed and gluttony for good measure.

Ask the hard question: what are the behaviors you want to have happen because of interaction with you product? Are those behaviors plausible and part of human nature?

Lesson 3: Focus, focus and focus

Focus on the parts of your business that are fundamental to how customers use your core product.

Since a growing number of customers are accessing Google’s core search products through mobile devices, the company has purposefully allocated time, people, and money to development in this sector. It may sound simple for a multi-armed beast like Google to redistribute some of its wealth, but having a lot of resources means the company can easily get derailed and scattered. It’s just as hard for a large company to focus as it is for a startup.

While a startup tends to have a scarcity of resources, it also has the freedom to focus wherever it chooses and to change that focus whenever it wants. The popular term here is “pivoting.” Startups, like all businesses, find success in momentum, and momentum is all about velocity. A startup that changes direction all the time ends up going in circles.

Lesson 4: Track the micro, decide on the macro

Google has built a superb business by understanding the value of data and gathering that information so that others can make meaning from it.

Google tracked the traffic it generated from the Go Mobile event to see if the initiative had been persuasive. Let’s call those micro-metrics.

Micro-metrics — visits, conversions, leads — were used for tracking and tuning, and the macro-metrics — years of mobile adoption, traffic, revenues — drove the strategy and focus.

Eric Ries, author of The Lean Startup, has a great blog post with much more detail on startup metrics (and tracking the micro while making decisions on the macro) called “Learning is Better than Optimization.

The hard part is balancing the micro and the macro. Every day in a startup involves a ton of detailed work in the micro details of execution, while each decision in the micro details of execution influences the macro strategy.

The answer to balance out the two? Habits and self-reflection.

For Google’s GoMo we connected monthly on a few measurements we’d established to track our success – traffic numbers, leads and conversions.

Internally at my company Mobify, we have a weekly process where each team lead announces their key numbers. Then on a regular basis we review the key numbers. In that review we talk about both the key numbers – their sources, influences and meaning – as well as whether these key numbers are the right numbers to be tracking.

A great framework for figuring out your key performance indicators (KPIs) is to think about your segment ABCs: Acquisitions, Behaviors, Conversions. This ABCs framework is from Avinash Kaushik, Google’s Digital Marketing Evangelist and author of two great books on web analytics. His blog post Web Analytics Segmentation is a terrific guide to getting started and improving your abilities to balance the micro and the macro.

Combine the ABCs framework with good habits and self-reflection and you will find meaning in measurement.

Bringing it together

While it’s hard to imagine that your startup has much in common with a giant like Google, these four strategies should resonate with any sized-business. Think big and paint the picture before anyone else can see it. Have the resolve to focus where attention is needed. And most importantly, never lose sight of what makes you meaningful to your customers. Your company may never reach the size and scale of Google, but your startup can still make a sizable difference.

Igor Faletski is the CEO of Mobify, a web platform that optimizes ecommerce and publishing sites for mobile and powers more than 20,000 sites.

Image courtesy of Flickr user thinkpublic

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• NewNet 2012: companies and technologies set to disrupt
• CES 2012: a recap and analysis
• 12 tech leaders’ resolutions for 2012

alt=''
border='0'
/>

GigaOM

The final chapter of the Carrier IQ saga has yet to be written, but at this juncture, even the rosiest of rose-tinted observers would be hard pressed to find a silver lining. The specter of federal investigation looms larger by the day. Implicated carriers and manufacturers are washing their hands with Macbethian fury. Al Franken is on the verge of going Al Franken. And at the epicenter of all this sits Carrier IQ — a California-based analytics company that has already gone to great lengths to defend its innocence. First, it sought to discredit Trevor Eckhart’s ostensibly damning research with a cease-and-desist letter. Then, CEO Larry Lenhart flatly denied Eckhart’s findings with an impassioned YouTube address. In recent days, the company has markedly softened its stance, arguing that its apps are only designed to meet operator demands and to “make your phones better.” Now, Carrier IQ has elaborated upon these arguments with a more detailed breakdown of how its software functions, and a more substantive defense of its practices. Head past the break to read more.

Continue reading Carrier IQ VP says software poses no threat to user privacy, backs up his argument with metaphor

Carrier IQ VP says software poses no threat to user privacy, backs up his argument with metaphor originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 03 Dec 2011 09:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  The Register  | Email this | Comments
Engadget

A plane ride and an art piece. When it comes to the even popular photorealism art movement, the 70s are being brought back by the Kansas University Art Museum. Some people can mistake pigment for celluloid when it comes to this.

This is a kind of painting wherein the artist needs to work on what is called a working medium. What happens here is that the image on the photograph is painted onto a canvass. There was a leading aviation and aerospace attorney and his friend who came up with an exhibit for the works of 22 artists. You can say that the pieces are truly interesting. This paintings article is proudly brought to you by photo into painting.

For one participant, his entry was that of a horse. Riding a horse is a woman and this woman has two of her brothers on the forefront and one even has a model plane. For one other artist, he decided to go with his old toys and so he positioned a car by a helicopter and then he also has a floating plane in a bathtub. There was another artist who used old toys and he had a plane on an aquarium floor.

Based from a bunch of photographs, the artists went wild when it comes to their painting techniques and this actually led to an array of amazing masterpieces. There was an artist who applied a trick that was made popular by Renaissance artists and it was making use of grids as a way to enlarge their sketches for murals.

From one artist came a painting of an air borne fighter jet. Almost all of the pieces that were displayed showed a magnificent use of clear, precise lines and color by several artists. Another artist, whose specialty is antique photographs, has prepared a relatively small work resembling a tinted photograph of an early American air ship. Obtain more knowledge on paintings at photo to oil painting hand painted.

How did photorealism grow to such great lengths? The artist is not able to utilize his own ideas and this is what depersonalizes the process. When it comes to this, the artist is able to manipulate the material. Being able to utilize brushes and air guns to their fullest capacity is something required from photorealistic artists.

Their use of these materials is one of the most proficient in the artistic scene in recent years. This serves as a deviation from what has been classified as pop art, this is a return to the roots of painting with pieces that portray clear images. Since the Whitney Museum in New York exhibited the works of 22 artists, photorealistic participants were able to fuse their ideas and beliefs.

A new day, a moment relived. Although they are a bit pricey, they are worth every penny in terms of the artist’s effort alone. Such one of a kind works can inspire anyone. Nothing was done quickly.

As long as your computer has access to the world wide web or internet, especially e-mails, then it may be only a matter of time before you get attacked by malicious spyware program, virus, worm, or hacker. Every day we get customers coming in who are experiencing computer problems due to these threats, and it is only getting worse.

What’s even more worrying is that several of my customers keeps coming back to my office a few days or weeks later complaining about the EXACT same computer problems and ends up paying for ANOTHER repair just to get their computer up and running again.

Imagine having these kinds of difficulty with your restaurant. POS computers being infiltrated, damaged and completely destroyed by viruses and worms. You absolutely have no way of protecting your restaurant POS system if you do not take extra precautions.

Here are 3 of The Most Dangerous Computer Threats You Must Be Aware Of

One of the most dangerous aspects of online threats is their ability hide their existence and penetrate your system without your knowledge. Hackers and the authors of malicious spyware and malware programs go to great lengths to create harmful programs that are difficult to identify and remove.

This can mean that malicious computer programs can directly be downloaded and work its dirty tricks on your system before you aware of its existence. Below are the two most common threats you’ll need to guard against with a brief explanation of what they {are|are and how you acquire them}:

Spyware: Spyware is a computer program often installed without the user’s permission. This program gathers your info and your online activities and then reports it back to some outside person. Sometimes advertisers uses this sneaky program to secretly monitor their customers’ activities. So Better becareful on what website you visit before clicking on that “download” button.

Most spywares are secretly attached to files you download over the internet, like free scripts, music files, and screen savers. While thinking you are only downloading a legitimate program to add emoticons to your e-mails, you are unknowingly also downloading a truck full of spyware programs.

Malware: A combination of the terms malicious and software. This type of computer program is designed specifically to infiltrate and damage your system, this include viruses, worms and Trojans. Malware is a bit harder to remove and will try to fight back when if clean it from your system. In some extreme cases, we have had to completely wipe out all of the information on the computers’ hard disk and start with a complete re-install of the operating system. Frequently, malware is also designed to attach itself from your e-mail account to all the friends and colleagues in your address book without your knowledge or consent.

Hackers: These are programmers for whom computing is its own reward, has the habit of breaking into other people’s computer just for the sheer fun of it but causes no harm. But today, hackers are widely known as evil programmers who loves to modify your files, cause damage to your system and even design the spyware and malware programs to attack your computer.

So if you’re a restaurant or any other retail establishment owner, having no kind of security for your POS systems at all, then your system is surely one of the easiest targets.

Some of them have criminal intent and purposely use these programs to steal money from individuals and companies. Some have a grudge against the big software vendors and seek to harm them by secretly attacking their customers. Others do it purely for fun. Whatever the reason, hackers are getting more intelligent and sophisticated in their ability to access computer systems and networks.

Here Four Simple Steps You Can Take To Secure Your Computer From Malicious Attacks

1. Keep an up-to-date anti-virus software running at all times. You ought to make sure it has an auto scan and update feature that will make sure your computer is using the most current protection available and regularly scanning for threats.

2. Consider another browser like Mozilla Firefox as an alternative to the browser MS Internet Explorer. Hackers have ways ways to access and download malicious programs to your computer via a security hole in Internet Explorer. Even worse about this is that even if you do not click anything and/or download a program to get infected. You are easily attacked if you use an older version of Windows such as Windows 98.

Mozilla Firefox is a completely free web browser that does not have the same security problems as IE. A growing number of our clients reporting that they prefer using Mozilla Firefox than Microsoft IE. Switching from IE to Mozilla is a simple and cost-free way to add more protection to your computer. You can easily download this browser at www.mozilla.org.

3. [Never. This goes without saying because most viruses are replicated via e-mail. If it looks suspicious, don’t open it, just get rid of it immediately!

4. Setting up a firewall. A firewall is designed to block unauthorized access while allowing outgoing communication. many internet users will just get a DSL or cable Internet connection and plug it directly using no firewall.

Always remember that the internet is an open field where you are vulnerable from all kinds of things that may come in your way. You have access to the world, but on the flip side, the world has access to YOU. Take note that hackers have programs that automatically scan the Internet for computers connected via a cable or DSL connection without a firewall. And once they find one, they they immediately access your computer, download vicious programs, and can even use YOUR computer to distribute viruses to your friends and other computers, all without your knowledge or consent.

Just one simple click os a mouse and they’ll gain easy access to your restaurant POS system, collect all customer and employee data, destroy your computer system, and sends out virus-infected emails to your customers and friends using your email account! It will surely be the end of your hard work, a huge waste of money on the restaurant POS solutions you’ve bought, and possibly the downfall of your business if you let this things happen to you.

The author Michael Tash is the Vice President of Customer Relations at POS-For-Restaurants. With over 20 years of restaurant experience, POS-For-Restaurants.com helps you use your technology to be more efficient and more profitable.

Car commercials are as old as TV. There’s nothing really exciting about the format anymore because we already know the format. To sell a luxury car, a B-rate celebrity often points out the finer things. Trucks commercials showcase manly men preforming manly tasks. So it’s only fitting really that that an R/C car is the star of a Nissan Sentra SE-R spot. (because they have similar driving characteristic. You got that, right?) Anyway, the clip above is the upcoming commercial, but the real treat is the 7 minute video after the jump that shows the great lengths taken to make the novel spot happen.

[via Autoblog]

Facebook’s privacy pullback isn’t just outrageous; it’s a landmark turning point for the social network. Facebook has blundered before, but the latest changes are far more calculated. The company has, in short, turned evil.

Its new privacy policy have turned the social network inside out: millions of people have signed up because Facebook offers a sense of safety. For the last five years — as long as you’re relatively careful about who you accept as your friends — what you do and say on Facebook for the most part stays on Facebook. Katie Couric’s daughter first posted pictures of her famous mom dancing silly in 2006, but it took three years for them to leak to us. (Thank you tipsters!) But virtually overnight and without a clear warning, Facebook has completely reversed those user expectations. Their new privacy settings amount to making anything you post on Facebook to be public, unless you go to great lengths to keep your info private.

The most insidious part of Facebook’s scheme to expose user data has been how the company framed them, claiming to want to enhance privacy. In an open letter to his 350 million+ users, CEO Mark Zuckerberg claimed he believed the old privacy framework was “no longer the best way for you to control your privacy,” and that the new system would give people “even more control of their information.” It would be “simpler” and finer-grained.

But when the system came out a week later, it actually gave less, not more, control over information. Gone was the ability to hide your friends list, profile pictures, fan pages and network membership from all strangers; Facebook’s new, formal privacy policy explicitly made this information public (despite the ability to keep some of it, like the friends list, off your profile page).

Meanwhile, the social network is pushing users hard to share their personal content with strangers. Users are being forced to update their privacy settings, with most default choices set to “Everyone” in the world or “friends of friends.”

Facebook’s business rationale here is clear. Rival Silicon Valley startup Twitter has grown extremely quickly in the last few years, almost entirely on the back of public content — from celebrities, people’s friends and users’ professional colleagues. That has brought traffic, money from search engines and a $1 billion valuation.

Facebook wants in on that kind of growth, and more public content means more traffic. But Facebook has historically been one of the most private of the social networks, functioning as a sort of safe alcove amid the chaos of MySpace and Friendster. “Privacy is a big reason Facebook users are so loyal,” BusinessWeek‘s Sarah Lacy wrote in 2006 (via Big Money).

So Facebook needed to give users a big shove to put its business plan into play. As startup founder Jason Calacanis puts it,

Facebook is trying to dupe hundreds of millions of users they’ve spent years attracting into exposing their data for Facebook’s personal gain: pageviews. Yes, Facebook is tricking us into exposing all our items so that those personal items get indexed in search engines–including Facebook’s–in order to drive more traffic to Facebook.

But it’s not just that Facebook is tricking its users; it’s betraying them. It did so when it literally communalized private friend lists that people spent years accumulating, without which their accounts would be useless. It did so when it mislead them by saying it wanted to enhance their privacy, when the real goal was growth and profit. And it continues to do so every day it does not respond to the loud fedback of its users (and the implicit feedback of its own CEO).

And people increasingly know they’ve been betrayed. This past weekend, journalist Dan Gillmor publicly deleted his Facebook account. Heidi Moore at Slate’s Big Money temporarily deactivated her account as a “conscientious objection.” And look at the big-name tech journalists weighing in on all the shock and outrage on Facebook critic Calacanis’ “Wall” (click to enlarge):

Facebook has been through embarrassing privacy snafus before, like the intrusive “Beacon” advertising system, which the company eventually abandoned. But this one was so pre-meditated, so pre-processed and so condescendingly hyped and spun in advance. It’s obvious that Facebook is making a calculation, one that, for users, involved a lot more subtraction than addition. Barring mass defections, the difference will drop straight to Facebook’s bottom line.

(Top pic: Zuckerberg, by Josh Lowensohn)