Tech Terms Censored Online in China

Aviva Hope Rutkin for MIT Technology Review 2013-07-30 09:35:01 UTC

China's surveillance of its citizens' digital activities is common knowledge. However, questions remain concerning what content is targeted by government censors and how these blacklists change in response to current events.

A new study released this month in First Monday uncovers more than 4,000 unique keywords censored over the last year and a half on Chinese instant messaging platforms. Focusing on Skype and the microblogging service Sina Weibo, the researchers cultivated their keyword list using reverse-engineering techniques such as packet sniffing, which captures and analyzes packets of data as they pass through a network.

More than 20% of the terms targeted on Sina Weibo, it turns out, were related to technology â€" including specific URLs, spyware and technical terms. Some of these keywords, such as "Chinese language Wikipedia" and "Google Blogger," referred to popular websites dedicated to the open dissemination of information. (Censorship of Chinese Wikipedia was first spotted nearly ten years ago on the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests.)

Generic terms like "system," "administrator" and "system notification" also appeared on the keyword list. The researchers hypothesize that these more general keywords might be used to catch anyone attempting to impersonate a Sina Weibo administrator and thus wield power over other users' accounts.

Other common words targeted by censors include "Internet," "chat," "world wide web" and "Chinese person." Additionally, the researchers found that the censor's keyword lists fluctuated in response to major events. For example, after the Arab Spring began in late 2010, and some began calling for similar protests (or Jasmine Rallies) in China, dozens of related keywords were added to the censorship lists. Sixty-nine of these keywords were then abruptly removed for several weeks in May 2011, which the researchers interpreted as a possible attempt to monitor protester mobilization.

Image: FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images

This article originally published at MIT Technology Review here

Topics: china, chinese, government censorship, internet, internet censorship, Politics, US & World, World

MIT Technology Review is a Mashable publishing partner that identifies emerging technologies and analyzes their impact for technology and business leaders. This article is reprinted with the publisher's permission.

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How to Minimize Risk When Crowdfunding on Kickstarter

By Nellie Akalp2013-07-30 09:00:41 UTC

To date, more than $680 million has been raised on Kickstarter, as crowdfunding becomes an increasingly viable option for startups to raise much-needed funds without the help of VCs, angels or banks.

For a young, bootstrapping startup, crowdfunding is often seen as fast money that will help you build out the product or app you and your team have always dreamed about. Whether or not a project ultimately reaches its funding goals, it’s still relatively quick and easy to post your pitch and see what happens.

However, amid all of the hype and excitement surrounding crowdfunding, some of the less glamorous (but extremely important) aspects of running a business often go overlooked â€" particularly taxes and liability.

Liability Issues With Crowdfunding

When you’re raising money from any source, it’s serious business. And while a Kickstarter project may not entail the mounds of paperwork and contracts associated with commercial lenders, project creators are still entering some kind of contract â€" in this case, it’s with hundreds or thousands of people.

When crowdfunding turns into a platform for taking pre-orders for a yet-to-be-finished product, there are inevitable risks. We’ve all heard stories about high-profile delivery delays like the Pebble smart watch, but they’re hardly an anomaly. A report by CNN Money found that 84% of the top 50 funded projects on Kickstarter in 2012 shipped late. When excited backers expect the same smooth fulfillment process as ordering a product from a retailer like Amazon, disappointment, frustration and worse will inevitably ensue.

It's doubtful that anyone actually creates a Kickstarter campaign with the sole intention of weaseling money out of people. However, with any technology or creative project, things don’t always go as planned â€" and some well-intended projects fold before they’re ever brought to fruition.

For this reason, it makes sense to launch a Kickstarter campaign through a legal business structure, such as a Limited Liability Company (LLC), as opposed to posting it as an individual. An LLC or other structure offers a layer of protection that can essentially shield your own personal assets from that of the business. So, if something should happen to your project or business, the business is liable for it, and not you personally. Make sure your LLC or corporation is officially established and then conduct all business and enter contracts through the LLC or corporation.

In addition to creating a formal business structure, you should also take the following steps:

• Once your LLC or corporation is established, get an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS. This is essentially a social security number for businesses, and you’ll need it to open your business bank account. You can apply for your business’ EIN online through the IRS site. It’s fast, simple and free.

• Create a business bank account. Once you get an EIN, you can open a bank account for your business. This is going to be important for keeping your business and personal finances separate (thus, helping to shield your personal assets).

Crowdfunding and Taxes

The tax consequences of crowdfunding campaigns can catch project creators off guard. When you raise funds for your business through other sources, it’s considered a contribution to capital and is usually not taxed. However, funds raised on Kickstarter are considered income, and creators are issued a 1099-K (at least when they raise more than $20,000 and have more than 200 transactions).

Project creators can often offset this income with deductible expenses related to their project. However, some people run into trouble when their Kickstarter funds fall in a different tax year than their major expenses. For example, you might need to raise money first, then you can start spending it to build the product. To counter this scenario, some project creators opt to form a C Corporation so they have more flexibility in defining their fiscal year for tax reporting purposes (and therefore, make sure their Kickstarter income and expenses occur within the same reporting year).

The bottom line is that if you’re looking to raise more money via crowdfunding than you usually earn, you should turn to a professional tax adviser or accountant for help understanding all the nuances and implications. There’s no sense in trying to navigate the murky and evolving reality of crowdfunding and taxes on your own.

Most importantly, you need to approach any Kickstarter project as a serious funded business, not a side project that’s exempt from normal business rules.

Image: Flickr, Tax Credits

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Musical Poster Plays Drum Beats When Touched

Ross Brooks for PSFK 2013-07-27 04:00:19 UTC

Print may seem like a declining medium, but Novalia is trying to preserve the paper form by turning formerly static objects into usable interfaces.

Novalia comprises a team of seven scientists, programmers and designers from the UK â€" all of whom are interested in turning paper into an interactive platform.

Their first venture into this territory is an interactive drum kit poster. Able to produce up to seven different sounds, the team says you could play along to your favorite songs, or add your own beats to existing ones. Using printed touch technology, you could have easy access to a seven-piece drum kit â€" no sticks necessary.

It works using touch sensors printed with electrically conductive ink, to which a simple circuit board is attached. The poster then recognizes when a graphic has been touched, in much the same way as the touchscreen on a smart device recognizes your fingers.

Image: Novalia/Kickstarter

Two versions of the poster are being developed, one that will connect to your iPhone or iPad via Bluetooth, playing the drum sounds wirelessly, and a standalone version that transforms the poster's surface into a speaker.

Made of mainly paper, card and ink, the company says that recycling would also be easy â€" especially as the electronics module is separable from the poster.

In a world where paper and monitors are often seen as mutually exclusive, Novalia wants to show people that there can be a connection between the two.

The team is currently running a Kickstarter campaign that, if successful, would make production more cost-effective than their current hand-assembly method. You can back them here.

Image: Novalia/Kickstarter

This article originally published at PSFK here

Topics: Gadgets, Home, interactive, kickstarter, Music, poster, sound, Tech

PSFK is a Mashable publishing partner that reports on ideas and trends in creative business, design, gadgets, and technology. This article is reprinted with the publisher's permission.

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How to Photoshop Hybrid Animals

With Photoshop you can pretty much produce any image you want. Experimenting with this powerful tool can lead to some crazy results.

One entertaining project is to combine two animal species into one. In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to create your very own sloth-corgi.

Step 1: Find your images.

First you’ll need images. When choosing two appropriate animal images, it’s important to make sure they mirror each other’s pose and composition. If one animal’s head faces sideways and the body faces front, the illusion will be very difficult to achieve. If you’re not sure whether the two will match up, simply place one image over the other and change the opacity to gauge a rough fit.

Open your two images in Photoshop. You’re ready to start mixing and matching!

Step 2: Select the background layer.

In this image I’ve decided to use the head from the corgi and the body of the sloth, as I think these features are the most interesting to combine.

Before removing the scenery, make the background into a layer so that you can work with a transparent background. Right-click the background layer, select “Layer from Background…” and click “OK.”

Step 3: Make the background layer transparent.

Starting with the corgi, either use the Eraser Tool to carefully remove the background scenery or select elements to delete using the Magic Wand Tool.

There are certainly other ways to achieve this result, so feel free to experiment. (Personally, I find a Wacom Tablet more effective and faster at removing those difficult details.)

Make sure to hide the plain white background layer beneath the corgi image, so you end up with a transparent background when erasing.

Tip: Label your layers in Photoshop. This really helps when trying to find the right layer to edit. For the corgi layer, I’ve simply named it “Corgi Head.”

Step 4: Add the corgi head to the sloth’s image.

Once you’ve carefully erased the scenery, add the corgi head to the sloth’s image. Simply copy the corgi layer and paste it above the sloth layer. You’ll need to resize the two images using the Transform Tool (Command/Ctrl + T) to where you think they fit best. When resizing, try not to make the images bigger as you’ll lose quality in the final result.

Once I got to this stage, I felt the corgi’s head wasn’t fitting in comparison to the sloth’s body, so I simply flipped the image horizontally and slightly rotated his head to fit more naturally with the sloth’s pose.

Step 5: Blend the colors.

Now we have a very rough idea of our animal placement. Our next step is to blend the overall color of the corgi’s head with the sloth’s body.

The corgi’s fur is quite bright and vibrant compared to the sloth. To match this better, we’ll need to desaturate his coat a bit.

Duplicate the corgi head and label “Corgi Head Desaturated.” Then use the shortcut Command + U (Ctrl + U on a PC) and move the Saturation slider to -48.

We don’t want to lose the color of the corgi’s eyes, nose and mouth, so with the Eraser Tool very carefully erase the desaturated color around these areas, pulling in the color from the layer below.

Step 6: Tidy up.

The corgi’s getting closer, but we need to match his coat with the sloth’s and tidy up a few rough edges.

Extend his fur coat to overlap certain areas of the sloth. Fortunately, there’s a slight focal blur on the photo of the sloth; this can work in our favor when blend the two coats together.

Still using the "Corgi Head Desaturate" layer, pull the corgi’s coat out using the Liquify Tool. Find it under the Filter top menu options (or by using shortcut Shift + Command + X/Shift + Ctrl + X).

Within the Liquify menu, select the Forward Warp Tool and a brush size of 150. Carefully pull the corgi’s fur outward from his cheeks. Nothing too drastic, and try not to distort the fur too much. Click okay and return to your image.

Once you have pulled enough fur, use the Clone Stamp Tool (S on your shortcuts) to match the corgi fur with the sloth. When cloning, be sure not to repeat markings that look too obvious on the fur; try to vary where you clone for a more natural looking coat.

Aim for something like this:

Unfortunately, on the left-hand side of the corgi there’s a dark patch that really needs fixing, but there’s not enough fur to clone that faces the right direction. A quick way to get around this is by copying (Command + C/Ctrl + C) a selection of his coat, flipping it horizontally and pasting it over the dark patch. Name this layer "Fur Coat Patch."

Now move this piece around to match the placement on the corgi fur and, using a soft round brush, try to remove the hard edges around this piece. You’ll notice that the color is slightly off; it’s actually sharper than the fur it’s on. To fix this select the Filter options and Gaussian Blur. Set the blur radius to 2.0 pixels and click "okay." Then adjust the levels by going to Image > Adjustments > Levels (Command + L/Ctrl + L on your shortcuts) and move the middle slider to 2.03.

Step 7: Merge layers.

Now we need to focus on the corgi’s ears and top of its head. There’s quite a sharp, dark outline around the head; we need to fit this into the scene a little better.

We’ve got a few fur layers built up, and now we can merge them together. Select the layers "Fur Coat Patch," "Corgi Head Desaturated" and "Corgi Head." Right-click any of these layers and select Merge Layers, then rename the layer "Corgi Head."

Using a Soft Round Brush, zoom in on the corgi’s head and carefully remove the darker colors from around the edge. There may also be some jagged edges â€" remove these, as well.

Step 8: Final touches for "realism."

The image is looking pretty good, but I have to add that extra bit of realism. I noticed during the creation of this tutorial that part of the hand holding the sloth got covered in the process. Let's bring it back to the surface.

Selecting the "Corgi Head" layer, bring the Opacity down to around 53% or at least to a point where you can see both layers overlapping. Using a Soft Round brush, carefully remove the corgi fur that covers the thumb, making sure not to go outside of the thumb.

Congratulations! You now have yourself a new species of animal. I like to call him Slorgi.

Mashable composite. Images: iStockphoto, Snic320; lariko3

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Can't Sleep? Blame the Moon

The moon could be to blame for a bad night's sleep, researchers now say. These findings are the first reliable evidence that lunar rhythms can influence sleep in humans.

The moon often gets blamed for madness on Earth. In fact, the Latin name for the moon, Luna, is the root of the word "lunatic."

However, research has repeatedly shown the full moon apparently has no effect on human health. Although a few studies have found weak links with the full moon and increased aggression, unintentional poisonings and absenteeism, a 1985 analysis found no convincing evidence that full moons spur uptakes in mental hospital admissions, psychiatric disturbances, homicides or other crimes. A 2010 study similarly found a lack of excess criminal activity on full-moon nights.

As such, chronobiologist and sleep researcher Christian Cajochen at the Psychiatric Hospital of the University of Basel in Switzerland was skeptical when people complained about poor sleep around the full moon. However, over drinks at a pub one evening on a full moon, Cajochen and his colleagues recalled they had completed a lab study on sleep a few years before whose results they could review for possible evidence of effects the moon had on people.

Unexpectedly, the scientists found "the lunar cycle seems to influence human sleep, even when one does not see the moon and is not aware of the actual moon phase," Cajochen said.

Circalunar Rhythms

Over the course of four years, the researchers had monitored the brain activity, eye movements and hormone secretions of 33 volunteers in the lab while the participants slept. All the participants were healthy, good sleepers and did not take any drugs or medication.

After reviewing their data, the scientists found during the time of the full moon, brain activity related to deep sleep dropped by 30%. People also took five minutes longer on average to fall asleep, and they slept for 20 minutes less overall on full-moon nights. The volunteers felt as though their sleep was poorer when the moon was full, and they showed diminished levels of melatonin, a hormone known to regulate sleep and wake cycles.

"It took me more than four years until I decided to publish the results, because I did not believe it myself," Cajochen told LiveScience. "I was really skeptical about the finding, and I would love to see a replication."

Scientists have long known the human body often bases key activities on regular cycles, such as circadian rhythms, which are roughly a day in length. Based on these findings, the researchers suggest that humans might also experience circalunar rhythms that drive cycles a month long, roughly matching the time between two full moons.

A number of patterns in animal behavior are linked with the lunar cycle, such as coral sex. Adult women also experience the menstrual cycle, which is usually a month or so long. This circalunar effect on sleep might be a relic from a past in which the moon synchronized human behaviors for sex or other purposes, much as it does in other animals.

Moonlight Tugs on Humans

Although the moon's gravitational pull clearly drives tides in the ocean, its tidal effects are much weaker on lakes and virtually nil on the human body. Rather than being driven by gravity's tug, any circalunar rhythms the body experiences may be set by moonlight.

The influence of electrical lighting and other aspects of modern life may mask the moon's hold on the human body. "It would be interesting to look at this in people still living outside without artificial light, but light from fireplaces," Cajochen said. "Another possibility would be to test different moonlight simulations and their repercussions on sleep in the lab."

As to whether disrupting circalunar rhythms might have ill effects on health, the effect of moonlight on any potential circalunar clock appears much weaker than that of daylight on the circadian clock, Cajochen said.

"I don't think that modern people constantly ruin their sleep when they don't see moonlight," he added. "However, exposure to artificial light at night â€" that is, a time when our body clock does not expect light â€" ruins our sleep-wake rhythm considerably."

Still, "for some people who are sensitive to the effects of the moon on sleep, clinicians should probably take it seriously and not just think of it as an excuse for bad sleep," Cajochen said.

The scientists detailed their findings July 25 in the journal Current Biology.

Image: Flickr, Fellowship of the Rich

This article originally published at LiveScience here

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How to Find New YouTube Content

YouTube is pretty incredible. Surf from cat video to amateur vlog to high-quality episodic show in just a few clicks, all under one network.

Of course, with billions of hours of video available to chose from, how does one go about tailoring his interests and finding the people who create that great stuff? While extensive YouTube searches can help fix your bike or tie a Windsor knot, a television-like experience that offers a stream of entertaining content requires more work.

If you arrive at the YouTube's homepage with no clear search goals in mind, it can be difficult to discover something new. The best way around this? Subscribe to several channels and find great YouTubers. But if you're struggling to start, Mashable will guide you to finding quality video creators, no matter what your tastes.

Start With the Big Names

YouTube has its celebrity set â€" if you are a frequent reader of Mashable, you probably know some of them â€" and they are a good place to start. You can check out the 100 most subscribed channels to get an idea of what's popular on YouTube. The most popular stuff seems to fall under a few categories: comedy, gaming, style and music videos, with strong showings by a few brands and publications.

If you don't see any from a category that interests you, check out our guides for standout YouTube channels for home improvement, fitness, sketch comedy, travel, beauty and cooking.

Once you've found a few you like, check out the sidebar on each channel page. It features channels that user has recommended or subscribed to. You'll find great suggestions there.

YouTube is a solid community first, and most video creators interact with each other through comments, likes, subscriptions and even video shout-outs.

If you want to get even more granular in the YouTube community, your "My Subscriptions" tab on the left side comes in two categories: "Uploads Only" and "All Activity." The first shows you the new videos that channel has uploaded, but the "All Activity" tab displays all the comments, likes and new subscriptions from every YouTube channel you follow. Is this overwhelming? Yes, but it's a great place to find channels and videos you've never seen before.

Get Social

Aside from useful ways to find content within YouTube's walls, you may also have to explore other social networks to find content you're interested in.

If you're already plugged into Twitter, finding your favorite YouTube channels there will ensure you not only stay updated, but also follow who they retweet and share content from. If you're hooked into Google+, you can see videos your friends share from the "Social" tab on the left side of the page.

There are also a few great YouTube-focused blogs that highlight up-and-comers, including New Media Rockstars and TubeFilter.

Plus, check out the very active r/YouTube subreddit, where creators share videos and talk tips for maintaining their channels.

Watch, Share and Interact

Unfortunately, there is no quick fix for finding great YouTube content at the moment, so you'll have to get your hands dirty and dive in.

Because YouTube is so social, inevitably, watching videos will surface new YouTubers. Plenty of personalities guest star on each other's channels, across all kinds of interests, and videos can sometimes daisy-chain off each other. Plus, the web produces an infinite number of trends; YouTubers are bound to respond. Take the biographical video trend "Draw My Life." Once you discover a popular video topic, you'll find other participants.

The best thing to do is start exploring â€" there's no wrong way. And don't get discouraged by all the content. While there might be a lot of crap on YouTube, you'll find the best, most relevant stuff by staying active.

What are some of your tips for finding new YouTube channels? Please share them in the comments.

Image: iStockphoto, tomispin

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Slow-Mo Footage of Underwater Bullets Will Captivate You

The idea of firing bullets doesn't exactly bring the word "relaxation" to mind.

But in The Slow-Mo Guys' latest installment, the team fires bullets underwater, and the resulting slow-motion footage is strangely calming.

The mesmerizing footage was shot at 27,000 FPS (frames per second) and shows bullets from two types of pistols. The bullets whiz through the water, leaving behind only trails of air pockets and gun powder. Watching the bubbles appear and slowly dissipate is enough to bring you some much-needed midday zen.

BONUS: 10 Amazing Slow Motion Videos of Everyday Things

Image: YouTube, theslowmoguys

Topics: Science, slow-mo, Slow Motion, Videos, Watercooler

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The Totally Wacky Way Motorola's New Droids Share Photos

Motorola's new Droid trio for 2013 â€" the big-screen Ultra, the battery-packing Maxx and the oh-so-cute Mini â€" includes an interesting and kind of strange way of sharing photos. Droid Zap is an attempt to make photo sharing mind-bogglingly simple: a single swipe is all you need.

I had a little hands-on time with the new Droids, which will be exclusive to Verizon, and the Droid Zap is as convenient as it's made out to be. Even Apple's AirDrop, an iOS 7 feature that allows sharing to iPhone owners close to you via Wi-Fi direct, has more steps than Motorola's new trick.

Once Droid Zap is enabled, all you have to do is swipe up on a photo with two fingers. That's it. Done. No names, no email addresses, no social networks necessary.

That sounds kind of bizarre, but it's true. What happens after you swipe is that the phone uploads the photo to a kind of temporary cloud (remember, Motorola is owned by Google), which is tied to the phone's location. The photo stays in the cloud for two minutes and then poof, it's gone.

Before it disappears, anyone within 300 feet of your phone will get notified that there's a photo available for sharing. Well, anyone with one of the new Droids or running the Droid Zap Android app, which Motorola says will be available when the new phones launch on Aug. 20.

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The limits on proximity and duration are the main security features, but if you're still worried about creepers, you can add a randomized code to the photos you share, although relaying the code to your recipient obviously adds another step. If you don't use codes, though, Droid Zap probably isn't a good idea for sensitive photos. If you want more assurance about who's seeing your pics, you can always use a more traditional sharing method (or Snapchat).

Always Listening

Another interesting differentiator in the new Droids is their ability to become active from voice alone. You don't need to push a button, shake it, or anything else. The user just needs to say the words "Okay, Google Now," and the phone will immediately launch that app. You can ask it the weather, what's going on in your calendar, of just perform a simple search.

How can a phone always be listening, even when in power-save mode, and not run down the battery? That's one of the secrets to Motorola's X8 processor architecture: There's a dedicated low-power core that is tasked with listening for the user to utter the phrase. The main processor is never activated, so the feature's power drain is miniscule.

Touchless control requires the user to record a voice sample, which ensures no one else can "Droid bomb" your phone by speaking the same phrase.

Another battery-saving feature is the way the new Droids handle notifications. They appear on the lock screen and fade briefly, and the user can dismiss or deal with them without unlocking that phone. For the Ultra and Maxx phones, which use Super AMOLED screens, only the pixels needed are lit for the notifications, so the battery is taxed to the absolute minimum.

Droid Details

The three phones all feel good in the hand, and credit to Motorola for not cheaping out on the specs of the Droid Mini â€" it has the same processor and screen resolution as the other two (although its display is an LCD, not Super AMOLED). On the larger Ultra and Maxx, the red design is glossy, while the gray is "matte," but both feel equally grippy.

I checked out performance by loading a few graphical websites on Chrome (including Mashable), and I was impressed with how quickly photos loaded and the speed at which it responded to things like everscroll. General navigation was good, too. The burst mode aside, I've seen faster photo-taking on other Android phones, but it wasn't a disaster.

Overall, Motorola's new Droids appear to be very capable phones, and they have some intriguing differentiators. Are they enough to take some mind share back from the Samsung Galaxy line? Probably not, especially since they're Verizon-only, but they've nicely set the stage for company's true flagship, the Moto X.

Images: Mashable, Meghan Uno

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App Gives You a Chance at Coffee With Major Influencers

If networking is a key to success, some very lucky entrepreneurs are getting the chance to rub elbows with power influencers they didn't realize were in their network. It's called the influencer of the month series, and the new feature could connect you for a cup of coffee with a major influencer from the free iOS app HereOnBiz, a geo-location service bringing together like-minded professionals.

Here's how it works: Influencers select a city in which they want to meet, then users in that city are notified when they open the app and can then apply. Influencers pick when they want to meet and with whom, after HereOnBiz sends them possible candidates. Once the two sides are linked up, it's on to a 30- to 45-minute coffee session.

Influencers get a chance to highlight a cause, promote a product or book through the app while users get the opportunity to sit down and, possibly, do business with them.

"It's not a contest; not random," HereOnBiz founder Nick Smoot told Mashable. "We talked to the influencers and they specifically want to do this because they see this as a value to the business community."

The program soft launched last month in Pasadena, Calif. Porter Gale, the former CMO of Virgin America and author of Your Network Is Your Net Worth met with Evan White, a PR professional, and former core member of the social video site Viddy.

"It really was an awesome experience being able to sit down, drink an iced latte, and have a conversation with Porter," he says. "I feel like I not only made a business connection, but a friend."

This month's big fish is Scott Minerd, the global chief investment officer of Guggenheim Partners, who manages more than $180 billion in assets, and is a special advisor to the Federal Reserve.

The next 14 months are lined up with a list of big names, including California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, tech blogger Robert Scoble, TechStars' founder Brad Feld, Keith Ferrazzi, the former CMO of Deloitte and best selling author, and Charles King, an agent and managing partner at the William Morris Endeavor talent agency.

It's a way "to show our community that we exist to help them never miss an opportunity," Smoot says. "It's not a first- or second-degree network, but an opportunity they never realized they had."

Image: JEAN-CHRISTOPHE MAGNENET/AFP/Getty Images; screenshot courtesy of HereOnBiz

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6 Ways to Be Happier at Work This Summer

By Nellie Akalp2013-07-22 09:00:10 UTC

This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.

For most of us, more of our waking hours are spent at work than anything else. In fact, the average American spends approximately 100,000 hours at work over the course of their lifetime. That stat alone is a pretty sobering reminder about just how important it is to be happy at work.

There is no dream job. The novelty and excitement of that once-perfect opportunity tends to wear off after the first year, as we become focused on a few less-than-optimal aspects of our co-workers, boss, tasks, and so on. However, there are some simple things you can do to change this mindset and have a more positive outlook at work this summer:

1. Make Time to Exercise

You’ve probably heard that exercise can reduce stress, improve your mood and increase your mental focus. Physical activity helps your body pump out more of those feel-good neurotransmitters, known as endorphins. Yet with today’s busy schedule, getting to the gym often slips further down the to-do list. No matter how hectic your schedule gets this summer, make time for your favorite kind of exercise. Treat a trip to the gym (or pick-up basketball game, bike ride, swim, etc.) just like you would an important meeting for work. Schedule it into your smartphone and stay committed.

2. Take Control of Your Time

Time management isn’t necessarily about downloading the latest calendar app. For most of us, good time management is more an issue with prioritization than organization. It’s hard to feel happy and satisfied at work when you’re constantly pulled in too many directions. Start each week and each day with your own set of goals for what should be accomplished, and then avoid letting busy work (such as instantly responding to a non-critical email) distract you from these priorities.

There will always be more tasks than available time, so the key is to fill your work hours with the important things, and you’ll naturally have less time for the busy work. In some cases, this means setting clear expectations for you and your team. Saying "no" may not come naturally to everyone, but you’ll be happier and healthier if you manage your time on your own terms.

3. Appreciate Others

Numerous studies demonstrate the effects of gratitude on mood and overall well-being. For example, one study divided college students into groups where each group was asked to either write down experiences for which they were grateful or annoyed. The “grateful” group reported significantly greater life satisfaction and greater optimism for the upcoming week.

When you feel particularly stressed or over-extended, try to remember the hard work of a colleague, team member or employee. Praise someone else (in a casual way â€" for example, "you had a great idea in the project meeting") and you’ll most likely both get a small boost in mood and motivation.

4. Challenge Yourself

Boredom is one of the biggest obstacles to job satisfaction. After a year or so of coming in to work and doing the same thing, we get stuck in a rut. Get some of that "new job" enthusiasm back by doing things differently, challenging yourself and making an effort to learn something new this summer. We tend to be happiest when we’re working right at the limits of our abilities.

5. Start Something Outside of Work

An interesting post explains that the route toward happiness at work is to create something outside of work, such as a new company or side project. While that might seem counter-intuitive, it actually makes a lot of sense. The enthusiasm for your outside project will carry over into the workday. You’ll find that the inevitable workplace annoyances won’t seem as significant. Any progress in the side project will fuel you with a greater sense of accomplishment and confidence.

In addition, a side venture can sometimes help you lower your overall tax obligations and you just might be starting an important path toward a brand new business and career.

6. When All Else Fails, Smile

A nice big smile can actually trick your brain’s neurotransmitters into thinking you’re happy. When things are particularly grueling, try smiling for 10 seconds and your negative thoughts should dissipate.

More Small Business Resources From OPEN Forum

- Startup Culture: Good for Innovation, Bad for HR?
- Solving the Top 4 Pitfalls of Working From Home
- 5 Ways to Protect Yourself From the Latest Tax Refund Scam

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, MSRPhoto

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Lego Releases ‘Back to the Future’ Time Machine Set at Comic-Con

Take heed, readers: Lego is officially letting you take a crack at building your own DeLorean time machine. The construction-toy company this week opened the sale floodgates for its fourth collaboration with Japanese partner Cuusoo, the Back to the Future Time Machine set.

Available in limited quantities at San Diego's Comic-Con, the set boasts minifigure renditions of Marty McFly, Dr. Emmet "Doc" Brown, the Flux Capacitor, a time display tile and the Mr. Fusion Home Energy Reactor, among other touchstone standouts from the 1980s film trilogy. The Back to the Future Time Machine was submitted by two fan builders, Masashi Togami and minifigure builder Sakuretsu, and was selected in December 2012 as the next Cuusoo set (see below).

Cuusoo lets ambitious Lego lovers create potential product ideas â€" and if the concept nabs more than 10,000 supporters, the project has a chance of being reviewed quarterly by Lego for a chance to become an official product. Lego said the Future set was chosen because of its broad appeal, its level of building-challenge for all ages and its cost effectiveness.

Fans can reportedly build three versions of the DeLorean. Instruction booklets contain production notes and images, but this famous exchange from the 1985 original film should be all the instructions you need:

Marty McFly: "Wait a minute, Doc. Ah ... Are you telling me that you built a time machine ... out of a DeLorean?"

Dr. Emmett Brown: "The way I see it, if you're gonna build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style?"

As is protocol, fans whose Cuusoo ideas are selected for production earn 1% of the product's total net sales, but Togami and Sakuretsu plan to donate the royalties to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (the actor played the Marty McFly character in the saga).

Veteran Lego designer Steen Sig Andersen crafted the final set design based on the fan submission, with input from Universal Studios Partnerships & Licensing. And BTTF, the official Back to the Future fan site, served as a product consultant and component authenticator during development.

The Future set is available this week at Lego's Comic-Con booth, as well as participating European Lego stores. The set goes on sale globally Aug. 1 for $34.99 (€34,99).

What do you think of the Lego set? Discuss in the comments below.

Image: ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images

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A Conversation With the Internet's Favorite Frat Boy

Quick â€" how many of these words can you define without turning to Urban Dictionary?

1. Swole.

2. Yoked.

3. GDI.

If you knew the first two are synonyms for "muscular" and the third stands for "goddamn independent" (a student unaffiliated with Greek life), then you've probably seen "Shit Frat Guys Say," created by 21-year-old comedian Jimmy Tatro.

Tatro filmed the video in January 2012 while studying at the University of Arizona, where he was a member of Pi Kappa Phi. His YouTube channel, LifeAccordingtoJimmy, quickly gained 1.5 million followers. He currently writes, films and edits weekly sketches about the "frat bro lifestyle," including "Partying Sober vs. Drunk," which has nearly five million views. Recently, he's also done a series of videos with Laina, known online as Overly Attached Girlfriend.

His portrayal of a gym-loving, hard-partying frat boy even caught Adam Sandler's attention, and this summer, Tatro will play the role of a fraternity guy in Sandler's comedy Grown Ups 2. He plays the stereotype well â€" so well that we were surprised to learn he's far from the beer-swilling meathead he plays on screen.

He's been dedicated to film since the age of 10, when he got his start by filming his skateboarding moves, he says. He joined his school's TV station in high school and then began creating sketches in college. Today, he has more than 100 million views on YouTube and 580,000 followers on Vine.

Mashable chatted with Tatro to learn more.

To what extent is your "frat guys" character inspired by your real life and personality?

Not much. When I portray "frat bros," I'm playing a character that is so much more douchey and wild than I hope anyone actually is. It's more based on that one guy everyone has in their fraternity that just takes things way too far.

What's the craziest thing that you've ever seen happen at a frat party?

I've seen so much ridiculousness happen at fraternity parties, it's hard to pinpoint the exact craziest moment. From 4 a.m. hammered basketball games on our court with the three-point line on fire to skateboard bowling down the hallways, things were always getting rowdy. It was a ton of fun, but I'd definitely recommend living in a frat house for only one year. Any more than that and you may die.

What's something your people wouldn't guess about you?

I have never owned a pair of Sperry's and I have never purchased Pre-Workout. Yeah, I'm serious.

Can you tell me about your role in Grown Ups 2?

I'm a college guy that wants to kick the grown-ups' asses.

What was it like working with such a star-studded cast?

It was definitely a lot to take in for my first movie experience, but it really motivated me to want to do more movies.

Was there anyone you were really nervous to meet?

At first, I was nervous to meet Adam Sandler. But he turned out to be a really nice guy, which made me feel more comfortable being there.

Who was your favorite person to work with on set?

David Henrie and Patrick Schwarzenegger. We had a ton of fun together out there.

What was it like working with Laina, the Overly Attached Girlfriend?

She's actually a really funny, cool person. She's not as psycho as she appears.

What's the next step for you?

Ideally, a TV show. The one we're working on right now has a great concept, and I'm really hoping it works out. We've also been thinking about doing a cartoon series on the [YouTube] channel, and we're working on a movie, as well. The goal is just to keep moving forward.

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Homepage image: Melly Lee

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5 Design Tips to Boost Blog Conversions

Educational and inspirational content has a powerful impact on your audience, but design plays a huge role in your blog's performance. How your readers experience content on your site directly affects social shares, newsletter subscribers and even sales (if that's your goal).

If you’re serious about building an audience through blogging, it's important to optimize your blog to convert visitors into regular readers, subscribers and customers.

Quite a few design considerations come into play when optimizing your audience’s experience on your blog. This article covers five design tips to help you improve the overall blog experience and, in turn, increase conversions.

1. Place your newsletter signup at the end of every article.

If you aren't already collecting email addresses through your blog, you should be. Your newsletter is the most important thing to keep your most loyal visitors coming back to your site, again and again.

Most blog owners place a callout to their newsletter signup at the top of the sidebar, which is a good idea â€" that's where most visitors will expect it to be. But there is one place even more important for your newsletter callout to make an appearance: at the very end of your blog posts.

Here’s why: Those visitors who stick around long enough to make it all the way through your article are much more likely to enter their email address in order to hear more from you. You delivered on what they were searching for after they clicked the link that led them to your blog. Now you’ve converted a casual visitor into a loyal fan of your blog (and eventually a customer).

You can also implement a newsletter signup box that slides up from the bottom of the screen once you’ve scrolled down near the end the article. This kind of animation is attention-grabbing, which can help increase conversions. However, be aware that some visitors might find it overly intrusive to their reading experience.

Image: HitTail

The HitTail blog has a slide-up email signup box, which is powered by a new email marketing tool called Drip.

2. Include high-contrast calls to action.

It's important to include high-contrast elements that stand out on your page (newsletter signup boxes are a good example). These design features elevate their positions in the visual hierarchy of the page, making it one of the first things the visitor sees when his eyes scan the screen.

If the background color of your blog is white, try using a dark background for your newsletter signup box. To make it really stand out, be sure this is the only element on the page with that background color.

Don't go overboard. A simple, stark contrast of color will be enough to draw plenty of attention to these calls to action. Don’t boost the font size, add circles and arrows, or make it blink â€" you’ll be competing with other elements on the page, diminishing the experience.

Image: Buffer

The Buffer blog uses stark contrasts in color to draw attention to its email signup box.

3. Consider relevance for the blog's navigation.

There are two very common mistakes when it comes to navigating a company blog. First, the company blog shares the same top navigation with the rest of the company website.

Links to products, pricing, information about the company and quote requests are perfectly fine to include on the company homepage or when viewing product information, but they aren't relevant to visitors who are reading the blog. The goal of the blog navigation should be to encourage further exploration of your other articles.

Remember, most of your blog visitors arrived via a Google search or social media. They came for your content; they can discover your products later.

Second, too many navigation links compete for the reader's attention. Keep it simple with just a few key links to help the reader discover the very best content on your blog.

Adding a list of "popular posts" to the sidebar is a good idea, especially if it is curated to direct traffic to your highest-converting blog articles. You don't need to include the tag cloud, archive links, author links and other links here, too. Of course, you will want to have one callout to draw attention to your company or product, but it shouldn’t be the primary attention-grabber when viewing your blog.

Successful blog navigation keeps the emphasis on content by directing readers to key blog categories and a list of popular articles. A small callout to the product can be present but de-emphasized.

4. Include great images.

As important as your writing and topics are for your blog, there’s no getting around the simple fact that most readers will respond to engaging visual elements. That’s why it's so important to incorporate beautiful, bold and high-impact imagery in your blog posts.

You can find free images by searching Flickr Commons. Compfight is a popular tool for searching Flickr, and another free resource is Wikimedia Commons.

You can also find higher quality photos by spending a little money. Sites like 500px and Photodune are quite affordable.

Don't limit your blog to just photos. Add custom illustrations, diagrams, charts, graphs and wireframes to really drive your points home. It’s easy to whip up charts and graphs using Powerpoint or Keynote. Wireframing tool Balsamiq helps you sketch a diagram to illustrate a point.

Image: Nathan Barry

Software designer Nathan Barry's informative diagrams illustrate the complex points he makes in his blog articles.

5. Include strategic social sharing buttons.

The conversion goal for your blog isn’t only to convert visitors into subscribers, or subscribers into customers. You also want your visitors to share and spread your content on social media.

When people share your content, they feel a sense of responsibility to their followings; what they’re recommending is worth their followers' time. That’s why delivering valuable articles is so critical.

There are a few ways to make social sharing easier for your audience. One very popular technique is to add social sharing buttons that remain fixed or "float" alongside your article as the reader scrolls down.

The key to making these floating social buttons really have an impact is to carefully select which social networks to include. This comes down to knowing your audience â€" you don't want to overload it with every single network on the web. Pick the three networks where you know your readership is most active, and add those buttons.

Another useful tool is ClickToTweet, which lets you create a custom "Tweet This" link. You can place this link anywhere within the content of your articles. The most effective way to use this tool is to place a “Tweet This” link right after a sentence that is particularly insightful or worthy of sharing.

Like everything else, it's important that you don't go overboard. Add no more than two “Tweet This” links per article in order to avoid diluting your content. The more prevalent something is, the less noticeable it becomes.

Which design techniques do you use to boost conversions on your blog? Share them with us in the comments.

Image: iStockphoto, simonox

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