Vine co-founder is leaving

Read the Full Story HERE The Verge

Read the Full Story HERE on re/code

Dom Hofmann, co-founder of the social video-sharing service Vine, has stepped down from his lead general manager role at the company, according to three sources close to the situation.

Hofmann, who has led the company since its inception in early 2012, will take a far smaller role in developing the product, and will no longer be working on Vine on a day-to-day basis, these sources said. Instead, Hofmann has been working on another yet-to-be-revealed startup, the details of which are unclear at this point.

Vine co-founder and former chief technical officer Colin Kroll will take over Hofmann’s daily duties leading the New York-based Vine’s staff of approximately 14 employees. Sources also said that Vine is close to hiring a Manhattan-based product leader to work on the team, though that role hasn’t been filled quite yet.

(Update 12:30 p.m. PT: And according to four sources, the role has indeed just recently been filled. Jason Toff, a product manager at YouTube, has accepted the new product manager position at Vine, though I’ve been told this shouldn’t be considered a replacement for Hofmann’s previous role. Both Toff and Twitter did not respond to requests for comment.)

Twitter spokeswoman Carolyn Penner declined to comment on the matter.

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Pinterest for Android

By Pinterest

Price - free on amazon.com for Android

Category - social media

Greg's Review

This review is simple. It works just like the web site. I can't tell the difference which is great because their web site is one of the best web apps around.

The pictures are great resolution and it loads new content very quickly. I haven't checked it over a 3G connection but that has got to slow it down to a crawl. I didn't even have to put in my user name and password. I was able to log in with my Facebook account.

If you like Pinterest you will like the app. Enjoy.

From Developer

Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes.

Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests.

Join millions of pinners who are using Pinterest to share and explore their interests:

• Find recipes that will surprise your friends
• Plan destinations for your next vacation
• Collect your favorite music videos
• Discover design ideas for your home

Product Features:

• Pin what you love from around the web
• Discover content by browsing interest categories
• Explore pins and boards curated by pinners you follow
• Repin, like and comment on your favorite pins
• Pin with your camera

Related articles

• Pinterest Top Ten Tips (a.k.a. Pinterest is more than just Home Decor and Party Ideas)
• Getting Visual with Pinterest Marketing Strategy: Part II
• Pinfluencer's Pinner360 Feature Shows The Most Important Metrics on Pinterest
• Pinterest Leads Social Networks for Shopping Engagement
• Pinterest Basics

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HootSuite for Twitter App

Best Way to read on a Tablet. Kindle app is tablet certified on all tablets.

By Hootsuite Media Inc.

Price - Free

Category - Social Media

Link to App in itunes

Greg's Review

Hootesuite is a social media management tool that integrates best with Twitter. The app is free and includes access to an online version that runs on any Javascript enabled browser (We recommend Chrome or Firefox). This allows you to use and sync the app with any PC or Mac with an internet connection.

Keeping track of contacts is much easier with Hootesuite than on Twitter. You put twitter feeds directly next to each other and respond in each without logging in or out. You can also schedule tweets for future release.

The free version is limited to 5 accounts. The pro version is $9.99 per month. It also allows you to bulk post. Give it a try! You can't beat the price!

From Developer

**Manage all your Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Foursquare accounts in one app!**

Compose and converse on the go. HootSuite for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch allows you to manage your social media profiles, like Facebook, Facebook Pages, LinkedIn, Foursquare, Twitter, from almost anywhere. 

Simple, elegant and powerful, HootSuite allows you to send and schedule updates, track click stats, and set up tracking columns to monitor keywords, #hashtags, and lists. 

HootSuite is international-ready with translation to/from over 50 languages, plus the the interface is localized in 14 languages (Arabic, Catalan, Dutch, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Turkish) with more to come. 

Download your HootSuite app for free, and start using your HootSuite account on the go, whether you’re a Basic free user, managing teams and unlimited profiles on the Pro plan, or part of a larger Enterprise team. This handy mobile app is tightly integrated with the web version, allowing quick account importing and syncing with a helpful wizard. 

Use HootSuite to: 

Spread Messages 

- Manage your Twitter accounts 

- Update Facebook Profile and Fan Pages 

- Checkin to Foursquare Locations and share your position 

- View your LinkedIn connections’ activity

- Comment on posts in Facebook News Feed 

- Translate messages for Facebook and Twitter 

- Save a draft message to finish later 

- Schedule updates for future sending 

- Forward messages via email 

- Reply to all recipients at once 

Monitor Conversations 

- Translate Twitter messages from 50+ languages 

- See conversation history for context 

- Create custom views for keyword monitoring 

- Set-up real-time Twitter searches 

- Browse and understand trending topics 

Track Results 

- Examine message click statistics by date 

- See which countries are clicking on your links 

- Shorten URLs with Ow.ly for stats 

- Track user ratings for links (via Ow.ly and Ht.ly) 

Make Friends 

- Add followers to Twitter lists and accounts 

- Learn about your followers with profile view 

- View who you follow and who is following you 

- Create and edit Twitter lists 

- Subscribe to lists 

- Find where your friends are on Foursquare 

Increase Happiness 

- Understand interactions with language translations

- Share and store photos and files including stats 

- Save links to read later via Instapaper 

- Open pages with Safari for easy reading 

- Add geo-location coordinates to messages 

- "Bump™" to quickly add followers 

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Foursquare - Social Media

By foursquare

From the Developer:
foursquare helps you explore the world around you. Keep up with friends, get insider tips, and unlock discounts and rewards.


While on the go, you can easily tell friends where you are, share pictures, get their comments ("I'm right around the corner, I'll stop by to say hello"), and get insider tips ("order the Lobster Ravioli; it's the best dish by far."). Tons of places offer discounts and freebies to foursquare users, and you earn points and badges for doing the things you love.


Devices: iPad, Android
Catagory: Social Media  
Price: Free
Foursquare Web Site
Link to app in iTunes

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Twitter - Social Media

By Twitter, Inc.

From the Developer:
Follow your interests: instant updates from your friends, industry experts, favorite celebrities, and what’s happening around the world. Get short bursts of timely information on the official Twitter app for iPhone.

Real-time search reveals breaking news, while trending topics and maps show what’s happening now around the world. View trends, browse your interests and see suggested users in several categories, including fashion, entertainment and travel, or search to find out what people are saying about topics you care about, such as politics or big sporting events.

Features: Browse interests, Find & follow friends, Tweet, Retweet, Favorite, Direct Message with your followers, share photos, videos and web pages, real-time search, view maps, trends, and follow.

Devices: iPad
Category: Social Media
Price: Free
Link to app in iTunes

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"Suits and Spooks": Why I'm Inviting The IC To Palo Alto in September

Update 7/16/11: We now have more companies interested in sponsoring this event than there are sponsor slots available. Sponsors will be accepted based upon who completes their registration requirements first. Thank you all for your support.

The Suits and Spooks Conference that I'm launching this fall in Palo Alto is the culmination of 6 years of enjoyable yet frustrating work spent studying problems and experimenting with solutions in the national security space.  Looking back, I was incredibly naive about how things worked when it came to selling any product or service to the U.S. government. The conventional wisdom for startup or young firms selling to the government is to find a Prime contractor and become a sub on one of their contracts. The downside is that your innovative R&D will get absorbed by "the Borg" who's driven not by innovation but by catering to the traditional thinking of their government program manager.

The bottom line is that the U.S. government is locked into a broken acquisition system** that more often than not delivers sub-par results that are vastly over-priced; i.e., the FBI's Sentinel program - a $450 million dollar piece of shit created by the country's largest government contractor Lockheed Martin. I told a friend of mine at the FBI that they should have gone to Palo Alto with their application specs and they would have had a better, faster version built in a matter of months by some under-grads at Stanford for a tiny fraction of the cost. We agreed on that point but unfortunately things are never that easy inside the Beltway. But it kick-started what has now become the first Suits and Spooks conference in Palo Alto on Sept 23-24.

My concept for Suits and Spooks is for it to be the equivalent of a particle accelerator, where the real-time challenges of the IC collide with the most innovative minds of Silicon Valley in one day of frank discussions, demos, and speed rounds. The result, I hope, will be fresh, unanticipated, and ground-breaking. At a minimum, two groups that desperately need to interact more often will have a new, safe venue to do so.

The Agenda

Friday, Sep 23, 2011
6:30p - 7:30p Registration, Welcome reception and cocktails
7:30p - 9:00p Dinner w/ Keynote speaker (to be announced)

Saturday, Sep 24, 2011
7:30am - 8:30am Registration and Continental Breakfast
8:30am - Opening remarks
8:45am - 9:15am Keynote speaker (to be announced)
9:15am - 10:30am IC Panel Discussion #1
10:30am - 11:30am SNA Speed Round #1
11:30am - 12:30pm Breakout sessions #1
12:30pm - 1:30pm Lunch w/ Keynote speaker (to be announced)
1:30pm - 2:45pm IC Panel Discussion #2
2:45pm - 3:45pm 2nd Speed round #2
3:45pm - 4:45pm Breakout sessions #2
4:45pm - 5:30pm Q&A and Networking

Three Components
Panel discussions (two): Each panelist is a senior employee from one of the IC agencies. I have confirmed or confirmation-pending participants from CIA, DIA, DHS, DNI, FBI, ICE, and NSA. Each panelist will speak for 10 minutes and then take questions.
Speed rounds (two): Each speed round will feature 10 startup companies that have 5 minutes to showcase their social media or social network analysis application. It doesn't have to have anything to do with infosec. In fact, we prefer that it doesn't. We're looking for innovative directions in social networking.
Breakout sessions (two): These consists of demos by our sponsors and discussions by our speakers in very small groups where frank exchanges of ideas and test-drives of applications are encouraged.

The Venue
Suits and Spooks 2011 will take place in a loft space on the top floor of the old Facebook building in Palo Alto, CA.

How You Can Participate
Become a sponsor: We have 5 2 sponsor slots priced at $7500 each. One company can acquire all 5 2 slots or 5 2 separate companies can acquire 1 slot each. Besides having a table at the conference, they'll be involved with 2 hours of breakout sessions for hands-on demos and, of course, have their name and logo affiliated with the event and all materials associated with it.
Apply for a speed round: If you're a startup, apply for a speed round slot. We have 20 17 slots open. If you're accepted, your only cost is the registration fee of $150 (50% discount off the early bird price).
Come as an attendee: We're accepting 100 attendees who aren't sponsors or participants in a speed round but who have a professional interest in social networks. The admission fee is $300 if paid before Sept 1 Aug 15th* but you need to request an invitation and be accepted first.

You can get involved by sending me an email message stating how you'd like to participate. The interest for this event, both among my government friends and my Silicon Valley friends, is very high. I'm looking forward to it and hope that you'll participate with me in making it a success.
----
* I've had to move the early bird registration deadline up due to the deposit requirements of our hotel. Please get your registrations in early so that you don't miss out.
** Vivek Kundra just confirmed the existence of this "broken acquisition system" by referring to the existence of an IT vendor cartel made up of a few large companies win contracts because of a superior understanding of the procurement process instead of superior technology. 

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